Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple has opened up donations to the American Red Cross at iTunes and its app stores to help victims of the flooding in Louisiana.</p>

<p>Apple has released the sixth public beta and seventh developer beta of iOS 10. The finished version is due this fall.</p>

<p>Steve “Woz” Wozniak, Apple's co-founder, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cnet.com/news/steve-wozniak-on-tim-cooks-first-5-years-as-apple-ceo/#ftag=CADf28c2b9" rel="noopener noreferrer">says Tim Cook is doing a fine job</a> as the CEO of Apple. </p>

<p>In honor of the <a href="http://www.iphf.org/">International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum's</a>  (IPHF) 50<span style="font-size:11px">th</span> anniversary and <a href="http://worldphotoday.com/">World Photo Day</a>, the IPHF announced its 2016 class of Photography Hall of Fame inductees. Eight photographers or photography industry visionaries that embody the spirit, artistry and innovation of modern photography have been selected for induction, including Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who is described as a “technology pioneer.”</p>

<p>The CEO of AT&T will announce today that 33 companies including the telecom giant, Apple, Alphabet, Comcast, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are joining an effort with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to crackdown on “robocalls,” reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-robocalls-idUSKCN10U18L" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sony.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sony Electronics</a> has announced its XAV-AX100 in-car audio system, which offers Apple CarPlay as an option (and Android Auto, as well, but I know you'll prefer CarPlay). The system retails at $499.99 and will be available across North America as of late November</p>

<p>WaterField Designs has launched its first Kickstarter campaign for the RFID-blocking, play-through, <a href="http://t1504649.omkt.co/track.aspx?id=402%7C16F589%7C64D4%7C4D%7C1AE%7C0%7C134%7C1%7C70D30280&destination=https%3a%2f%2fwww.kickstarter.com%2fprojects%2fwaterfielddesigns%2fthe-intrepid-travel-wallet-for-iphone-7-made-in-us%3fref%3dnav_search&dchk=3E0D4580">Intrepid Travel Wallet</a> for the upcoming “iPhone 7” (and similarly-sized phones). It’s a wallet, an iPhone case and a travel attaché all in one.</p>

<p>According to <a href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20160818PD200.html"><em>Digitimes</em></a>, suppliers in Taiwan are beginning to resist demands for ever-greater discounts from Apple. The article says the Cupertino, California-based company has met resistance from makers in Taiwan's supply chain to lower their quotes for parts and components for the “iPhone 7.”</p>

<p>Frank Ocean has released a 45-minute long “visual album” titled Endless exclusively on Apple Music. A representative from Apple’s streaming music service told <a target="_blank" href="http://pitchfork.com/news/67657-frank-ocean-releases-visual-album-endless-watch/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pitchfork</a> to “keep an eye out this weekend for more from Frank.” </p>

<p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australia’s anti-trust regulator, says it won’t grant the country's three biggest banks interim approval to collectively negotiate with Apple Inc to install their own electronic payments applications on iPhones, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-banks-apple-idUSKCN10U04D" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports Reuters</a>.</p>

<p>Be honest now: do you back up the data on your Mac? I know a LOT of folks who don't; they're asking for disaster. If you need a simple way to save your data — aside from or, better yet, in addition to Apple's Time Machine feature in Mac OS X — check out CrashPlan from Code 42.</p>

<p>Ravpower makes — as you might guess from the company’s name— charging and battery products. It’s released two that will be of interest to Mac users, especially those of us who own 12-inch MacBooks.</p>

<p>Apple is making a slight branding change to its retail business, dropping the "Store" when referring to its Apple Store locations, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/18/apple-drops-store-branding/" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a>. Apple has already made the change online, and all of its store pages now refer to stores by names like "Apple Union Square" or "Apple Green Hills.”</p>

<p>In July the Canalys research group forecast that 7.5 million smart watches with cellular connectivity — including a second generation Apple Watch — will ship in 2016, rising to 53.6 million in 2020. However, Apple “has hit roadblocks in making major changes that would connect its Watch to cellular networks and make it less dependent on the iPhone,” reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-18/apple-said-to-hit-roadblocks-in-cutting-watch-ties-to-iphone" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>, quoting unnamed “people with knowledge of the matter.”</p>

<p>MiTagg has released the NuDock Power Lamp Stand (<a href="http://www.mitagg.com/products/nudock-power-station-lamp">http://www.mitagg.com/products/nudock-power-station-lamp</a>), a $299.99 iPhone and Apple Watch Power Dock with Smart LED Lamp — and an optional NuKi Portable Battery. </p>