Money

Geohot Has a Successful First Round of Donations for His Fight Against Sony

Alex Heath ∙ February 21, 2011

Geohot has updated his blog, "Geohot Got Sued" with the results from his first round of donations for his legal fight against Sony.

In case you missed it, Geohot is entering a legal battle with Sony because he cracked the DRM on the PS3. Sony claims that Geohot broke the law by jailbreaking the PS3, and they are seeking financial retribution for Geohot's exploit.

A few days ago, we posted that Geohot put a plea out to his followers asking for donations via PayPal to fund his legal fees for the upcoming trial with Sony. He has closed the first round of donations from over the weekend, and he made bank.

Geohot Asks For Support In Fighting Sony Lawsuit

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

George Hotz, or "Geohot," is a pioneer in the jailbreak community. He has been the mastermind behind many jailbreak projects, including LimeRa1n and BlackSn0w.

Geohot recently hacked Sony's Playstation 3 and essentially created the ability to "jailbreak" Sony's popular console. Even though it is legal to jailbreak the iPhone, it isn't legal to do the same to a Sony product. Sony took action and filed a lawsuit against Geohot on the basis that what he did "encourages piracy" on their platform.

Needless to say, Geohot is pissed. He is calling on the community and the media to help him in his legal fight against Sony...

Monitor App Store Price Drops With AppDeals

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 17, 2018

The fine folks at AppsFire have launched a new service called "AppDeals." AppsFire is a popular app recommendation service that already has a successful app in the App Store.

AppDeals is "the best way to find the hottest deals on the greatest apps." If you like to go app hunting for cool new finds, AppDeals will help you find the discounted steals in the App Store that may have otherwise passed you by.

If you're looking for a way to track price drops in the App Store, AppDeals is an excellent companion for your deal hunting needs...

Verizon iPhone Sales Lower Than Expected

Sébastien Page ∙ February 16, 2011

I'm not going to say that I told you so, but you know, I kinda did. One of BGR's sources at Apple shared some interesting numbers about Verizon iPhone sales on its first week, and apparently, the numbers are lower than both Apple and Verizon anticipated.

If that's any indication of the sales trend, BGR's source states that there were about 550,000 iPhone 4 pre-ordered between Verizon and Apple and maybe even more interesting are the sales numbers for 5 Apple Store combined on the first week, including 2 major stores (most likely including the iconic Apple Store on Fifth avenue)...

Verizon Offering Monthly Discount and a $200 Rebate for the iPhone with FIOS Purchase

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 17, 2018

Verizon is using the iPhone for some cross promotion. Big Red is welcoming potential iPhone customers by offering a $200 rebate towards the iPhone with the purchase of Verizon's FIOS bundle. Customers will also receive a $5-$20 monthly discount on their plan with the purchase of FIOS.

Verizon has also updated its free FIOS DVR app for the iPhone, giving iPhone users another reason to use FIOS TV. If you're interested in what Verizon has to offer, these new discounts certainly sweeten the deal...

Apple Clamping Down On In-App Purchases

Alex Heath ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Apple is making the move to have more control over App Store apps that utilize "in-app" purchases. The Sony Reader app was recently declined from App Store approval due to Apple's new stance on in-app transactions.

Until now, developers were able to sell content with in-app purchases through their own payment infrastructure. Apple has now made the stance that all in-app purchases must go through the Apple payment system, which in turn would give Apple a 30% cut off the top of sales.

This marks a shift from Apple's previous claim to want a more collaborative relationship with content producers who want to manage in-app purchases through their own backend...

AT&T to Offer an Extra 2GB Free to Tethering Customers

Sébastien Page ∙ February 2, 2011

If the fact that AT&T revamping its text messaging plans and that they recently slapped Verizon in the face isn't an indication that the war for the iPhone between USA's 2 biggest carriers is on, then maybe this piece of news will make you think otherwise.

In a not-so-surprising move, AT&T announced today via a press release that they will be offering 2GB of data transfer for free to any of their tethering customers. Up until now, the $20/month tethering plan from AT&T didn't include any additional data, meaning that you were basically tapping into your data plan allocation to cover your tethering needs...

How to Pay With Your iPhone at Starbucks

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Did you know Starbucks has its own app with the ability to process payments through any iDevice at Starbucks locations throughout the U.S? The "Starbucks Card Mobile" app allows for the purchase of Starbucks goods through a prepaid "My Starbucks Rewards" card - straight on the iPhone.

The My Starbucks Rewards card operates like a prepaid gift card. Instead of paying with cash or a credit card, customers can reload and use the same Starbucks gift card to receive special discounts and perks.

If you have a Starbucks card, you can now use the Mobile Card app to make purchases at Starbucks locations. Here's how it works...

Current Verizon Customers Should Be Eligible for a $200 Credit Towards the iPhone 4

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Good news for current Verizon customers: the latest U.S. iPhone carrier has posted its FAQ on the iPhone 4, and it turns out that a $200 credit will be given towards an iPhone upgrade. However, not everyone will qualify for this credit.

If you purchased a new smartphone from Verizon Wireless between November 26, 2010 and January 10, 2011, you should be eligible for a $200 credit towards an iPhone 4 upgrade. This credit should be available as long as your purchase the iPhone on Verizon before February 28.

Verizon's FAQ has some interesting answers for current (and potential) customers who might want to use their available upgrade on the iPhone 4...

Apple Posts Record First Quarter Results, Sells 16.24 Million iPhones

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 25, 2017

Hot off the news of Steve Job's 2nd medical leave in as many years, Apple has released its first quarter results, and unsurprisingly, the numbers are quite gaudy.

“We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.”

At 16.24 million sold, the iPhone's numbers represent an 86% growth over the same period last year. The numbers for Apple's other products, were just as impressive...

App Store Nearing 10 Billion Downloads

Alex Heath ∙ January 16, 2011

Apple's App Store has had unprecedented success since its release in July of 2008. 2011 marks the App Store's 3rd birthday, and it looks like Apple will celebrate by hitting 10,000,000,000 downloads. The App Store has averaged over 3 billion downloads per year since 2008. As a comparison, it took iTunes 8 years to reach that same level of success.

In fact, just last year, iTunes celebrated in the same fashion with its own 10 billion downloads countdown. The lucky person that downloaded the 10 billionth song received a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

The one billionth App Store app was downloaded in April of 2009, which shows exponential growth for Apple's platform. As the numbers approach 10 billion, another iTunes user will be lucky enough to receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card...

Hacked iTunes Accounts Are Being Sold in China

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

The Global Times recently discovered that over 50,000 illegal iTunes accounts are being offered for purchase in China. Potential buyers are promised access to purchase iTunes content for free; amounting to seven times the amount paid.

Toaboa.com, China's largest consumer auction site, is offering hacked iTunes accounts with stolen credit card and contact information to potential customers. These accounts are registered by real people with real personal information, but this blatant form of organized crime has (so far) gone unpunished.

At prices of 1-200 yuan (about $30 a pop), these hacked accounts are distributed through the iTunes login credentials associated with the account's payment information...