Dennis Sellers

<p>GigSky, an international wireless carrier and mobile technology company, will offer cellular data plans for iPad travelers with Apple SIM in over 140 countries, including “all top travel destinations,” as well as Ecuador, Argentina, Jamaica, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Isle of Man, and The Virgin Islands — up from more than 90 countries and territories.</p>

<p>Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product, so here are today’s patent highlights:</p>

<p>Apple has released firmware updates for its wireless AirPort Base Stations. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206849" rel="noopener noreferrer">release notes</a> it fixes a vulnerability in which a remote attacker may be able to cause arbitrary code execution.</p>

<p>I like the 12-inch MacBook as a “secondary” Mac — but I don't like the fact that it ditches the MagSafe adapter. Yes, I know that the single USB-C port is vital in keeping the laptop’s eye-popping svelte design, but the MagSafe connector on other Mac laptops disengages with the slightest amount of pressure. This has saved many a MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from a disastrous plummet when someone accidentally snagged the power cable. </p>

<p>If you own one of Apple's teeny MacBooks (<a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2016/5/19/2016-macbook-a-good-secondary-mac-gets-even-better?rq=MacBook)" rel="noopener noreferrer">check out my review here</a>) you probably have a love/hate relationship with the single USB-C port.</p>

<p>Apple may have <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/apple-wont-aid-gop-convention-over-trump-224513" rel="noopener noreferrer">refused to offer tech support</a> for this year’s Republican national convention due to a dislike for Donald Trump, but <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/tim-cook-apple-paul-ryan-fundraiser-224554" rel="noopener noreferrer">a new report </a>claims CEO Tim Cook next week will host a fundraiser for sitting U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (pictured) and other House Republicans.</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 style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Beginning June 21, millions of e-book purchasers will receive credits and checks for twice their losses following an antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple Inc. and five of the nation’s largest publishing companies for their roles in an alleged e-book price-fixing scheme, according to Hagens Berman, a law firm that litigated the case jointly with the United States Department of Justice and attorneys general from 33 U.S. states and territories.</p>

<p><a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2F&esheet=51365435&newsitemid=20160620005838&lan=en-US&anchor=LinkedIn&index=1&md5=3180d076ad654a662df224e8a9488f33">LinkedIn</a> Corp. the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, has launched its first-ever <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Flists.linkedin.com%2F2016%2Ftop-attractors%2Fen%2Fus&esheet=51365435&newsitemid=20160620005838&lan=en-US&anchor=Top+Attractors&index=2&md5=cd6061e0d2836585dc5af067608c5d3f">Top Attractors</a> list, using exclusive LinkedIn data and examining the billions of actions of LinkedIn’s 433+ million members, to rank the top companies where people want to work now. Apple is number four on the list.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.cloudmine.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">CloudMine</a>, a secure data healthcare platform, has released an iOS SDK (software development kit) designed to work with Apple's CareKit framework. Built to support native iOS apps, this SDK will communicate with CloudMine's Connected Health Cloud.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.elavon.ca" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elavon</a>, a global payments solution provider and subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, now provides access to Apple Pay and now supports the additional card brands most used by Canadian consumers. </p>

<p>Consumers will increasingly use digital personal assistants to interact with consumer services in the connected home, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gartner.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gartner, Inc</a>. The research group predicts that, by 2019, in at least 25% of households in developed economies, the digital assistants on smartphones and other devices will serve as the primary interface to connected home services.</p>

<p>Apple shares could fall more as they’re set to lose their weighting and be reclassified in the annual reconstitution of the widely followed Russell indexes, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-russell-apple-idUSKCN0Z618F" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports Reuters</a>. About $1.3 billion more will be sold in Apple shares at the market close on Friday, when the reconstitution of the Russell indexes takes effect, according to an analysis by Credit Suisse, a global financial services company headquartered in Zurich (and which provided the graphic).</p>

<p>The Indian government decided to relax its foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, allowing foreign companies in select sectors to establish operations in the country, including single-brand retail, which means that Apple can now open retails stores in the country, <a target="_blank" href="http://thenextweb.com/apple/2016/06/20/apple-can-now-open-flagship-stores-india-thanks-new-fdi-ruling/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports TNW</a>.</p>

<p>According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/4oogms/you_can_now_get_cash_at_bank_of_america_atms_with/" rel="noopener noreferrer">a Reddit post</a>, Apple Pay — as well as Android Pay, and Samsung Pay — can be used to make withdrawals and transfers at Bank of America ATMs without the need for a physical card. </p>