Dennis Sellers

<p>A French prosecutor has launched a preliminary investigation of Apple over alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products following a complaint by a consumer organization, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-france-investigation/french-prosecutor-launches-probe-into-apple-planned-obsolescence-judicial-source-idUSKBN1EX27V" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a>. The investigation will be led by French consumer fraud watchdog DGCCRF, part of the Economy Ministry.</p>

<p>In a note to clients — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/08/homepod-launch-date-gbh/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac</em></a> — GBH Insights says it expects Apple’s HomePod to arrive in 4-6 weeks, but that it will face an uphill climb as it seeks to compete with competitors such as Amazon and Google’s Alphabet division. The research group writes: </p>

<p>Apple has released macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 and iOS 11.2.2 with, among other things, security fixes for the recently reported Spectre vulnerability. </p>

<p>Though Apple is offering $29 battery replacements to any customer with an iPhone 6 or newer regardless of diagnostic test results, this policy can only be taken advantage of once, according to new fine print on its <a target="_blank" href="https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/service/pricing" rel="noopener noreferrer">iPhone service pricing</a> page — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a>.</p>

<p>This week the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is in full swing in Las Vegas. There are too many announcements to list each one in a separate article, so here are some of today’s highlights:</p>

<p>As noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/18/01/07/shareholders-ask-apple-to-study-impact-of-iphone-addiction-on-young-users" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInside</em>r</a>, a couple of Apple shareholders have issued an open letter asking the company to study the impact of heavy smartphone use by children and teenagers, as well as offer more parental restrictions on iPhones. The letter, <a target="_blank" href="https://thinkdifferentlyaboutkids.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">shared online</a> by Jana Partners and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, says , in part: </p>

<p>A federal magistrate judge in California said Friday he’ll sanction Apple to the tune of $300,000 for missing a document production deadline in antitrust suits brought against Qualcomm by the Federal Trade Commission and a putative class of cellphone buyers, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/999185/apple-hit-with-300k-sanction-in-qualcomm-antitrust-row?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Law360</em></a>.</p>

<p>Too bad Apple never kept their promise of opening up FaceTime for the world. I and other professionals I know are using the technology (audio and video) in business. </p>

<p>Like me, you probably have a bazillion Photos pics. If you'd like to jazz some of 'em up, Topaz Impression for macOS lets you get amazing results with ease.</p>

<p>You can use the Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra to create a disk image from a disk or a connected device. A disk image (.dmg file) is a file that looks and acts like a mountable device or volume. </p>

<p>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>There’s a lot happening in the world of Apple news this week. Following are the hottest articles for the week of Jan. 1-6.</p>

<p>The 2017 Memorable New Product Launch (MMNPL) survey, conducted by<a target="_blank" href="http://www.schneiderpr.com/launch-pr/" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Schneider Associates</a> and<a target="_blank" href="http://www.sentientdecisionscience.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Sentient Decision Science</a>, ranked the top 10 product launches consumers recognize as most memorable. Topping the list is the iPhone 8. Yep, the 8, not the 10.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/apple-docuseries-home-1202654252/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Variety</em></a> reports that Apple has given a straight-to-series order to the docuseries “Home,” which will offer viewers a look inside the world’s most extraordinary homes and into the minds of the folks who built them. The tech giant has ordered 10, one-hour episodes of the new series, the article adds.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/998817/apple-calls-25k-daily-sanctions-in-qualcomm-case-harsh?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple asked a California federal court</a> on Wednesday to nix a $25,000-per-day fine, arguing that the sanctions imposed by a magistrate judge last month for delays in producing documents in the antitrust litigation against Qualcomm were unduly harsh.</p>