U.S. Cellular has reversed its stance that it wouldn't carry Apple's iPhone, and has said that it will be on board later this year. The carrier had previously called Apple's terms unacceptable, choosing to pass on offering the popular combination smartphone and iPod to its subscribers.

Apple released iOS 6.1.4 for iPhone on Thursday, an update whose sole patch note says, "Updated audio profile for speakerphone."

It's no secret that apps on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch can track your location, but you may not realize Mac apps can do the same, too. You can, however, control which apps know where you are on both platforms, and it's easy to do.

Apple's Jonathan Ive is reworking so much in iOS for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch that he has apparently been pulling resources from the OS X team to keep development on track. Sources claim he's been stripping the skeuomorphic design elements from iOS in favor of a flatter interface look, and is looking at some app changes big enough that they may not be ready in time to ship with the release of iOS 7 later this year.

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins wants the world to know that he's a visionary. By 2018, he sees a future that's so advanced it's gone all the way back to 2009 because by then this whole tablet thing will have gone the way of the dodo. 

Microsoft has released a new ad for the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone smartphone, an ad that mocks fans of both Apple and Samsung devices. The commercial poses each party as guests at a wedding and draws upon memes that will be familiar to the echo chamber, causing Bryan Chaffin to wonder who the target is.

Google released Google Search 3.0 for the iPhone and iPad on Monday, bringing with it Google Now. The new feature, which first appeared on Android 4.1-based smartphones, gives users information based on their current activities, such as traffic reports before leaving for work and flight updates when they're traveling.

I was asked over the weekend to jailbreak a friend's iPhone so they could use the camera flash for alerts. There was a time when hacking your iPhone was the only way to use the camera flash for visual alerts, but times have changed. Now that's just another system setting.

Apple needs to make a cheaper iPhone. That's what analysts are saying, which tells me they still don't understand Apple's market. The company has proven quarter after quarter through sales that consumers are fine with its price structure, and that it has no interest in following the overall market's make-it-cheap mentality.

This week Vern Seward offers you a mixed bag, a small potpourri of apps that you might find useful and interesting. This week's Free on iTunes takes a look at Quotes!, Dribbblr, and Fotopedia Reporter.