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.

Apple updates Remote app with improvements for search, stability and more

Is it just me, or did last November's update to the Remote application, which came alongside iTunes 11, significantly affect stability? I use the app on a daily basis to control my Apple TV, and it seems like I'm constantly having to restart it.

Well hopefully that changes today, as Apple has just pushed out an update for Remote, bringing it to version 3.0.1. The app's change log says that it includes a number of improvements, including search results, song rating and stability...

RIM rebrands, announces the first two BB10 devices

RIM's long-awaited BlackBerry 10 event just finished up, and the company had quite a lot to talk about. On top of announcing that it's rebranded itself to BlackBerry (no more Research in Motion), it unveiled its first two BB10 handsets.

I won't get into the dramatics here. Everyone knows what's on the line for the struggling smartphone-maker. And it has essentially bet its entire future on this new mobile OS and these new devices. So without further ado, let's take a look...

New Apple TV found to have A5X processor

There's been a lot of talk this week regarding the next-generation Apple TV. First, an unknown AppleTV 3,2 device popped up in Monday's iOS 6.1 release. And then yesterday, a slightly smaller ATV surfaced in some FCC documents.

So now that we know that Apple is readying a new set top box for release, the next question is: what improvements has it made? Well for starters, it looks like the device is going to get a performance bump with an A5X processor...

Judge rules that Samsung did not ‘willfully’ infringe on Apple’s patents

Last August, a California jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on several Apple patents in a high-profile trial. The initial damages awarded to Apple totaled $1.05 billion, but since Samsung was found to have 'willfully' infringed, that amount was expected to multiply.

Not so fast. The two companies have been attending post-trial hearings with Judge Lucy Koh over the past few months to plead their cases for appeals and other motions. And tonight, Judge Koh has issued a ruling overturning the jury's willful infringement finding...

FCC filing reveals new, slightly smaller Apple TV

This is pretty interesting. Hot on the heels of yesterday's discovery of an unknown AppleTV3,2 device in the new iOS 6.1 firmware comes evidence that Apple is indeed planning to refresh the set-top box sometime in the near future.

The proof comes by way of a new FCC (Federal Communications Commission) filing, published today, from the Cupertino company. The documents out an unreleased Apple TV, model A1469, with slightly smaller dimensions...

The EFF clarifies legality of jailbreaking and unlocking in the US

The big news this week, aside from the new 128GB iPad and the impending jailbreak, has been that unlocking your phone became illegal in the US on Saturday. Law-breakers face a fine of up to $500,000 and/or 5 years in jail.

Well today, the folks over at the EFF (the Electronic Frontier Foundation) commented on the new regulations and have broken down what they really mean for us end-users. There's both good news and bad news...

iOS 6.1 patches Smart App Banner JavaScript bug

Last month, we reported that a JavaScript bug had been discovered involving Smart App Banners. Apple added the feature in iOS 6 as a way to help developers promote their apps and provide users with a direct link to download them.

Well as it turned out, these Smart Banners were enabling JavaScript in the iOS Settings app without user consent or knowledge. And this was considered to be a fairly serious security threat. But it looks like Apple has fixed it in iOS 6.1...

White House petition goes up to make unlocking phones legal again

By now, you've likely heard of the recent change in DMCA policy that makes the act of unlocking newer cell phones illegal. And even though the EFF clarified some things for us earlier today, it still sounds like we're getting screwed.

In fact, some folks feel so strongly about the new law that they've started a White House petition calling for the Obama administration to either rescind the decision, or create a new bill making unlocking permanently legal...

THX launches new app for calibrating your TV and home theater

THX, the company behind the high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard for movie theaters and consumer products, has released a new iOS application today called THX tune-up.

The app is built to help consumers calibrate, or 'get the most out of,' their HDTVs and home theater setups. And with the Super Bowl less than a week away, its timing couldn't be better...

500px app returns to App Store with new ‘Report’ feature

Good news this morning for all of you 500px users. After getting pulled by Apple last week due to nude photo controversy, the photography service's iOS client has made its way back into the App Store.

The app returns today with multiple bug fixes, and a new 'Report This Photo' feature that allows users to report a photo they believe to be inappropriate. We have the full change log after the fold...

TinyUmbrella updated with support for iOS 6.1

With a new jailbreak impending, it's nice to see that notcom has updated his SHSH blob-saving utility this afternoon. TinyUmbrella now supports the newly-released iOS 6.1 firmware, as well as iOS 6.0.2.

The developer also says that he is still hard at work on a TU revamp, which will include auto-updating and "much cleaner code."

Apple releases iOS 6.1 with more LTE support and Siri improvements

Following up Saturday night's release of the fifth iteration of the iOS 6.1 beta, Apple has seeded the final version of iOS 6.1 to the public (download link). The release comes nearly three months after the initial beta of iOS 6.1 was issued to developers.

So what did Apple do to its mobile operating system during all of that time? Well, most of the changes here were expected. There's now more carrier support for LTE, and Siri is now able to purchase movie tickets through Fandango.

Keep reading for the full change log...