Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.jackmorton.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jack Morton</a>, a “brand experience agency,” has launched its first global Experience Brand Index, a survey of 6,000 consumers across the U.S., United Kingdom and China. Apple did well.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the latest quarterly research from <a href="http://www.strategyanalytics.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics</a>, global smart speaker shipments reached 11.7 million units in the second quarter (Q2) of 2018. And there’s a bit of good news for the HomePod, which, per most estimates, is seeing underwhelming sales.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Shipments of the upcoming Phone XR are expected to ramp up to 20 million units in October, reports <a href="http://www.digitimes.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>DigiTimes</em></a>, quoting unnamed industry sources in Apple's smartphone supply chain.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.crresearch.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">C + R Research </a>researched Google search volume by looking at more than 500 keywords to find the most popular brands, musicians, and influencers in 25 college towns across the nation. Apple was on the list of “exceptionally popular brands in college towns.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I love to read and hope you do, too. If you’re an avid reader, Macally’s <a href="https://us.macally.com/products/rechargeable-clip-on-led-book-reading-light-booklight" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BOOKLIGHT</a> is a good investment at $24.99. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The new Apple Watch Series 4 enables customers to take an ECG reading right from the wrist using the new ECG app, which takes advantage of the electrodes built into the Digital Crown and new electrical heart rate sensor in the back crystal. And Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,076,257) for a “seamlessly embedded heart rate monitor” that involves the tech used in the app.</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;"><a href="http://www.cirpllc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP)</a> has released results from its research on smart speakers, including Apple’s HomePod, Amazon’s Echo, and Google’s Home.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has plans to make the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac laptops more scratch resistant, as noted by the newly granted patent (number 20180263130) dubbed “abrasion-resistant surface finishes on metal enclosures.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Ireland has fully recovered 13.1 billion euros (about $14.5 billion) in disputed taxes from Apple (plus interest of 1.2 billion) that it will hold in an escrow fund pending its appeal against an EU tax ruling, Ireland’s finance minister Paschal Donohoe said today.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.gigsky.com/">GigSky</a>, a provider of global cellular connectivity solutions for consumers, has announced its service availability on the new Apple smartphones: the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,079,014) for a “name recognition system.” The goal is to make your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and HomePod devices better at recognizing names you speak to, for example, make a phone call.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">OWC has released NewerTech<a href="http://go.owcdigital.com/kxcases" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> NuGuard KX cases</a> for the new line of iPhones (the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR).</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">UBTECH Robotics, which specializes in intelligent humanoid robotics and AI technologies, has launched the JIMU Robot BuilderBots Series: Overdrive Kit. A hands-on introduction to STEM learning, it’s an interactive robotic building block kit that gives kids the opportunity to use over 400 parts to build, program, and code two new robots – DozerBot and DirtBot – or invent their own robot creation. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Though the 2018 MacBook Pros apparently have better keyboards than their predecessors, Apple has been sued multiple times for alleged flaws in the butterfly keyboards of 2016 and 2017 Mac laptops, so you might want to invest in Macally’s $14.99 <a href="https://us.macally.com/collections/macbook/products/kbguardtbc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KBGUARD TBB keyboard protective overlay</a> for 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros with Touch Bar.</p>