Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Japanese site <em>Macotakara</em> — as noted by <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/07/27/apple-repair-japanese-flood-iphone-ipad-mac-free/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac </em></a>— says that, in a support article, Apple announced that it will repair any iPhones, Macs, iPads, and iPods that were directly damaged by the floods that swept through Japan this month. Normally, the company’s repair policies don’t cover water damage.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. California-based SpeakWare accusing Apple of …. what else? …. patent infringement. According to <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/26/new-patent-lawsuit-targets-apple-over-voice-control-tech-in-siri--homekit-enabled-devices" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a> alleges infringes a patent dubbed "Hands-Free, Voice-Operated Remote Control Transmitter.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has applied for a patent (number 20180213126) for “touch accommodation options” that would touch accommodations to users with tremors or other fine motor impairments to improve the accuracy of such users' touch inputs on touch-sensitive surfaces such as the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re looking for a cool-looking, wireless, portable (about 4 x 7 inches and weighing about a pound) speaker that packs decent sound for its size, give a listen to the $39.99 <a href="https://limitlessinnovations.com/tikitunes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TikiTunes</a>. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple shipped 3.5 million Apple Watches in the second quarter of 2018, 30% more than in the same period last year, according to <a href="http://www.canalys.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canalys</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Let the Apple Car rumors continue. Apple has filed for a patent (number 20180208209) for “comfort profiles” involving a self-driving car. It’s designed to make the environment of such a vehicle as comfortable as possible for multiple passengers.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has applied for a patent (number 20180212455) for “inductive charging between electronic devices.” It would allow one Apple device to charge another.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In a <a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/3292218/macs/macbook-pro-throttling-quality-control.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Macworld</em> article</a>, Michael Simon says that Apple should hire or promote someone to a new position of Senior Vice President of Quality Control. He’s right. In fact, the company needs a whole team on the matter.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Yikes! Apple <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/7/24/apple-addresses-thermal-throttling-issues-on-the-new-macbook-pros" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has just fixed </a>the “throttling” issues with the new MacBook Pros, but now it appears that there may be a problem with the T2 chip on the new laptops, as well as the iMac Pro.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is teaming up with Fandango, Groupon, Grubhub, <a href="http://hotels.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hotels.com</a>, Houzz, Rue La La, Seamless, and StubHub, for a new Apple Pay prom</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Rymet is an upcoming (due next month) competitor to the AZIO Retro Classic; see my review of the <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/4/20/the-azio-retro-classic-combines-nostalgia-modern-tech-into-one-funky-retro-keyboard?rq=retro%20keyboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">latter here</a>. Both combine a retro look with modern features. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is offering the premiere episode of Hulu's <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/02/stephen-king-j-j-abrams-castle-rock-hulu-release-date/"><em>Castle Rock</em></a> free on the Apple TV app. It'll be available to iPhone, iPad and Apple TV users in the U.S. later today and will be there exclusively for two weeks.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Nike is bringing its free <a href="https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/nike-plus/training-app" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Training Club app</a> to the Apple Watch. It’s packed with 100-plus works with audio and visual guidance from a variety of fitness experts.</p>