Dennis Sellers

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has launched a new <a href="https://apple-tv-plus-press.apple.com/en-US/originals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press site</a> for its upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A note to clients from from the UBS Asia Hardware team — as noted by<a href="https://www.ped30.com/2019/10/14/apple-iphone-demand-china-ubs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Apple. 3.0</a> — says that monthly government data suggests overall iPhone demand in China 230% in September. That compares to 110% monthly growth in September 2018, according to the investment bank.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">NetGear has introduced the <a href="https://www.netgear.com/orbi/rbk13.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orbi Dual Band Mesh WiFi System</a>, which consists of one router and one or more satellites. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-internet-tax-italy/italy-readies-web-tax-in-its-2020-budget-sources-idUSKBN1WT1VA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>, Italy is preparing a new tax on digital companies such as Apple in its 2020 budget, as it seeks alternative revenues that will allow it to scrap a scheduled increase in sales tax.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Electronic payments from mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal – are increasingly hot, but Americans aren’t ready to go cashless, at least not yet, according to a study by <a href="https://www.jdpower.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">J.D. Power.</a> </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2609053-1&h=780927838&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.parksassociates.com%2Fmarketfocus%2Fui-contentdiscovery&a=New+research+from+Parks+Associates" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New research from Parks Associates</a> finds 70% of US broadband households with a major video service consider its user interface (UI) to be good, with 48% rating it "very good," and these scores impact their willingness to recommend the service to others. Apple TV owners give high marks to the set-top box’s UI.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a> — analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple will release a lower-priced iPhone SE 2 (though it probably won’t be called that) in the first quarter of 2020 for $399.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is facing increasing criticism for kowtowing to China in order to increase sales in the country. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.elementcase.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Element Case</a> has released the “X2 Collection” of cases for Apple’s 2019 line-up of iPhones. I’ve had the chance to use the $39.95 Rally case. It’s a decent enough case with one feature that makes it stand out from a horde of competitors.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">On a regular basis, <em>Apple World Today </em>posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are this week’s picks.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Brydge has filed a lawsuit against Sentis, the brand behind the <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/10/3/sentis-ipados-keyboard-boasts-built-in-trackpad-backlit-keys-more?rq=Sentis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Libra keyboard </a>with trackpad for the iPad Pro, and Kickstarter for facilitating the sale of the Libra keyboard. This legal action has been taken by Brydge to prevent the unauthorized use of its patented technology.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Nomad has announced a partnership with Aira, the creator of FreePower, a new wireless charging technology. The first product from the partnership is the Base Station Pro, which sounds very similar to Apple’s abandoned <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/3/29/goodbye-airpower-we-hardly-knew-you-well-actually-we-didnt-know-you?rq=AirPower" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AirPower product</a>.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to <a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/apple-launches-in-house-studio-sets-band-of-brothers-follow-up-series-1203367345/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Variety</a>, Apple has set up its own internal production studio called “Masters” and will produce its first in-house series dubbed <em>Masters of the Air</em>.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple’s Mac now has a 7.5% of the global PC [as in personal computer, not just Windows systems] market and 14.8% of the U.S. market on sales of 5.1 million Macs in the third quarter of 2019, according to the <a href="https://www.gartner.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gartner research group</a>. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">As noted by <a href="https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2019101157510/apple-tv-disney-adoption-to-be-hindered-by-limited-reach.html?utm_campaign=apple-tv-disney-adoption-to-be-hindered-by-limited-reach&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_2264#axzz623Al32CZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RapidTV News</a>, the industry has already placed huge expectation on the November launches of Apple TV+ and Disney+ but research from IHS Markit warns that such direct-to-consumer services will likely encounter limited subscriber growth compared with competitive offerings.</p>