Dennis Sellers

<p>Korean site <a href="http://english.etnews.com/20160809200001"><em>ETNews</em></a> is reporting that a small Korean battery company with around 20 "expert technologists in batteries" has been tapped by Apple for technology to be used in a self-driving vehicle.</p>

<p>Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product, so here are today’s patent highlights:</p>

<p>Yesterday it was reported that Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has opened a case into price-fixing allegations concerning iPhones. However, Apple has strongly denied the allegations.</p>

<p>Take this one with a grain of salt as it’s so vague, but Apple may be planning to unveil a "killer new product" developed within its health laboratories, Taiwan’s Economic Times claims (as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/08/09/rumor-apple-working-on-entirely-new-advanced-health-tracking-hardware-for-2017-launch" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>). </p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Some day in the not-too-distant future, some company, hopefully Apple, will find a way to make a la carte television programming (paying only for the channels you want, not a "bundle" as determined by your cable or satellite provider) a reality. A Needham & Company 2014 report showed why this should happen sooner rather than later.</p>

<p>If you need to extend and connect your iMac to a second (or third) display, or a TV,  <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kanex.com/xd" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kanex’s mLinq </a>offers an easy, not-too-costly ($99) way to do it.</p>

<p>Hyundai is adding smartphone integrations to several more existing models via do-it-yourself installation. The software update compatible with CarPlay and Android Auto is now available at no cost through <a href="https://www.hyundaiusa.com/myhyundai">MyHyundai.com</a>.</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>Orange Peel Investment’s Scott Tzu believes “that with a seismic sentiment change [regarding the upcoming “iPhone 7”], and with the hype surrounding the iPhone 8 going to be unbearable, Apple could very well be sitting at all-time highs just 12 short months from now.”</p>

<p>Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has opened a case into price-fixing allegations concerning iPhones.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/technology/once-taunted-by-steve-jobs-companies-are-now-big-customers-of-apple.html"><em>The New York Times</em> reports</a> that nearly half of all iPad sales are to corporations and governments, with high-end iPad sales to business customers particularly strong. </p>

<p>More good news for Apple Pay: the Canadian National Vending Alliance (CNVA), a coalition of the largest vending operators across Canada, has partnered with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.payrange.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">PayRange</a> to bring mobile payment — including Apple’s mobile payment system — across 100% of its vending machines coast-to-coast.</p>

<p>According to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-08/new-iphone-said-to-have-dual-camera-pressure-sensitive-button" rel="noopener noreferrer">the latest rumor</a>, the Touch ID home button on this year's iPhone — probably won’t physically click, but will mimic the sensation of a click with haptic feedback, just like Apple's Force Touch trackpad found on newer MacBooks.</p>

<p>During his 2010 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, CEO Steve Jobs said, "We’re going to the standards bodies, starting tomorrow, and we’re going to make FaceTime an open industry standard.” So has any progress been made in this area?</p>

<p>Amped Wireless' <a target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/ml63lq5" rel="noopener noreferrer">199 REA20 High Power 700mW Dual Band AC Wi-Fi Range Extender</a> was the first Wi-Fi range extender available with 802.11ac technology.</p>