Dennis Sellers

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.alivecor.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">AliveCor</a>, which specializes in FDA-cleared personal electrocardiogram (EKG) technology, has announced FDA clearance of its $199 KardiaBand in the U.S.</p>

<p>Each quarter, mobile experts compare the features and performance of iOS and Android smartphones. In the third quarter of 2017, Apple's iPhones came out victorious in the battle, with the Android device failure rate (30%) being nearly double that of the iOS device failure rate (16%), according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.blancco.com/resources/rs-state-of-mobile-device-performance-and-health-trend-report-q3-2017/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Q3 2017 State of Mobile Device Performance and Health report</a> released by Blancco Technology.</p>

<p>While many find that a tablet or a laptop (or, for some, even a phone) is all they need, there are others who want to compute the old fashioned way - on a desktop. David Milman, president of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rescuecom.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">RESCUECOM</a>, a computer repair company, says Apple’s iMac is an ”excellent computer” that’s less than half the price of Microsoft’s Surface Studio (though he recommends the Studio as the best-in-class for desktops over $4,000).</p>

<p>The worldwide wearables market took another step forward in the third quarter of 2017 (3Q17) with total shipment volume reaching 26.3 million units, up 7.3% year over year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) <a target="_blank" href="http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=962" rel="noopener noreferrer">Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker</a>. </p>

<p>Strong early adoption of the iPhone X positions Apple for market leadership, according to Ian Fogg, senior director, mobile and telecom, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ihs.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">IHS Markit</a>. </p>

<p>Apple has been granted a second patent (number 20170340209) for using an Apple Watch to monitor blood pressure. This one is dubbed “blood pressure monitoring using a multi-function wrist-worn device.” The first (number 20170293727) for a “user device” for “intelligent blood pressure monitoring.” </p>

<p>Google is currently facing legal action from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youoweus.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Google You Owe Us</em></a>,  a campaigning group founded as a result of Google tricking Safari into revealing the personal data of iPhone users between June 2011 and February 2012. </p>

<p>Apple has released a support document to help you deal with the issue. If you experience issues with authenticating or connecting to file shares on your Mac after you install Security Update 2017-001 for macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, follow these steps to repair file sharing:</p>

<p>Apple will use its own main power management chip design in iPhones within the next two years, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Apple-to-design-power-chips-in-house-as-early-as-2018-Sources" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Nikkei Asian Review</em></a>, quoting unnamed sources. The chip controls the phone’s charging, battery management, and energy efficiency. </p>

<p>Since its creation in 2006, <a target="_blank" href="https://red.org/what-is-red/" rel="noopener noreferrer">(RED)</a> has worked to help the more than 37 million people living with HIV across the globe. </p>

<p>IOGEAR’s $99.95 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.iogear.com/product/GTC3DDP" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thunderbolt 3 to Dual 4K DisplayPort Adapter</a> lets you connect up to two DisplayPort monitors (one 5K or two 4K @ 60Hz) through a single Thunderbolt 3 port on your iMac or MacBook Pro.</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>Apple tells<em> </em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/apple-cyber/update-1-apple-to-audit-development-processes-after-mac-bug-discovered-idUSL1N1NZ1RD?feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FcompanyNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Company+News%29" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em></a> that it will review its software development process after releasing a <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/11/29/apple-releases-security-update-2017-001-to-fix-macos-high-sierra-vulnerability" rel="noopener noreferrer">software update</a> to fix a security vulnerability in macOS High Sierra.</p>

<p>The 2017 Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday kickoff to the holiday shopping season produced big results <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/26/online-sales-surge-over-thanksgiving-day-weekend/892767001/" rel="noopener noreferrer">for retailers</a>. Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, consumers dropped more than $11 billion, which is a significant increase from 2016.  </p>

<p>Apple has released <a target="_blank" href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208315" rel="noopener noreferrer">Security Update 2017-001</a> to fix a vulnerability that enables access to the root superuser with a blank password on any Mac running macOS High Sierra version 10.3.1. </p>