Dennis Sellers

<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>Lauren Kern, executive editor at <em>New York Magazine</em>, has been named as the first editor-in-chief of Apple News, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/new-york-playbook/2017/05/25/the-meaning-of-pellegrinos-victory-mmvs-parade-theory-trouble-at-trump-soho-220500" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Politico</em></a>. She's of New York magazine’s most high-ranking editors and a former deputy editor at <em>The New York Times Magazine</em>. </p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wemo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wemo,</a> the smart home brand from Belkin International, plans to enable Apple HomeKit compatibility to more than two million Wemo solutions on the market. HomeKit is a framework that allows control of compatible home automation devices through iOS and Siri.</p>

<p>If accurate, this could be good news for Mac laptops and iPads, desktops not so much: notebooks and detachable tablets (which includes the iPad Pro) will drive a return to growth in the personal computing market in 2019, according to IDC.</p>

<p>Apple has filed for a patent (number 20170147087) for “housing as an I/O device" that hints at, among other things, a Mac laptop with a virtual keyboard.</p>

<p>The Royal College of Art (RCA) has appointed Apple's Chief Design Officer Jony Ive as its new chancellor. He will take up the role in July 2017.</p>

<p>A <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/7/2/3/htm" rel="noopener noreferrer">new study</a> by the <em>Journal of Personalized Medicine </em>— as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a> — compared the accuracy of seven different fitness trackers. The Apple Watch was found to have the lowest margin of error when measuring heart rate, beating the Basis Peak, Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band, Mio Alpha 2, PulseOn, and Samsung Gear S2. </p>

<p>Apple is transitioning the pricing at its app stores from the U.S. dollar and euro to the local currencies of nine countries, “a change that in some locales equates to a small savings thanks to favorable exchange rates,” reports <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/05/24/apple-transitions-app-store-pricing-to-local-currencies-in-9-new-countries" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider.</a></p>

<p>Qualcomm, the world’s dominant supplier of baseband processors, is seeking an injunction requiring Apple's contract manufacturers to pay royalties owed. The company says Apple is encouraging the non-payments as a way to shut down other pending legal actions.</p>

<p>Many developers rely on images to draw the user interfaces of their apps. Since Retina displays were introduced by Apple, developers have had to provide two sets of raster images for two different pixel densities.</p>

<p>I’m perfectly happy using Safari in macOS Sierra. However, if you prefer another web browser, you can change it. Here's how:</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>Elgato has announced that its <a target="_blank" href="http://www.elgato.com/en/thunderbolt-3-dock" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thunderbolt 3 Dock</a> will be available in the U.S., Europe and Australia on June 6. It’s designed for laptop users who need a multi-monitor workstation with high-speed expansion options and secure networking.</p>

<p>Belkin has released the Pocket Power, a compact, portable power bank that comes in 5,000 and 10,000 mAh sizes and in black, rose gold and silver flavors. A 15,000 mAh model will be available in black only. </p>

<p>Apple has served up <em>App Development with Swift</em>, a free course available as an iBooks course at the iBookStore. It's a year-long program geared towards helping people "design fully functional apps, gaining critical job skills in software development and information technology," according to Apple.</p>