This is a summary of the most popular articles published on iDB and our sister, ziPadBlog, this past week.
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Top 10 iPhone News You Might Have Missed This Week
Sébastien Page
Sebastien is the Founder and Editor in Chief of iDB. Once a BlackBerry user, Sebastien instantly fell in love with the iPhone when it was first announced in 2007. Shortly after, he decided to start sharing his knowledge of the iPhone and its nascent ecosystem, which led to the creation of this blog. Sebastien currently owns 14 iPhones, 4 iPads, a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, a MacBook Air, 2 Apple Watches, 3 Apple TVs, countless HomePods and AirTags as well as a few pairs of AirPods. Google Maps Now on Your Mobile Browser
Google is now allowing you to use Google Maps directly from the browser, without having to use an application. Simply point your iPhone to maps.google.com and after allowing the web app to use your current location, Google Maps will locate you and offer various options that are already available through the native app.
The app works pretty well, although it took me a minute or so to really figure out how everything worked, especially how to get directions and switch back and forth with the maps. Maybe that's just me though. It's still early and my brain probably isn't at 100%.
This being said, the conspiracy theorist in me thinks there is a reason why Google is releasing Google Maps for the browser at this time...
Crazy Guy Uses Jailbreak App to Threaten His Former Co-Workers
Fridays usually are slow news days so it's the perfect occasion for sharing news pieces that wouldn't normally make it to iDB. This one is pretty interesting, especially because it involves a jailbreak application.
A 22 year-old man from Tampa, FL, used his iPhone and an application called CallerID Faker to make anonymous and threatening phone calls to his ex co-workers at Florida Energy. He faked the caller ID and alter his voice using the application so he wouldn't be recognized...
Amazon Wants to Buy Your Old iPhone
You have an old iPhone and don't know what to do with it? Instead of selling it on Craigslist or eBay, you might want to consider trading it in at Amazon. The company's new trade in program allows you to receive an Amazon gift card in exchange of your old iPhone, or any other device for that matter.
The process is pretty simple and straightforward too. Go to Amazon trade in page, select the device you want to trade in, print the label, ship it, and receive a gift card for the pre-determined amount...
Man Pays $1,600 for Four Empty iPhone Boxes
A man in Manhattan saw an ad on Craigslist for 4 iPhone 4 at $400 a piece, for a total of $1,600. Because the seller was in Wichita, the buyer asked a friend of his who live there to go buy the iPhones for him. He sent him a check for $1,600, his friend cashed the check and set up a meeting with the seller.
When they met, the buyer gave the seller $1,600 without even bothering having a look at the iPhones. What a terrible mistake. Of course, the boxes were empty, and when he realized that and yelled at the seller, he was told that he had a gun, and that he should basically shut up and leave...
Survey Finds AT&T and T-Mobile Customer Satisfaction the Worst in the Industry
An interesting piece of non-informative information from the Associated Press quoting a survey (I can't seem to find an actual link to this survey) that found AT&T and T-Mobile at the bottom of ratings in customer satisfaction.
AT&T haters will rejoice whereas those like me who have always had great experience with AT&T customer service will be wondering how this is possible...
RecognizeMe Now Available for Jailbroken iPhone
Yesterday we told you about RecognizeMe, a jailbreak app that lets you use facial recognition to unlock your iPhone. Instead of using a password you can have your face scanned for verification.
RecognizeMe is now available on Cydia for $6.99 via the BigBoss repo. It's undoubtedly one of the coolest jailbreak apps out there, but is it really worth it to spend 10 waiting for your face to be scanned when you could unlock your phone is just about a second?
Verizon to Kill the Unlimited Data Plan
Remember when the Verizon iPhone first came out? One of the most compelling reason to switch was the unlimited data plan that big red offered to its new iPhone customers. This really was just a scheme to reel AT&T users in as it was clear that Verizon had no plan to offer unlimited data for too long.
If that wasn't clear enough, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo confirmed today at Reuters Global Technology Summit that Verizon will eliminate unlimited data plans as soon as this summer...
If You’re Going to Rob an Apple Store, Make Sure There is No Cop Waiting for You Outside
If we had a section on iDB called "people with terrible luck," this story would fit in perfectly. On Tuesday, 5 people entered the Apple Store at Town Square in Las Vegas and started stealing iPhones, iPads, and laptops in front of everyone - can you imagine the balls on these guys?
The thieves most likely realized that someone was going to call the cops but they probably thought that by the time cops show up, they'd be long gone. What they surely didn't know is that plainclothes officers happened to be right outside the Apple Store, working on an unrelated case...
Forget the White iPhone 4… Here is the Blue iPhone 4
All this talk about the white iPhone 4 might have gotten you a little desensitized about it, no? Besides, why would you want a white iPhone 4 when you can have an even rarer deep blue iPhone 4?
As you probably have guessed by now, this is not an official color offered by Apple, but a conversion kit straight out of China. Not only this kit is original, I think it's gorgeous as well, but it obviously depends on your tastes...
Real Life Angry Birds
What's better than a Angry Birds cake? Maybe this real life Angry Birds game. I have to admit I am getting a bit tired of the game, but for some reason, I can't have enough of those videos parodying the most famous birds on earth.
I'm not sure what this video is about, but if my Spanish is still good, I believe it's the shooting of a commercial for some Angry Birds related product...
Apple Thinks Smaller is Better. We’re Talking SIM Cards of Course…
When Apple launched the first iPad a little over a year ago, it introduced a fairly new SIM format called Micro SIM. A few months later, those Micro SIMs were also implemented in the iPhone 4. Smaller in size compared to the standard Mini SIMs, Micro SIMs do the exact same job while using less space.
Always on the fore front of tech pioneering, Apple is now submitting a new requirement to the European Telecoms Standards Body (ETSB) for the use of even smaller SIM cards in cell phones and mobile devices...