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.

Samsung blames sluggish tablet sales, increased competition for Q2 earnings miss

Cody Lee ∙ July 8, 2014

Samsung today issued its earnings guidance for the second quarter of 2014, and in somewhat of an odd move, it attached a note to the document explaining why it will fall short of estimates. The company expects to see its profits drop for the third consecutive quarter.

The note details a number of factors, including the improving strength of the Korean won making exports more expensive, and exceedingly sluggish tablet sales. It also explains that it is running into greater competition in China from low-end device makers like Xiaomi...

Apple reaches deal to build third solar farm in North Carolina

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

The Hickory Daily Record is reporting that Apple has recached a deal with the city council of Claremont, North Carolina to purchase land for a new solar panel farm. This will be the company's third solar farm in the Maiden area.

According to the report, Apple will be annexing 100-acres for the new array and will be making an initial investment of $55 million. The solar farm will generate 17.5 megawatts of power for its massive North Carolina data center...

Apple celebrates diversity and equality in new ‘Pride’ video

Cody Lee ∙ July 7, 2014

At the end of June, San Francisco held its 44th annual Pride parade where people from all around the world marched to show their support of the LGBT community. Several tech companies, including Apple, participated in the event.

CEO Tim Cook, Environment Director Lisa Jackson and thousands of other employees were in attendance, and Apple tonight posted a video of the parade. Dubbed 'Pride,' the clip celebrates the iPad-maker's commitment to equality...

iOS 8 beta 3 enables M7 support and caffeine-tracking in Health app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

As we continue to sift through the beta 3 of iOS 8, we've come across another notable change in the firmware. In today's update, Apple adds both Caffeine-tracking and M7-supported step-counting to the already feature-packed Health app.

Developers with the latest iOS 8 beta installed on their iPhone 5s will notice that they can now input their daily Caffeine intake. They can also now track their steps without a third party app or accessory using the 5s' built-in M7 processor...

Scratch test video shows durability of alleged 4.7-inch iPhone 6 sapphire cover

Cody Lee ∙ July 7, 2014

Hot on the heels of this morning's bend stress test video of an alleged iPhone 6 sapphire cover, comes a clip of a scratch test further showing the part's durability. YouTuber Marques Brownlee has gotten his hands on an alleged 4.7-inch iPhone 6 cover and put it through its paces.

In the video, Brownlee tries to snap the sapphire cover in half by bending it, but is unable to do so. He also takes a set of keys and even a large folding knife to the component in an effort to scratch the display cover, but again he is unsuccessful. We've posted the full video below...

Starbucks offering popular ‘Threes’ game as its free ‘Pick of the Week’

Cody Lee ∙ July 7, 2014

Just a quick heads up for all of you Starbucks-goers out there. The coffee-serving chain is offering the popular 'Threes!' puzzle game for iPhone and iPad free this week as its App Pick of the Week.

For those unfamiliar with Threes!, it's a simple number-matching puzzle game known for its beautiful UI and addictive gameplay. It typically costs $1.99 and is very rarely (if ever) offered for free...

iOS 8 beta 3 enables Wi-Fi Calling for T-Mobile iPhones

Cody Lee ∙ July 7, 2014

Last month, T-Mobile confirmed that it will support iOS 8's new Wi-Fi calling feature when the update officially launches this fall. And today, the feature went live for developers with T-Mobile iPhones in the just-released iOS 8 beta 3.

For those unfamiliar with Wi-Fi calling, it allows users to place phone calls [natively] from their device over a Wi-Fi network, instead of their cellular network. Benefits of the feature include better call quality and improved battery life...

Apple releases OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 3

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

In addition to seeding the third beta of iOS 8 this morning, Apple has also released the third Developer Preview of its new OS X Yosemite operating system. The update comes three weeks after Preview 2, and over a month after Apple announced Yosemite at WWDC.

The update is labeled as build 14A283o and can be downloaded via an update in the Mac App Store, or as a full download from Apple’s online developer center. It does not, however, appear to be out in Apple’s recently-launched public Yosemite Beta Seed program yet…

Apple seeds iOS 8 beta 3 to developers: here is what’s new

Cody Lee ∙ July 7, 2014

Nearly three weeks after releasing the second beta of iOS 8, Apple has this morning seeded the third beta of iOS 8 to developers. The beta is labeled as build 12a4318c, and is available for compatible iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

If you're a registered iOS developer, you can grab the new beta from either the online dev portal as a standalone download, or via your device's OTA (over-the-air) update mechanism. You'll find all the details on beta 3 after the break...

The best dictionary apps

Cody Lee ∙ Updated September 7, 2017

Natural wordsmith or student of the language, having a comprehensive dictionary to fall back on can be indispensable.

Granted, future generations might frown upon us for striving to become our most eloquent selves (all the while publishing Emoji to English dictionaries), however in the interim, why not uphold the tradition of cultivating our language?

In this spirit, we have once again rifled through the App Store to showcase the best dictionary apps for iPhone and iPad available as of September 2017.

New concept imagines iPhone 6 without ugly antenna lines

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

I'm sure most of you are as tired of iPhone 6 concepts as I am—between rumors of a redesign and the constant barrage of part leaks, designers have had more to work with than years past—but these new mockups from Thomas Moyano and Nicolas Aichino are worth noting.

The images depict Apple's handset with all of the rumored hardware changes, including the thinner profile, rounded edges and relocated Power button. But there's one major difference between this design and all of the others we've seen thus far: no ugly antenna break lines...

IntelliScreenX beta with iOS 7.1.x support available

Cody Lee ∙ July 3, 2014

The release of the Pangu jailbreak for iOS 7.1.x last month was both a gift and a curse. It brought about a way for folks to jailbreak the latest iOS firmware, but it also broke a lot of popular packages in Cydia.

Several developers have already updated their tweaks to work with 7.1.x, and today we're adding another one to the list (sort of). Intelliborn has posted a beta version of IntelliScreenX with support for 7.1.x...