Five-inch iPhablet to comprise one out of each four iPhones in 2014

Analysts think Apple will respond to competition by producing not one, but two large-screen iPhone models in 2014. According to Piper Jaffary's Gene Munster (infamous for its Apple-branded television set prediction), the iPhone 6 will make its debut in September 2014 and it’s going to be a “blockbuster” release thanks to a blown up screen.

His peer, Peter Misek over at Jeffries, thinks the iPhone 6 will offer a 4.8-inch screen. If anything, Samsung has managed to prove that phablets sell: the company predicts shipping a total of hundred million units of the five-inch Galaxy S4 smartphone and the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 3 devices this year.

Whichever way you look at it, phablets have quickly gone from a niche category to being the hot new form factor. How does this change in market dynamics affect Apple?

Apple expected to increase holiday-quarter iPad screen purchases from Samsung

Samsung of South Korea may have gotten itself into hot water with Apple over patents and design issues, but its semiconductor unit continues to churn out unabated the Apple-designed engine which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod devices. As for Retina screens, Apple originally sourced mobile displays from non-Samsung suppliers such as Sharp and LG Display.

Last we heard, recent yield and quality issues have reportedly prompted the iPhone maker to turn to its frenemy for help. Korea’s ETNews last Friday claimed Apple has asked Samsung for help as Sharp struggles to solve burn-in issues with IGZO panels for the iPad Air.

At the heart of the production issues is Japanese giant's malfunctioning of the thin-film transistor display technology. Corroborating the report, a display research firm on Monday said Apple's purchase of Samsung-made panels for the iPad is about to skyrocket in the fourth quarter...

How to create custom keyboard shortcuts for Mac apps

Have you ever used a specific menu command in an app and wondered to yourself, "Why is there no keyboard shortcut assigned to this command?" Or "why can't I change that shortcut to something else?" I think we've all been there before. Fortunately, fixing the issue requires little more than a few minutes of your time. Inside, we'll show you how easy it is to quickly create a keyboard shortcut for your favorite apps.

Sorcery! 2 review: the epic adventure continues

As an avid role-playing game fan, I am always up for a literary adventure. Whether it is a choose-your-own story or a tabletop group game base on the 20-sided die mechanics, I get a twinkle in my eye when someone says “RPG.”

Steve Jackson is a well-known author of gamebooks from the mid 1980s. His series Sorcery! was a big hit and the first adventure in the series was turned into a fantastic iOS game back in May. Today, the same company that developed Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! has launched a follow up game based on the second series in the original book. Sorcery! 2 follows the adventurer into “Khare: Cityport of Traps”...

Twitterrific 5 refreshed with new profile layout and other tweaks

Following up on its mid-October update which brought you the ability to edit your Twitter profile in-app, developer Iconfactory today posted another Twitterrific update bringing a fresh new profile layout and a few other tweaks.

Twitterrific 5.5.3 includes some noticeable performance improvements: it feels really snappy and more responsive than it's ever been - and it wasn't like Twitterrific were a slouch to begin with.

There is also a brand new pull-to-refresh animation and you can now view profile banners by tapping on them. The full breakdown is right below the fold...

A look at newly launched Incipio 5c cases

Incipio is always quick on the trigger when it comes to releasing new product lines along with Apple's new hardware. Before the iPhone launch, I was already contacted by some friends at Incipio asking me to take a look at their, then unreleased, products. Happily agreeing, they sent over three different cases for inspection.

Inside, I take a closer look at these cases and their form factors, relating to iPhone 5c. These are the first 5c cases I received for any reviewing purposes and they all fit quite well. As with most Incipio line ups, they are affordable and colorful...

US Airways and Alaska Airlines now allow gate-to-gate device use

Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gave airlines the green-light to allow passengers to use devices such as tablets during all phases of flight. So that means no more turning off your iPad during takeoff.

Now it's just up to each individual airline to change their respective rules, and the good news is most of them seem to be onboard. American Airlines already announced its support, and now US Airways and Alaska Airlines are in...

Wallpapers of the week: crisp and naturally inspired

We are rolling through some great wallpapers in the Wallpapers of the Week section on iDB. If you have not gone back through the archive, I highly suggest spending a few minutes rounding up submissions from the past twenty weeks. That is almost a full half-year's worth of wallpapers, kept alive by submissions from our readers.

Of course, some walls are more preferred by other readers, but some people like chicken more than steak. It is all a matter of preference. Even Sebastien and I have different tastes in wallpapers, but we know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and a variety of walls will best suit the readers. We have gone through a blurry phase and a short photography phase, but truth is, anything that looks awesome is fair game. Consequently, I encourage you to keep sending in those images, as they are all considered each week. If you have something negative to say about the offerings, then get yourself into Photoshop and get busy, because we are waiting for your creative images...

Samsung ordered to explain why it shouldn’t be sanctioned for leaking Apple docs

Last month, Apple filed a motion against Samsung in a California court for sharing confidential information. In the filing, the iPad-maker accused the Korean tech giant of disclosing details regarding its Nokia patent licensing agreement.

Samsung learned the terms of the deal during its court battle with Apple, and although the info was marked "attorney's eyes only," it used it to negotiate better licensing terms for itself—which Apple says is very illegal. And the judge agrees...

Bloomberg: curved-screen jumbo-sized iPhones coming in 2014

We've been hearing a lot lately about jumbo-sized iPhones, but the iPhablet meme is so passé now. So how about a curved-screen iPhone? I'm not talking about a Galaxy Round type of device - according to a new Bloomberg report, a large-screen iPhone featuring a flat screen with the cover glass "that curves downward at the edges" is in the works.

This sounds a lot like the Lumia range as the high-end Nokia devices sport slightly curved screen edges. Note that this is the first time we've heard the curved-screen iPhone being mentioned by a major big media publication. The Bloomberg article also mentions two large-screen models planned for release in the second half of next year and a new pressure-sensitive screen technology. Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

How to quickly search the contents of iDB using Alfred

Alfred is one of my favorite launchers available for OS X. It serves as a replacement for Spotlight search, and can do a whole bunch of other cool things using custom workflows, searches, etc.

I could write a whole series about Alfred, because it's just that deep. But first things first. To start, I'm going to show you how to perform a custom search on iDownloadBlog. I've included a downloadable custom search in this post that you can import directly into Alfred. Have a look inside to see how it works.

Survey finds iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c attracting fewer early upgraders

Before the iPhone 5s and 5c went on sale this fall, pundits predicted that Apple would have trouble attracting early upgraders with the two handsets. With them featuring few changes from last year's model, the consensus was that most iPhone 5 owners would skip this generation.

And this week, the folks over at Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (or CIRP) have published a report that proves these forecasts accurate. According to their data, just 6% of the folks who have purchased an iPhone 5s or 5c in the last 6 weeks upgraded from an iPhone 5...