Dennis Sellers

<p>In its biannual Computer Repair Report, RESCUECOM — a computer repair company in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada — says that difficulty with Windows has not eased as much as expected, though it has slightly. As for Macs, the report says they’re “extremely reliable” and make up just 0.7% of the repair calls to RESCUECOM.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/network-1-announces-settlement-of-patent-litigation-with-apple-inc-300296095.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Network-1 Technologies says</a> Mirror World Technologies, its wholly-owned subsidiary, has agreed to settle its patent litigation against Apple pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,006,22 (the '227 Patent).</p>

<p>Will the next iMac — which I expect to arrive in September or October — have an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) connector? The Mac mini, Mac Pro, and MacBook Pros do, so why not the company's best-selling all-in-one?</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://store.mcetech.com/mm/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=MTOS&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=COMPLEMENT" rel="noopener noreferrer">MCE Technologies</a>' MCE Complement is a handy, all-in-one, portable USB 3.0 device comprised of a 2TB Hard Drive, a Blu-ray, DVD, CD Reader/Recorder, a USB 3.0 Hub, and SD Card Reader. </p>

<p>The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has handed out its annual Heroes and Villains awards, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2464320/privacy-and-apple-are-the-big-winners-at-ispa-heroes-and-villains-awards" rel="noopener noreferrer">honoring Apple</a> as a “Hero” for its refusal to acquiesce to the FBI’s demand for iPhone unlocking. </p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://actions.sumofus.org/a/planned-obsolescence-is-why-apple-isn-t-a-green-company/?sub=homepage" rel="noopener noreferrer">A petition</a> by the watchdog organization, SumOfUs, that demands Apple stop “sabotaging” older devices with iOS upgrades that slow them down has attracted 150,000 signatures. </p>

<p>It's likely that the Mac OS X Finder will go "3D" at some point in the near future. Perhaps in 2017 or 2018. Apple has considered the possibility. The company has been granted a patent (number 20080307360) for a multi-dimensional desktop.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.paloaltoaudio.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Palo Alto Audio Design's CUBIK digital audio speaker</a> is a computer speaker system that designed with the audiophile in mind. Though $199.95 seems a bit pricey for a speaker system with no subwoofer, the sound is as good for a subwoofer-less speaker system as I've heard. </p>

<p>If you've not played around with still motion videos -- videos where photos are shown only for a fraction of a second (think Apple’s Live Photos)— you might give it a try. They're lots of fun. </p>

<p>Another day, another lawsuit. Samuel Lit of Pennsylvania has filed a suit in the Northern Illinois District Court against Apple for using carousels on its website, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/07/07/apples-use-of-web-carousels-target-of-new-patent-lawsuit" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>.</p>

<p>2016 is far from over, but <em>Mac Gamer HQ</em>’s Ric Molina has taken a look at the <a href="http://macgamerhq.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=582818daf0ee2e780e7659405&id=5cf7128440&e=a9e91537ba">best games released so far</a> this year.</p>

<p>Would you like to have a “power lunch” with Bozoma Saint John, global head of Consumer Marketing for Apple Music and iTunes (and who stole the show as a presenter at the Worldwide Developer Conference)? If you have deep pockets, you may have a shot.</p>

<p>Secomba, the developer of the cloud encryption solution <a target="_blank" href="http://www.boxcryptor.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Boxcryptor</a>, has debuted Whisply, a web-based file transfer service that allows you to send files end-to-end-encrypted out of Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Also, Boxcryptor for Mac OS X and Windows has been upgraded with new features, including Whisply integration.  </p>

<p>Apple’s TV commercial in which the Cookie Monster uses Siri is one of the top 10 “Breakthrough ads” from the second quarter of 2016, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.acemetrix.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ace Metrix,</a> a company that measures the impact of video advertising. “Likeability” and “attention” are the attributes of the ads on the list.</p>

<p>Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product, so here are today’s patent highlights:</p>