Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple hopes to be ready to open its <a target="_blank" href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-02/03/c_136946978.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer">first data center in China</a> in 2020, <em>Xinhua </em>reports. The tech giant will launch the work on the 67-hectare site later this year.</p>

<p>Apple is launching a free repair program to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-02/apple-says-small-percentage-of-iphone-7s-need-component-repair" rel="noopener noreferrer">address a component failure</a> afflicting a "small percentage" of iPhone 7 devices. The glitch makes it appear the phone isn’t connected to cellular networks even when service is available. </p>

<p>There’s a lot happening in the world of Apple news this week. Following are the hottest articles for the week of Jan. 22-27.</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, deals with a death in the family. Prayers go out to the entire Sande family. In the place of the AWT News Update, I’ll offer a text-only (no podcast) summary of breaking stories with a tip o’ my hat to my former website, <em>Apple Daily Report</em>.</p>

<p>Asheville (N.C.) School plans to help teenagers from across the U.S. and abroad learn how to make apps this summer. The co-ed boarding and day school is offering an overnight and day camp in July that focuses on teaching kids how to write code, think critically, and make apps using Apple's programming language – Swift.</p>

<p>After a bidding war with Apple, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jj-abrams-sci-fi-drama-demimonde-lands-at-hbo-series-pickup-1075405" rel="noopener noreferrer">HBO has landed</a> the first TV series that writer/director/producer J.J. Abrams has written since 2008's <em>Fringe. </em></p>

<p>Mac-Chi has debuted Enact, a macOS productivity app that focuses on simplifying the movement of data. It allows users to format, save, print, or post the clipboard contents to social media. </p>

<p>According to the latest research from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.strategyanalytics.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics</a>, global smartphone shipments tumbled 9% annually to reach 400 million units in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017 — the biggest annual fall in smartphone history — but Apple captured first place with 19% global market share.</p>

<p>Need to open or export Microsoft Office docs in macOS High Sierra, but don’t want to spring for Office? You can use Pages, Numbers, and Keynote to open and save docs created with Microsoft Office.</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>Here are some of the highlights from Apple’s call with the press and analysts on Apple’s financial results for its fiscal 2018 first quarter that ended December 30, 2017. CEO Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri spoke during the conference call.</p>

<p>Apple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2018 first quarter that ended December 30, 2017. The company posted quarterly revenue of $88.3 billion, an increase of 13% from the year-ago quarter and an all-time record, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $3.89, up 16%, also an all-time record. International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter’s revenue.</p>

<p>An Apple TV app for Google’s YouTube TV is coming soon for tvOS, a YouTube representative told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnet.com/news/youtube-tv-available-on-roku-coming-to-apple-tv-very-soon/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>CNET</em></a>. </p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 20180028111) for a “family sleep monitoring system,” which would record the sleep parameters of family members by providing third party apps and a peripheral devices communicating with “mobile subscriber terminals” according to the age and interest of each family member. It would involve both iPhones, Macs, and Beddit sleep tracking hardware/software.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 20180032158) for an ambidextrous mouse for use with Macs that’s configured for both left and right handed use. </p>