Month: March 2013

Morgan Stanley: the iPhone 5S will have a ‘killer feature’

Morgan Stanley's resident Apple expert Katy Huberty appeared on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime Report this morning, in a rare TV interview, to field questions on her firm's current positive buy ratings for both HP and Apple.

Asked about Apple, Huberty—who has an overweight rating on the stock with a price target of $630—says the company is poised for a big year with new software features for the upcoming iPhone, including one 'killer feature.'

Polycarbonate budget iPhone renderings to die for

Another publication has commissioned Dutch concept artist Martin Hajek to bundle all the less-pricey iPhone rumors together in some plausible renderings. The 3D designer's fresh batch of conceptual renderings imagine the rumored device in two flavors, one with a screen measuring four inches diagonally and the other sporting a larger 4.5-inch display.

Hajek took into account credible talk of the budget iPhone adopting a polycarbonate shell, having combined that rumor with analysts speculating about some vivid colors, too. If you ever though using plastics would ruin the iPhone brand with unwanted and cheap feel to it, have a look at the images and think again...

BlackBerry CEO: iPhone UI is obsolete

Following Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller's anti-Android comments on the eve of Galaxy S 4 launch and Apple's new 'Why iPhone' web campaign, the CEO of BlackBerry has unsurprisingly launched a critique of Apple's handset and its user interface, referring to the the fact that iOS now 5+ years old.

In his view, Apple is being out-innovated by others, right up to the point where the Cupertino company could get replaced "pretty quickly". Of course, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, like every other handset vendor in the ferociously competitive mobile market, is really drumming up his own platform by arguing that the iPhone is an old hat. Be that as it may, I'd choose my words carefully if I were Heins.

The struggling handset maker's market share and capitalization have all but evaporated because of the iPhone and now stand in the single-digit range and below the $8 billion mark, respectively. That's how much investors thought the entire BlackBerry biz was worth Monday morning. Now, contrast Blackberry's market cap to Apple's first-quarter net profit of $13.06 billion...

Report: iPad mini to rule 2013, Retina model due in Q3

A new week brings a fresh batch of iPad rumors. According to a report out of Asia, Apple is gearing up to launch a Retina iPad mini in the third quarter of this year, alongside a redesigned fifth-generation 9.7-inch model with an iPad mini-like aluminum design, featuring a thinner bezel and lighter frame.

Despite Apple slashing shipments for its full-size iPad 4 in nearly half, from 60 million units down to 33 million units, the story notes the company has not reportedly seen any material decrease of iPad mini demand since its launch in October of 2012...

AT&T launches 30/40/50GB shared data tiers

The U.S. wireless carrier AT&T this morning introduced its data-hungry subscribers to some powerful new tiers.

Going beyond AT&T's existing options topping out at twenty gigs, the new options are now available to add thirty, forty or fifty gigabytes of cellular data to your shared plan of choice. Beware, however - these come at high prices.

The $30GB a month tier will set you back an unsettling $300 a month, with the 40GB and 50GB tiers commanding an alarming $400 a month and a whopping $500 a month, respectively. These prices include unlimited calling and texting. Should you need only data, AT&T will happily sell you data-only tiers for your tablet and laptop, with the top 50GB plan running $335 a month...

Best Buy (again) has $100 iTunes gift card for $80

Retailer Best Buy is known for discounting iTunes Gift Cards from time to time, with their last offering dating back to December 2012. Today, it started selling the $100 iTunes gift card for $80, a cool twenty percent discount. Lower-denominated iTunes Cards still go for their usual prices so this promotion only applies if you're willing to add a hundred bucks worth of iTunes credits for $80 and save $20 doing so. You can order the card at one of Best Buy's outlets, place an order via Best Buy's web store or have it delivered directly to your home...

Reddit survey tries to identify the ‘average jailbreaker’

In my 4 or 5 years of hanging out in the jailbreak community, I've met people from all walks of life. Both men and women jailbreak, ranging in ages from 6-60, and they come from all around the world. I can't imagine trying to determine the 'average jailbreaker.'

But that's exactly what Reddit user spiceman54j was hoping to accomplish this weekend when he surveyed Redditors from the r/jailbreak forum. In total, he collected data from nearly 400 jailbreakers, and he's created an infographic to showcase his findings...

Review: Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad mini

My goal was to type more efficiently on my iPad mini, without sacrificing the device's portability. I also wanted a keyboard that would actually improve my typing ability, not hinder it. I found such a product with the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad mini.

I know — that's a whole lot of name for such a diminutive product. Let's just call it the Ultrathin mini hereafter, shall we? Good. Let's talk about what makes this little device so special, and how it has significantly improved my iPad mini based workflow.

‘ThumbsUp’ adds Lock screen controls and Activator support to Pandora

ThumbsUp is a brand new jailbreak tweak for Pandora, which places Pandora's trademarked thumbs up and thumbs down buttons on the iPhone's Lock screen for easy access. The tweak also adds the ability to assign an Activator gesture to both the thumbs up and down actions as well.

Check inside for more screenshots, which showcase this handy tweak for heavy users of Pandora.

T-Mobile plans March 26 event: we’re not going to act like a wireless company anymore

Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile USA this morning sent out invites for a March 26 event in New York, where the telco should announce some big news and update us on its technology and business. "We're still a wireless company," reads the invitation, "We're just not going to act like one anymore".

We know that the carrier, as part of its system-wide modernization effort, is planning to finally flip the switch on 4G LTE before the end of this month in Las Vegas and Kansas City (plus, it's been spotted in New York City). Another thing we know is that Apple's iPhone is officially landing on T-Mobile's network this year...

Funny or Die to release Steve Jobs movie starring Justin Long on April 15

Folks who can't wait for Ashton Kutcher's Steve Jobs biopic to hit theaters—its April release date was recently pushed back to allow time for more marketing—will be happy to hear that another Jobs movie is going to be launching next month.

No, it's not the Sony-backed flick written by Aaron Sorkin. It's actually a Funny or Die production. The popular comedy website, founded by Will Ferrel's production company, has apparently recorded a full-length, 'very silly' Steve Jobs movie...

iDownloadBlog challenges you to join our March Madness pool

Again we hit the hallowed time during the year when the world exalts American college basketball players as if they were gods. Millions of dollars in lost productivity across the US puts a further damper on the economy as we all turn from work to watch basketball.

At iDownloadBlog we relish the opportunity to participate in this worldwide assault on productivity – not that we will stop bringing you the best Apple news for a month. Join us beyond the fold to learn how to monitor the action from your favorite iOS devices and sign up for the iDownloadBlog tourny pool...