Cody Lee

Cody Lee, iDownloadBlog.com’s longest-serving Editor, joined the site in 2008. He specializes in uncovering the best deals on Apple products, apps, and accessories. With years of experience in technology journalism, Cody helps readers save money while staying informed about the latest trends and updates in the Apple ecosystem. Cody’s history with smartphones goes almost as far back as he does. As the son of a Nokia employee, he was exposed early on to handsets like the N91 and the Communicator. He has since been involved in nearly every aspect of the mobile phone industry. While going to college, he worked at a Nokia factory, building handsets, and later moved on to a sales position at a major wireless carrier.

Apps and games make their way to Apple TV

Cody Lee ∙ September 9, 2015

Apple on Wednesday announced a new version of the Apple TV, and it is awesome. It has a redesigned remote control, a refreshed interface, and support for voice commands via Siri. But what really pushes the device over the top is its support for native apps and games.

As expected, the next-generation set-top box features an App Store, and Apple invited some developers up on stage today to give us an idea of its potential. The game you see above is a Wii Sports-like motion game, called Beats Sports, from Rock Band developer Harmonix.

This is Apple’s updated iPad lineup

Cody Lee ∙ September 9, 2015

The slide you see above is Apple's updated iPad lineup, which includes the just-announced iPad Pro and the new iPad mini 4. On stage, Phil Schiller mentioned that apple was updating its mini tablet line, but he didn't offer up many details. It sounds, though, like it's going to have the internals of the iPad Air 2.

Apple's iPad line now starts at $279, with the mini 2, and ranges all the way up to $1079, for the iPad Pro 128GB Wi-Fi + cellular model.

iPad Pro starts at $799, available in November

Cody Lee ∙ September 9, 2015

Apple just took the wraps off of its long rumored, 12.9-inch iPad Pr. As expected, the device is incredibly powerful and features two unique (and sold-separately) accessories: a smart keyboard cover and a pressure-sensative stylus it's calling the Apple Pencil.

For those wondering when you'll be able to grab one of the new iPads, and how much it's going to cost you, Apple just announced that the tablet will be available in November, with a starting price of $799 for the entry-level model, which features 32GB of storage.

Apple introduces new Pencil stylus for iPad Pro

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Following its announcement of the long-rumored iPad Pro, Apple introduced two new accessories for the 12.9-inch tablet. The first is the keyboard, which you can read about here, and the second is a stylus accessory that the company is calling the 'Apple Pencil.'

Apple used a traditional Jony Ive-voiceover video to unveil the Pencil, with the newly-appointed Chief Design Officer saying "Apple Pencil is designed to look and feel like a familiar tool. Highly responsive sensors built into Pencil can sense pressure, tilt, and stroke."

Apple unveils new Apple Watch models and bands, shipping today

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple kicked off its big "Hey Siri" event this morning by talking about the Apple Watch. The company announced several new upcoming apps from the platform, including Facebook Messenger, a GoPro companion app, and a really cool app called AirStrip which is billed as a "game-changer for healthcare."

In addition to new apps, Apple also unveiled new Watch models and bands. Perhaps the most interesting new models is the Apple Watch Hermes, which was developed in conjunction with the popular luxury designer. There are also new gold and rose gold anodized models for the Apple Watch Sport.

Join iDB for tomorrow’s Apple event

Cody Lee ∙ September 8, 2015

Apple’s 'Hey Siri' event is now less than a day away, and anticipation couldn’t be higher. We're expecting a jam-packed keynote tomorrow with new iPhones, the first Apple TV update in more than 3 years, new Apple Watch bands, and possibly even the long-rumored iPad Pro.

Apple has said that it will be streaming the festivities to its website and various iOS devices, but for those who won’t be able to watch the keynote live, iDB has you covered. We will be here all day, providing coverage of all announcements made before, during and after the event.

What we can expect from Apple’s September 9 event

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

As it has done for the past few years, Apple is gearing up for a major media event this month. In late August, the company sent out invitations for an event taking place on Wednesday, September 9, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

The teaser tagline on the invite reads "Hey Siri, give us a hint," but otherwise, Apple has been silent regarding its plans for the keynote. Never fear, though, as months of rumors, reports and component leaks have given us a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Runtastic introduces Moment, an analog watch with fitness tracking features

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Runtastic on Friday announced the Moment, an analog watch with fitness tracking features. The maker of popular mobile fitness apps, which was recently acquired by Adidas, says the device has the potential to disrupt the wearables market because of its unique blend of traditional timekeeping and technology.

Like most fitness-focused wearables, the Moment is capable of tracking steps, distance, active minutes, calories burned, sleep cycles and goals. But unlike other trackers, it's waterproof up to 300 feet, so it can be used to track swimming, and it runs on a standard watch battery, so it doesn't need to be recharged.

Apple believed to have acquired motion capture firm Faceshift

Cody Lee ∙ September 4, 2015

Apple may have bought Swiss real-time motion capture firm Faceshift in recent weeks, reports MacRumors. The site points to a company registry filing that shows all three of their original corporate directors stepped down in mid-August, and were replaced by a mergers and acquisitions attorney from Baker & McKenzie—a firm Apple frequently uses.

Faceshift has some interesting technology that can quickly and accurately capture facial expressions using 3D sensors. They've worked with both game and animation studios, and even built their own software. More recently, the company has been working on a Skype plugin that allows users to transform into avatar characters during real-time video chats.

Judge green-lights $415M settlement in Apple, Google anti-poaching lawsuit

Cody Lee ∙ September 3, 2015

US District Judge Lucy Koh handed down final approval late Wednesday for a settlement between Apple, Google, Adobe and Intel, and their former employees. The payout is said to be worth around $415 million, and should effectively end the long-running Silicon Valley anti-poaching suit.

For context, in 2011, employees of the aforementioned tech firms filed a class action lawsuit against the companies for anti-competitive labor practices. The suit alleged the firms conspired to avoid hiring each other’s workers in an effort to curtail salaries, costing workers $3 billion in wages.

Apple working on fuel cell tech that could give devices weeklong battery life

Cody Lee ∙ September 3, 2015

Apple continues to show interest in using hydrogen fuel cell technology, as evidenced in its latest patent filing. On Thursday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a patent titled "Fuel Cell System to Power a Portable Computing Device."

The invention appears to be, at least initially, targeted at the MacBook, as the filing mentions MagSafe several times. But last month, the British firm Intelligent Energy proved the tech can be shrunken down, by showing off an iPhone with a hydrogen fuel cell.

Flick Kick Football goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ September 3, 2015

Apple has selected Prodigy Design's "Flick Kick Football" as its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you can download the popular football arcade game for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—a solid savings of $1.99.

For those unfamiliar with the title, Flick Kick is a simple football/soccer game that has you scoring goals as quickly and as stylishly as possible by swiping your screen. It has multiple game modes, charming retro graphics, and the physics are smooth and accurate.