Jeff Benjamin

Jeff has been with iDownloadBlog since 2010, acting as resident video specialist, and tutorial expert. He earned his degree in Computer Network Systems back in 2001, but decided Cisco routers and the like just weren’t for him. Since then, he’s been heavily involved with online writing. He’s written for numerous tech and video game sites since the late 1990′s, and has a knack for explaining things in a simple, clear, and concise manner. Jeff works primarily from the east coast on his Retina Macbook Pro, and shoots video with a Canon DSLR. During downtime he likes to travel the world, visiting the various Apple Stores across the globe. You can email him at jeff [at] idownloadblog.com and follow him on Twitter @JeffBenjam or on Google+.

‘iNetUsage’ Makes it Easy to Discern Which Apps Are Data Hogs

Are you having problems with phantom data charges on your wireless bill? Interested in which apps are causing you to always go over your data cap? If so, I have the perfect jailbreak tweak for you.

It's called iNetUsage, and it is a tweak available on Cydia that allows you to monitor your data usage on an app-to-app basis.

There's even a provision to break it down over Wi-Fi and cellular usage, along with setting up specific data ranges for your analysis.

Overall, iNetUsage is an extremely robust tweak that will have you pinching every kilobyte of data out of your monthly plan. Unlimited data users need not apply...

Breaking: More Mouth Watering Photos of iOS 5 Revealed

As if you needed any more reason to anticipate the biggest upgrade to iOS ever! Yep, we have a few more savory pictures of iOS 5 in the flesh, and we want you to see them.

This next batch of photos show off three new features to iOS 5: Newsstand, Reminders, and Twitter integration.

It's funny because prior to the show, Twitter integration was probably one of the most highly anticipated rumors. After the show, you almost forget that Apple even announced it, that's how insanely deep iOS 5 is.

Check out a few more screenshots of iOS 5 inside...

Breaking: New iOS 5 Albums and Camera Photos Emerge

More photo goodness has emerged from a friendly email, and this time they illustrate some new features surrounding photos.

To be more specific, these images focus on album creation and management.

In iOS 5, you're no longer relegated to managing your photo albums on your Mac or PC; nope, now you can manage albums directly on your iPhone.

Apple is apparently very serious about their new PC Free initiative, and it shows when looking at the screenshots contained inside...

Breaking: New Photos of iOS 5 Initial Setup Emerge

Someone sent me a few exclusive photos of some of the new features in iOS 5, and it looks like a doozy folks.

If you tuned into this morning's WWDC keynote, you are well aware that Apple is implementing a new PC Free strategy for iOS 5, and that includes the initial setup of your iPhone.

Inside we have a few interesting screenshots of the iPhone's initial setup screens, along with the new Home screen equipped with a new iPod touch-esque Music app, along with a settings screen for iCloud.

Interested in seeing the iOS of the future? Check out the exclusive images inside...

Newsstand Brings Newspapers and Magazines Directly to Your iPhone Courtesy of iOS 5

The second big iOS 5 enhancement announced at the 2011 WWDC was none other than Newsstand -- a method to directly access magazines and newspaper content from your iPhone.

So all of your favorite magazines -- Elle, GQ, Esquire, etc. are available for immediate download and will reside in a folder that looks like, well, a newsstand on your iPhone's Home screen.

Subscriptions will play a role in newsstand to seamlessly deliver your content right to the comforts of your iPhone.

New issues of all of your favorite reading material will be downloaded in the background and available for reading later, even offline...

So The Leaked iPhone 5 Photo Might Have Been Taken With…An iPhone 5?

I'm ashamed that I didn't notice this detail before, but props to the eagle eyed Kurt178 and Appman over at iFans for noticing the details.

When you take a look at the leaked shot of what is purportedly an iPhone 5 back plate, it appears that it was snapped with an iPhone...just not any iPhone currently in production.

The phone's reflection shows what looks to be a camera opposite from the flash, incidentally, just like the item that is being captured on camera.

Apparently, some Photoshop magic was used in order to better highlight the device in the reflection, rendering it pretty easy to spot...

New Windows Utility Allows You to Use AirPlay With Windows Media Center

It's becoming more and more apparent that AirPlay -- Apple's media streaming technology is here for the long haul.

We've seen numerous applications for both the iPhone, the Mac, and even Android devices that in some way or another, massage AirPlay's functionality to meet their needs.

Throughout all of the fun, Windows has ultimately been left out; that is until now.

Developer Thomas Pleasance made sure of that fact with the recent release of his AirPlay enabled Windows Media Center Add-in...

5 Things I’d Really Love to See From The Next iPhone

There's been all sorts of mutters, speculations, and guesses surrounding the next iPhone. Some of the ideas sound great, while others sound pretty terrible.

Needless to say I think we all have our own personal wish list of things that we would like to see on the next iPhone, so I thought I'd share with you a few of mine. Obviously, these are just wishes, not necessarily realities, but hey, it's nice to dream, isn't it?

My first wish for the next iPhone is none other than...

‘ShareApp’ Makes it Much Easier to Share Your Favorite App Store Apps

Have you ever stumbled upon an App Store app that was just so useful that you wanted to share it with the world?

Apple's figured as much, that's why they've included a "Tell a Friend" button at the bottom of every page for each app in the App Store.

Unfortunately that button often goes overlooked because it's still stuck in the 90's (it only does email).

As usual, a new tweak comes through to save the day; it's called ShareApp, a free jailbreak tweak available on Cydia, and it makes it easy to share your favorite App Store finds via Twitter...

Here’s How iOS 5’s Speech Recognition Might Work

Speech recognition is a hot topic right now, and for good reason. It's evident that iOS 5 is going to feature a heavy mix of speech recognition tech, and this is the way that mobile phones are headed as a whole.

But how exactly will speech recognition integrate with iOS? For instance, how will we go about transcribing an SMS message using only our voice?

Jan-Michael Cart, creator of quite a few iOS 5 mockups, has envisioned his rendition of iOS 5's speech recognition tech, and has shared it with the rest of the Apple community...

It’s Raining iPhones! Chinese Counterfeiters Toss 600 Fake iPhones Out of 18th Floor Apartment Window

This has to be one of the silliest ideas I've seen in what, like a day?

Fearing being nabbed by the authorities, cell phone counterfeiters opted to try to get rid of the evidence by tossing 656 fake iPhone 5 boxes out of an 18th story apartment window. Yeah, nobody's going to see that.

The counterfeiters have an obvious fondness for the iPhone, but they weren't discriminating. Among the items tossed were 284 Nokia phones, and 60 Sony Ericsson phones as well.

Shanzhai factories, as they are known, refer to operations that produce counterfeit goods that closely imitate the real deal. Unfortunately, it looks like these four dealers didn't get the message that the iPhone 5 won't be here until September.

The factories -- especially prominent in the gadget crazed Shenzhen -- are facing increasing scrutiny from local authorities as they try to clean up the area's foreign perception.

Thus, it's getting more difficult for shanzhai operations to go about business the old fashion way, with many opting for more covert means of distribution.

Something tells me that tossing 1,000 cell phone's, cases and all, out of an 18th floor apartment window, is anything but covert.

The counterfeit goods smashed cars and fences, but thankfully, no one was hurt by the sudden deluge of iPhones.

Oh, and as you may have guessed, the foursome was still apprehended by the po-po.

The good news is that the people standing below the window got their hands on an "iPhone 5", and it was free no less.

How many of us can say we got an "iPhone 5" for free, and it's not even summer yet?

[M.I.C. Gadget]

MobileMe Enters Lame Duck Status as Amazon Halts Sales

So long MobileMe, it wasn't nice knowing ya.

You were overpriced, you didn't do much, and there were many other cloud services that simply did it better. Good riddance.

If you're feeling like I'm feeling, then the revelation that Amazon has halted orders of MobileMe sales is music to your ears.

Speaking of music, the worst kept secret in the industry will likely be replacing MobileMe as an all in one service that does music, document sharing, and more. Yep, I'm talking about iCloud...