Online iPhone 5 availability now improving to 2-4 business days

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2012

In another display of Apple catching up to iPhone demand, the company's online store in New Zealand is now quoting 2-4 business days for deliveries. It was only a week ago that the New Zealand store indicated shipping times were improving to one week. Prior to that, it took Apple about a month following the iPhone 5 launch to improve delivery times for online orders from 2-3 weeks to one week. The online US store gave us a one-week shipping estimate at press time but we're expecting international stores to follow suit and update estimates later in the day...

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Apple holding an iTunes event in Russia tomorrow

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2012

Looks like Apple's iTunes music service is coming to Russia, if today's report is to be believed. According to a tipster, Apple has invited a small group of people to an iTunes event in Moscow on the evening of December 4. Rumors first began circulating of a possible iTunes launch in the country back in November, when a Russian blog spotted that iTunes music was starting to surface in the country, with a  search in the App Store for music returning a link to what appeared to be an iTunes portal...

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Some new iMacs say ‘Assembled in the USA’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple has taken a lot of criticism over the years for outsourcing the manufacturing of its products to China and other countries. They're not the only one that does this — thousands do — but because of their size and influence, they always get singled out.

With this in mind, it's interesting to hear that a number of new iMac buyers are reporting that their machines have the words "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in USA" etched into the back of them. Is Apple manufacturing in the US now?

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Facebook reportedly in talks to acquire WhatsApp

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Facebook's been on a bit of a buying spree this year. Of course we all know about the $1 billion Instagram deal. Then there was the Acrylic buyout. And now the word is that it's in talks to acquire WhatsApp, the popular cross-platform messaging service that allows users to send and receive text, video and audio messages...

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Weblin — yet another “Cydia alternative”

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

First, let me just say that this rant isn't strictly about Weblin. It's about any such service — past or future. Please read this before trying to create the next Cydia alternative.

I speak totally for myself when I say this, but I'm sick and tired of these so-called Cydia alternatives. They are usually slow, unresponsive, and serve no real purpose. Not only that, but they potentially leave you at risk security wise, and their legality falls somewhere in a grey area.

Weblin is yet the latest such "alternative". Now this review isn't meant to be harsh. Okay, who am I kidding, it is meant to be harsh, but it's in no way trying to disrespect an obviously talented developer behind the project. The problem is that these alternatives serve no purpose. They don't do anything that Cydia doesn't already do 100 times better, and for that reason they are pointless to me.

You'll see what I mean inside. Take a look as I take Weblin for a spin on video...

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Analyst breaks down Samsung’s marketing expenses

Cody Lee ∙ December 2, 2012

"Just chalk it up to marketing." That's how a lot of pundits have explained Apple's success over the years, indicating that the company devotes a lot of its resources to, and greatly depends on, marketing to sell products.

But according to a new report from Asymco analyst Horace Dediu, Apple spends far less on marketing than the competition does. In fact, when it comes to these kinds of expenses, Samsung spends more than anyone...

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The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week [Dec 2, 2012 edition]

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 24, 2017

A new week is coming, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on what happened last week. If you think you may have missed a few of the top stories from last week, don't sweat it, we've got you covered.

We've gathered the top 10+ most popular stories from iDB last week for you to check out. As always, make sure that you're friends with us on Facebook, Google+, and that you are following us on Twitter...

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Glif+ iPhone 5 tripod mount review

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Yesterday, I finally received my Glif tripod mount for the iPhone 5. For anyone who's ever tried to take respectable photos or videos using the iPhone, then you know how indispensable a good tripod mount can be.

For someone like myself who's constantly shooting video, a tripod mount is an absolute necessity if I ever desire to switch from a DSLR and shoot video with my iOS device. Perhaps you noticed a few videos in the past where I've incorporated video from my iPhone 5? Needless to say, it wasn't a very pretty sight.

Although other tripod mounting solutions exist, the Glif from Studio Neat was among the first to solve the problem. It's also one of the easiest to use. Take a look inside as I examine it on video...

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Sega’s Jet Set Radio lands in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ December 1, 2012

Jet Set Radio first popped up back in 2000 for the Dreamcast console. I didn't play it then, but when its sequel, Jet Set Radio Future, came bundled with my original Xbox, I got hooked. So I was actually pretty excited to hear that Sega had ported the game to iOS this week...

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Apple products trend on 2012’s most popular baby names list

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Did you know that in 2012, it's become completely acceptable to name your newborn after an Apple product? In fact, it's not only acceptable, it's become quite trendy.

BabyCenter just published their list of this year's most popular baby names. And while choices like Siri and Apple didn't make the top 100, they did shoot up the charts...

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Hackers talk iOS 6 jailbreak in HITB panel discussion

Cody Lee ∙ December 1, 2012

A little over a month ago, Pod2g, MuscleNerd and other hackers held a panel discussion at the Hack in the Box conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A few topics were mentioned, but the focus of the talk was jailbreaking.

We already posted a 30 minute excerpt from the discussion, but it was missing some interesting stuff. So we were happy to see a video of the full hour-long talk uploaded yesterday, and we've got it for you after the break...

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