Dennis Sellers

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.jamf.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jamf </a>has announced a “safe passage” program for schools and organizations considering migrating to the company’s Apple management solutions. Trusted by over 10,000 organizations, including 4,000 K-12 schools, 1,000 universities and over 5,000 businesses, Jamf provides path for customers considering a new mobile device management (MDM) solution.</p>

<p>Apple has posted the first public beta of iOS 10.3.3. It contains, as best I can tell, mostly bug fixes and minor tweaks.</p>

<p>According to the latest research from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.counterpointresearch.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Counterpoint Research's Market Monitor</a> service, Russia smartphone shipments grew 6% annually during the first quarter (Q1) 2017 but declined 42% sequentially. Apple was the second largest smartphone brand in Russia with a market share of 12% by volume (8% by market share) with the iPhones 5S still capturing a fourth of the company’s shipments.</p>

<p>Another day, another lawsuit. Gustafson Nicolai, a Los Angeles-based law firm, has filed its second lawsuit against Apple in less than a month over an “exploding” iPhone. </p>

<p>Apple must turn over documents requested by Nokia that disclose details of unreleased iPhones and iPads, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge has ruled in a patent infringement probe, saying Apple is "not unique" in its desire to keep future products under wraps, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/924610/apple-ordered-to-turn-over-details-of-unreleased-products?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology&read_more=1" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law360.</a></p>

<p>Another day, another lawsuit. Qualcomm has filed a complaint against Foxconn Technology, Pegatron, Wistron, and Compal — all Apple contract manufacturers for making iPhones— for not paying royalties, reports <a target="_blank" href="//www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-lawsuit-qualcomm-idUSKCN18D1EC?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtechnologyNews+%28Reuters+Technology+News%29" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-assembles-first-iphones-in-india-1495016276?mod=e2tw" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wall Street Journal</a> says Apple has confirmed that its manufacturing partners in India have started domestic production of the iPhone SE. Previously, Apple produced most of its smartphones iPhones in China with a few older models assembled in Brazil.</p>

<p>Thursday, May 18, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Apple stores globally will host accessibility workshops on May 18. Check your <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apple.com/retail/" rel="noopener noreferrer">local store page</a> to see if your store is participating and to book a seat in one of these workshops.</p>

<p>Apple Pay went live for Italian customers yesterday with initial support from Carrefour, UniCredit and prepaid card marketed by Boon, notes <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/05/16/apple-pay-goes-live-in-italy-with-support-for-boon-carrefour-and-unicredit" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,652,134) for “avatars reflecting user states.” An avatar is an icon or figure representing a particular person in video games, Internet forums, etc. The patent could mean more responsive, interactive avatars in apps such as Messages and Mail.</p>

<p>MacDaddy’s Mac Backup Guru may encourage you to back-up your data more frequently — and if you’re not already backing up, start doing so immediately. </p>

<p>You can have multiple calendars in the Calendar app in macOS Sierra. When you move an event to a different calendar, the event’s color changes to match the new calendar. If you want color-coded events, such as red mandatory events and yellow optional events, create a calendar for each type of event and move events between the calendars.</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><em>Bloomberg</em> <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/5/16/bloomberg-reporting-wwdc-2017-macbook-updates)" rel="noopener noreferrer">is reporting </a>that Apple plans to unveil three new laptops at next month’s Worldwide Developer Conference: updated MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs and 12-inch MacBooks. The Sellers Research Firm (that's me) disagrees with that prediction.</p>

<p>Apple is reportedly planning to phase the iPad mini out of its lineup due to, among other things, decreased sales due to bigger smartphones such as the iPhone 7 Plus, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://bgr.com/2017/05/16/ipad-mini-ipad-pro-10-5-inch-wwdc/" rel="noopener noreferrer">a BGR report</a>.</p>