Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has hired multiple engineers and research staff from Intel and other local tech employees for a new facility in Washington County, Oregon, close to the chipmaker’s home base, according to <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2018/05/apple_quietly_opens_oregon_eng_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Oregon Live</em></a><em>. </em>This will certainly fuel speculation that Apple plans to make its own ARM processors for the Mac (which I think is true).</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.ecoxgear.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ECOXGEAR</a>’s $249.99 EcoBoulder is a modern day boom box that’s tough and ready for all sorts of summer fun. Equipped with 100 watts of power, an 8-inch full range speaker, 3-inch tweeter plus an 8-inch passive woofer, you can pump out some serious tunes at any outdoor outing.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">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 style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d say there’s little-to-no change of this happening, but a group known as the Digital Wellness Warriors have <a href="https://www.change.org/p/apple-allow-digital-wellness-developers-to-help-ios-users" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">launched a petition</a> requesting that Apple let third-party developers make changes to the iOS interface and user experience. The group says that “we are restricted in our ability to help the iOS user base, due to the nature of Apple’s operating systems.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is leasing a 62,000-square-foot, four-decades-old building in Santa Clara, California, and is renovating it, reports the <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/30/apple-leases-santa-clara-offices-launches-renovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Mercury News</em></a>. The article says that “extensive construction” is underway inside the offices located at 2845 Bowers and 2855 Bowers.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has given a straight-to-series order to <a href="http://deadline.com/tag/dickinson/"><em>Dickinson</em></a>, a half-hour comedy starring Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (<em>Pitch Perfect 3, True Grit</em>) in the title role of 1980s poet Emily Dickinson, from Paul Lee’s recently launched independent studio, reports <a href="http://deadline.com/2018/05/hailee-steinfeld-star-dickinson-comedy-series-apple-emily-dickinson-1202400062/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Deadline</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.raindesigninc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rain Design</a> has launched a new assortment of laptop stands: the mBar ($39.90), mBar pro ($49.90), and mBar pro+ ($59.90).</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/apple-music-launches-music-publishing-division-headed-by-elena-segal"><em>Music Business Worldwide</em></a>, Apple has launched a new internal division dedicated to music publishing led by Elena Segal (pictured below), who was previously legal director of iTunes International. She’s now Apple Music’s global director of Music Publishing.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Maxim Group <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/30/apple-gets-downgraded-on-concern-services-focus-wont-deliver-big-profits.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has downgraded</a> Apple from “buy” to “hold” and lowered the price target from $204 to $200, a 6% upside to yesterday’s close. Nehal Chokshi — an analyst at at the investment banking firm, cites concerns about the services business and subscriptions.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.tune.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TUNE</a>, which specializes in marketing measurement, has unveiled new measurement capabilities based on a new integration with the Apple Search Ads Attribution API (application programming interface). The update enables marketers to accurately measure the difference between a new and returning app customer, according to TUNE CEO Peter Hamilton.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">iPhone volumes are expected to grow 2.6% in 2018 to 221 million in total, according to <a href="http://www.idc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDC</a>. The research group is predicting that Apple smartphones will grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 2.4%, reaching volumes of 242 million by 2022. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has issued a warning to Apple after it "likely" misled customers over their replacement rights, according to <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=12061162" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The New Zealand Herald</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In a note to clients GBH Insights says it <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/05/30/2018-iphone-sales-forecast-gbh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expects</a> Apple’s 2018 iPhones to sell up to 350 million units in the next 12 to 18 months.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,986,419) for “social reminders.” It involves techniques for providing reminders based on social interactions between users of devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Kensington’s SmartFit Laptop Risers can help improve user productivity and comfort levels for users of MacBook Pros, 12-inch MacBooks, or MacBook Airs who often use the laptops as “desktops.” </p>