Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has added banners to the iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and Apple App Store for iOS allowing you to donate to the American Red Cross to support those who have been affected by the fires raging in Northern California. You can can donate $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $200, 100% of which goes to the Red Cross. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted another patent (number 20180217639) for a “foldable for and display for an electronic device” that hints at a “foldable” or “bendable” iPhone in the future.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Celemony’s <a href="http://www.celemony.com/en/melodyne/what-is-melodyne" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Melodyne</a> a macOS compatible app that makes it easy to work with audio files in a variety of ways.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple’s HomePod now has an installed base of 6%, or about three million, according to the latest estimates by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP)— as noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/08/02/apples-homepod-seizes-small-but-meaningful-portion-of-us-smart-speaker-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a>. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The worldwide tablet market declined 13.5% during the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18) as global shipments fell to 33 million, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) <a href="http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=81" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker</a>. Only Apple and China-based Huawei bucked the trend.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Feral Interactive has announced that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2, a humorous brick-based adventure set in the Marvel Universe, is out now on macOS (10.13.5 or higher).</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for another patent (number 20180218859) for a “device having an integrated interface system” that hints at, among other things, a Mac laptop with a virtual keyboard. Another is patent number <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/5/25/apple-patent-filing-hints-at-a-a-mac-laptop-with-a-virtual-keyboard?rq=virtual%20keyboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">20170147087</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20180220542) for a “compact media player.” Even though it’s a continuation and update of patents going back to 2009, I’m not sure what the tech giant is working on here.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A federal jury in California has awarded Canadian patent licensing company WiLan $145.1 million in damages against Apple Inc for patent infringement, reports <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-lawsuit-wilan/u-s-jury-awards-145-million-damages-to-canadas-wilan-against-apple-idUSKBN1KN05B" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is talking with Chinese telecom firms to find ways to reduce spam received through its messaging service after state media alleged it was allowing illegal content on its iMessage/Messages platform, reports <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-apple/apple-working-with-chinese-telecom-firms-to-reduce-spam-state-media-idUSKBN1KN0VB" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The South Korean government plans to “move quickly to impose taxes on Apple, Amazon, Google, and other global IT companies following growing criticism that the firms earn billions of dollars in sales here annually but pay no taxes, reports <a href="http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=253245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Korea Times</em></a>. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. A South Carolina man says he was severely burned after an exploding iPhone 6 battery set his clothes on fire, according to a new <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1069081/apple-hit-with-suit-over-sc-man-s-exploding-iphone?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">product liability suit</a> filed against Apple in federal court. In a Tuesday complaint, Ronnie Portee said the iPhone was defective and “unreasonably dangerous.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">MyCharge’s <a href="https://www.target.com/bp/myflipshade" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">myFlipShade</a> is a disappointing implementation of a good idea to a common problem.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.</p>