Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple wants us to live in a world without optical drives, but for some people that's not feasible. If you fall into this category, check out <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mcetech.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">MCE Technologies</a>' Fovea line of portable, slot-loading optical drives designed for the Macs lacking optical drives.</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>The upcoming “iPhone 7” will, according to rumors, drop the traditional 3.5mm jack and support only Lightning-based headphones and wireless headsets. Now Cirrus Logic has released its MFi Headset Development Kit, a reference platform that is designed to help original equipment manufacturers quickly develop new Lightning-based digital headsets. </p>

<p>Samsung will see its shipments of AMOLED panels to increase from 239 million units this year to 2019 thanks, in part, to upcoming iPhones, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">DigiTimes</a>. </p>

<p>Business and engineering/IT students in the world's 12 largest economies have chosen their favorite employers — and Apple’s near the top of the list. More than 267,000 millennials in Universum's Talent Survey have ranked the companies they find most desirable for employment.</p>

<p>The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced <a href="http://elink-eu.azuresend.com/l/5456ee8bfde5431cb2e61aea2cf5c940/366DD291/D74085CF/062016">the expansion of the 802.11ac standard</a> to include new features that provide a higher-performance connectivity experience. Most Apple products offer 802.11ac compatibility, including Macs, the AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time Capsule. The expanded 802.11ac could see implementation in future versions of the latter two devices, which are overdue for an upgrade.</p>

<p>Incipio’s latest USB-C product lineup supports charging solutions and adapters that are great for users of the 12-inch MacBook, which has only one USB-C port. I’ve tested ‘em all; they work just fine. Instead of serving up a dozen mini-reviews, I’ll just provide a round-up of the USB-C items here:</p>

<p>Western Digital Corporation has launched its My Passport Ultra, and upcoming My Passport for Mac and My Passport Ultra Metal portable hard drives, with up to 4TB capacity. </p>

<p>Another day, another lawsuit. Florida resident Thomas S. Ross has filed a lawsuit against Apple this week, claiming the company infringe upon his 1992 invention of a hand-drawn "Electronic Reading Device" (ERD), reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com/2016/06/28/florida-man-sues-apple-1992-invention/" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors.</a></p>

<p>In a note to clients — <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/06/28/apples-iphone-install-base-features-growing-powder-keg-ripe-for-upgrades-cowen-says" rel="noopener noreferrer">as noted by AppleInsider</a> — Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Acuri says that continued focus on the upcoming iPhone (probably to be dubbed the “iPhone 7”) and its rumored lack of a major redesign is the wrong way to look at the big picture.</p>

<p> Apple’s China woes continue. App stores operators such as the Cupertino, California-based company must establish the identity of users, while monitoring and reporting postings that contain banned content, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-28/china-orders-mobile-app-stores-providers-to-monitor-users" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg.</a> The legitimacy of developers who post apps for download must also be verified, according to new rules posted on the Cyberspace Administration of China’s website.</p>

<p>Facebook and Apple took the top two spots in the second annual <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpages.netbase.com%2FAR-2016-Top100GlobalLoveList.html&esheet=51370543&newsitemid=20160628005280&lan=en-US&anchor=NetBase+Brand+Passion+Report+2016%3A+Top+100+Global+Brand+Love+List&index=1&md5=807b00d232da7ec42a4a9a1511f3c79b">NetBase Brand Passion Report 2016: Top 100 Global Brand Love List</a>, which reveals the brands consumers expressed the most love for on social media. The report leveraged the social analytics technology of NetBase a company that specializes in enterprise social analytics, to examine more than 265 million posts, ranking the most loved brands in technology, consumer goods, automotive, food and beverage, financial services and energy companies globally.</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>

<p>Apple will announce its quarterly earnings for its third fiscal quarter of 2016 on Tuesday, July 26, at 2 p.m. (Pacific). There will be a conference call with analysts and the press to discuss the financial results.  </p>

<p>South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating "some matters" relating to Apple, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-apple-idUSKCN0ZE07H" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>. Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, FTC Chairman Jeong Jae-chan declined to comment on the specifics of the regulator's investigation when asked to do so by a South Korean lawmaker, the article adds.</p>