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.

Cable companies sue Apple’s ‘Rockstar Consortium’ over patent conspiracy

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Three years ago a consortium consisting of Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry and several other tech giants purchased thousands of patents from communications expert Nortel. They have since tried using the patents to sue a number of other companies, with little success.

Well this week the group, aptly-named the Rockstar Consortium, got a taste of its own medicine. Five US cable companies, including Charter Communications and others, filed a lawsuit against the shell corporation for engaging in what it calls an illegal patent conspiracy...

Judge tosses two Samsung claims ahead of Apple patent trial

Cody Lee ∙ January 22, 2014

Apple and Samsung are gearing up for round 2 of their landmark US patent trial. The first round ended in Samsung paying nearly $1 billion in damages for infringing on some of Apple's patents, and this new trial will look for similar infringement in newer devices.

The court proceedings don't start for another two months, but Samsung has already suffered two big blows. This week, Judge Lucy Koh found the company's multimedia synchronization patent to be invalid, and found it to infringe on an Apple autocorrect patent...

Adobe Reader app updated with new iOS 7 design and other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ January 22, 2014

Adobe updated its Reader client for the iPhone and iPad today, bringing the popular PDF reading app to version 11.2.0. The update brings about a number of improvements, including a new iOS 7-inspired UI design and upgraded navigation.

While I'm sure some people aren't going to like the new design, I think it looks way better than the previous UI. The black elements and bold text have been replaced by white spaces and thinner fonts, making it easier to browse and find things...

T-Mobile ventures into personal banking with new Mobile Money service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Over the past 9 months or so, T-Mobile has been calling itself the "Uncarrier." It's a marketing strategy, for sure, buts it's certainly been living up to the moniker by dropping contracts, offering free international data, and waving early termination fees for new customers.

But this morning the company announced its most un-carrier move to date: Mobile Money. That's right, T-Mobile is getting into the personal banking business with a new service that combines a branded prepaid Visa card, a smartphone app, and a no-fee checking account...

Good deal: 37% off this Bluetooth-enabled tracking device

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2014

Have you ever left your wallet at home or say, at the table of a restaurant or the counter of a store? I know I have, and it's not really a big deal unless it's not there when you go back. Then you have to cancel credit cards and replace IDs and other cards—it's a mess.

Luckily, thanks to modern technology, there are a number of devices available that can prevent this from happening using Bluetooth and a mobile app. And perhaps even more luckily, Stack Social is running a deal on one right now called the Find'Em Tracking Card...

Apple may have sold record 55 million iPhones last quarter

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2014

Wall Street analysts have been foaming at the mouth since Apple announced it would be discussing its Q1FY14 financial results on January 27. Record holidays have become the norm for the company, but with two new iPhones released last fall, this one is expected to be over the top.

How much over the top? Well Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty says she believes Apple may have sold between 54 and 55 million iPhones last quarter. That would be a new record for the company, and a nice jump from the 47.8 million handsets it sold over the holidays last year...

iOS 7.1 beta 4 believed to patch key evasi0n7 exploit

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

As most of you know, Apple released a new version of iOS 7.1 for developers yesterday. It's the fourth beta for the next major update to iOS, and as you can imagine, we've been asked a number of times if it kills the month-old evasion7 jailbreak software.

Well we don't know for sure, which is why we've been holding off on reporting about this, but we've received word that it's likely it does. And iH8sn0w added weight to the theory this morning, saying that it looks like beta 4 patches evasion7's kernel exploit...

Phil Schiller points to new mobile security report criticizing Android

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2014

Phil Schiller doesn’t tweet very often. But when he does, he tends to make good use of his 115,000+ followers. Early last year the executive tweeted a link to an Android-slamming mobile malware report, and today he's pointed to another report that highlights Android's security flaws.

This afternoon, Schiller tweeted a link to Cisco's 2014 Annual Security Report, which was released last week. The report notes that overall vulnerabilities are the highest they've ever been (since tracking began in 2000), and that 99% of all mobile malware is targeted at Android devices...

Purported screenshots of ‘iOS in the Car’ surface

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2014

Developer Steven Troughton-Smith posted several images on Twitter this afternoon of what looks like Apple's iOS in the Car project. The screenshots don't show the entirety of the feature, but if legit, they do offer some insight on what the Maps app will look like when in use.

For those unfamiliar with iOS in the Car, it's an interface that deepens the integration between iOS devices and cars far beyond playing music. First introduced at WWDC, the feature will allow users to view and manage many iOS applications using their in-vehicle hardware...

Apple Stores now replacing damaged iPhone 5c screens

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

As promised in a report earlier this month, Apple has begun repairing iPhone 5c screens in-store this week. 5c owners with cracked or otherwise damaged displays can now take their handsets into their local Apple stores and have them repaired quickly for a flat fee.

Apple has been doing this since last year for the iPhone 5, but just recently updated the hardware and training necessary to work with the newer models. The move is the company's latest effort to cut down on device repair and—perhaps most of all—replacement costs...

Beats launches ‘Music’ streaming service for $10 a month, iPhone app now available

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

As promised, Beats launched its highly anticipated 'Music' service this morning, bringing the headphone-maker into the highly competitive world of streaming audio. And with a library of around 20 million songs available for on-demand play, it's certainly built to take on the competition.

But Beats is taking a different approach to its subscription service. Unlike your Rdios and your Spotifys, it doesn't offer a free ad-supported model and the company is putting a lot of focus on its custom radio stations and playlists that it says were curated by some of the best DJs in the world...

Apple seeds iOS 7.1 beta 4 to developers: here is what’s new

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Apple has released the fourth beta of iOS 7.1 to registered developers this morning. The update, which carries the build number 11D5134c, can be downloaded OTA or via Apple’s developer center.

Today’s release comes just two weeks after the third beta, which brought about a number of UI changes including a new dialer, less vibrant icons for Messages, Phone and FaceTime apps, and more...