Dennis Sellers

<p>Lenovo is rated the best laptop brand for a second year in a row by <em>Laptop Mag</em>, which released its annual Best and Worst Laptop Brands rankings today. HP and Dell followed closely behind Lenovo in second and third place, respectively.</p>

<p>On a regular basis, Apple World Today 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 won an auction for world screen rights to Songwriter, the Murray Cummings-directed documentary that shows singer Ed Sheeran working through his creative process as he crafts and performs hits, according to Deadline. </p>

<p>Apple has announced that 13-year Apple veteran Jay Liepis has relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to head up a team there that will be “dedicated to being more involved with artists, managers, songwriters and the label community at large,” reports Variety. In other words, the tech giant will finally show a bit of love to country music.</p>

<p>The European Commission — an institution of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU — has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Shazam by Apple under the EU Merger Regulation. In a statement, the EC says it’s concerned the merger could reduce choice for users of music streaming services.</p>

<p>iPhone 8 sales made up 23% of total Apple smartphone sales sales for the first quarter of 2018, per new data from CIRP. The iPhone 8 Plus accounted for 21%, putting the lower-cost models at 44% of the market. </p>

<p>Apple is working on methods to make its devices even more secure. The company has filed for a patent (number 20180109629) for an “user interface for a device requesting remote authorization.”</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.subrosasoft.com/product/subrosasoft-disk-copy/" rel="noopener noreferrer">SubRosaSoft Disk Copy</a> is a well-rounded and easy-to-use backup and cloning system for macOS 10.9 and higher. The $29.99 utility can create bootable copies of a startup drive, manage synchronization of volumes, handle incremental bootable copies, and run backups using a schedule. </p>

<p>Back up, back up, back up. No matter what Apple hardware you’re using, you need multiple copies to make sure no valuable data is lost. Among items to back up: your calendars on your Mac.</p>

<p>Remember the Mac keyboard used by H.G. Wells when he wrote <em>War of the Worlds</em>? Neither do I, but if Macs had been around then, their keyboards would probably have looked something like the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aziocorp.com/webe/html/products/index.aspx?kind=12" rel="noopener noreferrer">AZIO Retro Classic</a>, which is packed with modern features in its vintage typewriter-inspired design.</p>

<p>When you say “Hey Siri” do multiple Apple devices reply? If so, you need to know how a device responds to the command when there’s more than one gadget nearby that supports "Hey Siri.”</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>In response to Apple’s release of its <a target="_blank" href="http://email.prnewswire.com/wf/click?upn=mG6wLADgfMPhcsxlE2l7w1D6XSIAa-2F7Gho3v4aYBQHDpA12f41A0d8WvP-2FxNd40LCaUW2KuxpcE-2FY07ihcr68rf-2FgKv-2FAWptUlPRKrcogNEeqkb7zeo9SKrj1D1ggIN1Z4XnSuvc0-2BIW13uvWNPrYGlknp7o4ntOiUoDT-2BomK-2B6t5xWx5Luq04T3KlovadzbIf0frrmcjPRCCpjdRyyT3jJL4Pt-2FIcNHqNPCkdtS6-2F323cjQi2uKe2mBHBxVKsIH_vr4CQd6f5d5U92w1G2ot038qxj2d-2BHc-2FraM9ysVslbM2GuwFWb6WaJjYDeKtis-2FvkaPnx5B6ULWfAw69WyvRaAb97Ml0UD-2B-2FxeJlx65cI-2Fyk6vjr5ROcK2aZstdLmywHbDQnOcjBaZcFBzDJd6ovJsVNylaCjq5h-2BU8gwtXmhuEL78ijTGiEAqOCQ7EKBbALF3OjSfUoym-2FIlDrqhpWHadwn6v8BGbIRkHJ0MbrmUi1Hx-2BWPG41vy-2BHMOIU1oPqVH8D771tb9YRFIVPAbehPyuA6uNO6lvWI0RKZnkfSyDf34Nfh-2B3Elwgqhxs-2Bt0KAI" rel="noopener noreferrer">2018 Environmental Progress Report</a>, announcing, among other things, the company's new recycling robot, <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/4/19/apple-debuts-daisy-a-new-iphone-disassembling-robot" rel="noopener noreferrer">"Daisy,"</a> Greenpeace USA Senior IT Sector Analyst Gary Cook issued the following statement:</p>

<p>Earth Day 2018 will be celebrated this Sunday, April 22. In honor of it, Apple has announced that for every device received at Apple stores and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apple.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">apple.com</a> through the Apple GiveBack program through April 30, the company will make a donation to the non-profit Conservation International, which uses science, policy and partnerships to protect the natural world people rely on for food, fresh water and livelihood. </p>

<p>Apple’s iPhone has become a key factor for global economic growth, claims the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imf.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer">International Monetary Fund</a> (IMF), a report by the organization that fosters “global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, international trade, high employment, and sustainable economic growth” around the world. However, that could be changing.</p>