Dennis Sellers

<p>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 today's picks.</p>

<p>If Apple does release a new MacBook Pro this month — and I’m 99.99% certain it will — it looks to be a big seller. According to new research from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.1010data.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">1010data</a>, online sales of laptops from the summer of 2016 reached $2.2 billion and grew 12% year over year.  </p>

<p>According to R.W. Baird financial analyst William Power, and <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney-remains-center-of-merger-talk-this-time-its-netflix-2016-10-03">reported initially</a> by MarketWatch, Disney and (to a lesser degree) Apple are considering scooping up Netflix. I doubt it will happen, but there are valid reasons for our favorite tech company to make such a move.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-yahoo-secretly-scanned-customer-emails-for-us-intelligence-sources-2016-10">Reuters' Joseph Menn reported yesterday that Yahoo had reportedly created custom software that would scan all incoming emails in real-time</a>, and flag any that contained certain pre-defined keywords. Yahoo hasn't denied it, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.techinsider.io/apple-google-microsoft-twitter-deny-building-us-spy-software-yahoo-report-2016-10" rel="noopener noreferrer">saying in a brief statement</a> only that "Yahoo is a law-abiding company and complies with the laws of the United States.”</p>

<p>Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and its long-time CEO, died Oct. 5, 2011, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 56. <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/783662822819401728">Apple CEO Tim Cook has tweeted</a> in remembrance of his predecessor and his impact on the world at large.</p>

<p>Targus has launched the $199.99 <a href="http://globalmessaging1.prnewswire.com/clickthrough/servlet/clickthrough?msg_id=8326790&adr_order=160&url=aHR0cDovL3Rhcmd1cy5jb20vdXMvdXNiLWMtdW5pdmVyc2FsLWRvY2tpbmctc3RhdGlvbi1kb2Nr%0ANDEwdXN6P2ljbj1wci1fLTEwMDUxNmh0dHA6Ly90YXJndXMuY29tL3VzL3VzYi1jLXVuaXZlcnNh%0AbC1kb2NraW5nLXN0YXRpb24tZG9jazQxMHVzeg%3D%3D">USB-C Universal Docking Station (DOCK410USZ)</a>, a compact 4K docking station that supports USB-C technology. It works with the 12-inch Apple MacBook.</p>

<p>Apple remains the <a href="http://interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2016/ranking/apple/">world's most valuable brand</a> this year, topping <a href="http://interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2016/ranking/">Interbrand's annual rankings</a> of the Best Global Brands for the fourth consecutive year. Apple’s brand value grew by 5% to US$178 million.</p>

<p>Apple has discontinued the third-generation Apple TV, removing it from its online store, notes <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/04/apple-tv-third-gen-discontinued/" rel="noopener noreferrer">9to5Mac</a>. Links to it now send you to the page for the fourth-generation Apple TV. </p>

<p>Enterprise IT folks have mixed feelings about Apple, according to a survey of 900 of them <a href="http://spiceworksinc.staging.wpengine.com/marketing/state-of-it/report/">from Spiceworks</a> — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/it-professionals-have-mixed-feelings-on-apple-survey-finds-2016-10" rel="noopener noreferrer">Business Insider</a>. Still, Apple ranked second only to Dell in terms of hardware brands discussed by IT pros on the social networking site for IT professionals.</p>

<p>Two-factor authentication is an extra layer of security for your Apple ID designed to ensure that you're the only person who can access your account, even if someone knows your password. It’s a useful feature — and one that’s necessary if you plan to use your Apple Watch to automatically unlock your Mac.</p>

<p>I’ve long argued that the “cloud” is fine for storing and backing up data — as long as you also have a local copy. Sorry, Apple, but I’m simply not wiling to trust you — or any company with safeguarding all my valuable data. Which is why the newly introduced <a href="http://drobo.com/">Drobo 5C</a> with USB-C connectivity is a great product.</p>

<p>According to a <a href="http://www.uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/USP%20ShellGames%20Oct16%201.2_FINAL.pdf">new study</a> authored by researchers from Citizens for Tax Justice, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, 73% of U.S. Fortune 500 firms — more than 300 corporate giants — have money stashed in tax shelters abroad, including the Netherlands and Bermuda. Five of the top 10 biggest tax-avoiders — ranked by dollar amount held offshore — are big tech companies, with Apple ranked as No. 1 and Microsoft at No. 3.</p>

<p>Apple has brought its universal search feature for the fourth-generation Apple TV to five new countries and has added more supported services in the U.S. and Australia, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/10/04/apple-tvs-universal-search-comes-to-five-more-countries-expands-in-us-australia" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">There’s a security flaw in the iOS 10 backup protection mechanism, but Apple is working on it. Russian forensic company Elcomsoft says that cracking the logins for backups stored on a Mac or PC is considerably easier now</p>

<p>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 today's picks.</p>