Dennis Sellers

<p>Voice assistant programs such as Apple’s Siri and Google’s Alexa, as well as voice search, are poised to transform how patients and physicians find medical information in Europe, research from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.decisionresourcesgroup.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Manhattan Research</a>.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.rescue.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">RESCUECOM</a> has released its latest Computer Reliability Report, which compares the brand market share of computer makers with their repair share, based on the number of computer repair calls received per brand, to create an overall reliability score. Apple received an A+ based on 20.7% market share.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.alivecor.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">AliveCor,</a> which specializes in FDA-cleared personal electrocardiogram (ECG) technology, has announced findings from two new studies that further support the use of portable ECG devices to provide groundbreaking health monitoring capabilities.</p>

<p>The Australian mobile phone market exceeded growth expectations, shipping 3.36m devices in the fourth quarter of 2017 -- 15.7% year-over-year (YoY) growth. </p>

<p>Apple is preparing to release a new entry-level MacBook at the end of the second quarter with a price tag expected to be about the same level as that of the existing MacBook Air or slightly higher, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">DigiTimes Research</a>. DigiTimes Research senior analyst Jim Hsiao expects shipments for the new MacBook to reach around four million units in 2018.</p>

<p>Apple wants Mac keyboards to be more resistant to spills. The company has been granted a patent (number 20180068808) for “ingress prevention for keyboards.”</p>

<p>Rogue Amoeba’s Loopback for macOS is a useful tool for enabling audio routing between applications and audio devices on your Mac. In just a few clicks, you can easily pass audio directly between apps.</p>

<p>The Calendars app in macOS High Sierra is automatically backed up if you have an iCloud account and enable this option. However, I like to keep another back-up of my calendars and urge you to do the same. Here’s how:</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, takes a road trip. 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>GrayShift is a new lawful access company, with an ex-Apple engineer, Braden Thomas (pictured) on its staff, that promises to break into the latest iPhones. At least one local police department, has already signed up to its GrayKey service, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://graykey.grayshift.com), according to a Motherboard report (https://motherboard.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/xw5bqz/documents-prove-local-cops-have-bought-cheap-iphone-cracking-tech" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Motherboard</em></a>.</p>

<p>In a note to clients — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a> — Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis and his compadres say Apple’s AirPods (pictured) continue to grow in popularity, but HomePod sales have been disappointing.</p>

<p>DRmare Studio has introduced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.drmare.com/drm-audio-converter-for-mac/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Audio Converter 1.0</a> for macOS and Windows. The app lets you remove DRM from any protected audio, including Apple Music, iTunes M4P songs and Audible audiobooks.</p>

<p>Swift, Apple’s programming language, hasn’t celebrated its fourth birthday yet, but <a target="_blank" href="http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2018/03/07/language-rankings-1-18/" rel="noopener noreferrer">a new report </a>from RedMonk, a developer-focused industry analyst firm, finds that it's already as popular as its predecessor, the Objective-C language.</p>

<p>Another day, another lawsuit. Non-practicing entity Portal Communications has sued Apple for alleged infringement of three patents related to natural language voice and audio query systems, such as those of the tech giant's Siri, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/03/09/apple-slapped-with-patent-suit-over-siris-natural-language-abilities)" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em>.</a></p>

<p>Former President Barack Obama is in advanced negotiations with Netflix to produce a series of high-profile shows — unless he goes with Apple, reports <em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/us/politics/obama-netflix-shows.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Time</a>s</em>.</p>