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.

‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’ for iPad now available worldwide

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Back in March, Blizzard launched its digital card trading game ‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’ on the Mac, and as promised, it has brought the game to iOS. The title soft-launched for iPad earlier this month, and now it's available in App Stores worldwide.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, for those unfamiliar with it, is a strategy card game set in the Warcraft universe. Players compete in 1v1 battles—either against the computer or via Battle.net—in an effort to grow the size and power of their card collections…

Texas Instruments pledges support for iBeacon tech in several Bluetooth products

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

It's been almost a year now since Apple unveiled its iBeacon geolocation technology, and I really don't think it could have hoped for better results. The tech has been implemented in a number of settings including retail and grocery stores, MLB ballparks, and more, and it seems to get more popular every day.

As evidence of that, Texas Instruments pledged its faith in iBeacon today, announcing support for the tech across its Bluetooth low energy portfolio including chips for embedded and automotive applications. The company also launched a new iBeacon-location app that works with its SensorTag development kit...

Corel launches new Pinnacle Studio video editing app for iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 20, 2018

Corel, the Canadian software developer behind long-time hit titles like CorelDRAW and Paint Shop Pro, has released a new app for iPhone today called 'Pinnacle Studio.' It's a powerful video editing app that offers a wide range of editing features and special effects.

Looking to spruce up a home video? Pinnacle's montage templates allow you to create multi-layer 3D animations, transitions and titles. Want hi-def? The app supports video shot in 24, 25 and 30 fps and outputs in full-1080p. Keep reading for a full overview...

Fandango app updated with new design, new rating system and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Whether you use it or not, the Fandango Movies app for iOS is a fairly big deal. Not only does it offer up movie info and trailers, but it also facilitates theater ticket purchases. In fact, you can start the process with Siri, as Fandango is deeply integrated into the assistant.

Anyway, the app got a major makeover this morning, with the release of Fandango 6.0. You'll notice the visual changes right away—particularly in movie pages, theater lists—as well as the all-new ratings system, spotlight carousel, and a number of other enhancements...

Apple seeds OS X 10.9.3 build 13D43 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple has seeded another beta for OS X 10.9.3 to registered Mac developers this afternoon. The update comes one week after the sixth beta of 10.9.3 was released, which brought about few notable changes.

The new beta build is available to registered Mac developers through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store, or as a complete download via the Mac section of Apple’s online developer portal…

Real Racing 3 updated with new ‘open wheel’ vehicles, expanded roster and more

Cody Lee ∙ April 15, 2014

Hot on the heels of its major Aston Martin update last month, the folks at EA have posted another new version of its popular Real Racing 3 game today that brings about new 'open wheel' vehicles, an expanded roster and more.

The new vehicles fall under the new 'Open Wheelers' category, and include classics such as the Caterham Seven 620R, Ariel Atom 3.5 and Atom V8. The 2014 Porsche 911 RSR and Hyundai Veloster Turbo have also been added...

Tech companies ask court to keep Steve Jobs’ personality out of hiring trial

Cody Lee ∙ April 15, 2014

Although the patent battle with Samsung is far from over in northern California, Apple's legal team has to start preparing for another high profile trial coming up next month. The iPad-maker, along with Google and others, is being sued over no-hire agreements in Silicon Valley.

This week, those companies in a joint court filing asked that witnesses in the upcoming suit not be allowed to offer evidence that Steve Jobs was "a bully." Emails regarding the case are fine, but excerpts from the Isaacson bio and other sources should be barred from admission...

Google launches new ‘Helpouts’ iPhone app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 21, 2019

Google this afternoon launched an iPhone client for its growing learning and tutorial service called Helpouts. The app gives users the ability to find and schedule Helpouts, start their own free Helpout, read reviews and listing details, and send other users messages.

For those unfamiliar with Google's 'Helpouts' service, it's a website that connects you to experts from various fields including cooking, health and Art & Music. These experts hold video classes teaching you how to do everything from playing the guitar, to editing photos...

Screens VNC 3.0 for Mac is out with all-new design, menu bar icon and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Fans of Edovia's 'Screens' application will be happy to hear that the studio has updated the popular VNC client for Mac to version 3.0. The release follows a major update to the iOS app in December, and brings an all-new design, several new features and various other improvements.

For those who haven't used Screens VNC before, it enables you to connect to your Windows, Mac or Linux computer from virtually anywhere in the world. The remote connection is secure, and provides access to your files, applications, media, text documents and much more...

A&E and History Channel apps updated with live TV streaming

Cody Lee ∙ April 15, 2014

A little over a year ago, A&E Networks updated its iOS clients with on-demand programming. It was a fairly big move, as it allowed users to watch their favorite episodes of TV shows like Duck Dynasty and Storage Wars while on the go.

Today, A&E issued another major update for its mobile clients, this time adding live TV streaming to both A&E and History Channel iOS apps. So now you can watch live programming from each of the channels on your iPhone or iPad...

WSJ: Amazon preparing to launch 3D smartphone in September

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The Wall Street Journal added its weight to speculation that Amazon is preparing to launch a smartphone. The outlet reported late yesterday that the e-commerce giant has been showing off prototypes of the handset to developers, and it plans to take it public later this year.

What's really interesting about the device is that The Journal says its screen is capable of displaying three-dimensional images without the need for special glasses. And it accomplishes this by using retina-tracking technology that's embedded into four front-facing cameras...

Harmonix announces upcoming ‘Record Run’ game for iOS

Cody Lee ∙ April 12, 2014

The name Harmonix is legendary in the console gaming world, as it was behind a number of popular games in the early 2000's—Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Dance Central to name a few. And now it's hoping that success will translate into the mobile world.

The studio announced its first mobile game yesterday at PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) East called 'Record Run.' It's an endless runner of sorts that asks players to avoid various obstacles and collect vinyl records, while jogging to the beat of a custom soundtrack...