Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Sonos has unveiled the $399 Sonos Beam, a “smart” speaker that supports 80+ music services, multiple voice assistants and Apple AirPlay 2. It will ship starting July 17 and is available for pre-order at <a href="http://www.sonos.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.sonos.com</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Charitybuzz says it will auction one of the first original Apple computers: the “Duston 2” Apple-1. Created by Steve “Woz” Wozniak and Steve Jobs in 1976, only 200 were hand-constructed and just 60-70 Apple-1 computers exist today. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has given a straight-to-series order of 10 episodes to the half-hour dramedy “Little Voices,” which lists J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles among its executive producers, reports <a href="https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/j-j-abrams-sara-bareilles-apple-little-voices-1202832614/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Variety</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple India plans to end its distribution agreement with HCL Infosystems next year, according to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/apple-to-terminate-the-distribution-arrangement-with-hcl-infosystems-from-next-year/articleshow/64483524.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Economic Times</em></a>,  citing an HCL filing. The distribution arrangement will end on March 30, 2019. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Lennox Industries has announced that the Lennox iComfort S30 and E30 thermostats are now compatible with Apple’s HomeKit. The company says its iComfort S30 ultra smart thermostat also is the first communicating thermostat to be HomeKit compatible.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, of course they do: two months after winning a major patent infringement verdict against Apple, VirnetX has asked an Eastern District of Texas judge to double the damages award to $1 billion, saying Apple’s behavior “shocks the conscience,” while Apple said the whole award must be thrown out, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1050541/virnetx-wants-damages-in-apple-patent-case-doubled-to-1b?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Law360</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.vava.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VAVA’</a>s $69.99 Voom 20 is a powerful, portable Bluetooth speaker with dual 8W drivers, two passive subwoofers, and 10 hours of battery life.</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;">At this week’s Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced a Password Manager API [application programming interface] that will allow third party apps like <a href="https://www.dashlane.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dashlane</a>, to autofill in Safari and other included apps in iOS 12. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">G-Technology’s <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.g-2Dtechnology.com_products_portable_g-2Ddrive-2Dmobile-2Dusb-2Dc&d=DwMFaQ&c=9wxE0DgWbPxd1HCzjwN8Eaww1--ViDajIU4RXCxgSXE&r=e4G-NkDxWEj8o7bBwtfvH-rxkx5R72Oohp7COB9OMcg&m=MC3dW-Nibibz_4HwAPyM0grZOb7FugoBPYEBGJvwacI&s=GWtSxQE8XkOR4cbnYugORPKCog9Jk0IYW_PQX94s1aA&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">G-DRIVE mobile USB-C </a> is now available with a smaller ID and up to 2TB capacity. This fast-portable drive is built to store your data in a stylish, compact design.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has announced the <a href="https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/">2018 Apple Design Awards</a> at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference. The awards “recognize the creative artistry and technical achievements of developers who reflect the best in design, innovation and technology on Apple platforms.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Dean Hager, CEO of <a href="http://www.jamf.com/">Jamf</a> has discussed Apple’s announcements yesterday at the Worldwide Developer Conference with <em>Apple World Today</em>. Here are his thoughts:</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">FaceTime on macOS and iOS may eventually be able to “hide” your background during a call. Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,992,450) for “systems and methods for background concealment in a video conferencing session.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/06/04/new-app-store-guidelines-prohibit-remote-mirroring-apps-from-eroding-in-app-purchases" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a><em>,</em> Apple introduced developers to App Store Connect at this week’s Worldwide Developer Conference. It’s a rebranding and revamping of iTunes Connect.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are some random observations and questions following yesterday’s Apple Worldwide Developer keynote:</p>