Oliver Haslam

iPhone Gaming Costs UK Businesses £800 Million, or $1.3 Billion a Year

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

We love studies here at iDB, especially when they result in entirely meaningless numbers that are almost guaranteed to get traction. Studies like this one, for example.

UK firm iBingo has questioned just 2,000 iPhone owners about their working habits, and in particular, how much gaming they do during working hours. Turns out, they all 'fessed up to playing games on their iPhones for around one hour a day. From there, iBingo took the numbers and ran with them, and have since made some bold claims based on those 2,000 users...

iPhone 5 Parts Watch: Is This the iPhone 5’s Home Button?

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated March 27, 2017

There are three things guaranteed to happen with a new iPhone release: people will pre-order it, it will sell even more units than its predecessor did, and supposed parts will leak out just before it is announced. All three happen each and every time, and so far, the iPhone 5 is true to that system.

We've already seen some supposed iPhone 5 replacement parts appear, and now a Chinese parts web site claims to be selling the handset's home button flex cable...

Testflight for iOS Gets an Update, Makes Beta Testing Even More Fun

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

Beta testing is a pretty big part of developing iOS apps these days. Once upon a time, a developer could throw an app out there and fix bugs as they went along, but with competition at its fiercest these days, that would be suicide for most. Most apps have so much competition, users will just move onto the next big thing, or find a replacement that works better. Bugs kill apps, and dead apps kill developers.

Beta testing is vital, and Testflight makes it super easy for both the tester and the developer alike...

Magic Gloves with iPod Controls Bring Music to Snow Sport Enthusiasts

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

If you're the kind of person who likes to play around in the snow, probably with a pair of skis or a snowboard, then chances are you're familiar with the problem of finding a way to listen to your music while flailing around in the white stuff. See, it's a bit cold out there, and taking your gloves off to skip a track or change the volume on your iPhone isn't that fun.

New gloves from Burton, manufacturer of snowboards and the like, aim to fix that little problem once and for all, by embedding iPod controls right into the fabric of some truly magical gloves...

The Best Way to Entertain Your Child With Your Expensive iPhone?

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 12, 2011

There are good ideas in this world, and then there are bad ideas. Giving your $650 iPhone to a young child has to rank amongst one of the worst ideas we've heard of for a long while, but that's exactly what Fisher Price wants us to do. The toy company has created a handy-dandy little iPhone case for that exact purpose.

Dubbed the "Laugh and Learn Apptivity Case" and set to go on sale next month, the case protects your iPhone or iPod touch while a 6-36 month-old child does its best to eat it, drool on it, or do other generally bad things to it...

Did Apple Try to Buy Dropbox For $800m to Help iCloud?

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 3, 2018

In the build-up to Apple announcing its MobileMe replacement, iCloud, the Cupertino firm apparently considered a move for the acquisition of syncing-in-the-cloud king Dropbox, according to reports.

Apple was so impressed with Dropbox, and its expected $100 million/year income, that they decided to offer $800 million in order to buy the company. The claim comes from Business Insider, and the report is quick to point out that the rumor is unconfirmed, but it is interesting to consider, nonetheless...

Shoot Pictures on Your iPhone and Send Them Directly to Photoshop with Acquire

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated February 18, 2018

Photographers are a finicky bunch. Always editing and always changing images until they get them just right.

Adobe's Photoshop is used for all the heavy lifting, but more and more people are just using an iPhone to take the shots in the first place. We already know just how popular a camera the iPhone 4 is, and that's only going to improve with the release of the iPhone 5.

A new app from FlyingCarLTD aims to help budding photographers and professionals alike, by making the importing of iDevice photos into Photoshop as easy as possible. It's so easy in fact, that you don't even need to think about it...

Vodafone UK Almost Confirms iPhone 5 to Come With 16/32GB of Storage

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 11, 2011

An interesting little tidbit this Sunday morning, and as is so often the case recently, it's more iPhone 5 news. This particular story comes courtesy of one of the UK's largest carriers, Vodafone.

A product listing on Vodafone UK's website appears to have dropped the bombshell that the iPhone 5 will come in 16GB and 32GB flavors only, meaning no 64GB storage bump this time around...

Android Apps Make Less Money than App Store Apps, Piracy to Blame

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

It's a story that's been told before, but it seems that Android developers aren't getting much love, with a new report suggesting that they are making only a fraction of what their iOS competitors are raking in.

The reason that Android apps are less profitable than App Store apps? Oddly enough, piracy...

Sprint All But Confirms the iPhone 5

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated May 17, 2017

All of the evidence is beginning to point toward an October release for the iPhone 5, and Sprint has all but confirmed that fact, with the nation's third largest carrier telling its staff that they cannot take any vacation time between September 30th and October 15th.

The news comes via Sprintfeed, who has managed to get its hands on an internal memo informing employees of the blackout...

Jawbone is About to Release an Awesome Health Bracelet that Works with the iPhone

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 10, 2011

Accessories are one of the things that make the iPhone such a pleasure to use. Knowing millions upon millions of users have the exact same handset means accessory manufacturers are more than happy to come up with little toys and tools that work with the iPhone, something that isn't a trivial feat in the world of Android.

Jawbone is one accessory manufacturer that has taken the iPhone to heart, and their latest invention is a real doozy...

Fring Launches Playgrounds, Group Video Meets Chatroulette

Oliver Haslam ∙ September 9, 2011

You know when something seems like a really good idea, but in reality, it's going to be hijacked by the less morally upstanding? Fring's latest video chat feature feels just like that, and we're sure it's going to turn out badly.

Fring has been around for some time now, offering cross-platform chat and video chat via their own apps. Their latest feature is an interesting one, and it's clear that they are trying to get more people to use their smartphones as video communicators.

Fring calls it "Playgrounds," and the idea is a simple one: 'rooms' based on categories, such as, fans of a TV show, in which people can join and video chat. Like we say, it seems like a good idea. But it probably isn't...