Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,715,584) designed to make it easier for parents to keep track of their children. The invention is for a “biometric receipt.”</p>

<p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hellonomad.com/leather-case-iphone-7-rustic-brown" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nomad Leather Case</a> for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus is a nice compromise of high quality at a reasonable price. It costs $39.95, which is $10 cheaper than Apple’s Leather Case for an iPhone 7 Plus. Apple’s case is easier to install but, once it’s in place, the Nomad is is more protective.</p>

<p>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 today's picks.</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, deals with some family issues. In its place, I’ll offer a text-only (no podcast) summary of breaking stories with a tip o’ my hat to my former website, <em>Apple Daily Report</em>.</p>

<p>Apple has released the third public betas of macOS 10.13 High Sierra, iOS 11 and tvOS 11. The finished versions are due this fall.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.kanex.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kanex</a> has released the $59.95 GoPlay Sidekick, a pocket-sized wireless game controller for the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. Certified by Apple, this portable controller works with almost any controller-supported game on the Apple App Store. </p>

<p>After six consecutive quarters of growth, Chinese smartphone shipments fell 3% to 113 million in the second quarter (Q2) 2017. China-based Huawei shipped over 23 million to lead the market for the second quarter in a row, according to the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.canalys.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canalys</a> research firm. </p>

<p>Adobe <a target="_blank" href="https://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2017/07/adobe-flash-update.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">has announced</a> that it will stop developing and and distributing Flash Player at the end of 2020 because “open standards like HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly have matured over the past several years, most now provide many of the capabilities and functionalities that plugins pioneered and have become a viable alternative for content on the web.”</p>

<p>In a note to investors — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/25/iphones-8-sales-outlook-ubs-buy.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNBC</a> — USB said it believes the upcoming “iPhone 8” (shown in a fanciful mock-up) has the potential for huge sales because of expected upgrades from phones sold in fiscal 2015.</p>

<p>In a note to clients — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thestreet.com/story/14241165/1/apple-to-double-services-revenue-by-2020-credit-suisse-says.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Street</a> -- Credit Suisse said Apple investors can expect the company to double revenue from its services segment by 2020. </p>

<p>LG Display plans to invest $13.5 billion to boost output of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens over the next three years, in order to, among other things, make inroads against rival Samsung in smartphone displays, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lg-display-results-investment-idUSKBN1AA0MT" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>. Apple is one of LG Display's main clients and is predicted to adopt OLED displays for the “iPhone 8” (shown in a fanciful mock-up).</p>

<p>A report from the Chinese language <em>Economic Daily </em><em>News</em>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170725VL205.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">cited</a> by DigiTimes, says the Apple Watch Series 3 will launch in September. Chance this rumors is true according to the Sellers Research Firm (that’s me): 99%.</p>

<p>WaterField Designs has announced the refined <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sfbags.com/products/zip-laptop-brief-tsa" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zip Brief</a>, an “ultra-slim” laptop bag with space for several tech and personal items.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,715,273) for a “motion tracking user interface,” which doubtless involves its efforts in augmented and virtual reality. The company is already building augmented reality tools for developers into the upcoming iOS 11, thought this invention could apply to Macs as well as iPhones and iPads.</p>

<p>New data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners— as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2017/07/25/iphone-7-cirp/" rel="noopener noreferrer">9to5Mac</a> — shows that, during the April to June quarter, Apple attracted more Android switchers than at any time in the past 12 months. CIRP IRP also reports that the iPhone 7/Plus accounted for 81% of all U.S. iPhone sales in the quarter, at 47% for the standard model and 34% for the Plus.</p>