Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple is reportedly negotiating with Samsung Display for a reduction of the price of OLED panels as the iPhone X maker looks to lower the production cost in order to ramp up sales of OLED-based models, according to DigiTimes, quoting unnamed “industry sources.”</p>

<p>Apple and Samsung will join battle again in the never ending patent battle next month, but CEO Tim Cook and design guru Jony Ive won't be in the courtroom.</p>

<p>Apple has determined that, in a limited number of 13-inch MacBook Pro (non-Touch Bar) units, a component may fail causing the built-in battery to expand. This is not a safety issue and Apple will replace eligible batteries, free of charge. Affected units were manufactured between October 2016 and October 2017 and eligibility is determined by the product serial number.</p>

<p>In a note to clients — as noted by AppleInsider — Rosenblatt analyst Jun Zhang says next gen iPhones will start production in August with Apple expected to offer an LCD version of the smartphone at around $200 below the cost of the OLED models shipping at the same time. </p>

<p>Apple has lured away a veteran Samsung exec to be the  new leader for its South Korea branch. According to Bloomberg, Brandon Yoon, a veteran Microsoft executive and most recently a vice president at Samsung, joined this month as general manager of Apple Korea.</p>

<p>Among the 18 companies Consumer Watchdog — a a nonprofit organization dedicated to “providing an effective voice for taxpayers and consumers” — tracked for the first quarter of the year, Cisco Systems and Apple had the biggest percentage increases in their lobbying expenditures in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2017. </p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1136220934?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4" rel="noopener noreferrer">Infuse 5 for iOS</a> provides a smooth way to enjoy a wide array of videos types from wherever you may happen to have them stored — be it a Mac, PC, NAS, Wi-Fi drive, or a server app like Plex, Kodi, or Serviio.</p>

<p>Back up, back up, back up. No matter what Apple hardware you’re using, you need multiple copies to make sure no valuable data is lost. Among items to back up: your calendars that are stored in iCloud</p>

<p>Lenovo is rated the best laptop brand for a second year in a row by <em>Laptop Mag</em>, which released its annual Best and Worst Laptop Brands rankings today. HP and Dell followed closely behind Lenovo in second and third place, respectively.</p>

<p>On a regular basis, Apple World Today 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>Apple has won an auction for world screen rights to Songwriter, the Murray Cummings-directed documentary that shows singer Ed Sheeran working through his creative process as he crafts and performs hits, according to Deadline. </p>

<p>Apple has announced that 13-year Apple veteran Jay Liepis has relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to head up a team there that will be “dedicated to being more involved with artists, managers, songwriters and the label community at large,” reports Variety. In other words, the tech giant will finally show a bit of love to country music.</p>

<p>The European Commission — an institution of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU — has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Shazam by Apple under the EU Merger Regulation. In a statement, the EC says it’s concerned the merger could reduce choice for users of music streaming services.</p>

<p>iPhone 8 sales made up 23% of total Apple smartphone sales sales for the first quarter of 2018, per new data from CIRP. The iPhone 8 Plus accounted for 21%, putting the lower-cost models at 44% of the market. </p>

<p>Apple is working on methods to make its devices even more secure. The company has filed for a patent (number 20180109629) for an “user interface for a device requesting remote authorization.”</p>