Jim Gresham

Editor at iDownloadBlog.com since 2012, Jim Gresham curates the finest wallpapers and customizations for Apple devices, enhancing user experience through visual creativity. With a keen eye for design and a passion for personalization, Jim helps readers transform their screens into stunning displays. He spent his younger years tinkering with computers, reading about technology, and watching Star Wars, while being teased by his peers at school for nerdy tendencies. Since 2008, he has worked on improving his Apple arsenal and spends his free time researching the latest gadget trends, trying to find the next awesome iDevice accessory for review. A native of the Commonwealth of Virginia, he enjoys the stiff crease on a well-ironed dress shirt and dons a bow tie on a regular basis.

Belkin WeMo Insight Switch review: control home appliances and electronics from your iPhone

Growing up as a child, anytime my family would venture out of town for more than a couple days, my father would run around the house trying to locate "the timers." The timers, with which anyone is familiar, were the timer switches for the lamps in the house. They were old brown boxes with a beige turn wheel and a little switch, think I/O, for each of 24 hours. After manually selecting each switch to either turn on or off the receptacle, off you go for vacation. Now your lights magically turn on while you are away.

Even in the late '80's, I remember those timers looking dated, even acting dated. But, they worked and continue to be the same technology most people use today. Thankfully, Belkin is putting a stop to this archaic fumbling system with a modern appeal. The WeMo line of home automated devices gives you the power, literally, in a carefully crafted app and hardware unit.

Lion wallpapers for iPhone and iPad

We are back with another edition of Wallpapers of the Week. Last week, we featured a grouping of wallpapers termed "stars and moons," to much excitement. However, there were several comments about not receiving the posted wallpapers in iPad format. The Wallpapers of the Week section is designed for iOS device wallpaper downloads, but that doesn't guarantee any certain size submission. With the intent to make a conscious effort to please those readers looking for iPad wallpapers, this week I chose a set of wallpapers with iPad specific sizes.

Taking the subject back to nature, the walls herein are of the jungle's king. With no intent on striking a resemblance between Apple's operating system and the subject matter, simply, lions are a very striking and photogenic creature. The lion's majesty is caught in these images and shared for all your iOS devices.

The Big Turtle Shell and its 2.0 sidekick are Bluetooth speakers that can handle the elements

I'm partial to having a speaker in almost every room of the house. There is no particular reason why and, after thinking about it, I am not really that into music. However it is nice to always have some jams going in the background. Thanks to Outdoor Tech, I can have music going in one room, but still hear it in the next. Or, if I am rocking out in the neighborhood pool, I am loud enough to get in trouble.

After meeting with Outdoor Tech at CES, I was really excited about both the Big Turtle Shell and the Turtle Shell 2.0. If you can recall, I reviewed the Turtle Shell gen. 1, and was pretty impressed. In fact, the Turtle Shell has not left my kitchen, except for a couple of roadie tours, for a complete year. I have access to a lot of gear, so it is definitely a credit to the product for any one to make it a full year.

I must admit, the Turtle Shell has been de-throned, in favor of the 2.0 version and the big brother, Big Turtle Shell.

Stars and moons wallpapers for iPhone

Previous popular wallpapers included galaxy images. Our galaxy variant and starred night sky wallpaper posts were some of the most popular over our first year of Wallpapers of the Week. In the spirit of giving the readers more of what they want, this week we present another set of galaxy inspired wallpapers.

Today, there is a pack of wallpaper posts highlighting a whimsical approach to the starry sky. From creatively placed moons, to clouds and even space ships, if you are into galaxies, possibly far, far away, step inside for your downloads...

Cityscape wallpapers

This week's wallpaper post moves away from graphically created imagery and back to a photographic focus. While previously popular posts include simulated geometric shapes, the contents in today's walls include similarly playful designs.

Utilizing standard photographic techniques, both images bring back the basics. The cobbled street image plays with leading lines in the street, drawing the users eye to the photo's mid-point. However, with a blurred background, the focus hangs in the foreground on the textured stone road.

In the additional image, tall buildings are utilized to frame the street, creating depth of field, while making the image seem visually longer and deeper than flatter graphically designed alternatives. In both versions, the flat tonal color scheme will make icons pop and the Lock screen clock will not be lost. Step inside for the download...

Instagram’s Bolt wallpapers

As with previous Wallpaper of the Week editions, there is a desire to populate relevant media to the section. Typically, the section is completed with wallpapers by theme or genre. Alternatively, when there are time related walls, we like to make sure they spot light on the Sunday afternoon post.

Instagram released a new Snapchat competitor, Bolt. Considered a "one-tap photo messaging" solution, Bolt does not require a Facebook or Instagram account to operate. Instead, Bolt utilizes a mobile phone number to interact with friends via photos and videos.

With a minimal and elegant home page, Bolt sparked the interest of @JasonZigrino, who submitted his wallpapers inspired by the new app.

Colorado landscapes wallpapers

During the last two months, the Wallpapers of the Week section was populated with contrived or graphically designed wallpapers. While walls like the "Complex Geometry" and Puerta del Sol Apple Store opening were very well received, today we celebrate natural beauty of the Colorado landscape.

A skill I always envy is an artist's ability to capture nature through a camera lens. Much more complicated than pointing and shooting your Photo app on a smartphone, true beauty is difficult to capture. An artist I keep up with published these images recently and shared them through Twitter. Get downloading!

Alternative transportation wallpapers

Each week, we bring you some of the best wallpaper images the web can offer. Sometimes, these wallpapers are user submitted, others found, some sought by theme or category. It is an open experiment we hold every Sunday, that keeps readers coming back to see what washed up for their devices.

This week is a themed week and the images inside have been scoured from the internet. It seemed that cars were just too easy. Consequently, we offer you a set of alternative transportation wallpapers, from Blackhawks to the Batmobile...

Geometry wallpapers

A couple weeks ago, we posted a set of "simple geometry" wallpapers by @A_RTX on the Wallpapers of the Week section. The images were met with quite a lot of fan fair, receiving more than twice the number of social shares than other previews wallpaper posts. With more than 150 shares, I decided to add another wallpaper set in the same genre.

If you did not, go back to the simple geometry post for six, excellent wallpapers. If you are an old pro at the wallpaper section, forge on to redeem your new set of images...

Download the new iOS 8 beta 3 wallpaper

With every new major version of iOS, Apple releases a new wallpaper, or set of wallpapers. More rarely, Apple will include a new stock wallpaper in a beta release. Today, with Apple's launch of iOS 8 beta 3, user's uncovered a simple, but new wallpaper.

There is some back-and-forth over wether the wallpaper is new, or not, but after comparing beta 2 and iOS 7 to the new stock images, there is one additional. A simple white wallpaper with gray dots is included. This new wallpaper can easily be mistaken for a slightly grayer version included with iOS 7...

Puerta del Sol wallpapers

Apple is constantly adding new stores around the globe. Frequently, Apple creates a marketing scheme to celebrate the new additions. In Tokyo, the marketing scheme surrounded a green wall that is adorned with plants, as a climate controlled wall to help regulate indoor temperatures. With the new feature in mind, Apple created a very green and leafy cover board and art to coincide with the store opening. We featured several wallpaper versions that were inspired by Apples green friendly design and many readers enjoyed the art.

Today, the same artist is back at it, with a wallpaper set highlighting the most recent June 21 opening in Madrid's Puerta del Sol...

The Magnus Mini iPad stand is a minimalist obsession

Ten One Design is mostly known for the Pogo Stylus, which comes in multiple designs. Bumping into the team at CES, I was able to get a glance at the Magnus Mini, their new iPad mini stand. It is one of the most simplistically designed iPad stands I have ever used. With just a small base and a minimal lip, iPad is held at a perfect angle to remain standing with as little effort as possible.

In comparison to other much more complicated docks or stands, the Magnus Mini is a welcomed change to the otherwise overly dramatic iPad dock arena...