Apple Stores reportedly readying local iCloud backups for iOS devices requiring replacement

A new report out yesterday alleges that Apple is working on an interesting new solution for Geniuses at its retail stores that would bypass the need for tethered desktop iTunes or wireless iCloud backups for people seeking iOS device replacements.

The solution would let Geniuses to quickly and effortlessly backup your entire iPad, iPhone or iPod touch prior to the device exchange process. Likewise, Geniuses would later on be able to easily move that data back onto the replacement devices.

The solution is reportedly being prototyped at Apple’s top-secret Apple Store labs near the company’s Cupertino, California headquarters...

Student behind awesome logo tribute to Steve Jobs lands Coke ad gig

The name Jonathan Mak Long may not mean much to you, but you've probably familiar with the above image he put together shortly after Steve Jobs passed on October 5 of last year.

The unique tribute to Apple's late CEO cleverly combines the Apple logo with Jobs’ familiar silhouette. The image went viral, earning the young Hong Kong student of design Internet fame and recognition.

Matter of fact, his recognition was so global that he surfaced on the radar of advertising agency Ogilvy China, which contracted him to design Coca Cola's new social campaign...

Why Apple’s next iPhone launch is so important

A week from now, Apple will be announcing its sales figures for the past three months on its quarterly earnings call. Analysts think the company sold in upwards of 12 million iPads and 33 million iPhones, thanks to the continuous momentum of the new 4S.

But according to Goldman Sachs' Bill Shope, Apple's next smartphone launch is the one to watch. The analyst recently raised his Apple stock price target from $700 to $750 on the belief that the sixth-generation iPhone launch is the most important one ever...

One in ten men apparently more fond of iPads than the ladies

It's no secret that we are big fans of the iPad here at iDB. The clue is kinda in our name, but even we don't quite understand this latest statistic to come our way.

Put together by online casino Roxy Palace, a recent survey suggests that one in ten, or around 11% of men asked would prefer to get their greasy mitts on a new Apple tablet rather than a lady friend.

We had to read that a few times to make sure we hadn't imagined it but sure enough, that's what the numbers say. Just to add a little fun to proceedings, the poll also asked whether people would prefer any other kind of tablet to a new love, with the number dropping to just 4%...

Confident about its case, Apple wants trial on eBook price fixing allegations

Confident that the US Department of Justice's allegations that Apple sat down with book publishers to agree on eBooks prices are weak, the company wants to go to trial to defend itself, a lawyer for the company said today.

According to antitrust experts, the DoJ, which filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five other publishers last week has a weak case, and this probably explains why Apple is feeling so strong about the situation...

New App Store app lets you toggle bluetooth on/off with a single tap (UPDATE: pulled)

As noted by MacRumors, a new app went live in the App Store yesterday called Bluetooth OnOff. As the name suggests, the software enables you to toggle your iOS device's bluetooth settings on or off with a single tap.

This is a big deal for a couple of reasons. For one, Apple has a history of denying or removing apps from the App Store that access iOS settings. And two, it makes toggling bluetooth much easier for non-jailbreakers...

Apple’s design guru Jony Ive shortlisted as a British Visionary Innovator

It's nominations time for Apple today. First we learned that Time magazine included Apple CEO Tim Cook on its annual list of 100 Most Influential People in the world and now a word has reached us that the company's design guru Jonathan Ive has been nominated for the prestigious British Visionary Innovator award by the UK's Intellectual Property Office.

The competition aims to celebrate innovators who earned fame by developing innovative products, services or designs, in in celebration of World Intellectual Property Day 2012...

The Samuel L. Jackson Siri ad you were hoping for (NSFW)

When word started to spread that Samuel L. Jackson was starring in a new iPhone 4S commercial, our imaginations ran wild. We figured that combining the outspoken actor with Siri could make for a humorous TV spot.

Obviously, Apple went the much more tame route. And the commercial that aired didn't feature any of Mr. Jackson's popular foul-mouthed catch phrases. That's ok. We found one that does (warning: explicit language)...

iMac user Sergey Brin “always admired Apple’s products”, I call BS

A recent newspaper interview has caused quite a stir when the blogosphere lit up yesterday with controversial observations from the mouth of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. In a nutshell, Brin painted Apple and Facebook as major threats to Internet freedom because neither company's been open enough, at least in the search giant's view.

This from a guy whose company's been seriously lacking openness in many competitive categories. Naturally, a backlash ensued, prompting the engineer to set the record straight and clarify what he called "distorted secondary coverage".

No, he did not mean what he said and yes, in case you were wondering, he is loving his iMac. I call BS on this one, here's why...

Create iOS games on your iPhone or iPad with Sketch Nation Studio

Mobile software development is like a modern-day gold rush of sorts. With apps like Instagram and Draw Something being snatched up for millions (or in Instagram's case, billions) of dollars, it's certainly a great time to be a developer.

The problem, however, is that not everyone who wants to get into app-making has the ability — it currently requires a fairly extensive knowledge of complex programming languages. But this app is looking to change all of that...

Tim Cook makes it on Time’s list of 100 Most Influential People

Apple CEO Tim Cook has made it on the list of 100 Most Influential People published annually by Time magazine. Apple's late co-founder, of course, used to be regularly featured in various popularity charts that list iconoclasts, celebrities and entrepreneurs.

However, this is the first time the magazine included 51-year-old Cook on their list. Even more interesting than that, Apple board member, a former U.S. Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore penned a short and sweet description of Cook for the magazine...

Hackers starting to make progress with iOS 5.1 jailbreak

We haven't really heard much on the jailbreak front since iOS 5.1 came out. The software update patched all previous exploits, meaning anyone who upgraded, lost their ability to jailbreak (well, A4 devices can still be jailbroken).

But we have good news today for the folks that have updated their devices to 5.1. Pod2g, who was largely responsible for Absinthe and Corona, says that he now has all of the exploits necessary to start working on a new jailbreak...