Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S. consumers spent an estimated $52 million on Apple’s App Store on Black Friday, setting a new single-day revenue record for the store. This marked an increase in spending of 31.6% over 2017’s Black Friday, when gross revenue on the store hit an estimated $39.5 million, and 31% more than Christmas 2017’s $39.8 million tally, according to new Sensor Tower <a href="https://sensortower.com/solutions/store-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Store Intelligence</span></a>.</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 this week’s picks.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,135,839) for “electronic devices having adaptive security profiles and methods for selecting the same.” The goal: to further beef up security on Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">While Apple Pay is slowly gaining adoption from retailers everywhere, one notable holdout has been Target. According to a handful of shoppers at a Target store in San Francisco, however, the retailer could be testing Apple Pay support at its physical locations, reports <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/11/29/apple-pay-target" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Tired of waiting for Apple to implement anti-spam measures for iPhones, TRAI, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, threatened in July to ban iPhones from the country’s cellular networks if the tech giant didn’t approve a government-developed Do Not Disturb app by January 2019. Now an Apple spokesperson has confirmed to <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2018/11/30/apple-approves-indian-governments-do-not-disturb-app-avoiding-iphone-ban/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>VentureBeat</em></a> that the app become available today in the Apple App Store.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">n a <a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/3324042/techology-business/should-apple-have-its-own-search-engine.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Macworld</em> article</a>, Jason Cross asks the timely question: Should Apple have its own search engine? I say “yes.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has updated the iTunes Remote app for iPhones and iPads with a fix for an issue where iTunes Remote may unexpectedly quit when using the in-app keyboard with Apple TV. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1105785/full-fed-circ-urged-to-revive-506m-award-in-apple-ip-row?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Law360</em> </a>reports that the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has urged the full Federal Circuit to reconsider an earlier ruling that flipped an award against Apple over a computer processor patent.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Last month Blackmagic Design has announced the <a href="https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/release/20181031-01"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Blackmagic eGPU Pro</span></a>, a new external graphics processor co-developed with Apple that features the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics processor. It was due in late November, but now it’s listed as not being available until December.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Earlier this month the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f9e8ccc2-dd84-11e8-9f04-38d397e6661c" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Financial Times</em></a><em> </em>(a subscription is required to read the article) reported that Apple reported may invest in iHeartMedia to drive more users to Apple Music.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">mophie (the company that doesn’t like capital letters) has announced the <a href="http://www.mophie.com/shop/universal-batteries/powerstation-apple-lightning-smart-phones-tablets-5k" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">powerstation with lightning connector</span></a> for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple and Amazon <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/devices/alexa-play-bebe-rexha-on-apple-music" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">have announced </a>that Apple Music subscribers will be able to enjoy Apple Music’s 50 million songs on Echo devices this holiday season.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.synology.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Synology</a> has launched the DiskStation DS1819+, an 8-bay NAS. It’s a compact NAS with an expandable design “that is an ideal investment for small- to medium-sized businesses, capable of hosting several versatile applications," says Kevin Meng, product manager of Synology. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has applied for a patent (number 20180343557) for “social reminders” based on social interactions between users of electronic devices such as iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs. In the patent filing, Apple notes that conventional reminders aren’t as helpful when it’s “infeasible” for you to specify a date and/or time ahead of time. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/28/qualcomm-ceo-were-on-the-doorstep-of-a-resolution-with-apple.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf tells CNBC’s Jim Cramer</a> that the company is “on the doorstep” of finding a resolution with Apple over their recent legal battles.</p>