Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Customer satisfaction with video streaming services far eclipses that of subscription TV service, according to the <a href="http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/customer-satisfaction-reports/reports-2018/acsi-telecommunications-report-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) 2018 Telecommunications Report</a>. And Apple’s iTunes is doing well.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the latest research from <a href="https://www.counterpointresearch.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Counterpoint’s Market Pulse program</a>, the U.S. smartphone market saw sales of 38.7 million units during the first quarter [Q1] of 2018. That’s a 11% decrease from Q1 2017 when sales were 43.7 million smartphones. Sales hadn’t dropped below 40 million for the last three years.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In February Apple released <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/3/29/apple-launches-macos-high-sierra-10134-with-business-chat-egpu-support-more?rq=eGPU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">macOS High Sierra 10.13.4</a>, which added support for external graphics processors (eGPUs). Now Razer has introduce the Mac compatible Core X eGPU that’s compatible with Mac Thunderbolt 3 laptops.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,974,467) for a physical activity and workout monitor. It involves current, and perhaps future, features of the Apple Watch and its watchOS.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has updated <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clips/id1212699939?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clips</a> for iOS to version 2.0.4, which adds soccer graphics including an animated sticker, plus a label and poster with customizable text.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">David Morris, senior consumer financial services analyst for Packaged Facts — source for market research on the financial services industry — has weighed in on the Goldman Sachs and Apple union, suggesting that the partnership hints at something deeper and more profound than what might be casually gleaned from the breaking news. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Now that Apple <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2018/4/26/rip-apples-airport-wireless-router-line?rq=AirPort%20Extreme" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has officially discontinued</a> its AirPort wireless router line-up, many folks are looking for an alternative. One good candidate is Synology’s $200 <a href="https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/RT2600ac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>RT2600ac</strong></a>, a high-speed, security-focused router.</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;">Limerick, Ireland’s newest secondary school is set to become a virtual-learning’environment where iPads will be used as the key classroom tool, principal Eoin Shinners told the <a href="https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/314068/ipads-set-to-become-key-tools-at-limericks-newest-school.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Limerick Leader</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">An “evolving” information-stealing malware campaign has added iOS device phishing and cryptocurrency mining to its targets, having previously focused just on the Android system, according to <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/malware-campaign-expands-to-add-cryptocurrency-mining-and-ios-phishing-attacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>ZDNet</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Cupertino, California — Apple’s home base — may introduce a tax that would charge the tech giant an additional fee based on its number of employees. The city has hired a firm to poll residents asking their thoughts on such a tax, and how it should be spent, according to <a href="https://www.cultofmac.com/549311/cupertino-extra-taxes-apple/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Cult of Mac</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg says ruled legal action against Apple over its Powerbeats headphones can go ahead "in part,” reports the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44197119" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>BBC</em></a>. The lawsuit was filed in September 2017.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have signed a deal to produce films and series for Netflix instead of Apple. Netflix announced the agreement in a <a href="https://twitter.com/netflix/status/998594451378397185" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tweet</a>:</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Nektony has debuted Startup Disk Full Fixer, a free productivity app for macOS 10.13 or later. The utility — available at the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/startup-disk-full-fixer/id1346655838" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mac App Store</a> — is specifically designed for finding and removing junk files to free up more HD space. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has fallen one place in the <a href="https://9to5mac.com/guides/fortune-500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fortune 500</a> rankings, based on company revenues, dropping from third place to fourth. Still, the tech giant remains the most valuable and profitable company on the list with $850 billion in market cap and $48 billion in profits.</p>