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.

Square Enix posts new trailer for upcoming ‘Final Fantasy Agito’ game

Cody Lee ∙ April 22, 2014

Great news this morning for all of you Final Fantasy fans. Following the release of Hitman Go last week, Square Enix has posted a new trailer for its upcoming free-to-play game: 'Final Fantasy Agito.' It's going to be an RPG title, made specifically for smartphones and tablets.

The game takes place in Orience, a land divided between four nations in a state of near-constant war: the Fiefdom of Rubrum, the Milites Empire, the Lorican Alliance and the Kingdom of Concordia. The main character is a cadet training as Agito, tasked with preventing destruction...

Aaron Sorkin talks Jobs movie at Tribeca Film Festival

Cody Lee ∙ April 22, 2014

Aaron Sorkin took a moment yesterday to speak about his upcoming Steve Jobs movie. The Academy Award-winning screenwriter was answering questions at New York City's School of Visual Arts for the Tribeca Film Festival last night when the subject of the Sony-backed Jobs film came up.

Sorkin of course avoided talking about the drama that surfaced yesterday surrounding the picture's director and cast, but he did offer up a few details about his script. Some of it we've heard before—such as his goal to do something other than a 'Jobs biography'—but there were a few new tidbits...

Apple Store logos revamped with green leaves for Earth Day

Cody Lee ∙ April 21, 2014

Apple has apparently begun revamping some of its Apple Store logos with green leaves tonight, in honor of Earth Day. The annual event, which falls on April 22nd, is used to promote environmental protection and the overall improvement of the health of the environment, via demonstrations, organized events, and more.

The move shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as we already knew Apple was planning some kind of celebration for Earth Day at select retail locations. We also saw a major PR push from the company yesterday regarding its environmental efforts, including new hardware recycling options and a video with Tim Cook...

Samsung expert says Apple should only get $38M for patent infringement, not $2B

Cody Lee ∙ April 21, 2014

The court battle between Apple and Samsung raged on in California today, with Samsung calling a damages expert to the stand. Judith Chevalier, a professor of economics at the Yale University School of Management, testified that if found guilty of infringement, Samsung should only have to pay Apple $38 million.

The figure, which is actually $38.4 million, is miles away from the $2.2 billion number that Apple's damages expert called for last week. Chevalier argued that a reasonable royalty rate for Apple's patents would've been $0.35 per patent, per device, and doesn't think the company should receive damages for lost sales...

Mailbox 2.0 is out with Dropbox syncing for preferences and Auto-swipe

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 14, 2018

Mailbox users will be happy to hear that the iOS email client received an update today. The release, which brings the app to version 2.0, brings about 'lots of bug fixes and improvements' as well as 2 new features: Dropbox syncing for preferences and Auto-swipe.

While Dropbox syncing for preferences is fairly self-explanatory, Auto-swipe takes some explaining. The feature was first announced by the Mailbox team earlier this month, and its purpose is to learn your in-app behavior in an effort to automate processes...

Beats Music app updated with new Offline mode, in-app subscriptions and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 20, 2018

Beats Music updated its iPhone client late last night, bringing the app to version 1.0.7. The update brings about a number of improvements, including better Facebook and Twitter account management, a new Find Your Friends feature for locating and following your Facebook friends, and more.

Perhaps the biggest change, though, is that the app now supports in-app subscriptions. This means that users now have the ability to bill their monthly subscription fee directly to their iTunes account. There's also a new Offline listening mode and thousands of new tracks available for The Sentence...

New iPhone 6 mockups based on leaked case dimensions and other intel

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Well-known designer and concept artist Martin Hajek has teamed up with the folks over at Nowhereelse.fr to create what could be the most accurate iPhone 6 renderings to date. The mockups show a device that was created based on recent information, including MacFan's schematic drawing from last month, and this week's case leak.

For the most part, the renderings match up with everything we've seen thus far regarding Apple's next smartphone. Hajek depicts the iPhone 6 as extremely thin, with rounded corners, and a display that's noticeably larger than current models. It also features a new Sleep/Wake button, which has been moved to the right side of the handset...

Facebook app updated with direct comment replies and more

Cody Lee ∙ April 17, 2014

Facebook rolled out an update for its iOS client this evening, bringing the app to version 9.0. The update brings about a handful of new features, including the ability to reply directly to comments.

The ability to reply directly to comments has been a wish list item for users for quite some time. Don't get too excited though, it'll only be available on select Pages that have enabled the feature...

RadioShack dropping subsidized price on 16GB iPhone 5s to $100

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

Folks still in the market for an iPhone 5s may be interested to know that RadioShack will soon be offering a significant discount on the handset. Starting tomorrow, the nationwide retailer will begin selling the 16GB model of the 5s for just $99.99 in-store with a qualifying 2-year contract.

That's $100 cheaper than most carriers and third party sellers have the entry-level iPhone 5s priced at, and is among one of the best deals we've seen on the smartphone. Additionally, RadioShack says it's offering a $100 credit for folks trading in an eligible iPhone 4s, making the 5s free...

Patent filing reveals Apple’s work on gesture-based passwords

Cody Lee ∙ April 17, 2014

The US Patent and Trademark Office published a pair of interesting Apple patent applications yesterday. The filings are titled 'Gesture entry techniques,' and together they describe a device-unlocking feature that involves a user drawing a custom pattern on a screen by connecting illuminated dots.

Apple filed for the patent in late 2012, several years after Google introduced a very similar feature in Android. It would appear, though, that the iPad-maker's version of the gesture-based password is at least slightly more advanced, as it can account for swipe speed, use of invisible dots, and more...

Dropbox acquires cloud-based photo management service Loom

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Following the debut of its new Carousel photo and video management app last week, Dropbox announced today that it has acquired Loom, a cloud-based service for storing your photos. The move should surprise no one, as both companies have very similar goals, but it will affect end users.

Starting today, Loom is no longer accepting new users, and the service will officially shut down on May 16. Current users have until then to act if they wish to save any of their photos/videos by either exporting them to Dropbox, with no interruption in service, or downloading them via a zip file...

Upcoming ‘Castaway Paradise’ is an Animal Crossing-like game for iPad

Cody Lee ∙ April 17, 2014

It doesn't look like Nintendo is going be bringing any of its games over to iOS anytime soon—despite pleas from both fans and critics—so iPhone and iPad gamers are going to have to make do with the titles they have. Fortunately, that list will soon include Castaway Paradise, which looks and plays a lot like Animal Crossing.

For those unfamiliar with Animal Crossing, it's a cluster of community simulation games developed by Nintendo. Set in a village of talking animals, players are tasked with carrying out a variety of activities in an open-ended storyline. And if you consider yourself a fan, you should check out Stolen Couch's 'Castaway Paradise.'