Dennis Sellers

<p>According to a new forecast from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.idc.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDC</a> overall smartphone shipments will steadily grow from 1.5 billion units in 2017 to 1.7 billion units in 2021. Apple's launch of the iPhone 8/8+ and X in late 2017 set the company up to return to iPhone volume growth in 2017, adds the research group. </p>

<p>The Pixelmator Team has released Pixelmator Pro, codenamed Whirlwind, which includes a modern single-window interface, nondestructive, GPU-powered image editing tools, machine learning-enhanced editing features, and more. </p>

<p>Here we go again. Apple <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-qualcomm/apple-accuses-qualcomm-patent-infringement-in-countersuit-idUSKBN1DT1UU?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtechnologyNews+%28Reuters+Technology+News%29" rel="noopener noreferrer">has filed a countersuit</a> against Qualcomm, the world’s dominant supplier of baseband processors, alleging patent infringement and seeks unspecified damages. The tech giant says Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 and 820 processors, found in Android phones from Samsung and Alphabet, infringe on battery life patents owned by Apple. </p>

<p>B-Eng has introduced Similar Pic Finder 1.0, a duplicate image discovery utility for macOS. It tracks down duplicates and copies of pictures.</p>

<p>Future alarm clocks on your iOS and watchOS devices may be a bit more “understanding” of your personal needs. Apple has filed for a patent (number 9,826,930) for “adjusting alarms based on sleep onset latency.”</p>

<p>If you have a 12-inch MacBook and find it frustrating that it only packs one USB-C port, consider adding the $99.95 IOGEAR <a target="_blank" href="https://www.iogear.com/product/GUD3C03/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Compact USB-C Docking Station with PD Pass-Thru</a> to your Christmas wish list. </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 has told Rene Ritchie of <em>iMore</em> that it’s working on a fix for the root access vulnerability in macOS High Sierra. The bug, discovered by <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/lemiorhan/status/935578694541770752" rel="noopener noreferrer">developer Lemi Ergin</a>, lets anyone log into an admin account using the username "root" with no password.</p>

<p>Apple has scheduled downtime for iTunes Connect from Dec. 23-27, so its employees can celebrate the holidays. iTunes Connect is a suite of web-based tools for managing content sold on iTunes, the iBooks Store, and the various app stores. </p>

<p>Rosenblatt Analyst Jun Zhang estimates that Apple sold six million iPhone X’s during Black Friday for a total of 15 million units so far, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/Apple+%28AAPL%29%3A+iPhone+X+Production+Ahead+of+Schedule%2C+6+Mil+Est+Sold+Through+Black+Friday+Weekend+-+Rosenblatt/13544265.html" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>StreetInsider</em></a>. </p>

<p>Apple is preparing to test autonomous vehicles at an old Fiat Chrysler testing ground in the Arizona desert near Phoenix, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://jalopnik.com/apple-might-be-leasing-chryslers-old-proving-grounds-to-1820782763" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Jalopnik</em> report</a>. Quoting an unnamed “source familiar with the matter,” the article says the tech giant is recruiting engineers and technicians to the site.</p>

<p>November 16th, 2017 was the date that I decided to purchase the iPhone X to get my son the free iPhone 8. I knew going into it that there would be a wait for the iPhone X. I definitely one that loves instant gratification so this was going to be tough. The sales rep at the AT&T store told me it would be mid December before it arrived. This contradicted what the AT&T website said though. The website said that it would ship between 11/29/2017 and 12/6/2017. This was still going to be a tough waiting period for me. Shortly after I finalized the order, I received an email and text that aligned with the AT&T website's initial estimated date. </p>

<p>Apple has opened registration for thousands of free <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apple.com/today/collection/hourofcode/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hour of Code sessions</a> available at all Apple Stores from Dec. 4-10. The company also introduced a new educational challenge in Swift Playgrounds and added new teacher resources to the Everyone Can Code curriculum to help teach Swift, Apple’s programming language.</p>

<p>Adobe has released its 2017 online shopping data for Cyber Monday and the holiday weekend overall. Apple’s AirPods were some of the hottest sellers during the online shopping day.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted another patent (number 20170185161) for a “gesture-based user interface” that hints at gesture controls for Macs. This one is dubbed “three dimensional user interface session using depth sensors.”</p>