Dennis Sellers

<p>Iran is preparing to allow local companies to import iPhones for the first time to try to curb the huge market in smuggled Apple products. The trade ministry has requested licenses from the country’s Trade Promotion Organization for nine Iranian companies to import iPhones, according to the <em>Tasnim New</em>s agency. </p>

<p>The Chinese anti-monopoly agency has approved the $3.8 billion merger between Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn and display technology company Sharp, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/08/11/apple-partner-foxconns-38b-sharp-buyout-approved-by-china" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider.</a></p>

<p>Apple has hired on one of the co-founders of Flipboard, Evan Doll, as a director of health software engineering according to a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/evandoll">LinkedIn profile</a> update <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-11/apple-rehires-flipboard-co-founder-for-health-software-role">discovered</a> by <em>Bloomberg</em>. He’s been at Apple for two months.</p>

<p>Seventy-six percent of retailers plan to accept Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payment service, by the end of 2017, compared with 59% for PayPal, according to a <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnrf.com%2Fresources%2Fretail-library%2Fthe-state-of-retail-payments-2016%3Futm_source%3DNRFNews%26utm_medium%3D08-09%26utm_content%3DPaymentsStudy_Report%26utm_campaign%3DSmartBrief&esheet=51399807&newsitemid=20160810006029&lan=en-US&anchor=State+of+Retail+Payments+2016&index=2&md5=689bf18ace2828e6949fd5107cdb0422">State of Retail Payments 2016</a> study by the National Retail Federation and Forrester research group. Others face an uphill battle, with 53% saying they have no interest in Venmo, 43% not interested in Alipay and 38% with no interest in Pay With Amazon.</p>

<p>Logitech has introduced the $99.99 <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.logitech.com%2Fnews%2FPopStarterPack&esheet=51399993&newsitemid=20160811005277&lan=en-US&anchor=Logitech+Pop+Home+Switch+Starter+Pack&index=1&md5=ae80449ba6fc679deb1fe663153dcaea">Logitech Pop Home Switch Starter Pack</a> and $39.99 <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.logitech.com%2Fnews%2FPopAdd-on&esheet=51399993&newsitemid=20160811005277&lan=en-US&anchor=Pop+Add-On+Home+Switch&index=2&md5=eee5aa9a6d198aa8f53f74b3fbadc17a">Pop Add-On Home Switch</a>. The former is compatible with a range of lighting and smart home products including lighting, door locks, and blinds from companies like LIFX, Phillips Hue, Lutron, and INSTEON, and you can mix and match product controls on an individual switch.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Apple is considering other wearable devices beyond the Apple Watch. The company has filed for a patent (number 20160228025) for a “method of detecting the wearing limb of a wearable electronic device.” An Apple Ring or Apple Pendant, anyone?</p>

<p>Apple will open a retail store in the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, Aug. 16, at 12 p.m. It will be the company’s eighth store in the Big Apple.</p>

<p>If you love Sandvox as a replacement for Apple’s late, lamented iWeb app— and lots of you obviously do — you may also wish to check out <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/1pB8mKR" rel="noopener noreferrer">EverWeb</a> from RAGE Software.</p>

<p>Leap Motion's Leap, a 3D motion control device for the Mac (OS X 10.7 and higher) and Windows, provides a glimpse into a "Minority Report" scenario of gesture computing, though the hardware-software combo is far from ready to replace a touch screen or mouse/keyboard. Still, it's an intriguing product and (sometimes) fun to use. </p>

<p>As the 2016-2017 school year kicks off, there are now 32,145 students at underserved public schools across the country who are learning, creating and exploring on iPad through Apple’s ConnectED commitment, the company says.</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>New data from <a href="http://www.sensortower.com">Sensor Tower</a>, a mobile app store marketing intelligence firm, predicts that the Apple App Store will be home to more than five million active apps by the end of 2020, more than double its current size.</p>

<p>Judges can’t rely on common sense alone when analyzing the validity of a patent, an appeals court has ruled in a loss for Apple and Alphabet’s Google, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-10/common-sense-alone-not-enough-in-patent-law-u-s-court-finds" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>.</p>

<p>Arun Jaitley, India’s finance minister has approved a proposal that clarifies how Apple could open stores in the country without initially having to source components locally, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-10/india-said-to-clarify-apple-s-path-to-opening-own-retail-stores" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg,</a> quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.”</p>

<p>In yesterday’s <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2016/8/9/patent-report-underwater-photography-vehicle-steering-system-curved-iphone" rel="noopener noreferrer">patent report</a>, I pointed out a weird Apple patent for “a steering device for an articulated vehicle.” </p>