Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of the criticism of Apple's Siri may be undeserved. <a href="http://www.loupventures.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loup Ventures</a> — a research-driven venture capital firm — recently asked Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, and Cortana 800 questions each. This time, Google Assistant was able to answer 86% of them correctly vs. Siri at 79%, Alexa at 61%, and Cortana at 52%.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple’s iPhone market share dropped in China, but the tech giant still held onto fifth place among the country’s smartphone makers, according to the <a href="http://www.canalys.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canalys research group</a>. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The latest smartphone OS data from <a href="https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/smartphone-os-market-share/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kantar Worldpanel ComTech</a> shows that Apple’s iOS performed best in the U.S. in the three months ending in June, where a “stellar” three months helped shift market share up 5.9 percentage points to 38.7%.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m skeptical that Apple will ever make its own accessory lenses for the iPhone or iPad, but you never know. The tech giant has been granted a patent (number 10,031,312) for “adapting camera systems to accessory lenses” that will, at least, make it easier for third parties to make photographic accessories for iOS devices.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Mac gamers often have to deal with the fact that some of the best games will never be available to us. But sometimes, instead of complaining that the top games are Windows only, we simply can't choose between all the great alternatives.</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;">Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple says that thermal throttling issues with the 2018 MacBook Pros discovered over the past week are due to a software flaw in the system's thermal management software. A free software update supposedly fixes the problem on all  the new 13-inch and 15-inch models, not just the models boasting an Intel Core i9 chip. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the latest research from <a href="http://www.counterpointresearch.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service</a>, India’s smartphone market returned to double digit growth (18%) year-over-year (YoY) after flat first quarter growth. The feature phone market continues to outpace the smartphone market with a YoY growth of 21%.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/24/iphone-headed-for-record-earnings-growth-for-rest-of-2018-says-analyst" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a> — Guggenheim Partners analyst Robert Cihra says Apple is expected to post another solid quarter, driven by iPhone sales and strong services performance. Guggenheim has raised its Apple revenue estimate for the quarter to $52.9 billion, up from $52.4 billion. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, Apple is adamant that iOS and macOS will never merge and that Macs aren’t going to get touchscreens. However, that doesn’t mean that the tech giant isn’t working on touch technology for its desktop and laptop lines — you know, just in case it changes its mind.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Verizon wants to partner with Google or Apple to provide television when it launches the first “superfast” 5G service to homes in Los Angeles and Sacramento later this year, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-23/verizon-is-said-to-seek-google-or-apple-as-5g-tv-provider" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Bloomberg</em></a>, quoting an unnamed “person familiar with the situation,” adding that “negotiations are ongoing and could still fall apart.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has premiered Apple Piazza Liberty, a new retail location in the center of Milan. The project, which includes both a public plaza and a store below, brings Apple’s latest retail design to Italy for the first time.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><em>A Quiet Place</em> is the best horror movie since <em>Jaws</em> and a career maker for star/co-writer/and director John Krasinski. And it’s now for sale ($19.99) or rent ($5.99) on iTunes. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has launched its annual Back to School promotion in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and in many European and Asian countries. Education customers who order certain Macs or iPad Pros can get Beats headphones for free along with their education discount. But where are the updated 12-inch MacBook Pros and iMacs?</p>