Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple placed number four on the “Most Innovative Companies of 2017” list from <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/">FastCompany</a>. The Cupertino, California-based company placed fourth on the list; that’s up from seventh place in 2016. Apple has made the list for three years running.</p>

<p>A group of Australian banks previously applied to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for permission to jointly negotiate over access to Apple Pay and the Near Field Communication (NFC)  function on iPhones. Today they announced that they’ve narrowed the application to solely focus on open access to the NFC function.</p>

<p>Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, has made a deal with Apple to supply an additional 60 million units of organic light-emitting diode panels, worth about $4.3 billion, for the next-generation iPhone, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theinvestor.co.kr/view.php?ud=20170213000700" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Korea Herald.</a></p>

<p>Apple has joined the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wirelesspowerconsortium.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wireless Power Consortium,</a> hinting that the upcoming “iPhone 8” will indeed support wireless charging, at least on some models. The WPC is a group that includes makers of mobile phones, consumer electronics, batteries, semiconductors, components, wireless power technology and infrastructure such as wireless operators, furniture and automotive parts.Apple has joined the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wirelesspowerconsortium.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wireless Power Consortium,</a> hinting that the upcoming “iPhone 8” will indeed support wireless charging, at least on some models. The WPC is a group that includes makers of mobile phones, consumer electronics, batteries, semiconductors, components, wireless power technology and infrastructure such as wireless operators, furniture and automotive parts.</p>

<p>BSides -- a two-day, open forum for discussion and debate for security engineers and their affiliates -- has received a public contributing sponsorship from Apple, “underlining the increasing efforts of the company to participate in academic research and publishing related to security, privacy and other research goals,” according to <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/02/13/apple-sponsors-san-francisco-bsides-security-conference" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>.</p>

<p>According to a customer service tweet from Target — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2017/02/12/target-apple-pay-support" rel="noopener noreferrer">9to5Mac</a> — thesecond-largest discount store retailer in the U.S. is investigating Apple Pay and is working on getting the technology in its stores. Specifics are unclear, but the tweet said that it would happen “soon.”</p>

<p>Apple is touting LG’s UltraFine 4K and 5K displays as the perfect monitors for usewith the 2016 MacBook Pros. They’re fine (pun intended), but not as elegant as an Apple-made monitor would be. That’s why I still hope for a Thunderbolt Display with an integrated GPU that has been rumored in the past.</p>

<p>According to a new <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macotakara.jp/blog/rumor/entry-31892.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> from Macotakara — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2017/02/11/apple-5-inch-iphone-wireless-charging/" rel="noopener noreferrer">9to5Mac</a> -- Apple will introduce a new 5-inch iPhone model this year. The report, citing unnamed “reliable sources in Taiwan,” claims that only the all-glass model of the iPhone will support wireless charging this year.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 20170041712) for “evacuation of liquid from acoustic space” that shows the company is working to make iPhones and Apple Watches truly waterproof.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,563,177) for a “context-aware world clock.” It would allow time information for various locations to be automatically generated for display on a portable electronic device such as an iPhone or Apple Watch. </p>

<p>Pyle USA has introduced the $58.99 <a href="https://www.pyleusa.com/bluetooth-digital-weight-and-personal-health-scale-with-wireless-iphone-android-smartphone-data-transfer-and-pyle-health-app-fitness-tracker-gray.html">Bluetooth Fitness Scale </a>, a scale and integrated app — available free at the Apple App Store — designed to provide the most critical data points for any workout regimen including body fat, hydration levels, muscle level and bone level percentages. The scale allows users to set fitness goals and monitor their progress.</p>

<p>Personally, I’m not expecting new iPhones until S<strong>e</strong>ptember, but <a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170210PD205.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">DigiTimes Research</a> says the next gen smartphones will enter production early. Quoting unnamed “industry sources,” the article says Apple has requested its chip and component suppliers start trial production, inspection and prepare inventories for the new iPhone series sooner than usual. </p>

<p>Think you’re clever for using Apple products? You’re right! A new study says we have higher credit scores, loan amounts and better rates than Android and Windows users.</p>

<p>Macquarie Group and ING Direct plan to start using Apple Pay in Australia this month, “hoping to snatch market share from the major retail banks through digital technology,” reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-australia-banks-idUSKBN15P02M?utm_source=applenews" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p>Mac users should download <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pipifier-pip-for-nearly-every/id1160374471?mt=12&uo=4&at=10l69J">PiPifier</a>, a free app for macOS 10.12 or later that’s found in the Mac App Store. It’s a handy extension that lets you play any HTML 5 video in Picture-in-Picture mode. Sweet!</p>