Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple executives have reportedly discussed their plans for an “autonomous vehicle” with officials at California’s department of motor vehicles (DMV).</p>

<p>At its 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference Apple held a session about support for dedicated third-party gaming controllers for iOS devices as part of its MFi Program (“Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad”). At the time I thought it might mean better game controller support for the Mac, but so far that hasn't happened.</p>

<p>If you need a cool desk lamp to go with your Mac desktop set-up — or anywhere else in your home or office — the <a target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/qfr5dxr" rel="noopener noreferrer">Satechi: Flexible LED Desk Lamp</a> looks good, works great, and even sports a USB port.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">When Apple releases an update of its mobile operating system iOS, as it did yesterday with iOS 9, millions of users rush to update their iPhones and iPads. However, we make the switch to the new operating system, we shouldn’t be surprised to see apps crashing more often than we may be accustomed to.</p>

<p>Despite some early hiccups, iOS 9 has rebounded strongly. According to Mixpanel’s data, it’s already nearing 12% adoption, less than 24 hours after its debut. (<a target="_blank" href="http://mixpanel.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mixpanel</a> is an analytics platform for mobile and web devices.)</p>

<p>One complaint I have about the upcoming Apple TV is its lack of 4K support, which would help "future proof" it. Now Amazon has announced the new Fire TV Stick, which has such support. It's <a target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/pt44vmu" rel="noopener noreferrer">now available for pre-order</a> for US$99.99 — a price tag lower than that of the next gen Apple set-top box.  </p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Apple pooh-poohs physical media (hey, it wants you to buy all your content on iTunes) and has, in fact, filed for a patent (number 20150261425) with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for "optimized presentation of multimedia content" that shows why downloadable media is better than DVDs and Blu-rays. It also discusses ways to make items purchased at the iTunes Store even better.</p>

<p>Apple has set up wholly owned Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Co Ltd to bring Apple Pay to China, reports Yicai — as noted by <em>BrightWire.com</em>, a global investment newswire.</p>

<p>According to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.canalys.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canalys</a>, worldwide 3D printer shipments rose 52% year on year in the first half of 2015. The research group predicts that the worldwide market will reach US$20.2 billion by 2019. Some folks think that Apple should enter this market. Perhaps they're right, but I don't think our favorite tech company will make its own printer. </p>

<p>Eternal Storms Software’s Yoink for Mac OS X (10.7.3 or later) can simplify your workflow as it provides a small window to simplify dragging files between Spaces (an OS X feature that helps reduce clutter on your desktop by allowing you to group your application windows according to the way you work and switch between them), full screen apps or simply between Finder windows. Think of it as a virtual shelf.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/ngwj6sl" rel="noopener noreferrer">Re/code reports</a> that Apple has bought <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mapsense.co" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mapsense</a>, a data analytics and visualization company, for US$25-$30 million. The acquisition was mostly likely for acquiring technology, services and perhaps talent for improving the Maps app for Mac OS X and iOS.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Apple has posted iTunes 12.3, adding support for iOS 9 and Mac OS X El Capitan, which is coming later this month.</p>

<p>Just in time for iOS 9, which packs new HomeKit profiles, <a target="_blank" href="http://iDevicesinc.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">iDevices</a> has announced a new, advanced set of HomeKit-enabled products, which will be available at Lowe’s starting Sept. 28.  The product line includes the iDevices Switch, iDevices Outdoor Switch and iDevices Thermostat.</p>

<p>It's heeeeeere: iOS 9, that is. (Though the minute I tried to download it  I got this message: "An error occurred downloading iOS 9." Are the Apple servers already overloaded?</p>

<p>Apple has delayed watchOS 2 — original slated to be released today — due to an unspecified bug. (However, iOS 9 is still due for a roll-out today.).</p>