Dennis Sellers

<p>Stephen Friend, a health researcher and co-founder of Sage Bionetworks, has left Apple after serving less than two years on the job to become an “independent entrepreneur,” reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/stephen-friend-leaves-apple-health.html" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>CNBC</em></a>. No reason was given for the departure.</p>

<p>A couple of years ago, Apple posted a listing to its Jobs at Apple page describing an engineering project manager position for "Apple Search." Could the company could be working on a full-fledged search engine for use on macOS and iOS platforms?</p>

<p>Sometimes you need transfer music and other files from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. That’s when <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/1A3tT6B" rel="noopener noreferrer">TouchCopy</a> comes in handy. And the latest version (16) adds support for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X.</p>

<p>I’m an ice cream addict. Twice a week I make a big batch of the world’s greatest dessert. In doing so, I have to time the mixing process for 30 minutes. I use iOS 11’s Siri to set a timer on my iPhone X to tell me when the mixing time is completed.</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, deals with a death in the family. Prayers go out to the entire Sande family. In the place of the AWT News Update, 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>Veteran music journalist Alex Gale has been named head of editorial for Apple Music, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://variety.com/2018/music/news/apple-music-alex-gale-head-of-editorial-1202687925/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Variety</em></a>. Apple’s music streaming service now has over 36 million subscribers.</p>

<p>Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers will offer some customers who own a 16GB iPhone 5c that's in need of replacement a 32GB model instead, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.macrumors.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a>.</p>

<p>Good news for the iPad Pro: the worldwide detachable tablet market (those with attachable/detachable keyboards) grew to 6.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17), an increase of 10.3% from the previous holiday season, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) <a target="_blank" href="http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=81" rel="noopener noreferrer">Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker</a>. Apple maintained a solid lead in the holiday quarter driving growth both through its lower-priced 9.7-inch iPad as well as its newly refreshed iPad Pro products, notes the research group.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20180205PD210.html" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>DigiTimes</em></a> says some Apple suppliers are poised to benefit from new or increased orders from the tech giant to help produce next-generation iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch models this year. The article than says that new versions of the devices will debut starting in March.</p>

<p>Competition seems to be heating up among the two of the biggest music streaming services: Apple Music and Spotify. Citing unnamed"people in the record business," the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-music-on-track-to-overtake-spotify-in-u-s-subscribers-1517745720" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports</a> that Apple has been adding 5% to its U.S. subscriber base every month versus "just" 2% for Spotify. </p>

<p>Apple, Cisco, Aon and Allianz have  announced a new cyber risk management solution for businesses, comprised of cyber resilience evaluation services from Aon, secure technology from Cisco and Apple, and options for enhanced cyber insurance coverage from Allianz. </p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 20180027931) for “dynamic fit adjustment for wearable electronic devices.” It refers to current and future versions of its Apple Watch bands. </p>

<p>If you fancy yourself a pinball wizard, you can give the game a whirl on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/barnstorm-games/id385706699?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pro Pinball</a>, which is based on the classic pinball series from the ‘90s.</p>

<p>You can change your iCloud name and photo, and your iCloud contact, security, devices, and payment information in iCloud preferences in macOS High Sierra.</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>