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 unveils the Galaxy Tab S with multi-user fingerprint sensor

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Samsung hosted an event in New York yesterday afternoon to take the wraps off a new version of its Galaxy Tab. It's calling the tablet the Galaxy Tab S, and it includes a high resolution Super AMOLED display that comes in 2 sizes: 8.4 and 10.5-inches.

Perhaps one of its most interesting features, though, is its fingerprint sensor. It can recognize up to eight different users, and each scan will load a different custom user profile based on the fingerprint with personalized settings, app shortcuts and more...

Apple’s Angela Ahrendts sends out first memo to retail staff

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2014

Angela Ahrendts began here tenure as Apple's senior vice president of retail and online sales in early May. The former Burberry CEO has made a good first impression in her first month, garnering praise from folks inside and outside the company.

Today, Ahrendts sent out her first memo to Apple retail employees, which officially sets the tone for her incumbency. In the letter she thanks everyone for their hospitality, and pledges to continue to evolve the customer journey in stores and online...

AT&T increases activation fees for customers with 2-year contracts

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

AT&T has increased its activation fees for customers who opt for two-year contracts. The increase is only a couple of dollars, from $36 to $40, but when you consider that you have to pay that for every device, every upgrade, it starts to add up.

The move is part of a larger effort by the carrier to push more subscribers away from the traditional contract/subsidy model, and towards Next. The upgrade program allows customers to get a new device every year for $0 down, and zero fees...

Duracell installing wireless Powermat chargers in Starbucks stores

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Duracell and Starbucks announced today that they have reached a partnership that will see wireless chargers installed into several Starbucks stores. The chargers will use Duracell's Powermat technology, which works with a number of devices—including iPhones.

Stores will be equipped with 'Powermat Spots,' which are designated areas on tables and counters where customers can place their devices to charge wirelessly. Starbucks believes this will be far more convenient for its customers than having to hunt down outlets...

Apple posts video showing off new Japan retail store

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2014

Last night, Apple posted a video to its official YouTube channel showing off its newest retail store in Japan. The store is located in Omotesando, Tokyo, and it includes a brushed aluminum staircase and other unique architectural features.

Photos of the outside of the store surfaced in May, showing what appeared to be a power-saving green curtain of foliage draped down one wall. But this new video from Apple takes you on a brief virtual tour of the entire multi-floor building...

Rovio’s new ‘Angry Birds Epic’ game launches worldwide

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2014

In February, Rovio teased a new game for its Angry Birds franchise called Angry Birds Epic. A month later it soft-launched the title in a handful countries, and players quickly discovered that this isn't your typical bird-slinger.

Believe it or not, it's actually an adventure role-playing game with turn-based combat and an extensive crafting system. It features epic battles, epic worlds, and it's now available around the globe on both the iPhone and iPad...

Flickr app updated with new sharing and tagging options

Cody Lee ∙ June 12, 2014

Yahoo's Flickr has updated its iOS client this morning, bringing the app to version 3.1. The update brings about a handful of useful additions, including new options for sharing, tagging and describing your photo albums.

As for the new sharing options, users can now send their albums to Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter, as well as Mail and SMS. They can also now add and edit both tags and descriptions for their photos from within the app...

Amazon launches ad-free Prime Music service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

As rumored, Amazon has launched a new streaming music service today, and it's [unsurprisingly] calling it 'Prime Music.' The service features over a million songs and hundreds of pre-made playlists, and it's free for paying subscribers of Amazon Prime.

Prime members have unlimited access to the service, and will be able to either play music from one of the aforementioned playlists, or create their own. It's completely ad-free, and comes with standard affair like mobile clients and offline playback support...

Hidden split-screen feature in iOS 8 shown off in video

Cody Lee ∙ June 11, 2014

Back in May it was reported that Apple was working on a new split-screen multitasking feature for iOS 8. Designed specifically for the iPad, the feature was said to allow two applications to run side-by-side simultaneously while the tablet was in landscape mode.

But as expected, Apple's WWDC keynote came and went without mention of the split-screen feature, so we have yet to see it in action. That changes tonight, however, as a new video has been posted that shows the feature running in the iOS 8 iPad Simulator...

Apple seeds OS X 10.9.4 build 13E16 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Apple has seeded the second beta of OS X 10.9.4 to registered Mac developers this afternoon. The update comes almost a month after Apple released OS X 10.9.3 to the public, which included improved 4K display support and more.

Today's new 10.9.4 build is available to developers via an update in the Mac App Store or as a download on Apple’s online developer center. It does not, however, appear to be out in Apple’s new public Mavericks Beta Seed program yet…

Amazon said to be launching ‘Prime’ streaming music service this week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

The New York Post is reporting today that Amazon is ready to launch its new streaming music service this week. The outlet says the e-commerce giant has 2 of 3 major record labels on board, and we could see the service as early as tomorrow.

It's being described as a 'truncated' version of Spotify, allowing users to access a limited catalogue of songs that will not include recent hits. And, as previously report, it sounds like it's going to only be available to subscribers of Amazon Prime...

Meet Ringly, the smart ring that alerts you to iPhone notifications

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

At first glance, the Ringly appears to be an ordinary piece of jewelry. Slip it on your finger, and it looks and feels like a typical fashion ring. That all changes, however, when your iPhone receives a notification, as the ring begins to vibrate and light up.

Using the low energy Bluetooth standard, Ringly connects to your phone and sends you customized notifications through vibration and light. It's discreet enough for a meeting, but conspicuous enough that you'll never miss an important call or message...