Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The worldwide wearables market is forecast to ship 124.9 million units by the end of 2018, up 8.2% from the prior year. And Apple will continue to dominate with the Apple Watch, according to the International Data Corporation (<a href="http://www.idc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDC</a>) <a href="http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=962" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is now selling the HomePod in Canada, France, and Germany. The Siri-enabled speaker is available at Apple's online store and at Apple's retail stores in each country, as well as select authorized resellers (such as Best Buy in Canada). </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">iPhone users in the U.S. who call 911 will be able to automatically and securely share their location data with first responders beginning later this year with iOS 12, providing faster and more accurate information to help reduce emergency response times.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Acrosync’s Duplicacy is a time-saving, cross-platform cloud backup tool that’s compatible with macOS 10.6 and higher. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I think I may have been reminded of this one on MacGeekGab, too, but it's a site I've had bookmarked for a long time. Its big uniqueness is that it tests buffer bloat and provides an easy-to-understand score of A through F. </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 today's picks.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has hired Jaime Waydo, a high-profile senior engineer of Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving vehicle unit, according to <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-ramps-up-self-driving-car-program-with-waymo-hire" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Information</em></a>. The article says her hiring could elevate the stature of the tech giant’s self-driving car efforts. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has announced a unique, multi-year content partnership with Oprah Winfrey, the producer, actress, talk show host, philanthropist and CEO of OWN.</p><p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has admitted on its <a href="https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">System Status page</a> that there’s an issue with its Apple Maps app/service and says it’s "investigating" the problem.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple earned top honors at the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) awards show Thursday evening. The annual awards show honors innovative marketing communications in motion image. Apple dominated, winning the top brand spot with nine total honors including six honors awarded to their agency partner, TBWAMedia Arts Lab. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Danalock, a provider of smart lock solutions for smart homes and businesses, says the HomeKit version of its Danalock V3 smart lock is now available for purchase in Apple retail and online stores in more than 20 countries across Europe. HomeKit is a framework that allows control of compatible home automation devices through iOS and Siri.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple expects LCD models to make up the majority of iPhone sales in its lineup to be released this fall, a greater proportion than analysts had anticipated, and plans to use the displays in 2019, as well, reports <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/iphone-x-pensive-apple-looks-to-keep-phones-with-cheaper-displays-1529051835?mod=rss_Technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Wall Street Journal</em></a>, quoting unnamed “people involved in the Apple supply chain.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">What the ….? Mac ads from Apple? Well, it’s about time. As noted by<em> </em><a href="https://www.imore.com/behind-the-mac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>iMore</em></a>, Apple is debuting a new campaign called "Behind the Mac.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A newly granted Apple patent (number 20180164882) offers the possibility of upcoming Macs with “adjustable reflective displays” that could offer features such as detecting head movement and gestures. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re interested in entry-level robotics — or, let’s be honest, just plain ol’  tech fun — UBTECH Robotics’ <a href="http://www.ubtrobot.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MeeBot Kit and Animal Add-On Kit</a>, are both available at <a href="http://apple.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple.com</a> and at select Apple stores. The interconnecting pieces can be built into any design imaginable and programmed to move in realistic life-like motions by people aged 8 to 88.  </p>