Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Egypt, where iPhone prices are up to 50% higher than elsewhere in the Middle East, has given Apple 60 days to end what it claims are unfair restrictions on local distributors or face legal action, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-11/apple-accused-by-egypt-of-violating-competition-laws" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Bloomberg</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has released the first public betas of macOS 10.14.3, iOS 12.1.2, and tvOS 12.1.2. The public betas are available on <a href="https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple's Beta Software Program website</a>. Just remember that beta software, so proceed with care.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Satechi has released the Aluminum Type-C Mobile Pro Hub Adapter, which is compatible with the new iPad Pro, as well as other Type-C devices smartphones and tablets.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the International Data Corporation (<span style="text-decoration: underline;">IDC</span>) <a href="http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=37" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker</span></a>, worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to decline by 3% in 2018 before returning to low single-digit growth in 2019 and through 2022. iPhones are forecast to drop by 2.5% in 2018 to 210.4 million, though the research group is forecasting Apple smartphone shipments to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 0.1%, reaching volumes of 217.3 million in 2022.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,154,316) for a “motion-based configuration of a multi-user device.” The details in the patent seem to involve a TV set, but more likely involve a Mac or a new Apple TV set-top box.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">There have been a flurry of reports about Apple suppliers that make iPhones and iPhone parts are hurting because of poor iPhone sales. Those reports may have been a teeny bit overblown.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies?srnd=premium)"><em>Bloomberg </em></a><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies?srnd=premium)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report </a>in October claimed that Apple, Amazon, and almost 30 other companies have been the subject of hacking by Chinese spies embedding chips in hardware for surveillance purposes. Apple says this simply wasn’t true, and a new report backs up the Cupertino, California-based company.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple Pay is now available in Germany with support for 15 banks and services such as Comdirect and Deutsche Bank.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple, Google Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and other tech firms have criticized the “anti-encryption” law passed by the Australian government last week, reports <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/10/silicon-valley-denounce-australia-encryption-law/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>TechCrunch</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As Apple has continued to push deeper and deeper into the enterprise, Dean Hager, CEO of Apple device management company <a href="https://www.jamf.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ja</span></a><a href="https://www.jamf.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">m</span></a><a href="https://www.jamf.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">f</span></a>, predicts that 2019 will be the greatest Windows to Mac migration in history. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">You can take an electrocardiogram (ECG) with the ECG app in watchOS 5.1.2 on the Apple Watch Series 4.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a>, Apple continues to mention its unreleased wireless charging mat AirPower in <a href="https://jobs.apple.com/en-us/search?sort=relevance&search=airpower">recent job listings</a> in the United States and New Zealand. The wireless charger, announced well over a year ago, will — should it ever actually see the light of day — be able to charge a Qi-compatible iPhone, an Apple Watch, and a pair of AirPods (in a special wireless charging case) at the same time regardless of where they're placed on the pad.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">HYPER by Sanho Corp. has announced a new Kickstarter campaign for its HyperDrive for the 2018 iPad Pro (both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models). </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-qualcomm-apple/qualcomm-wins-import-ban-against-several-apple-iphones-in-china-idUSKBN1O91LD" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>, Qualcomm has won a preliminary order in a Chinese court banning the import and sale of several iPhones in its legal brouhaha with Apple.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=TGhSfNFeLdeLkdD8SS7LIxq4FlK6m39E1vj3P3BDdt-bgQ_R8w9VnlYWE1u3Oo6J" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Jamf</span></a>, which specializes in Apple device management solutions, announced that it’s has partnered with Jamf Certified Managed Service Provider (MSP) <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=zzS1IXbmu7yGI5Zdx45PsSfYyAClYSgFhX8wq3hJZ_beM0c6hVFKIwM3zl9K7Ti-P8m1LZ0agi7JFrBt-1zvWe0AXdDzMhOVxatCVaW_73Q=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">CareServant</span></a> to power a modernized patient bedside experience at Emma Children’s Hospital, a part of the <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/Tracker?data=nBjI8rgzGOiyut6nzgNVHPToot5FwXibEb6K3B0Kk2fbMR2g2L60eRYGLPAIAzp_5ibnMkBdgoi416m40YGYTqMYqZ4iOLRcVGArBV3UU1K86a0wcdvogFzot_3ghUi3qFDXWJT_YiSnkzoztux98fxxKdaj9n3hd8o4FrYBlke5O1Syj363wH3GMct3ij0qNCFV5EXI4QeH7IntivgCbQ==" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Amsterdam University Medical Center</span></a> in the Netherlands. Emma Children’s has served sick children for more than 153 years.</p>