Dennis Sellers

<p>Don’t fall for this scam: con artists are calling people across the U.S. and Canada and claiming that their iCloud accounts have been hacked. As noted by the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/con-claims-that-apple-support-is-calling-you/article_c29eacbb-5774-5e00-9803-96e41668e6cf.html" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Herald-Dispatch</em></a>, BBB Scam Tracker has received numerous reports of this scam in the past few weeks, and some targets say they've gotten 10 or more calls a day.</p>

<p>Kalypso Media has released Sudden Strike 4, a World Ware II strategy title for macOS. It sends you off on three extensive campaigns set amongst the battlefields of the second World War.</p>

<p>The percentage of global point of sale transactions occurring through contactless payments — accounted for about 15% of transactions this year — will grow to 53% within five years, according to a new POS [point-of-sale] study from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.juniperresearch.com/press/press-releases/contactless-account-more-than-1-in-2-pos-trans" rel="noopener noreferrer">Juniper Research</a>. What’s more, according to research by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pymnts.com/mobile-wallet-adoption-2017/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pymnts</a> , which covers the payments and commerce markets, Apple Pay had the highest usage rate among those who could use contactless payment for a transaction. </p>

<p>The trial for <a target="_blank" href="http://www.andreaelectronics.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andrea Electronics</a>, which sells PureAudio Pro Recorder and Live Recorder apps for iOS devices, and Apple is slated to begin at the U.S. International Trade Commission today. The former company is suing the tech giant on five counts of patent infringement relating to noise cancellation technology.</p>

<p>Apple is now accepting donations to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.splcenter.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Southern Poverty Law Center</a>, an Alabama-based non-profit organization.</p>

<p>Forget the “personal digital assistant” (that would be Apple’s Siri, of course). The tech giant wants your Mac to serve as your “lifestyle companion system.” The company has been granted a patent for “systems and methods for providing audio and visual cues via a portable electronic device.” </p>

<p>If you need to keep in-depth stats on your Mac's system operation, iStat Menus for Mac is arguably the best app for the job. The latest version (5) boasted a new design, more statistics, and more languages.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.technavio.com/?utm_source=t5&utm_medium=bw&utm_campaign=businesswire" rel="noopener noreferrer">Technavio</a> has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent<strong> </strong>global smart speaker market<strong> </strong>report that covers a time period through 2021. Apple’s on the list. Since the tech giant doesn’t make smart speakers, I’m assuming that the company makes the list based on expected sales of the HomePod when it debuts.</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>

<p>There’s a lot happening in the world of Apple news this week. Following are the hottest articles for the week of August 14-18.</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, takes a road trip. In its place, I’ll offer a text-only (no podcast) summary of breaking stories with a tip o’ my hat to my former website, <em>Apple Daily Report</em>.</p>

<p>Movie studios such as Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures are “pressing on” in discussions with Apple and Comcast Corp. on ways to offer digital rentals of films mere weeks after they appear in theaters, reports <em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-18/hollywood-apple-are-said-to-mull-rental-plan-defying-theaters" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a></em>, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” Naturally, owners of theater chains aren’t happy about this.</p>

<p>According to filings with the Santa Clara County [California] Recorder’s Office, Apple <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/17/apple-leases-big-santa-clara-buildings-launches-construction/" rel="noopener noreferrer">is renovating</a> two buildings near the southeast corner of Kifer Road and Uranium Drive, reports <em>The Mercury News</em> reports. </p>

<p>Apple has urged a California state judge to toss a proposed class action alleging it puts profits over public safety by not installing lockout devices on iPhones that prevent texting while driving, saying courts have consistently held that distracted drivers are responsible for accidents, not phone manufacturers, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/955332/apple-says-drivers-not-phones-cause-texting-crashes?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Law360</em></a>.</p>

<p>Quoting unnamed “sources in the supply chain,” <em><a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170817PD208.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Digitimes</a></em> predicts that Apple will ship 4.5 million Apple Watches in the fourth quarter,  bringing the total number of units shipping in 2017 to 15 million. The suppliers expect Watch shipments to rise an additional 5 million next year for a total of 20 million.</p>