Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/14/apple-looks-to-develop-chip-for-processing-health-data.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>CNBC</em> reports</a> that recent Apple job listings show the tech giant has a team exploring a custom processor that can make better sense of health information coming off sensors from inside its devices.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the latest quarterly research from <a href="http://www.strategyanalytics.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics</a>, Amazon’s global smart speaker share of shipments fell to 41% in the second quarter of 2018 from 44% in quarter one. And Apple’s HomePod increased its market share to 6% on sales of 700,000.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">WaterField Designs has introduced the $49 <a href="https://www.sfbags.com/products/tech-pocket-gear-case">Tech Pocket</a>, a minimalist pouch that functions as an extra pocket for stowing frequently-used, small tech gear.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,049,663) for an “intelligent automated assistant for media exploration” with the goal of making Siri better at finding music and videos you wish to listen to or watch.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told his people to stop buying American electronics and encouraging them to switch from iPhones to Samsung devices.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Australian government is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-security-data/australia-plans-law-for-tech-firms-to-hand-over-encrypted-private-data-idUSKBN1KZ0W5?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtechnologyNews+%28Reuters+Technology+News%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">considering a new law </a>that would require tech companies like Apple to give police access to private encrypted data linked to suspected illegal activities. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to <a href="http://www.trendforce.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TrendForce</a>, Apple will offer Apple Pencil support and a 512GB flash storage option to at least some versions of the upcoming iPhones.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">moshi's $19.95 <a href="https://www.moshi.com/en/product/screen-cleaner-microfiber-teraglove/black-gray" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">teraglove</a> is a handy (pun intended) product for cleaning the screens of your macOS and iOS devices. Plus, it's environmentally friendly.</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 has <a href="https://www.apple.com/jp/retail/kyoto/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previewed</a> the upcoming grand opening of their newest retail store in Kyoto, Japan. It will open at 10 a.m. local time on Aug. 25.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to Chinese outlet, <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chongdiantou.com%2Fwp%2Farchives%2F26814.html&edit-text=&act=url" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Chongdiantou</em></a>, Apple will ship its long-delayed AirPower wireless charger next month at the price of 1,000 yuan (about $145). According to the Sellers Research Group (that’s me) this makes sense as it would debut alongside new iPhones and iPads.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has released the seventh developer betas of iOS 12, macOS Mojave, tvOS 12,  and watchOS 5. However, as noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a>, the tech giant has removed Group FaceTime from the iOS 12 and Mojave betas, saying it “will ship in a future software update later this fall.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Look for new 12-inch MacBooks sometime in September or October. The Sellers Research Firm (that’s me) says that October is more likely as September will be the month Apple unveils new iPhones and iPads. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.parksassociates.com/360view/360view-independent-living" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Parks Associates research</a> shows 19% of U.S. broadband households now own two or more connected health devices such as an Apple Watch, a modest increase from 16% in mid-2017.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">​​​​​​​<a href="https://www.moshi.com/codex-15-onyx-black#onyx-black" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Codex</a> from Moshi is a TSA checkpoint-friendly carrying case that allows you to use your MacBook Pro without removing it from the case. That’s useful, but I find the designer carrying case a bit limiting.</p>