Samsung to take on the iPhone 5 with the Galaxy S4, due in February 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

Just as Apple announced two million iPhone 5 pre-orders and admitted to demand exceeding the initial supply, the latest word on the street has it that rival Samsung is readying its answer, a successor to its Galaxy SIII flagship handset which became the most serious challenger to the iPhone based on shipments of 20 million units in its first hundred days on market (they expect to ship 30 million by year's end).

The Galaxy S4 should launch in March 2013, a month following its public introduction at the annual Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, Spain. Samsung officials reportedly are convinced that the device will be capable of curbing the iPhone 5, which has a bigger four-inch Retina display, twice as fast processor and fast 4G LTE and WiFi networking capabilities, plus a two-tone form factor and a host of other hardware tweaks...

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Shazam gets ability to tag any TV show on any U.S. channel

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2012

Shazam, a popular music identification service, announced today a major update and milestone to its mobile apps. Shazam now commands an astounding user base of 250 million, with more than two million users added each week. The London, England-headquartered startup was founded in 1999 by Chris Barton, Philip Inghelbrecht, Dhiraj Mukherjee and Avery Wang.

Since their inception, Shazam mobile apps for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other platforms have remained amongst the top ten most downloaded apps of all time. Shazam updated these apps today with new features, including ability to tag any television show on any channel in the United States in order to find out what music is playing, who the actors are and more...

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People are already in line for the iPhone 5 at New York Apple Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

If you weren't able to place your iPhone 5 pre-order last week, and still want to pick one up on launch day, I have some good news and some bad news for you.

The good news is, Apple and other retailers will start offering the handset this Friday at 8 AM. The bad news is, it looks like some folks are already lining up...

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Wirelessly streaming files to your iPhone with Wi-Drive

Jim Gresham ∙ September 16, 2012

You just preordered the new iPhone 5, but did not want to splurge on the 32GB or 64GB model. While you wait for Friday to arrive, you are growing more and more concerned about the lack of storage space on your shiny new iPhone. After all, you are going to want to watch widescreen movies in their 16:9 glory, but alas, you need all 16GBs to store family vacation photos to show Grandma on your Thanksgiving trip home.

Critically, you scoff that she doesn't have WiFi at the assisted living center, so you can't pull them from iCloud or Dropbox. This Thanksgiving, be thankful for Kingston's Wi-Drive, which will store everything needed in a compact design and wirelessly broadcast the files without an existing network. Even the nagging kids in the backseat can simultaneously enjoy different movies...

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iPhone 5 rules competitive landscape in first Geekbench tests

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 16, 2012

Following a detailed analysis by AnandTech which exposed the A6 chip inside the iPhone 5 as bein comprised of custom ARMv7 design rather than stock Cortex-A15 cores, someone has posted an iPhone 5 benchmark on Geekbench.

Now, the handset will hit store shelves on Friday so there's no way to verify the authenticity of this poster (and Geekbench scores could be easily faked). If you believe the results though, the iPhone 5,2 hardware has a Geekbench score of 1601.

The test also shows an ARMv7 processor design with two cores clocked at 1.02GHz each, with 32KB of L1 instruction/data cache, 1MB of L2 cache and 1GB of RAM (Samsung's print ad has helped reveal that tidbit)...

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This bejeweled iPhone 5 case can be yours for $100,000

Cody Lee ∙ September 16, 2012

Looking for a ridiculously extravagant case to go with your newly-ordered iPhone 5? You might be interested in this new jewel-encrusted iPhone 5 cover from the Natural Sapphire Company.

Made up of white gold, rubies and thousands of sapphires, the case is one of the most lavish we've ever seen for Apple's handset. And, at $100,000, it's probably one of the most expensive...

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iPhone 5 found to have 1GB of RAM, custom processor

Cody Lee ∙ September 16, 2012

As usual, Apple didn't give us many details regarding the internals of the iPhone 5 outside of what it lists on the handset's Features page. We know it has an A6 processor, but that's about it.

Luckily, some smart folks have done some digging and have uncovered some interesting information about Apple's new smartphone. For instance, they've confirmed it has 1GB of RAM...

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Initial thoughts on the iPhone 5

Cody Lee ∙ September 16, 2012

Designing and developing a new iPhone every year has to be one of the most difficult things Apple does. Essentially, it has to take the world's most popular smartphone, not to mention its biggest money-maker, and make it different enough so people will buy it, but not so different that it messes up the obviously-winning formula.

That's a tall order. And it was probably even tougher this year due to seemingly higher expectations and stiff competition from Samsung, and others.

So was Apple able to pull it off?

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iControlPad 2: an open source gamepad with built-in keyboard

Cody Lee ∙ September 16, 2012

The iControlPad was one of the first iPhone-compatible game controllers to hit the market. It was a bit bulky, and didn't garner much developer support. But nevertheless, it was a pioneer.

Well it looks like the folks behind the accessory, Product 3 LLC, haven't been resting on their laurels. They just announced the new iControlPad 2, and it comes with a host of new features...

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The iDownloadBlog top 10 news stories of the week

Sébastien Page ∙ September 16, 2012

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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