Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has launched its annual Back to School promotion in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and in many European and Asian countries. Education customers who order certain Macs or iPad Pros can get Beats headphones for free along with their education discount.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Along with new <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/7/12/macbook-pro-gets-updated-32gb-of-ram-now-an-option-the-touch-bar-is-still-here" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacBook Pros</a>, Apple is selling the $699 <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HM8Y2VC/A/blackmagic-egpu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Blackmagic eGPU</a> , an external GPU based around a Radeon Pro 580 with 8GB of video memory. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has updated MacBook Pro and answered two questions. One: the Touch Bar isn’t going away. Two: you can finally get a pro laptop with 32GB of memory.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is planning a revamp of its Maps app. And the tech giant has applied for a patent (number 20180197332) for “problem reporting in maps” that shows its serious about beefing up its mapping application. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is teaming up with StubHub for a new Apple Pay promo: use the company’s mobile payment service in the StuHub app — available at the Apple App Store — and get $10 off your purchase of $100 or more.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. Apple has been sued by Advanced Voice Recognition Systems (AVRS), widely regarded as a “patent troll,” for allegedly infringing on a patent involving Apple’s use of network calls to enhance Siri's responses to users.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Lifeprint is a fun Bluetooth printer that prints “Augmented Reality Hyperphotos.” Its app (free at the Apple App Store), network, and portable printer enable you to print Live Photos, Snapchat clips, Instagram, Vine, and Facebook photos, and even animated GIFs that use AR “to come to life like magic in your hands.”</p>

<p 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 today's picks.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple remained the undisputed champion, ranking first both in technology and telecommunications as well as overall in the U.S., Mexico and UAE, according to MBLM’s <a href="http://mblm.com/lab/brandintimacy-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Brand Intimacy 2018 Report</em></a>, which is the largest study of brands based on emotions. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">On the occasion of Apple’s App Store 10th anniversary yesterday, the global mobile measurement leader Adjust has summarized the development and other highlights of the store.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/11/apple-product-pipeline-stacked-with-ipad-macbook-mac-mini-updates-says-analyst" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a> — TF International Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that Apple will update … well, pretty much everything (except the iMac Pro) before the end of the year. Following is his prognostications and what the Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks will happen. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. Apple has been sued by SMTM Technology, widely regarded as a “patent troll,” for allegedly infringing on a patent with its “Do Not Disturb” iOS feature, as reported by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/11/apple-sued-by-patent-troll-over-do-not-disturb-while-driving-tech" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a>. With the feature, iOS 11 can “sense” when you might be driving and help keep you from being distracted by calls, texts, and notifications. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Japanese regulators at the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) say Apple may have breached antitrust rules by forcing mobile service providers to sell its iPhones cheaply and charge higher monthly fees, denying consumers a fair choice, reports <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-japan-antitrust/japan-watchdog-apple-may-have-breached-antitrust-rules-with-iphone-idUSKBN1K10MI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,021,337) for “systems and methods for saving and restoring scenes in a multimedia system.” It involves using your iPhone as an advanced remote for watching movies, TV shows, and videos.</p>