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.

WSJ: Apple testing larger iPhone displays of up to 6 inches

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Apple is currently testing iPhone screens as large as six inches, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The news comes as many of the company's competitors are releasing handsets with 5 and 6 inch displays—the new Note 3 measures in at 5.7.

This isn't the first time we've heard that Apple is toying with the idea of making a larger iPhone. In fact, The Journal told a similar story in mid-July. So it seems that while the bigger displays are not expected to debut on this year's model, they are on the way...

Japanese carrier DoCoMo to start carrying the iPhone this fall

Cody Lee ∙ September 5, 2013

After years of negotiations, it looks like Apple and DoCoMo have finally reached an iPhone deal. Reuters is reporting this afternoon that the company will join KDDI Corp and SoftBank Corp this fall as the last major Japanese carrier to offer the popular smartphone.

The news comes just a few weeks after Bloomberg ran a report claiming that DoCoMo was ready to consider carrying the iPhone, as long as Apple was willing to concede to a few demands, such as allowing it to preload custom apps. So the question is, who gave in?

Upcoming iPhone app ‘Ping’ fuses email and instant messaging

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 29, 2016

There's a war going on right now for email, and a major battleground is the mobile app space. On iOS alone, there are a number of applications that promise to change the way you use electronic mail like Mailbox and Dispatch.

And today we're adding another one to the list: Ping. Ping is an upcoming iPhone app that packs a number of useful features like snooze, push notifications and search, and it can replace email conversations with IM-like threads...

Lucid Games’ 2K Drive now available for download

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

Last month, 2K Games announced a new iOS exclusive racing title called '2K Drive.' The game features a number of real world vehicles, more than 25 tracks, 100+ unique events, and what the developers call "the most precise driving on iOS."

Combine all of this with impressive graphics and gameplay, and needless to say the game caught our attention. So we were excited to hear this morning that 2K Drive has been released on the App Store, and is now available for download...

Alleged iPhone 5C manufacturer Jabil Circuit accused of labor abuses [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ September 5, 2013

China Labor Watch has released another critical report today on working conditions at an Apple supplier in China. This time, the news hits a little bit closer to home for the Cupertino company, as the activist organization has taken aim at a US-owned factory.

According to CLW, employees at a Chinese factory owned by Florida-based Jabil Circuit, which is reportedly manufacturing Apple's rumored iPhone 5C, are regularly forced to work excessively long hours without overtime pay, and given inadequate training...

Path ups its monetization efforts with new $14.99 per year premium model

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 12, 2018

Path has announced this morning that it has a mobile app update on the way that will add deeper privacy controls that will allow users to choose who they share moments with. It also adds a premium model and other improvements.

And that's the big news here—this new subscription option. The social network is looking to ramp up its monetization efforts with a $14.99 per year Premium subscription service that gives users full access to stickers, filters and more...

Rumor: Apple to release A7X-based iPad and iPad mini this year, lower-cost A6 mini in 2014

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

The oft-accurate Apple analyst has spoken again. KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo came down off of his proverbial mountain last night and sent out a letter to investors with some predictions regarding Apple's iPad plans for the end of this year, and the beginning of next.

Kuo, who as we've said before has a solid track record in predicting Apple's product plans, says that he believes we'll see two new tablets from the company this year: a fifth-generation iPad and a second-generation iPad mini. And both of them will have an A7X chipset...

New video compares alleged next-gen iPad mini shell to iPad 5, current mini

Cody Lee ∙ September 4, 2013

We must be getting close to an iPad refresh, because the leaks are becoming more and more prevalent. Hot on the heels of the video that surfaced this morning of an alleged iPad 5 shell, comes a similar clip showcasing a second generation iPad mini.

The clip comes from the same source as the first video, and it claims to show the shell of a next-gen iPad mini along with an iPad 5 shell and current mini for comparison. The two 7.9-inch tablets look very similar, but there's one notable difference...

Canadian carrier Telus to discontinue some iPhone 5 Models on September 28

Cody Lee ∙ September 4, 2013

With Apple widely expected to unveil two new iPhones next week, folks have been wondering what's going to happen to the current iPhone 5. Apple typically keeps previous models around to sell at a discount, but it may not have to with a lower-cost '5C' in the lineup.

In fact, some pundits believe that Apple is going to discontinue the iPhone 5 later this month. And today comes purported evidence of that theory, with a leaked carrier inventory screenshot showing multiple current-gen iPhones being discontinued on September 28...

Samsung unveils new Galaxy Gear smartwatch for $299

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

As expected, Samsung unveiled a new smartwatch today, alongside the Galaxy Note 3 and other new devices, at its IFA keynote in Berlin, Germany. The watch is called the Galaxy Gear, and it performs a number of integrated and standalone functions for $299.

Looking at the hardware, the Gear has a 1.63-inch AMOLED touchscreen display and a 1.9-megapixel camera built into the strap. It also has an 800MHz processor, 4GB of storage, and 512MB of RAM, as well as two mics and one speaker. More details after the fold...

Jawbone introduces new ‘Mini Jambox’ Bluetooth speaker for $179

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

First there was the Jambox. Then there was the larger, aptly-named Big Jambox. And today Jawbone announced the Mini Jambox. The mini is the company's third entry into the portable Bluetooth space, helping round out the Jambox line.

But don't let the 'Mini' name fool you. It's actually not that much smaller than the original Jambox, with virtually the same height and width. In fact, the only dimension you'll notice a difference in is depth—they've shaved about 1/3 of it off...

Alleged iPad 5 casing compared to current model in new video

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

With Apple's September 10 event now less than a week away, all of the tech world's attention has turned to the next generation iPhones. It's believed that we'll see two of them next week: an updated iPhone 5S, and an all-new budget iPhone 5C.

But let's not forget that these aren't the only new products in Apple's pipeline. The company also has updated iPads in the wings, which are expected to be unveiled in October. And one of them, said to be the iPad 5, was just caught on tape...