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>Let the Apple Car rumors rise like the phoenix from the ashes. Apple has received a permit to test autonomous cars in California, “the first official confirmation that the maker of the iPhone sees the century-old automobile as a product that's ripe for reinvention and a reflection of its need to tap new markets to sustain its growth,” according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-officially-testing-self-driving-cars-california-dmv-confirms-2017-4" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Business Insider</em></a>. </p>

<p>George Stroumboulopoulos, Canada’s top music interviewer and known in Canada as “Strombo,” has signed on with Apple Music to bring his "House of Strombo" concert series to the streaming service, via YouTube. The shows are filmed at his downtown Toronto home in front of a live audience, “crammed into his living room,” reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/7760329/apple-music-picks-up-torontos-house-of-strombo-concert" rel="noopener noreferrer">Billboard</a>.</p>

<p>The folks at AirBeamTV have released the Mirror for Chromecast app on the <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mirror-for-chromecast/id1196258230?mt=12&ign-mpt=uo%3D4" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mac App Store</a> and on their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.airbeam.tv" rel="noopener noreferrer">website</a>. Screen mirroring (sometimes called screen casting) allows you to see the screen of your Mac, or any external display connected to your Mac, on your TV. </p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.synology.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Synology Inc.</a> has launched the DiskStation DS1517+ (pictured) and DS1817+,  together with the Expansion Unit DX517. The scalable 5-bay and 8-bay tower servers offer a network-attached storage (NAS) solution for tech enthusiasts and small/medium-sized businesses.</p>

<p>The “will they or won’t they” speculation continues. Toshiba is spinning-off its core memory chip business and seeking outside investors in it. Apple is considering investing several billion dollars in a bid that would give it and partner investor Foxconn a more than 20% stake in the business, <em>Reuters</em> — citing a report from Japan's national broadcaster — says Apple <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-apple-idUSKBN17G085" rel="noopener noreferrer">is deciding</a> whether to take a decreased stake in the embattled Toshiba chip unit to skirt governmental regulations limiting the transfer of Japanese technology to outside companies. </p>

<p>In the three-month period ending February 2017, iOS accounted for 13.2% of smartphone sales in urban China, a decline of 8.9 percentage points from 22.1% a year earlier. This marks iOS’ lowest share since the three-month period ending July 2014, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kantarworldpanel.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kantar Worldpanel</a>.</p>

<p>Apple has updated iMovie and Final Cut Pro X for the Mac. Both are available at the Mac App Store.</p>

<p>Apple has applied for a patent (number 20170105084) for a “directivity optimized sound reproduction system” that looks perfect for an Apple-branded HDTV should the tech giant every revisit that possibility — although it would be nice to image such a system with a next gen iMac or Mac Pro.</p>

<p>Apple has had a small team of biomedical engineers working on a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/12/apple-working-on-glucose-sensors-diabetes-treatment.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">secret initiative to develop non-invasive glucose sensors</a> in what it hopes would be a game-changer for diabetes treatment, <em>CNBC</em> reports.</p>

<p>Want to set up password protection for files you’ve created in Pages, Numbers or Keynote in macOS Sierra? It’s easy. </p>

<p>like “white noise" when I call it a day. Our household always has a fan going when we turn in for the night. When I travel, I can’t take a big fan with me, so I take a small one: the $34.95 <a target="_blank" href="http://lectrofan.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">LectroFan Micro</a>, a two-in-one pocket-sized white noise/fan sound machine with a wireless Bluetooth speaker.</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 has released an <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=04112017a" rel="noopener noreferrer">update to TestFlight</a>, its free iOS app testing platform that’s part of iTunes Connect. It now provides multiple build support, enhanced group capabilities, and improved tester management—making it even easier to test your apps.</p>

<p>Feral Interactive says Total War: WARHAMMER for macOS, powered by Metal, Apple’s new graphics API (application programming interface) will be released on Tuesday, April 18. The game was developed for Windows PC by Creative Assembly in partnership with Games Workshop, and published by SEGA.</p>