Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">iOS 12.1 will be available Tuesday, Oct. 30, bringing Group FaceTime and more than 70 new emoji to the iPhone and iPad. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is investigating allegations that one of its suppliers illegally used high school students to assemble its watches at a factory in China, reports <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/29/tech/apple-supply-chain-china/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>CNN</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzf-eaugEtY&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">After finding Apple's OLED screens are highly susceptible to damage</a>, SquareTrade, an Allstate company and protection plan provider, put the iPhone Xr through a series of screen tests, saying it shattered on the first drop in both the face-down drop test and back-down drop test. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple, Google, and other tech titans once touted beacons — tiny transmitters that interact with smartphones, wearables, and other nearby gadgets — as the future of retail. However, it hasn’t caught on, according to <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/27/why-android-nearby-ibeacons-and-eddystone-failed-to-gain-traction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>VentureBeat</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The folks at Silk have served up a smorgasbord of inexpensive (as opposed tho cheap) cases for the iPhone Xr, Xs, and Xs Plus. I’ve had a chance to play around with the Xs Plus versions, so I’ll offer this mini-review round-up.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Like me, you’re probably get a PDF mailed to you that you need to sign. It’s a pain to print it, sign it, then scan it back into your email for returning. Thankfully, there’s a better way.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has published updated version of its iPhone User Guide, including new features in iOS 12.1, including Group FaceTime and dual SIM support for the iPhone Xs and Xs Mac. It can be <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/iphone-user-guide-for-ios-12-1/id1420662672?mt=11" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">obtained for free on the Apple Books Store</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Qualcomm said in a court hearing on Friday that Apple is $7 billion behind in patent royalty payments to the mobile chip firm, which for years supplied parts for the iPhone, reports <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-qualcomm/qualcomm-says-apple-7-billion-behind-in-royalty-payments-idUSKCN1N102D" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,105,905) for “using triangular tessellation in 3D printing.”</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 this week’s picks.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">WaterField Design will launch a new Apple-centric bag this Tuesday, directly after Apple’s There’s more in the making” media event. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/25/ios-121-beta-confirms-face-id-on-ipad-pro-will-work-in-both-landscape-and-portrait-modes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a>, the iOS 12.1 beat confirms that Face ID will come to the 2018 iPad Pros — expected to debut on Oct. 30 — in both landscape and portrait modes.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Gene Munster and Andrew Murphy, analysts at <a href="http://www.loopventures.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loup Ventures</a> say that despite short launch day lines, the iPhone Xr isn’t a “disappointment,” as some are calling it. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is teaming up with TouchTunes, in-venue interactive music and entertainment platform, on a “festive” Apple Pay promo. Use Apple’s mobile payment service to make a purchase of $10 or more in the TouchTunes jukebox app — available at the Apple App Store — and get three free bonus credits.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for another patent (number 20180308413) that hints at upcoming iPhones with curved screens; other patents from the company include numbers 20180120903, 20180152551, 20160320806, and 9,367,095. The latest is for a “display with pixel dimming for curved edges.”</p>