Dennis Sellers

<p>A federal appeals court has tossed a jury verdict that had required Apple to pay $533 million to Smartflash, a patent holding company (which some might calla a “patent troll”), which claims that claimed the Cupertino, California-based company’s iTunes software infringed its data storage patents, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-lawsuit-patent-idUSKBN1685D5?utm_source=applenews" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, takes a trip. In its place, 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>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>Coming off the smartphone market's lowest year-over-year growth of 2.5% in 2016, a new forecast from the International Data Corporation (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.idc.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDC</a>) <a target="_blank" href="http://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=37" rel="noopener noreferrer">Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker</a> shows worldwide smartphone shipments rebounding in 2017 and beyond. </p>

<p>Quark has announced <a target="_blank" href="http://www.quark.com/2017" rel="noopener noreferrer">QuarkXPress 2017</a>, the next major release of the company’s graphic design and layout software for professional print and digital production. It’s due in the second quarter of this year.</p>

<p>According to the latest market share survey from <a target="_blank" href="http://netmarkeshare.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">NetMarketShare</a>, the market share for both macOS and iOS was down in February.</p>

<p>Apple has activated a two month-long Apple Pay promotion offering cash back, points and more to users of its digital payments service, just in time to take advantage of six new supporting card issuers, reports Japanese blog <em>Ata Distance</em> — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/03/01/apple-pay-japan-gains-support-for-six-new-credit-cards-launches-limited-time-promotion" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>.</p>

<p>Apple has placed 20th on the 2017 Global RepTrak 100, a list of the top companies with the best reputation in the world, as determined by the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reputationinstitute.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reputation Institute,</a> a proper of stakeholder measurement, membership and management services. </p>

<p>If Apple releases new iPads anytime soon, I’ll likely sell my current Apple tablet. Preparing iPads for resale is a breeze. Why can't preparing my Mac for sale be just as easy?</p>

<p>The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.supertooth.net/EN/DISCO2/#page=page-1" rel="noopener noreferrer">DISCO 2</a> from Supertooth is a portable wireless stereo speaker with decent audio quality and an attractive design.</p>

<p>The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, takes a trip. In its place, 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>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>During a Q&A session at today's shareholder meeting held at Apple's Cupertino, California campus, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that the company is still very much focused on its professional and creative pro customers and will "do more" in the pro area. </p>

<p>Apple has posted the fourth tvOS 10.2 beta for the Apple TV for developers. Available at the Apple Developer Center, it focuses on “new features, bug fixes, and improvements in the OS and SDK [software development kit.”</p>

<p>In a note to clients — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ubs-apple-1000-engineers-ar-2017-2?r=UK&IR=T" rel="noopener noreferrer">Business Insider</a> — UBS analyst Steven Milunovich says Apple may have 1,000-plus engineers working on augmented reality (AR) and expects to see AR features on the “iPhone 8.”</p>