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>Published to coincide with International Equal Pay Day, the first edition of a new annual scorecard ranking 33 of the world's largest financial, technology, and retail companies on their current gender pay disclosures, performance, and commitments shows Apple, Nike, Starbucks, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan with the highest grade (A-).</p>

<p>Apple has landed the rights to a TV series adaption of <em>Foundation</em>, the Isaac Asimov science fiction novel trilogy. The project, from Skydance Television, has been put in development for straight-to-series consideration, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://deadline.com/2018/04/apple-isaac-asimov-foundation-tv-series-david-goyer-josh-friedman-skydance-1202361072/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Deadline</em></a>.</p>

<p>In a note to clients —as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ped30.com/2018/04/10/apple-iphone-well-heeled-teens/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Apple 3.0</em> </a>— Piper Jeffrey analyst Michael Olson — Apple’s share of smartphone ownership increased for the sixth consecutive ”Taking Stock With Teens” survey. </p>

<p>Israel’s consumer protection bureau is investigating Apple over “Batterygate” — the failure to disclose to consumers that its software could slow performance in some iPhones, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-batteries-israel/israeli-agency-investigating-apple-over-handling-of-iphone-slowdown-idUSKBN1HH1W8" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent that suggests that upcoming versions of watchOS and the Apple Watch could react to motions and gestures. Patent number 9,939,899 is for “motion and gesture input from a wearable device."</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent that hints at an upcoming Apple Watch with a circular, rather than rectangular design. Patent number 9,940,866 for an “electronic device having a display with curved edges.”</p>

<p>Texture CEO John Loughlin has departed after the company’s sale to Apple, according to <em>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/texture-ceo-john-loughlin-departs-sale-apple-1101109" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hollywood Reporter</a></em>. Last month the tech giant scooped up the digital mag subscription service, acquiring the full company, including employees.</p>

<p>With Facebook <a target="_blank" href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/04/09/facebook-admits-wrongdoing-ahead-of-zuckerberg-testimonies-starts-notifying-cambridge-analytica-victims" rel="noopener noreferrer">admitting charges of wrongdoing</a> in the Cambridge Analytics scandal, perhaps Apple should create its own social network.</p>

<p>Portable Document Format, or PDF for short, is one of the most ubiquitous file formats that is universally adopted across platforms.  However, they can be quite big. Thankfully, you can reduce the file size of a PDF in macOS High Sierra.</p>

<p>Pond5 has announced a new app for Apple’s Final Cut Pro X that’s designed to give editors the ability to save time by working with previews of Pond5 footage, music, and sound effects directly in their Final Cut timelines.</p>

<p>Apple plans to introduce an iPhone this year that posts a triple-lens rear camera system that packs a 12-megapixel lens, according to Taiwan's <a target="_blank" href="https://money.udn.com/money/story/5612/3076153" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Economic Daily News</em></a> — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.macrumors.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a>. Purportedly, the smartphone camera will have a 6P lens design with 5x zoom.</p>

<p>Tech companies claimed the top five spots in the U.S. for research and development spending again last year, investing a combined total of $76 billion. Amazon was at the top of the list, spending $22.6 billion in 2017, 41% more than in 2016, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.recode.net/2018/4/9/17204004/amazon-research-development-rd" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Recode</em></a>.</p>

<p>Graphics Fuzz,  a start-up working on graphics processing unit (GPU) reliability, says its test results so far show that the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus seem less reliable the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7. They say there are more rendering issues on the newer Apple devices than the older one.</p>

<p>Apple’s Final Cut Pro X 10.4.1, Motion 5.4.1., and Compressor 4.4.1 are now available at the Mac App Store for $299.99, $49.99, and $49.99, respectively, for new users. They’re free upgrades for current users. <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/4/5/final-cut-pro-x-1041-introduces-prores-raw-and-advanced-closed-captioning?rq=Final%20Cut%20Pro%20X%2010.4.1)" rel="noopener noreferrer">Announced last week </a>the upgrades add support for Apple’s ProRes RAW format and advanced closed captioning tools.</p>