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.

Video pits Apple’s Touch ID against Samsung’s Galaxy S5 fingerprint scanner

Cody Lee ∙ April 4, 2014

Following the debut of the iPhone 5s and its Touch ID fingerprint scanner in October last year, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S5 with its own fingerprint recognition tech. The handset was unveiled last month, and is slated to launch for major carriers on April 11.

The two scanners are quite different, with Touch ID requiring a press-and-hold action and Samsung's solution more of a swiping motion, but they essentially serve the same purpose. So we thought this new video comparing the two of them was worth a look...

Facebook Pages Manager 3.0 is out with new pinning and editing features

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Facebook has posted an update for its Pages Manager this afternoon, bringing the app to version 3.0. The update includes the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, as well as a handful of new pinning and editing features.

Pages users can now pin and unpin posts to the top of their Page timelines from within the app, allowing them to highlight important events and other announcements. You can also now create and edit events on the iPad, and more...

Greenpeace praises Apple and others for helping build a greener Internet

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 2, 2016

Apple has quite the history with environmental organization Greenpeace. The outfit has panned the iPad maker several times over the years for using toxic chemicals in its products and other non-green practices—it even staged a protest outside of its Cupertino headquarters back in 2012.

A lot has changed over the years, however, and this week, instead of protesting Apple, Greenpeace took to the skies to praise it and other companies for helping build 'a greener Internet.' That image you see above is of a blimp that the environmental advocacy group flew over Silicon Valley...

Apple seeds OS X 10.9.3 build 13D33 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 it released the third beta of 10.9.3, which added various improvements.

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…

Kodak launches new ‘Moments’ photo book app for iPad

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

A familiar name popped up in the App Store under the 'Photography' section today. Just 6 months after officially exiting bankruptcy, Kodak has released a new app called 'Kodak Moments for iPad' that allows customers to create and order photo books, prints and enlargements using drag-and-drop on their tablets.

The app is the product of Kodak Alaris—the personalized and document imaging businesses group that retained the license to the Kodak brand following Eastman Kodak's exit from bankruptcy last fall—which already has a handful of low-key iPhone apps. But this is the firm's first significant software release for iPad...

Twitter’s Vine app updated with direct messaging, custom profile colors and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Twitter's Vine app today received its largest update since it debuted last year, bringing the iOS client to version 2.0. The update includes a number of improvements, but easily the biggest change is the addition of a new private video messaging feature called Vine Messages (or VMs).

The concept behind a VM is simple. All you do is select the new 'Messages' option in the navigation menu, record a video and send it out to your friends. You can send VMs out to anyone, but users have the ability to choose who they want to receive messages from—friends followers, etc...

Apple purchased speech recognition firm Novauris last year to bolster Siri team

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Just a day after Microsoft unveiled its digital assistant 'Cortana' to rave reviews, news has surfaced that Apple has been making moves to bring its own assistant up to speed. TechCrunch is reporting this morning that the Cupertino company has purchased speech recognition firm Novauris, and the group is now working on the Siri team.

Novauris is highly-regarded in the world of speech recognition. Founded in March 2002 by well-known speech researchers and ex Dragon Systems engineers, the firm's technology is used in a variety of products by companies like Verizon Wireless, Panasonic, Alpine and BMW, and can be operated in both the embedded and server space...

‘Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Vengeance’ hits the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

Wow, it has been an absolute monster day for iOS game releases. First there was 'Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft,’ which hit App Stores in select countries, then FTL for iPad came out, and now we have 'Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Vengeance.'

Games Workshop's Storm of Vengeance is a lane strategy game for PC and mobile devices set in the dark, gothic universe of Warhammer 40K. Players can play as both Dark Angels and Orks, tasked with either defending their planet, or destroying it...

‘Faster Than Light’ for iPad now available in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Last week we told you that the popular PC/Mac title Faster Than Light would be making its way to the iPad soon, and today, the game landed in the App Store. You can now play the roguelike-like real-time strategy game on your Apple-branded tablet.

Even if this doesn't look like your cup of tea, FTL is worth checking out. Early reviews of the game have been glowing, with some awarding it 5 out of 5 stars, and others calling it a potential Game of the Year candidate. Keep reading for a full overview...

‘Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff’ landing on iOS April 10

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

It looks like the highly anticipated Family Guy project from Fox and TinyCo is set to be released next week. At a launch event in Los Angeles last night, the two firms announced that 'Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff' will be landing on iOS on April 10.

First revealed in December of last year, the game will be set in the infamous town of Quahog and feature elements of resource management, with multiple story lines. It looks similar to Fox's other hit TV series-turned-game: The Simpsons Tapped Out...

‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’ for iPad launches in select countries

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 last night, and is now available in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand App Stores.

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

Microsoft finally unveils its Siri competitor ‘Cortana’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

It's been nearly three years since Apple unveiled Siri on its iPhone 4s, and Microsoft finally has its answer to the digital assistant: Cortana. Named after a virtual character in the company's popular Halo gaming franchise, the feature is powered by Bing and offers a mix of Google Now-ish and Siri-like characteristics.

We first got a glimpse of Cortana earlier this year courtesy of a developer leak, but Microsoft officially unveiled her this morning at its Build Developer Conference in San Francisco. The assistant will ship alongside several other new features in the Windows Phone 8.1 update, expected to launch in the next few months...