Dennis Sellers

<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 announced its <a href="https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/">2016 Apple Design Awards</a> for this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference. The awards honor the most innovative macOS and iOS apps as well as the best and most creative uses of Apple's products — at least as determined by Apple.</p>

<p>At this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced a set of new authentication APIs [application programming interfaces] in iOS and tvOS that enable Single Sign On (SSO) for TV Everywhere (TVE) on Apple devices. </p>

<p>I am very pleased with what I saw in the macOS portion of the WWDC keynote. However, I would have liked to have seen a macOS version of the News app that’s available on iOS devices.</p>

<p>While I’m a huge fan of extreme case protection for the iPhone (my current favorite is the Griffin Survivor), one of the problems is that this extra protection frequently prevents my Apple smartphone from fitting into various docking solutions and cable connectors.  </p>

<p>Here are some final news nuggets from the two-hour keynote that kicked off Apple’s 2016 Worldwide Developer Conference:</p>

<p>Apple, which has traditionally kept its artificial intelligence research under wraps, is now allowing developers to build neural networks by <a href="https://developer.apple.com/reference/accelerate/1912851-bnns#overview">calling on the company's simple API</a> [application programming interface]. Such networks, which attempt to imitate the way a human brain works, are particularly particularly effective for predicting events when they have a large database of prior examples to draw on. </p>

<p>Apple is apparently killing Game Center as of iOS 10. Its not available in the first iOS 10 beta and isn’t available at the Apple App Store (although, interestingly, it’s still mentioned in the Settings app of the iOS 10 beta and <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.apple.com/game-center/" rel="noopener noreferrer">in developer notes</a>).</p>

<p>Apple will include a new file system — the "Apple File System" (APFS) — with the debut of macOS Sierra. The developer documentation describes it as a “new, modern file system for iOS, OS X, tvOS and watchOS.”</p>

<p>At today’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, Apple previewed watchOS 3, promising “significantly” improved performance with the ability to launch favorite apps instantly, enhanced navigation like the new Dock and all-new fitness and health capabilities for Apple Watch. </p>

<p>As expected, Mac OS X has been renamed macOS and has added Siri support. At the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, Apple previewed macOS Sierra, a major update to the desktop operating system. </p>

<p>At the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, Apple announced new Siri capabilities, single sign-on for Apple TV, and more new features for Apple TV users. All will be included in the updated tvOS that’s coming this fall.</p>

<p>In his opening statements at the Worldwide Developer Conference keynotes, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple now has 13 million Apple developers. </p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.fluentco.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Fluent research group</a> has conducted a survey around current and prospective Apple initiatives. Siri, the company’s personal digital assistant, seems to be of particular interest. Key findings of the survey include:</p>

<p>India wants a commitment from Apple to bring manufacturing facilities to the country before the government will approve the company’s request to open its own retail stores, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-13/india-wants-apple-to-pledge-local-plants-before-approving-stores" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>, quoting an unnamed “a senior government official with direct knowledge of the matter.”</p>