Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple’s $29 replacement battery replacement for those with an iPhone 6 or later ends Dec. 31, so act now if this applies to you. This involves the “Batterygate” brouhaha, a class action that alleged that Apple's iOS software updates for the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, 7, and 7 Plus were provided to iPhone users under the pretense that the software updates were necessary to deliver enhanced security and performance. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Declutter has released their “<a href="https://www.decluttr.com/blog/2018/12/20/2018s-most-unwanted-what-did-americans-sell-most-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Most Unwanted List</span></a>” which is compiled of the top 10 most traded-in/sold items of 2018. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number ) that hints at the turn of the late, lamented MagSafe adapter. This is the company’s third such patent filing; the first being number 20170093104 in March 2017, and the second being number 20170133787 in May 2017.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple will begin assembling its top-end iPhones in India through the local unit of its manufacturing partner Foxconn as early as 2019, the first time the Taiwanese company will have made the product in the country, reports <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-india-exclusive/exclusive-foxconn-to-begin-assembling-top-end-apple-iphones-in-india-in-2019-source-idUSKCN1OQ0M6?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtechnologyNews+%28Reuters+Technology+News%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em>,</a> quoting an unnamed “source familiar with the matter. The article doesn’t specify which “top-end” models that entails, however.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Last month my <em>Apple World Today </em>compadre, Steve Sande, <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/11/14/phonesoap-wireless-wirelessly-charge-and-sanitize-your-iphone-at-the-same-time?rq=PhoneSoap" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reviewed </a>the PhoneSoap Wireless, a $99.95 device that not only wirelessly charges your iPhone, but sanitizes it with a strong blast of ultraviolet C (UV-C) light at the same time. He loved it, but longed for a wireless version.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. Apple has been sued by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintiv/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fintiv</a>, a Texas company that is apparently a “patent troll.” The company claims Apple Pay infringes upon an acquired Korean patent they own.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple and Huawei managed to increase their smartphone market shares in Taiwan's handset market in November, according to data compiled by local channels and reported by <a href="https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20181225PD204.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>DigiTimes</em></a>. All other vendors saw their market shares retreat.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (<a href="https://www.cirpllc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CIRP</a>) — as noted by <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/12/26/iphone-xr-holiday-sales/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac</em></a> — says the iPhone Xr accounted for 32% of iPhone sales in November.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to a December survey of 1,000 people <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/12/13/18106455/best-of-2018-data-charts-tech-end-year-list-amazon-facebook-juul-moviepass-elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conducted earlier this month</a> by research company Toluna, 40% of respondents said that of all tech companies they trust Facebook the least with their personal information. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Smart homes are the next big thing. You may not realize it yet, but somewhere your day will be easier because of it. Smart home technology is not only impacting the houses its installed into. Its reach stretches to other industries like business, science and even health care. Here is an infographic detailing the numbers and change caused by smart homes.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple Music will open a content creation office in Nashville, Tennessee’s historic May Hosiery complex in Wedgewood-Houston, reports <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/12/12/apple-music-open-offices-may-hosiery-site-wedgewood-houston-nashville-along-pandora-spotify/2293591002/?gps-source=ADFBAKWR&kwp_0=1079324&fbclid=IwAR0U1DokUUibBMnkb_a6rcg1TU2LhJ4ODa-O5EV2flkhkhau9iCYsapTZVQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Tennesseean</em></a>, quoting “officials close to the deal.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Jamf and MacTech are working together on each of their annual 2019 events — Jamf’s annual user conference (JNUC) and MacTech Conference 2019. The two events are swapping months from their normal schedules. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,162,475) for “interactive menu elements in a virtual three-dimensional space” that involves a content authoring toolbar online 3D content, most likely for the Mac.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for another patent (number 10,156,914) for an ambidextrous mouse for use with the Mac. The tech giant has been granted two such patents previously (numbers 20180032158 and 9,785,258).</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>