Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple Pay has the largest percentage of supporting U.S. merchants with 36% accepting Apple’s mobile payment service, according to new data from <a target="_blank" href="https://bostonretailpartners.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Boston Retail Partners</a> (BRP) That’s up from 16% in 2016.</p>

<p>Apple blog <a href="https://pikeralpha.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/new-kaby-lake-based-hardware-models/"><em>Pike's Universum</em></a> hash uncovered three motherboard identifiers that hint at updated MacBook Pros with Kaby Lake processors. Since the latest version of the laptops only arrived, four months ago, I wouldn’t expect to see hardware updates for the line until September.</p>

<p>Steve (“Woz”) Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and Silicon Valley idol, will be speaking at the <a target="_blank" href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.startupworldcup.io%2Fgrand-finale&esheet=51505260&newsitemid=20170207005110&lan=en-US&anchor=Startup+World+Cup%C2%A0Grand+Finale&index=1&md5=75f12b6cba895ab2cada28fcc3494ea4" rel="noopener noreferrer">Startup World Cup Grand Finale</a> in San Francisco on March 24 at the Marriott Marquis. Startup World Cup is a global conference and competition organized by <a target="_blank" href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fenoxvc.com%2F&esheet=51505260&newsitemid=20170207005110&lan=en-US&anchor=Fenox+Venture+Capital&index=2&md5=ae9b80bec5d4823b5e18596015a02a71" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fenox Venture Capital</a> to bridge startup ecosystems worldwide.</p>

<p>Apple’s “spaceship campus” is a “futuristic campus built with astonishing attention to detail,” according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-campus-idUSKBN15M0CM?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=589971a204d30137b69d4f74&utm_medium=trueAnthem&t=9" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>. The price tag for the project is estimated at $5 billion with more than $1 billion allocated for the interior of the building alone (though Apple hasn’t confirmed these figures).</p>

<p>A future Apple headphone may double as a portable speaker, hints a new patent. That would be something from the Beats line, not a future AirPod (though, admittedly, that would be impressive).</p>

<p>According to the latest <em>IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker </em>from the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.idc.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDC research group</a><em>, </em>the smartphone market in China saw 19% year-over-year (YoY) growth and 17% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ)_ growth in the fourth quarter of 2016. It was the first time that Apple has seen a YoY decline in the People’s Republic of China market.</p>

<p>AR/VR evangelist Robert Scoble has tweaked his predictions about an Apple partnership with Carl Zeiss on a pair of smart glasses, and is predicting an announcement of the technology possibly as early as the middle of 2017, <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/02/06/vr-evangelist-doubles-down-on-rumor-that-apple-ar-headset-is-inbound-moves-date-up-to-2017" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports AppleInsider.</a></p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Apple is launching its annual Back to School promotion on Macs and iPads this week in <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/nz-hed/shop" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Zealand </a>and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/au-hed/shop" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>. The “Back to Uni” promotion runs throughMarch 16.</p>

<p>Apple <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-06/apple-hits-out-at-australian-banks-over-apple-pay-boycott-motive" rel="noopener noreferrer">continues to blast Australian banks</a> for attempting to stop or delay the roll-out of Apple Pay in the country. In its latest submission to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, the Cupertino, California-based company said it was concerned banks are seeking to “delay the expansion of Apple Pay,” hurting both consumers and smaller card issuers who could use the technology “as a means of securing a digital presence in competition with the big banks.”</p>

<p>Apple has once again requested to sell used iPhones in India as it negotiates with the government for concessions to start production in the country, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-06/apple-said-to-revive-efforts-to-sell-used-iphones-in-india-iytyu64w?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>, quoting an unnamed “person familiar with the matter.”</p>

<p>The legal battle is intensifying over President Trump's immigration order, with further court filings expected today from both the government and Department of Justice. Seventy-five tech companies, including Apple, U.S. tech companies have <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/05/twitter-airbnb-and-others-to-file-opposition-to-trumps-immigration-order/">filed</a> an amicus brief opposing the travel ban, saying it "inflicts significant harm on American businesses.”</p>

<p>Safari in macOS Sierra allows you to “pin” tabs. Pinning a website puts the site's icon in the top left section of the Tab bar, allowing you to pull up the site with a click.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Conner Productions's Seal  is a pro level template to make introductory seal titles for Apple's Final Cut Pro X. It’s free — and free is good!</p>

<p>Consumer spending during the holiday quarter of 2016 was clearly not aimed at consuming tablets as the market continued its spiraling decline. The fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16) marked the ninth consecutive quarter that tablet shipments have declined. </p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,560,693) for “methods and apparatus for access data recovery from a malfunctioning device.” It involves, as you might guess, retrieving your important data when your iPhone goes on the fritz.</p>