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.

Apple announces 20 million Apple TVs sold to date

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

During Apple's earnings call earlier this afternoon, CEO Tim Cook announced that the company crossed the 20 million sold mark for the Apple TV during the last quarter. The mention is noteworthy as Apple doesn't typically breakout numbers for the set-top box (though it has on occasion).

The move falls in line with Cook's previous sentiments regarding the Apple TV—at a shareholders meeting in February Cook said 'it’s a little more difficult to call the Apple TV a hobby these days,' and comes amid rumors that the company is preparing to launch a new version of the device...

Angela Ahrendts to join Apple as retail chief next week

Cody Lee ∙ April 23, 2014

During this afternoon's quarterly earnings call, Tim Cook announced that Angela Ahrendts will be officially joining Apple next week. The announcement was made last October, but Ahrendts has been under contract with her previous job—CEO of luxury clothing company Burberry—until now.

Ahrendts will join Apple as the Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores, a position that has seen significant turnover in recent years. In 2011, Ron Johnson left for a CEO position at JC Penney, and his replacement, John Browett, was ousted in less than a year due to a conflict in strategy...

15 interesting points from today’s earnings call

Cody Lee ∙ April 23, 2014

Apple announced its financial results for Q2 2014 this afternoon, and for the most part it beat the Street's expectations. The company sold 43.7 million iPhones and pulled in $45.6 billion in revenue during the three month period, although it did miss slightly on iPad sales at just 16.3 million.

We’re just finishing up the conference call, where Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and other members of the executive team have discussed Apple’s performance, touted some user stats, and offered insight into the future. And as usual, we’ve rounded up the 15 most interesting points for you…

Apple Q2 2014 earnings: 43.7M iPhones, 16.3M iPads, $45.6B revenue

Cody Lee ∙ April 23, 2014

As expected, Apple is out with its financial report for Q2 2014 this afternoon. In a press release issued just a few moments ago, Apple announced that it sold 43.7 million iPhones, 16.3 million iPads, and pulled in $45.6 billion in revenue during its fiscal Q2.

Other than iPad sales, Apple beat the Street estimates by a wide margin. The Cupertino company also announced an accelerated strategy for its stock buyback plans, adding an additional $30 billion to the pot (for a total of $90 billion), as well as a 7-1 stock split...

GameStop ramping up expansion of wireless, Simply Mac stores

Cody Lee ∙ April 23, 2014

Popular video game retailer GameStop is making some significant moves to diversify its business. During an investor presentation yesterday titled “Beyond the Game,” the company's Chief Financial Officer Rob Lloyd said it plans to invest up to $140 million this year building new Spring Mobile and Simply Mac locations.

GameStop acquired both small chains last year in an effort to broaden its business outside of the seemingly-dying used video game racket . Spring Mobile is a third-party retailer for AT&T products and Simply Mac is an authorized Apple product dealer that sets up in areas that are too small for an actual Apple Store...

Logitech announces new, slimmer version of its Ultrathin iPad keyboard case

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

In response to the recent release of Office for iPad, Logitech yesterday announced a new version of its wildly popular Ultrathin iPad keyboard case. The new version improves on the design of its predecessor, with a thinner, lighter and more flexible design.

If you haven't seen an Ultrathin before, it's a Bluetooth keyboard for your iPad that doubles as a protective cover. It's designed from aluminum to match the rear casing of Apple’s tablet, and the keyboard offers comfortable key spacing and iOS shortcuts...

Amazon updates Kindle app with new Table of Contents, X-Ray features

Cody Lee ∙ April 23, 2014

Amazon Kindle users will be happy to hear that the iOS client for the e-book service received a nice little update this morning. The release, which brings the app to version 4.2, brings about two substantial new features: Table of Contents and X-Ray Smart Look-Up, and other improvements.

The first new feature is fairly self-explanatory—customers can now access a book's table of contents from within the app—but the second is a bit more subtle. X-Ray Smart Look-Up will allow users to take advantage of Amazon's quick-referencing tool without leaving their current page...

Google covering some of Samsung’s legal fees, liabilities in Apple trial

Cody Lee ∙ April 23, 2014

We've known pretty much all along that Google was going to be more involved this time around in the Apple-Samsung trial. Many of the features Apple claims infringe on its software patents are baked right into Android, so of course it would be in the Mountain View company's best interest to become much more involved.

But I'm not sure anyone knew the extent of Google's involvement until yesterday, when a lawyer for the tech giant said that it had reached an agreement with Samsung to foot the bill for a large portion of its legal fees. It also told the Korean firm it would cover much of the damages, should it be found guilty of infringement...

Apple airs new ‘Powerful’ iPhone 5s ad

Cody Lee ∙ April 22, 2014

Apple has this evening posted a new TV commercial for the iPhone 5s to its YouTube channel. The ad, which was spotted airing during tonight's episode of ABC's 'Agents of SHIELD,' touts the handset's ability to morph into a useful tool for people in various lines of work.

Set to the tune of "Gigantic," by the Pixies, the spot shows iPhone 5s owners using the device to do things like play music, control stage lighting in a theater, create short movies, create art installations and more. The tagline of the ad is 'You're more powerful than you think.'

Amazon’s smartphone said to feature unique, tilt-based gesture interface

Cody Lee ∙ April 22, 2014

According to a bevy of recent reports, Amazon is preparing to launch a smartphone. It's a tough market to try to bust into this late in the game—with Apple and Samsung taking home a large share of the profits already—but from what we've heard, the e-commerce giant is going to try to differentiate itself with unique features.

Today, following up its report from last week on a purported prototype of the Amazon phone, BGR has offered up some new details. Apparently, in addition to glasses-free 3D and head-tracking tech, the handset will also feature a number of motion-based gestures that can be activated by tilting the device in various directions...

Apple opens Mac OS X betas to the public

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

Big news this afternoon as Apple has opened up its OS X beta program to the public. Before today, you needed a $99/year developer account to help test the company's upcoming Mac software updates before they were widely released, but starting this afternoon, anyone can sign up for the 'OS X Beta Seed Program.'

You can sign up here, and all you need is an Apple ID. Once enlisted, users can test out pre-release builds of Mavericks before they're launched to the public and even submit feedback to Apple to help iron out the kinks. It's not for everyone, but it's great news for early adopters and those who enjoy sneak previews...

Apple’s Earth Day print ad pokes fun at Samsung

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple continued its Earth Day PR push this morning, taking out print ads in UK newspapers. The company has thus far painted the leaves on many of its Apple Store logos green, released a video with Tim Cook and announced a new recycling program, and today it took out full page ads to tout its environmental efforts.

The advertisements show a large image of the enormous solar farm that runs Apple's data center in North Carolina, and talk about the company's work to reduce its impact on climate change. But perhaps the most interesting about the ads is that they take a not-so-subtle jab at Samsung and their ongoing patent lawsuit...