Dennis Sellers

<p>OWC has announced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smartalec.biz/" rel="noopener noreferrer">SMART Alec</a>, a Mac utility that constantly monitors and checks your Mac hard drives, SSDs, FireWire disks, and USB drives, warning you in advance if drives are failing or about to fail. </p>

<p>Nativ is shipping the Vita, a high-resolution music system with an 11.6-inch touch-screen and access to “all music of the world.” It features built-in support for streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify. </p>

<p>Taiwan-based Wistron, original equipment manufacturer and iPhone assembler, has confirmed that at least one of Apple's next-generation iPhone models will be "waterproof" and include wireless charging capabilities, according to the Japanese website <a target="_blank" href="http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/Wistron-confirms-waterproof-wireless-charging-for-new-iPhone" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Nikkei Asian Review</em></a>. Somehow I don’t think the gang at Apple are going to be pleased about this leak.</p>

<p>The gang at iFixit — who tear apart tech items and look at their innards so you don’t have to — has conducted a teardown of Apple’s new 10.5-inch iPad Pro. They find that an open-faced 10.5-inch iPad Pro is essentially a scaled-down, streamlined version of its 12.9″ predecessor.</p>

<p>Oh, iMac, I’ve missed you. I thought I could replace you with a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and 27-inch LG Ultrafine display. Actually, I did for seven months, but the entire experience just wasn’t as smooth. Plus, the Apple all-in-one’s display is so much more elegant than <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/1/11/lg-ultrafine-5k-is-a-great-display-for-new-macbook-pros-and-looks-arent-everything?rq=LG%205K%20Display" rel="noopener noreferrer">LG’s monitor</a>.</p>

<p>In macOS Sierra, there’s a default printer. It’s the one selected when the Print dialog opens. However, it’s easy to change the default printer — or change a printer’s name.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,679,414) for “federated mobile device positioning” that hints at augmented reality (AR) features for upcoming iPhones. It’s for a user interface that lets you calibrate the position of a 3D model with a real-world environment represented by that model. </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>Google has lured away chip architect Manu Gulati, who’s been spearheading Apple’s own chip developments for close to eight years, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/google-manu-gulati-pixel-chips-1202464014/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Variety</a>. As the new lead SOC [systems-on-a-chip] architect, he’ll apparently be working on chips for the company’s line of Pixel smartphones. </p>

<p>Apple has issued a $1 billion green bond to fund renewable energy generation, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-13/apple-issuing-a-second-green-bond-to-finance-clean-energy" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Bloomberg</em></a>. It builds on $1.5 billion worth of bonds the tech giant sold a year ago to further its goal of running 100% of its operations on renewable energy.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,678,623) for a “user interface for media playback” that hints at a new look and UI for a future version of tvOS on the Apple TV. It could also involve playing music and videos on macOS and iOS devices.</p>

<p>Apple CEO Tim Cook <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-13/cook-says-apple-is-focusing-on-making-an-autonomous-car-system?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social" rel="noopener noreferrer">confirms</a> to <em>Bloomberg</em> that the company is developing self-driving car technology, which he calls a “core” technology. The comments mark the first time Cook has discussed the long-rumored “Apple Car” project publicly, though he was vague about any manufacturing plans.</p>

<p>Flipbuilder's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.flipbuilder.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Flip PDF Professional for Mac</a> makes it easy to create page flip catalogs from PDFs. You can create catalogs, brochures and other marketing collaterals from PDF files. </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>On Friday my new 27-inch iMac arrived (I’ll have a full review coming soon). It came stock with only 8GB of memory. However, I wanted more, but didn’t want to pay Apple $200 for 16GB of RAM or $600 for 32GB.</p>