Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Interbrand has announced that Apple, Google, and Amazon are the three most valuable brands in its 2018 Best Global Brands report with the first topping the list for the sixth time in a row.</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)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Bloomberg </em>report </a>claims Apple, Amazon, and almost 30 other companies have been the subject of hacking by Chinese spies embedding chips in hardware for surveillance purposes. However, Apple says this simply isn’t true.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1088811/apple-denied-bid-to-pull-back-docs-in-qualcomm-fight?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 a California federal judge has ruled that Apple can’t “claw back” dozens of documents turned over in its patent battle with Qualcomm, the world’s dominant supplier of baseband processors.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Charlie Sloth, the “tastemaking presenter of hip-hop shows on both BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra,” is leaving its UK network for Apple Music, notes <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/apple-music-poaches-the-bbcs-leading-hip-hop-dj-charlie-sloth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Music Business Worldwide</em></a>. He’ll host a new worldwide show on Beats 1, and will contribute to the creation and curation of playlists, the article adds.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. As noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/03/apple-sued-over-airdrop-technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a>, patent troll Uniloc is back, this time suing Apple over its AirDrop technology.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I get to review a LOT of iPhone cases, and it’s rare to receive one that’s truly different. WaterField Designs’ <a href="https://www.sfbags.com/products/fused-suede-case-for-iphone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fused Suede Case</a> is. How? It’s more of a sleeve than a case.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Announced in an update to its Investor Relations <a href="https://investor.apple.com/investor-relations/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">webpage</a>, Apple's fourth quarter conference call is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m. (Pacific).</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The analytics firm of <a href="http://www.flurrymobile.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Flurry Insights</a> looked at device activations of the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max from Friday, Sept. 21, through Thursday, Sept. 27. During their first full week, the new Apple smartphones gained a market share of 0.42% and 0.68%, respectively, for a total of 1.1%.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/03/availability-shrinking-for-lg-ultrafine-5k-display-at-apple-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a><em> </em>notes that the online Apple Store is no longer offering in-store pickup for the LG UltraFine 5K Display for a large number of outlets, indicating that the screens may be replaced by a new model, “potentially even the anticipated Apple-produced displays.” Let’s hope it’s the latter, which would make Mac laptop owners like me very happy.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">ATEN Technology has </span>launched the $175 <a href="http://email.prnewswire.com/wf/click?upn=8iU-2F6wxjbgM5JrT2LbqGoJiFGyA3ybZX4i9wdT1Qnt-2BgCtjmJigOQQSwDIXCW0N0o69mAWB2h9Pb-2B2IiW0rrEYBtXg3fRsulQlQY6z2AF8odU9X32WdUnyTBH4tlem98m3iYeY7k2RPlg1cT1f8DTIKwm-2FSAiKCMrf0Fk6Q47XZuD8HvpMGwkS5EaLUmmliWbmlOFJRWMibtvIh7AwfsHOiHmHSyHlWh9rvbTKequbM-3D_vr4CQd6f5d5U92w1G2ot038qxj2d-2BHc-2FraM9ysVslbM2GuwFWb6WaJjYDeKtis-2FvqQ1zLV0xEsycTTCyyfzbrwrVgpoKTeYfP-2FOKM7-2BdQV8QjG89gY2jaYA-2Fcwke65LVf4i2MHiBJbfpA8-2BZxPmZu-2FyUELdT1-2BTzkr4urDMvPatHjKfA5Iz88e6JgEL1lDJSDRiPML2nhMsdyUekmrCrHQHjdTV-2BncMco2wiYfQJD-2BeLO3Cv1b-2BZJDBf5R2aQ-2Bo-2Fp-2FISh4mNCNtio5Mddihd6CRaTHok1-2FLp2Jq9-2F28Bww-2FgQF-2Bs3fdOXfZcMO7k-2BY5rJxnfB0ZfcoGdWxeoDTekuJx7BppWJHDd3FzcktYjWNs-3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">USB-C Multiport Dock with Power Pass-Through</span></a> (UH3234). The Mac compatible one-step docking station is designed to boost productivity while allowing laptop users to create a minimalist workstation, according to Rojin Liao, product manager, ATEN Technology. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Razer has announced the $249.99 Razer Sila, a high-performance WiFi router designed for home users requiring Wi-Fi service optimized for high-performance gaming, streaming, and downloading multimedia content. It’s designed to deliver lag-free gaming and smooth, interruption-free streaming over a fast wireless network, meeting the needs of today’s mobile, console, and laptop users, according to Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A California federal judge <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1088426/apple-can-t-escape-iphone-dual-lens-patent-dispute?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has ruled </a>that Corephotonics' complaints “more than simply” alleged that Apple Inc. knew about the Israeli startup’s lens technology patents and infringed them in several iPhone, which means the legal battle will continue.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,088,909) for a “sessionless pointing user interface” that hints at a Mac user interface that utilizes gesture controls in much the same manner its <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2016/8/11/leap-motion-control-is-intriguing-and-fun-but-not-quite-ready-for-prime-time?rq=Leap" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Leap Motion’s Leap control device.</a> Other Apple patents for this technology include 9885495, 20180059925, 2017018516, 20170185161, 94176706, and 9,449,758.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Sebastiaan de With, the developer behind popular manual photography app Halide, has been putting the iPhone XS camera system through its paces and <a href="https://blog.halide.cam/iphone-xs-why-its-a-whole-new-camera-ddf9780d714c" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">denies there’s a “beautygate” </a>problem. “Beautygate” involves complaints about excessive smoothing in photos shot with the iPhone XS front-facing camera, which can make images seem fake or even out of focus.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple Music and the Sony-owned Ministry of Sound label have struck an exclusive playlist deal that will effectively shut out Spotify, a rep for Apple confirmed to <a href="https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/ministry-of-sound-exclusive-playlist-apple-music-spotify-1202965811/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Variety</em></a>. News of the deal, which was <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/apple-music-and-ministry-of-sound-strike-deal-to-push-mos-playlists-worldwide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">first reported by Music Business Worldwide</span></a>, will see exclusive Ministry of Sound-branded playlists being posted on Apple Music beginning Thursday (Oct. 4).</p>