Dennis Sellers

<p>Competition seems to be heating up among the two of the biggest music streaming services: Apple Music and Spotify. Citing unnamed"people in the record business," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-music-on-track-to-overtake-spotify-in-u-s-subscribers-1517745720" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports</a> that Apple has been adding 5% to its U.S. subscriber base every month versus "just" 2% for Spotify. </p>

<p>Apple, Cisco, Aon and Allianz have  announced a new cyber risk management solution for businesses, comprised of cyber resilience evaluation services from Aon, secure technology from Cisco and Apple, and options for enhanced cyber insurance coverage from Allianz. </p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 20180027931) for “dynamic fit adjustment for wearable electronic devices.” It refers to current and future versions of its Apple Watch bands. </p>

<p>If you fancy yourself a pinball wizard, you can give the game a whirl on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/barnstorm-games/id385706699?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pro Pinball</a>, which is based on the classic pinball series from the ‘90s.</p>

<p>You can change your iCloud name and photo, and your iCloud contact, security, devices, and payment information in iCloud preferences in macOS High Sierra.</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>Apple hopes to be ready to open its <a target="_blank" href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/03/c_136946978.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer">first data center in China</a> in 2020, <em>Xinhua </em>reports. The tech giant will launch the work on the 67-hectare site later this year.</p>

<p>Apple is launching a free repair program to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-02/apple-says-small-percentage-of-iphone-7s-need-component-repair" rel="noopener noreferrer">address a component failure</a> afflicting a "small percentage" of iPhone 7 devices. The glitch makes it appear the phone isn’t connected to cellular networks even when service is available. </p>

<p>There’s a lot happening in the world of Apple news this week. Following are the hottest articles for the week of Jan. 22-27.</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, deals with a death in the family. Prayers go out to the entire Sande family. In the place of the AWT News Update, I’ll offer a text-only (no podcast) summary of breaking stories with a tip o’ my hat to my former website, <em>Apple Daily Report</em>.</p>

<p>Asheville (N.C.) School plans to help teenagers from across the U.S. and abroad learn how to make apps this summer. The co-ed boarding and day school is offering an overnight and day camp in July that focuses on teaching kids how to write code, think critically, and make apps using Apple's programming language – Swift.</p>

<p>After a bidding war with Apple, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jj-abrams-sci-fi-drama-demimonde-lands-at-hbo-series-pickup-1075405" rel="noopener noreferrer">HBO has landed</a> the first TV series that writer/director/producer J.J. Abrams has written since 2008's <em>Fringe. </em></p>

<p>Mac-Chi has debuted Enact, a macOS productivity app that focuses on simplifying the movement of data. It allows users to format, save, print, or post the clipboard contents to social media. </p>

<p>According to the latest research from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.strategyanalytics.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics</a>, global smartphone shipments tumbled 9% annually to reach 400 million units in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017 — the biggest annual fall in smartphone history — but Apple captured first place with 19% global market share.</p>

<p>Need to open or export Microsoft Office docs in macOS High Sierra, but don’t want to spring for Office? You can use Pages, Numbers, and Keynote to open and save docs created with Microsoft Office.</p>