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.

91% of tech moms want an iPad for Mother’s Day instead of flowers

Still trying to figure out what to get your mom for Mother's Day? Well you could always opt for the traditional bouquet of flowers. But a recent survey shows that it's not blossoms moms are after — it's iPads.

Techbargains, a bargain-hunting site that points users to the best deals on consumer electronics, recently polled a number of female users on what they'd most like to receive for the upcoming holiday...

Shipping times for the new iPad drop to 3-5 days

During Apple's most recent earnings call, Tim Cook cited constrained supplies for the new iPad as a reason its tablet sales were a little off. But that doesn't seem to be the case any more, as availability continues to improve.

Just two weeks after we saw iPad shipping estimates drop to 5-7 business days, shipping times have once again decreased. It looks like folks wanting to order a new iPad online will now only have to wait a measly 3-5 days...

Android holds 51% of US smartphone market, iOS at 31%

ComScore is out with a new report this week regarding US smartphone platform marketshare for the March quarter. And the highly-regarded marketing research firm provides an interesting look at the current smartphone landscape by OS.

Google, as you might have expected, is still in the lead with its Android operating system. Apple's iOS is in a [comparatively] close second, and RIM and Microsoft come in at a distant third and fourth. Keep reading for a full breakdown...

Rumor: familiar-looking ‘iPhone 5’ SIM tray surfaces

For the second time in the last two weeks, a parts vendor has leaked a purported 'iPhone 5' component. Last Tuesday we saw some Home buttons surface that reportedly belonged to Apple's next-generation handset, and now we've come across a SIM card tray.

As noted by MacRumors, SW-BOX.com has posted some information on a claimed 'iPhone 5' SIM card tray that it's apparently just obtained from one of its parts suppliers. And, as the site points out, it looks nearly identical to its iPhone 4/4S counterpart...

Dock your iPhone in style with the ODOC

Folks in the market for a high-quality iPhone dock might want to look into the ODOC Kickstarter project. The ODOC is an elegantly-designed dock for your iPhone or iPod touch that's packed full of features.

The accessory's main selling point is its patent-pending ball-bearing mechanism that can lock your device into five different viewing angles, allowing you to use it in different positions while it charges...

Facebook working on iPad version of Messenger app

The Facebook Messenger app debuted last fall and has remained one of the most popular iOS apps ever since. It seems a lot of members of the social networking service use the standalone messaging app over standard texting.

So far, the software has only been available [for iOS] on the iPhone. But it looks like that could be changing in the near future. According to 9to5Mac, Facebook is working on an iPad version of its popular Messenger app...

Would you buy a carrier-subsidized iPad?

In the midst of all of the talk regarding Apple releasing a smaller iPad to reach out to budget shoppers, one analyst has another idea on how the company could lower the slate's cost to infiltrate the budget tablet market. Carrier subsidies.

Analyst A.I. Houriani, of Seeking Alpha, believes that Apple could sell a lot more iPads if it could convince carriers to absorb some of the tablet's up front costs in exchange for multi-year contracts — similar to what they do with iPhones...

Analyst believes Apple will soon become a mobile operator

9to5Mac points to an interesting presentation given at the recent Barcelona Informa MVNO Industry Summit by Whitey Bluestein. The wireless industry analyst believes that Apple is about to launch its own wireless service courtesy of MVNO.

This isn't the first time we've heard rumors regarding the iPhone-makers becoming a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, but Bluestein believes this is set to happen in the "near future." And he makes a pretty convincing argument too...

Apple concedes top smartphone vendor title to Samsung

Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones last quarter, nearly doubling the amount of handsets it sold in the same three month period a year ago. But despite its record-breaking performance, the company still conceded its top smartphone vendor title to Samsung.

During the holiday quarter, Apple shipped 37.1 million handsets — the most out of any of the other smartphone manufacturers in the world. And it looked like it was set to do it again this time around, but the Korean handset-maker edged it out...

RIM unveils new BB10 operating system

It's pretty common knowledge that the smartphone space currently belongs to Android and iOS. The two platforms make up more than 70% of the market, which at one time belonged to the likes of Microsoft and RIM.

But neither company saw the iPhone coming, and both failed to respond quickly. Now they're fighting for the crucial "third platform" spot. Microsoft with its Windows Phone OS, and RIM with its new BB10...

RIM confirms it was behind recent ‘Wake Up’ stunt

Finally, all of the speculation can come to an end. Remember that ridiculous 'wake up' flash mob that hit an Australian Apple store a few days ago? Of course you do, we've been hearing about it nonstop.

Well as it turns out, Macworld was right. RIM was behind the whole thing. How do we know? Well, because the BlackBerry-makers just gave a statement to Macworld Australia confirming it...

Meet the iPhone Plus

Those of you who have been reading iDB for a while know we love a good iPhone concept. So when we came across these beautiful renderings of the iPhone Plus from the folks over at ADR Studio, we knew we had to post them.

If the name ADR Studio sounds familiar, it's because it's the same design firm behind other concepts we've featured on our site, including the iPhone SJ. And as usual, they didn't disappoint. Meet the iPhone Plus...