Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Due to delays in the approval process, Apple is dropping a $1 billion plan to open a data center in Athenry, Ireland, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-ireland/apple-drops-plans-for-data-center-in-ireland-due-to-planning-delays-rte-idUSKBN1IB0XT" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RTE reports</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The U.S. Transportation Department has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/alphabet-apple-microsoft-part-of-usdot-drone-pilots-amazon-bypassed.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> the winners of its drone pilot project, which aims to produce data and assist the FAA in establishing safety regulations for UAVs. Apple is among them.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Perceptive Automation's Indigo is an intelligent, and useful, home control server . And the company concentrates its development efforts on the Mac. Cool! Indigo provides tools to manage, automate, and control your home.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">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="white-space: pre-wrap;">WaterField Designs has announced the <a href="https://www.sfbags.com/products/pro-executive-laptop-backpack" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pro Backpack</a>, designed in collaboration with customers “to address the style and functionality needs of modern executives.” Shipping begins June 8.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve is indisposed this afternoon, so the AWT News Update is on a one-day hiatus. In its place, 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 style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple plans to sell video service subscriptions through its TV app instead of having them subscribe to them via individual apps, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-09/apple-is-said-to-plan-selling-video-subscriptions-through-tv-app?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg sources</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">iPhone users who have been waiting to take advantage of Apple's discounted battery replacement offer in the “Batterygate” brouhaha can rejoice. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple <a href="https://binus.ac.id/developer-academy)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has announced</a> Apple Developer Academy @BINUS, which the company says is “Asia’s first ever initiative to empower Indonesia’s economy by creating world-class developers for the world’s most innovative and vibrant app ecosystem.” (That would be iOS, in Apple’s reasoning.)</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Fibaro is shipping the latest product in its existing HomeKit-compatible device ecosystem: The Button. Previously available in a version with Z-Wave technology, the wireless, battery-powered, control device is now available as a separate version compatible with Apple HomeKit.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Ralph Lauren Corp. — known for its apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances products — has announced that it plans to add Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail, to the company’s Board of Directors. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Major tech and aerospace companies including Apple, Amazon, Intel, Qualcomm, and Airbus are vying to take part in a new slate of drone tests set <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-drones-companies/u-s-to-reveal-winners-of-drone-program-that-has-attracted-top-companies-idUSL1N1SF1J5?feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> by the U.S. Transportation Department. I’m not sure what Apple’s drone planes are, but this will be an interesting area to watch.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple’s iPhone X remained the most popular smartphone in Europe in the first quarter of 2018, even as overall shipments fell 6.3% year-on-year, according to new data from <a href="http://www.canalys.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canalys</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Revealed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fepqIO57f8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">by</a> <em>EverythingApplePro</em> on YouTube a malicious message dubbed “Black Dot” message has been discovered. It takes advantage of a bug in Unicode to crash Apple's Messages app on iPhones and iPads running iOS 11.3 and the beta releases of iOS 11.4. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent involving its current and future iPhone and iPad stands. Patent number 9,966,984 is for a “device case with a balanced hinge” that provides some amount of torsional force that would allow an iPhone or iPad to  be angled “at an almost unlimited number of angles relative to a surface on which the computing device is resting.”</p>