Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple may not have to pay $533 million to Smartflash. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 26 invalidated two of three patents owned by Smartflash, which won the award after a jury trial against the iPhone maker in February 2015, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.imore.com/apple-may-not-need-pay-533-million-patent-judgement" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports Bloomberg</a>.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Worldwide tablet shipments are expected to decline for the second straight year in 2016, dropping 9.6% compared to 2015 volumes, according to a new International Data Corporation (<a href="http://www.idc.com/">IDC</a>) <a href="http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=81">Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker</a> forecast. However, that will change in 2018, adds the research group.</p>

<p>Apple is planning to appoint Shahrukh Khan as their Brand Ambassador in India and the public announcement will be made at the time of the launch of next generation iPhones in India later this year, says <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pc-tablet.co.in/apple-reportedly-appoint-bollywood-star-shahrukh-khan-brand-ambassador-india/30657/" rel="noopener noreferrer">PC Tablet</a>, quoting unnamed sources.</p>

<p>Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product, so here are today’s patent highlights:</p>

<p>Apple has launched its annual <a href="http://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop">Back to School promotion</a> in the U.S. and Canada. Qualifying students, parents of students, and educators can get a free pair of Beats Solo2 Wireless Headphones if they buy an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Pro. </p>

<p>Citing an unnamed “person with knowledge of Apple's plans, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-plans-to-raise-up-to-4-billion-from-bond-sales-in-taiwan-australia-1464854456" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Wall Street Journal</a> says Apple is looking to issue bonds that will raise between $3 billion and $4 billion in debt in the Asia Pacific region.</p>

<p>With OS X El Capitan, Apple has added Extensions support for Photos, allowing you to add functionality to the photos app. If you’re really into photography, you’ll definitely want to add <a target="_blank" href="https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Affinity Photo from Serif Europe</a> to your image editing tools. It’s available for OS X 10.7 or higher, costs $49.99, and is available at <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/affinity-photo/id824183456?mt=12" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Mac App Store</a>.</p>

<p>The design of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.adata.com/en/ufd/feature/359" rel="noopener noreferrer">ADATA’s Type-C OTG Flash Drive</a> dual standard connector is extremely clever. It’s both a regular USB connector and a reversible USB Type-C plug. You pull the drive out of its shell and reinsert it to change the type of plug that’s accessible. </p>

<p>After tying with Samsung last year in terms of smartphone satisfaction, Apple has (barley) edged past its rival to take the top spot this year, according to a new <a href="http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/customer-satisfaction-reports/reports-2016/acsi-telecommunications-report-2016">American Customer Satisfaction Index report</a> — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-samsung-smartphone-customer-satisfaction-acsi-ranking-2016/" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNET</a>.</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>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><a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2016/5/31/perhaps-well-see-an-updated-thunderbolt-display-at-wwdc?rq=Thunderbolt%20Display" rel="noopener noreferrer">As I noted yesterday</a>, a revamped Apple Thunderbolt Display could be announced at the upcoming Worldwide Developer Conference. If not then, almost certainly whenever new MacBook Pros are introduced (probably in August). A new rumor says the displays could include an integrated GPU.</p>

<p>Apple has announced to members of the press that its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote will take place on June 13 at 10 a.m. (Pacific) at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.</p>

<p>According to the global research firm <a href="http://press.trendforce.com/">TrendForce</a>, Apple has settled on most of the specs for the next iPhone, which, like the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, will come in two sizes: 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches. The major hardware highlights include expanded storage for all models and dual-camera specifically for the 5.5-inch model. </p>

<p>According to a forecast update from the International Data Corporation (<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.idc.com&esheet=51353643&newsitemid=20160601006101&lan=en-US&anchor=IDC&index=1&md5=7337427191d283f2e1b829dfd9d911ab">IDC</a>) <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.idc.com%2Ftracker%2Fshowproductinfo.jsp%3Fprod_id%3D37&esheet=51353643&newsitemid=20160601006101&lan=en-US&anchor=Worldwide+Quarterly+Mobile+Phone+Tracker&index=2&md5=2b07eb638d53e5a17f147c6b0197abe7">Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker</a>, smartphone shipments are expected to grow 3.1% in 2016, which is a substantial slowdown from the 10.5% growth in 2015 and 27.8% in 2014. </p>