Dennis Sellers

<p>A future Apple headphone may double as a portable speaker, hints a new patent. That would be something from the Beats line, not a future AirPod (though, admittedly, that would be impressive).</p>

<p>According to the latest <em>IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker </em>from the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.idc.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDC research group</a><em>, </em>the smartphone market in China saw 19% year-over-year (YoY) growth and 17% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ)_ growth in the fourth quarter of 2016. It was the first time that Apple has seen a YoY decline in the People’s Republic of China market.</p>

<p>AR/VR evangelist Robert Scoble has tweaked his predictions about an Apple partnership with Carl Zeiss on a pair of smart glasses, and is predicting an announcement of the technology possibly as early as the middle of 2017, <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/02/06/vr-evangelist-doubles-down-on-rumor-that-apple-ar-headset-is-inbound-moves-date-up-to-2017" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports AppleInsider.</a></p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Apple is launching its annual Back to School promotion on Macs and iPads this week in <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/nz-hed/shop" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Zealand </a>and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/au-hed/shop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>. The “Back to Uni” promotion runs throughMarch 16.</p>

<p>Apple <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-06/apple-hits-out-at-australian-banks-over-apple-pay-boycott-motive" rel="noopener noreferrer">continues to blast Australian banks</a> for attempting to stop or delay the roll-out of Apple Pay in the country. In its latest submission to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, the Cupertino, California-based company said it was concerned banks are seeking to “delay the expansion of Apple Pay,” hurting both consumers and smaller card issuers who could use the technology “as a means of securing a digital presence in competition with the big banks.”</p>

<p>Apple has once again requested to sell used iPhones in India as it negotiates with the government for concessions to start production in the country, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-06/apple-said-to-revive-efforts-to-sell-used-iphones-in-india-iytyu64w?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>, quoting an unnamed “person familiar with the matter.”</p>

<p>The legal battle is intensifying over President Trump's immigration order, with further court filings expected today from both the government and Department of Justice. Seventy-five tech companies, including Apple, U.S. tech companies have <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/05/twitter-airbnb-and-others-to-file-opposition-to-trumps-immigration-order/">filed</a> an amicus brief opposing the travel ban, saying it "inflicts significant harm on American businesses.”</p>

<p>Safari in macOS Sierra allows you to “pin” tabs. Pinning a website puts the site's icon in the top left section of the Tab bar, allowing you to pull up the site with a click.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Conner Productions's Seal  is a pro level template to make introductory seal titles for Apple's Final Cut Pro X. It’s free — and free is good!</p>

<p>Consumer spending during the holiday quarter of 2016 was clearly not aimed at consuming tablets as the market continued its spiraling decline. The fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16) marked the ninth consecutive quarter that tablet shipments have declined. </p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,560,693) for “methods and apparatus for access data recovery from a malfunctioning device.” It involves, as you might guess, retrieving your important data when your iPhone goes on the fritz.</p>

<p>It's looking more and more like 3D printing will be the next major disruptive technology. Apple should a direct part of this, not a sideline observer.</p>

<p>Apple has introduced a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/product/BMGE2Z/A/pro-apps-bundle-for-education" rel="noopener noreferrer">$199 Pro Apps Bundle</a> for educators and students that includes versions of Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4, and MainStage 3, downloadable at the Mac App Store. </p>

<p>Earlier in the week, <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/30/lg-ultrafine-5k-display-router-disconnecting/">9to5Mac reported</a> that the LG UltraFine 5K Display can be effectively unusable if placed near a Wi-Fi router with some kind of radio interference causing the monitor to regularly black out and hang the connected MacBook Pro.</p>

<p>A class-action lawsuit has been filed in California, alleging that Apple schemed to force iPhone users to upgrade to iOS 7 in a bid to save money on a data services deal with Akamai, a move that rendered older hardware like iPhone 4 and 4S unusable, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/02/02/lawsuit-claims-apple-forced-users-to-ios-7-by-breaking-facetime" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>. </p>