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.

Viber acquired by e-commerce giant Rakuten for $900 million

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 24, 2017

This is kind of interesting. The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that the popular voice call app Viber has agreed to a deal to be acquired by Rakuten for $900 million. For those unfamiliar with the e-commerce giant, it's essentially Japan's version of Amazon.

Viber is available on all major mobile and desktop platforms, and is one of Skype's biggest competitors with over 300 million users worldwide. It was one of the first apps to allow 3G VoIP on the iPhone and it now supports land-line calls, messages and even push-to-talk...

Bloomberg profiles head of Apple University Joel Podolny

Cody Lee ∙ February 13, 2014

Earlier this week, Apple announced that it was promoting its retail HR head Denise Smith to lead its human resources department company-wide. Smith replaces Joel Podolny, who will now focus all of his energy on a top-secret executive training program known as Apple University.

Not much is known about the project, other than that Steve Jobs hired Podolny—the former dean of Yale's School of Management—to put together a program to teach his methods to future execs. But a new Bloomberg report helps shine some light on the University, and its new leader...

Unused iPhones in the US said to be worth over $13 billion

Cody Lee ∙ February 13, 2014

I have a ritual I go through every time I purchase a new iPhone, which lately has been once per year. I hunt down my original box and accessories, and prepare my old handset to be sold on eBay as soon as my new one arrives. And I thought this was a common practice.

But according to the "Mobile Mountain Study" conducted by research group OnePoll, for resale site SellCell, almost half of the consumers who buy a new smartphone are holding on to their older device instead of opting to recycle or sell it in the used handset market...

Pandora app updated with Sleep Timer for iPad, push notifications and more

Cody Lee ∙ February 13, 2014

Pandora Radio users will be happy to hear that the streaming music service has just posted an update for its iOS client, bringing the app to version 5.2. The update brings about several enhancements, including two new features for the iPhone and iPad.

On the iPad front, Pandora has made its Sleep Timer feature universal. So tablet users can now fall asleep to their favorite tunes without worrying about all-night data usage. And for all devices, it has added new a personalized push notification feature...

Rovio teases new Angry Birds ‘adventure’ game

Cody Lee ∙ February 13, 2014

Rovio has started teasing a new Angry Birds game, tweeting the above image out from its official Twitter account yesterday. Along with the photo, the game-maker says that a "big adventure with new birds" is coming soon and added the hashtag #NewAngryBirds.

The consensus here is that Rovio is finally going to introduce new characters to its franchise, after using the same birds and pigs in many of its popular Angry Birds titles. The 'big adventure' comment also suggests that this isn't going to be its typical bird-slinger...

Apple publishes 2014 Supplier Responsibility Report

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple this morning published its annual Supplier Responsibility Report to its website. The report details the company's Supplier Code of Conduct and the lengths it has gone through in the past year to ensure its suppliers and their materials are on the up-and-up.

One of the more notable items from the report is that Apple says that all active, identified tantalum smelters in its supply chain were validated as conflict-free by third-party auditors. This means that all of Apple's suppliers are using only verified tantalum sources...

Apple said to be moving forward with ‘less ambitious’ TV plans

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Following a report by Bloomberg, which reiterated Apple's move to revamp its set top box, comes a scoop from The Wall Street Journal regarding the company's TV plans. The outlet says Apple has abandoned efforts to disrupt cable TV in favor of a less ambitious strategy.

According to the story, the Cupertino firm was at one time approaching media companies directly to obtain content rights for an a-la-carte TV service. But due to failed licensing negotiations and other issues, it's said to now be working on hardware for existing cable service ...

500px iOS app updated to finally allow you to upload photos

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

500px users will be happy to hear that the photo-sharing service has updated its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 2.5. The update only includes one feature, but it's a huge one: you can now use the mobile app to upload photos.

Up until now, you could only upload photos to 500px via the web—a major gripe with current users and big barrier-to-entry for potential users in an Instagram-era where most people take, edit and upload photos on their mobile devices...

Alleged iPhone 6 prototype shown off in new images [update: it’s fake]

Cody Lee ∙ February 12, 2014

A batch of new images surfaced online this afternoon, purportedly showing an authentic iPhone 6 prototype. The photos are believed to have originated from China, and they show the front and back of what appears to be a larger handset designed by the Cupertino company.

It's impossible to know if these are legitimate iPhone 6 parts—one thing that immediately stands out is that the back appears to show FCC markers, somewhat odd for a prototype—but even if the photos are fake, they do give a good idea of what a larger iPhone could look like...

Former Apple designer explains why he walked out on his dream job

Cody Lee ∙ February 12, 2014

From the outside, Apple seems like the perfect place to work. After all, who wouldn't want to be a part of one of the most renown companies in the world, transforming industries and creating revolutionary products? Sounds like the perfect job, right? Not according to Jordan Price.

Price, a former mobile designer at Apple, has caused quite the commotion these last few days with a blog post entitled "I wanted to work at Apple really bad, and now not so much." And in it, he describes how his dream job in Cupertino became so unbearable he felt he had to quit...

New mockups visualize Apple’s rumored iOS 8 ‘Healthbook’ app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

A couple of mockup images surfaced on the web today, hoping to visualize what Apple's rumored health-tracking app could look like. A January report from 9to5Mac said that the app, codenamed 'Healthbook,' would gather health and fitness data from iWatch and launch alongside iOS 8.

In its current state, the Healthbook app is said to resemble the UI of Apple's Passbook application, with various cards offering health and fitness data points. This is what designer Carlos Quijano based his concept on, and according to those with knowledge of the app, it's vaguely accurate...

Apple names Denise Smith as new head of human resources

Cody Lee ∙ February 11, 2014

Hoping to continue its efforts to attract and retain top talent, Apple has named Denise Young Smith its new head of human resources. Smith replaces Joel Podolny, who will now focus all of his energy on Apple University—a platform for teaching 'Apple' culture.

The announcement is notable for a few reasons. First, Smith will be the latest woman to join Apple's top ranks— the company has taken heat recently over the lack of diversity on its executive team—and two, she will be in charge of attracting and retaining talent...