Good news! For the few dozen of you who haven't, for one reason or another, played one of Rovio's massively popular Angry Birds titles, it's just been announced that the Angry Birds Rio game has gone free for a limited time. Both iPhone and iPad versions have been discounted to $0. More details and download links after the break...
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 working on removable device clip with tactile controls
It's kind of funny that Apple gets a bad wrap for not being innovative enough, because its IP filings tell a different story. The company was awarded more than 1,200 patents last year — which was enough to beat Google, who dabbles in self-driven cars and computer glasses.
The latest testament to Apple's innovation is a new patent application, which was just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office. It describes a removable clip for a mobile device, such as an iPod, with an integrated trackpad, that could double as a remote control...
Rolling Stone finally lands on the iPad
After a long two-year holdout, the popular magazine Rolling Stone has finally decided to embrace Apple's tablet. The publication's first iPad edition hit the Newsstand app last night in subscription flavors of $1.99 per month and $19.99 per year. It's optimized for the slate, and interactive, with iTunes links embedded in all media-related articles...
Amazon optimizes MP3 Store for iPhone
Amazon's been really stepping up its game in the digital music business over the last 6 months. Last fall it overhauled its Cloud Player service to make it more competitive with iTunes Match, and earlier this month it introduced AutoRip.
It's work continues today, with a new announcement that it has just optimized its MP3 Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. That's right, you can now purchase music from Amazon from your Apple device, with tracks starting at just $0.69...
Sprint to start offering TEP insurance on iPhones this month
After initially saying that it would not be offering its Total Equipment Protection (TEP) insurance to iPhone customers, Sprint appears to have had a change of heart. A new leaked internal memo shows that the carrier is gearing up to roll out the service to new Apple handsets later this month...
Nexus 7 believed to have outsold iPad in Japan over the holidays
Apple unveiled two new iPads just before the holidays, and is expected, by many analysts, to report strong tablet sales for the quarter next week. But according to a new report out of Japan, that may not be the case.
Market research firm BCN surveyed some 2,400 consumer electronics stores in Japan throughout the month of December. And their results showed that the iPad was outsold during the period, for the first time since 2010...
Sprint rolling out LTE to 28 new markets
Great news today for Sprint subscribers who have been lusting for LTE. The carrier just announced plans for a major expansion of its new 4G network, that will see the service added to 28 new markets over the next few months including Branson, Missouri, and Columbus, Georgia. We've got the full list of cities after the break...
Firemonkeys posts new Real Racing 3 Developer Diary video
I've been looking forward to the new Real Racing title, Real Racing 3, ever since Firemonkeys first unveiled it last August at the EA Summer Showcase press conference. The graphics in the trailer they showed off were very impressive.
We haven't heard much about the game since then, as it seems like the developers are really taking their time with the racer. But judging by this new Developer Diary video the team just posted, all of that extra work is really going to pay off...
Facebook begins rolling out free Messenger VoIP feature to the US
Earlier this month, we told you that Facebook had added a free VoIP calling feature to its Messenger app in Canada. It was clearly a test, to ensure that the social network's servers could handle the added bandwidth. And apparently the tests went well.
Today, many users, including us, have noticed that Facebook has quietly started rolling out the VoIP feature to the US version of its Messenger app. It comes by way of a new 'Free Call' button, which will allow you to telephone your FB contacts for free...
AT&T opens up FaceTime over cellular to all tiered data plans
AT&T has announced this morning that it will be once again be expanding support for iOS 6's FaceTime over cellular for its subscribers. It appears that all iOS users who are on a tiered data plan, will be able to utilize the feature from any FaceTime compatible device.
The carrier took quite a bit of heat last year when it initially announced that FaceTime over cellular would only be available to iOS users on its shared data plans. It later opened up the feature to legacy data plans, and then to LTE users. And now it's available for all...
Here’s a budget iPhone concept with a 3.5-inch display
Apple is expected to make a few changes to its mobile lineup this year. For the iPad, it's expected to revamp the 9.7-inch model making it thinner and lighter, with smaller bezels. On the iPhone side, it's expected to release a new budget model.
As with all new product rumors, artists are using their skills and creativity to create mockups of what these things could possibly look like. We showed you some earlier today of the next-gen iPad, and now we have some of the rumored 'iPhone mini.'
Analyst says Apple sold 52 million iPhones last quarter
Apple's quarterly earnings call is coming up next Wednesday, where the company will reveal its iPhone sales and other figures from the holiday quarter. And given its recent stock drop due to iPhone demand concerns, all of Wall Street will be watching.
Essentially, if the Cupertino company wants to stop the bleeding, it needs to report big numbers for last quarter. And according to KGI Securities' well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it will. He thinks Apple sold 52 million iPhones and 23 million iPads...