Dennis Sellers

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Global sales of smart speakers continued to soar in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019, reaching 30.3 million units, nearly double the same period in 2018, according to the latest research from <a href="https://www.strategyanalytics.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics</a>. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">From Aug.17-25, Apple is donating $10 to the National Park Foundation for every purchase made with Apple Pay at any Apple Store, on <a href="http://apple.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">apple.com</a>, or in the Apple Store app.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">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 this week’s picks.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple says upcoming changes to iOS will better protect the privacy of users. However, according to <em>The Information</em>, a group of app developers have told the tech giant that some of the changes will hurt their businesses, while accusing the company of anti-competitive behavior in the way it subjects its own software to the new rules.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. As noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/08/16/apple-music-sued-by-non-practicing-entity-that-also-targeted-spotify-slacker"><em>AppleInsider,</em></a> a lawsuit leveled by the non-practicing entity of Post Media alleges Apple Music infringes on four patents covering methods of broadcasting audio files over shared networks. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.apple.com/jp/newsroom/2019/08/homepod-available-in-japan-starting-friday-august-23/">Apple say</a>s the HomePod will launch in Japan and Taiwan on Friday, Aug. 23. Pre-orders are being taken.</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">MacRumor</a><em>s, </em>analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the Apple Watch Series 5 will launch this fall with OLED displays supplied by Japan Display.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In an article on its <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/08/apples-us-job-footprint-grows-to-two-point-four-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Newsroom web pag</a>e, Apple says it open a collective $60 billion dollars with 9,000 American suppliers in 2018, supporting 450,000 jobs.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has sued virtualization software company <a href="https://www.corellium.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Corellium</a> with a copyright infringement suit ripping into the developer's "illegal replication" of "everything" that makes up Apple's copyrighted operating system and applications, according to <a href="https://www.law360.com">Law 360</a>.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is looking around Manhattan for somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 square feet for a new office, sources told <a href="https://therealdeal.com/2019/08/14/apple-is-hunting-for-enormous-manhattan-office-space/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Real Deal</a>. One source said the tech giant could take as much as 750,000 square feet.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has activated a "dormant software lock" on its latest iPhones to discourage battery replacements that aren't undertaken by Apple, according to a report last week by <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/apple-is-locking-batteries-to-iphones-now" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iFixit</a>. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,349,261) for a “networked media station,” which hints at an Apple NAS device/home server, something I’ve long wanted.</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;">Want a coffee/tea mug you can control with your iPhone? Then the <a href="https://ember.com/products/ember-ceramic-mug?variant=21637366284373" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ember Ceramic Mug</a> is for you.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Now that design guru Jony Ive is leaving Apple (though he’ll still be working with the company), I wonder if skeuomorphic design will return to the interfaces of Apple’s various operating systems.</p>