Year: 2012

Toast’s wooden skins add life to your iPhone [review and giveaway]

Over my time blogging, I have only spotted a few wood or faux wood skins for iDevices, but have never had the opportunity to review one. Thanks to my new friends at Toast, I have been using their real bamboo iPhone skin for a little over a week and my completely custom skin is getting even better everyday I use it. With the iDownloadBlog logo darkly emblazoned on the pale wooden backdrop, my iPhone skin is the talk of the town...

It looks like Sprint isn’t going to carry the free iPhone 4

When Apple unveiled its new smartphone last week, it also announced some changes to its iPhone lineup. For starters, the 16GB iPhone 4S is going to drop to just $99 with a two year contract.

In addition, the company is also getting rid of the 3GS, making the iPhone 4 its $0 offering. But according to some new information, it doesn't look like all providers are going to carry it...

Apple’s stock crosses $700 following record iPhone 5 pre-orders

Earlier today, AT&T announced that it set a sales record over the weekend with iPhone 5 pre-orders. Apple also had a record-breaking weekend, recording 2 million iPhone 5 pre-orders in just 24 hours.

Well apparently the early success of Apple's new handset has given investors a boost in confidence in the Cupertino company, as its stock crossed the $700 mark today in after-hours trading...

Is iOS 6 a dud for jailbreakers?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and for that reason, let me preface this post with a disclaimer: I'm not bashing anyone's right to an opinion. That's one of the things that makes life so great, differing points of view on all sorts of matters.

Apparently, whoever posted this post on the Big Boss blog isn't too high on iOS 6, in fact, they go as far as to label it a "dud."

I certainly don't feel that way; I'm the complete opposite. That made me think, do most jailbreakers feel this way about iOS 6? Are many of you guys and gals planning on staying right where you are on iOS 5 until a jailbreak is released for iOS 6?

Apple promoting its free apps on iOS 6 using new App Store page

If you're a developer running iOS 6, try opening up the App Store app and open the Featured tab. As 9to5Mac points out, chances are you'll be greeted with a new page promoting five free Apple apps.

The free apps include iBooks, iTunes U, Podcasts, Find My Friends, and Find My iPhone, and all can be installed at once using the "Download Free" button at the top of this new page. Take a look inside for more info...

Can the Big Jambox replace my office stereo system?

In the last month or so, I've been on a minimalism tear. For example, I traded in my 27" iMac for a MacBook Pro with Retina Display. I also decided to get rid of my 2011 MacBook Air.

As it turns out, I rarely used the MacBook Air, because it was just too slow to get any real work done. The iMac was a beast, but it wasn't portable, which caused many of my files to fragment between multiple devices. I decided it would be best if I just had one powerful, yet portable machine to get all of my work done. It just so happened that the MacBook Pro with Retina Display was the perfect device to meet my needs.

To go along with these changes, I decided it was time to rid myself of my old antiquated component audio system. I have a Pioneer receiver coupled with Pioneer speakers. It's a 5.1 audio system that's incredibly heavy, a birds nest of wires, and power hungry to boot.

I needed something smaller, totally devoid of wires, and easier on the power consumption — all without sacrificing too much in the way of sound quality. Obviously, the highly regarded Jawbone Big Jambox was on my short list of devices to choose from, but was it up to the challenge of completely replacing my traditional stereo system?

iPad mini reportedly in production at Foxconn and Pegatron plants

Between the new iPhone and iPod announcements, and now the preparation for official launch, talk of the iPad mini has been put on the back burner. This has a lot of folks wondering, is the rumored tablet still set for a fall launch?

According to a new report this afternoon, yes, the iPad mini is still on track to launch later this year. In fact, it appears that the slate has entered mass production, with Foxconn and Pegatron splitting the production...

Concept video shows how Spotlight in iOS should work

Apple added the Spotlight search tool to iOS back in 2009, with version 3.0. The page, which can be accessed by swiping to the left of the Home screen, allows you to search through the content on your device.

While it's a nice idea, the feature itself has long been criticized for its limited functionality. Compared to its counterpart in Mac OS X, Spotlight for iOS is pretty hindered. Perhaps this is how it should work...

Exclusive: Apple’s iPhone 5 and iOS 6 training docs

We’re counting down the remaining days until the official iPhone 5 launch and if analysts' estimates and pre-orders are anything to go by, we’re looking to a massive release that should/will easily dwarf any other consumer electronics announcement in 2012.

As part of its preparations for the D-day, the company has provided its retailers with training materials in order to get sales reps up to speed ahead of Friday's launch of the "boring" handset.

A pair of documents iDB has exclusively obtained communicate eight key messages: thinnest and lightest iPhone, four-inch Retina display, ultrafast wireless, the A6 chip, an eight-megapixel iSight camera on the back, all-new EarPods and improved audio, the new Lightning connector and of course iOS 6 and iCloud....

Bluetooth music dongle will keep your 30-pin dock relevant

Starting with the iPhone 5, Apple is going to be changing the dock connectors in all of its future iOS products. The new Lightning plug will be replacing the decade-old 30-pin connector.

Worried that all of your old speaker docks will become obsolete? Don't be. You can either purchase a 30-pin to Lightning adapter, which Apple sells for $29, or you can grab the auris...

Analyst predicts 10 million sales over the iPhone 5 opening weekend

The iPhone 5 goes on sale this Friday in the United States and eight more major markets overseas, hitting an additional 22 countries next Friday. So far, customer response completely blew Apple away as the handset became AT&T's and Apple's fastest-selling iPhone.

With a little more than four days until launch, Piper Jaffray's resident Apple analyst Gene Munster issued a note to clients, predicting sales of at least six million units during the opening weekend, possibly up to ten million units.

Munster previously said the iPhone 5 would go down in history as the most successful consumer electronics launch and compared other smartphones to Timexes, with the iPhone 5 being the Rolex of smartphones...

Apple Maps to integrate Russian Yandex’s data in iOS 6, report says

Google's relationship with Apple may be on borrowed time. Apple Maps, set to appear soon in iOS 6, will reportedly use a local company's data Yandex to provide location-search details in Russia. A developer version of iOS 6 will send users to Yandex.Maps for further information regarding locations.

A search of Vladimir Lenin's Mausoleum, for instance, gets "more details on Yandex.Maps application or offers to download Yandex.Maps from App Store if the user doesn't have it installed," a Russian developer now using iOS 6 tells Bloomberg.