Best Buy and Sprint giving students 12 months of free talk, text and data with phone purchase

If you're a student on the lookout for an iPhone this holiday season, look no further than Best Buy and Sprint which teamed up for a cool smartphone promotion. Beginning today and valid until January 4, eligible students who purchase an eligible Sprint phone at Best Buy stores, at the student-activated price, and sign up for one of Sprint's plans will received twelve months of free service which includes unlimited talk, text and one gigabyte of data.

This normally costs $70 per month so the free year of service could save you a total of $840. Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Retina iPad mini has inferior color gamut to iPad Air

Apple's latest iPad mini with Retina display went unexpectedly on sale last Friday. As is the case with any Apple product launch, this one, too, came with its share of teething issues.

Some early adopters may have bought a device with Sharp-made IGZO screen which apparently exhibits slight image retention issue, for example.

I was deep into AnanandTech's exhaustive Retina iPad mini review the other day and stumbled upon a section which describes the device's Retina display as actually showing fewer colors compared to the iPad Air. Not that an untrained eye will notice any difference, but I've decided to post this anyway for purely academic purposes...

Apple launches trade-in program in India to make older iPhones less expensive

India is home to 1.24 billion people. As such, the second most-populous nation (after China) is among the fast-growing markets for smartphones. Brazil, Russia, India and China have a collective population of nearly three billion people and as such these so-called BRIC markets are estimated to each overtake the United States in smartphone sales by 2018.

India is particularly important to Apple so Tim Cook & Co. in past few months rolled out a series of initiatives aimed at making it easier for cash-strapped consumers to purchase an iPhone. Apple's premium pricing strategy coupled with high import taxes and low average pay put the iPhone out of reach for many average Indians so the firm is now launching a new smartphone trade-in program in co-operation with local resellers...

Rumor: Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant stops iPhone 5c production

The world's top contract manufacturer, Taiwan-based Foxconn, is responsible for approximately one-third of total iPhone 5c volume and now the company is allegedly winding down handset production at its factory in Zhengzhou, northern China, and shifting capacity to the flagship iPhone 5s, according to "industry sources" who spoke to DigiTimes, an industry publication with a mixed track record.

The story somewhat corroborates last week's article by a Chinese blog which said another iPhone 5c manufacturer, Pegatron, slashed iPhone 5c production significantly because the flagship iPhone 5s was selling better to early adopters than the iPhone 5c, which is basically the last year's iPhone 5 repackaged in colorful cases...

Vimeo gets AirDrop sharing, new Incoming feed and more

Vimeo, the popular YouTube alternative founded by Jake Lodwick and Zach Klein in November 2004, has an excellent iPhone and iPad app which a year ago received a major makeover and has been the choice of many videographers who demand higher quality with less restrictions than Google's video sharing service.

The company today pushed another interesting feature update finally bringing AirDrop video sharing between compatible devices, plus a new Incoming feed. As you could imagine, there are usual bug fixes and performance improvements in this update and a useful option where you can choose to have Vimeo use Wi-Fi or cellular connection when syncing videos...

Fantastical 2 updated with sound for notifications, badge options, and more

Fantastical 2, one of the apps that many of us agree is an absolute must have, has been updated with tons of improvements, bug fixes, and optimizations. If you have automatic updates enabled for your iOS device and you already own Fantastical 2, you may have already received the update. Otherwise, you can head over to the App Store to download it now.

Coming in at 16.3 MB, version 2.0.1 of Fantastical 2 adds sound to notifications, brings additional app icon badge options, and lends iPhone 4 users a performance boost. Those are among the many additional changes and fixes added in with version 2.0.1. Check inside for a rundown of the full change log.

Deemo: a hybrid of music rhythm game and urban fantasy

Gaming has come a long way since Guitar Hero, but people still love to play games that require you to tap out a rhythm to score points. These days, you don’t use a fake guitar to rock out.

Deemo is a musically driven rhythm game that also includes a deep storyline to give you more reasons to play well than just becoming a rock star in your own mind…

Everythink HD review: your iPad’s all-in-one GTD app

Sometimes you need a good list-making app. Sometimes you need a good calendar app. Other times you may need a good organizer app. Usually you need them all.

Everythink HD is an iPad app that does it all. Sync your native Calendar, Reminders Contacts, Photos, and Location Services, as well as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote in one place for total access over everything you need to get things done…

A look at Belkin’s Keyboard Cases for the iPad Air

A few days ago, two of Belkin’s flagship iPad accessories arrived at my office — the soft touch QODE Slim Style Keyboard Case, and the anodized aluminum coated QODE Ultimate Keyboard Case.

Both cases provide iPad owners with a physical Bluetooth enabled keyboard, which is handy for serious typists. While many are able to get by with tap typing on iOS’ software keyboard, there’s simply no arguing against the fact that a physical keyboard is superior in virtually every way.

So, which one is right for you?

50 things I have learned about iPhone photography

In this post you are going to discover the 50 most important things I have learned about iPhone photography. Over the past two years I have taken some really great photos, and at least ten times more photos that did not turn out the way I wanted. I have done a lot of photo editing, which often only made my photos worse. I have spent countless hours on social media sharing my work and following the work of other photographers. And I have learned many things in the process.

I hope that by sharing the most important lessons I have learned I can accelerate your learning and help you avoid some of the mistakes that I made. But most importantly, I hope to inspire you to become a more active iPhone photographer. Let’s get started!

Good deal: 28% off iPhone-controlled Cobra iHelicopter

We've seen a lot of good deals on Apple-related gear over the past few days. There's the Steve Jobs/Jony Ive book combo for 55% off, the iPhone 5/5s accessory bundle for 46%, and today we have another one to share with you.

Stack Social is offering the popular Cobra iHelicopter at 28% off. Using an audio jack transmitter, the remote control helicopter can be steered with either an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, and it shoots tiny missiles on command...

AT&T selling 16GB iPhone 5s for $99 with 2-year contract

Good news this weekend for folks looking to purchase a new iPhone. AT&T has discounted its 16GB iPhone 5s and both of its iPhone 5c models by 50%. This means you could score a 5s for as low as $99, or a 5c for $49.

Obviously, you'll have to sign a two-year contract with the carrier to get these prices. But the good news is that the discounts are instant, meaning that these are the prices you'll pay up front—no credits or gift cards here...