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.

Launch of 12-inch Retina MacBook may be pushed back to 2015

Taiwan's Economic Daily News is reporting tonight that the launch of the 12-inch MacBook with Retina display may be pushed back due to Intel processor delays. The long-rumored hybrid laptop was expected to finally launch later this year.

The problem is, the new MacBook, said to strike a better balance of performance and portability, is believed to be tied to Intel's 14-nanometer Broadwell chips. These chips have been delayed several times, and now may not land until 2015...

Square Enix announces ‘Final Fantasy Record Keeper’

Square Enix and developer partner DeNA have announced a new game for the mobile Final Fantasy franchise. It's called Final Fantasy Record Keeper, and you play as Deci, a bright student to Dr. Mog in the history department.

Dr. Mog serves as the record keeper for all previous Final Fantasy games, and his department is filled with paintings of famous battles and other scenes. And if you happen to see one you like, Dr. Mog can use magic to send you in...

Celebrating 40 years of synthesizers, 8 Yamaha music apps go free

Good news for all of you aspiring musicians out there. In celebration of 40 years of Yamaha synthesizers, the company is offering a number of its iOS apps for free. This includes some smaller titles, like Set List Organizer, and more prominent ones like Cloud Audio Recorder.

We've listed 8 of the apps below (there may be others), which are normally priced between $1.99 and $15.99. Admittedly, many of them were built to compliment actual instruments, but some, like Mobile Music Sequencer, are fun to tinker with on their own as standalone apps...

Mass production of 4.7-inch iPhone 6 to begin this month, 5.5-inch in August

Reuters is out with a report this evening regarding the production timeline for Apple's iPhone 6. Citing local media sources, the outlet says that the 4.7-inch model is set to begin mass-production later this month, with the 5.5-inch ramping up in August.

The bulk of the manufacturing will take place at Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, also known as Foxconn. Pegatron is also said to be taking orders for the upcoming handset, and both companies have gone on hiring sprees to handle the workload...

Gameloft releases endless jumper ‘Ninja UP!’

Gameloft today released an interesting new game called Ninja UP! It's not a first-person-shooter, movie tie-in, or anything else the studio is typically associated with—instead it's an endless jumper, à la Line Jumper and others.

Gameplay is as addictive as you'd expect. Players are tasked with sending a ninja flying upward by drawing lines that simulate trampolines. The smaller the line, the bigger the bounce, and levels are littered with deadly obstacles...

Retiring Bill Campbell reflects on Steve Jobs and other Apple memories

This afternoon, Apple announced that Susan Wagner, a founding parter of asset-managment firm BlackRock, had been elected to its board of directors. She takes the place of Bill Campbell, who is retiring after 17 years on the board.

In the press release, Campbell said that Apple today was is in "the best shape" that he's ever seen it. And in an interview with Fortune, he shared some addition thoughts on the company and memories of his time there with Steve Jobs...

Susan Wagner joins Apple’s board of directors as Bill Campbell retires

Apple announced this afternoon that Susan Wagner, a founding parter of asset-managment firm BlackRock, has been elected to its board of directors. She is considered a pioneer in the financial industry, and has been named one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.

Wagner joins the Cupertino company's board as long-time member Bill Campbell has decided to leave it. Alongside Sue's appointment, Apple also announced today that Bill Wagner, who has been on the Mac-maker's board of directors for 17 years (longest serving member), is retiring this year...

Geohot joins elite team of hackers for Google’s Project Zero

Since wunderkind George Hotz, better known as Geohot, first made a name for himself by hacking the iPhone at age 17, he's bounced around to several projects. He hacked the PlayStation, did some work for Facebook, and more recently popped up in Android land.

His latest gig is an internship for Google's Project Zero—a team of elite hackers tasked with finding and eradicating serious software vulnerabilities. Back in March Geohot won $150K for exposing Chrome exploits, and it seems the Mountain View company took notice...

Hearthstone ‘Curse of Naxxramas’ expansion hitting iOS, Mac July 22

Back in March, Blizzard launched its popular free-to-play collectible card game ‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’ on the Mac. A month later, it brought the game to the iPad, and promised an expansion pack for both platforms.

Today, the studio made good on its promise, announcing that Hearthstone's first expansion 'Curse of Naxxramas' will be landing on PCs, Macs and iPads on Tuesday, July 22nd. You'll find all the details on the add-on pack below...

Cinamatic goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has named Hipstamatic's just-released video-capturing app Cinamatic its App of the Week for this week. This means that through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—a modest savings of $1.

For those unfamiliar with the app, it essentially does for videos what Hipstamatic does for photos. Users can record short clips, between 3-15 seconds, and turn them into short films. Tools like lighting filters and social sharing are just one tap away...

Apple to move from TSMC to Samsung for next-gen chip production

Last year, Apple reached an agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to make processors for its iOS devices. The deal was part of a larger effort by the iPad-maker to reduce its reliance on Samsung.

But the move may not last long. Citing supply chain sources and KGI Securities analyst Michael Liu, Reuters is reporting that Apple is looking to shift production of its 14-nanometer next-generation chips from TSMC to Samsung...

Apple launches iTunes Pass in the US and other countries

On Tuesday, Apple launched a new service in Japan called 'iTunes Pass.' The service allows customers to purchase iTunes Store credit from an Apple retail store using Passbook, eliminating the need for physical gift cards and redemption codes.

At the time of launch, it was unclear if Apple intended to roll out iTunes Pass to other countries, or if it was merely just testing the waters for a bigger project. After 24 hours, that question was answered tonight when the service popped up in the US...