Dennis Sellers

<p>In a press/analyst conference regarding Apple’s latest financial results, CEO Tim Cook would neither confirm nor deny any company plans regarding an “Apple Car” or automotive software --or anything else that may be cooking in its secret labs.</p>

<p>Apple’s Services business saw revenue grew 24% to set another all-time record during the company’s fourth fiscal quarter. Those Services include Apple Music subscriptions, iTunes Music, iCloud storage plans, paid apps from Apple's App Store, and Apple Care service plans, Apple Pay, etc.</p>

<p>Apple sold 45.5 million iPhones during its fiscal 2016 fourth quarter that ended Sept. 24. That’s a bit better than the consensus of 44 million. The smartphone sales were down 13% from the prior-year period, but up 17% from the previous quarter.</p>

<p>Apple sold 4.89 million Macs during its fiscal 2016 fourth quarter that ended Sept. 24. That’s down 17% year-over-year, but things may be looking up.</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>According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-25/apple-develops-car-operating-system-in-blackberry-country" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>, Apple has dozens of software engineers in Canada building a car operating system. Many of the engineers working in Canada were hired over the past year and about two dozen came from BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX, a leading automotive software provider, the article adds, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.”</p>

<p>As noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a>, macOS Sierra 10.12.1 includes hidden Apple Pay images that depict a  MacBook Pro with an OLED touch panel that will debut at Apple’s “hello, again” media event on Thursday, Oct. 27.</p>

<p>Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPhone 7, and Apple Watch Series 2 are all on Best Buy’s annual “Top Tech” list — the 20 “must-have technology products” for the holiday season.</p>

<p>Someday soon you may be able to unlock your iPhone or iPad (heck, maybe even your Mac) by looking at it (or rather having it look at you). Apple has been granted a parent (number 9,477,829) for “locking and unlocking a mobile device using facial recognition.” </p>

<p>Apple is keeping whatever augmented reality (AR) plans it has secret (no surprise), but the company has been granted a patent (number 9,478,583) for a “wearable display having an array of LEDs on a conformable silicon substrate.”</p>

<p>Darn. Now my 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus looks so small. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/25/xiaomi-mi-note-2-premium-phone/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Xiaomi has launched </a>the Mi Note 2, a “phablet phone” with a 5.7-inch, flexible OLED display that sits under a panel of wraparound glass and curves around the sides of the handset. </p>

<p>I’m not sure how “hot” (in the literal sense) the next MacBook Pro — certain to be unveiled this Thursday — will be. However, when running high-demand apps (such as Final Cut Pro X), a laptop’s built-in cooling system can get a bit toasty, leading to processor throttling and slower performance. </p>

<p>Although the Apple Watch Series 2 offers better battery life than the first generation smartwatch, sometimes you may still find yourself running out of juice. In that case, you’ll want to switch to Power Reserve mode.</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>Apple’s share of smartphone users in the US is expected to remain static in 2016, accounting for a 43.5% share, from 43.3% in 2015, according to new data from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.emarketer.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">eMarketer</a>. Android, by comparison, will see its share of US smartphone users rise slightly to 52.0%, up from 51.7% the previous year, adds the research firm. </p>