Dennis Sellers

<p>An anonymous poll of Apple employees earns CEO Tim Cook a 96% approval rating, earning him the No. 8 ranking among U.S. companies surveyed for Glassdoor's annual Employees' Choice Awards. Glassdoor is a jobs and recruiting site.</p>

<p>Apple will announce new <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-air/">MacBook Air</a> models this month and start shipping ‘em next month, according to the Japanese website <a href="http://www.macotakara.jp/blog/rumor/entry-30104.html"><em>Mac Otakara</em></a> — as noted by <a href="http://macrumors.com">MacRumors.com</a> . Meanwhile, the report also claims that Apple will announce a complete refresh of the MacBook Pro this month.</p>

<p>If the GhostStand — <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.today/blog/2016/6/2/the-ghoststand-is-a-scarily-good-stand-for-an-apple-macbook" rel="noopener noreferrer">see my review here</a> — doesn’t suit your fancy for a laptop stand, check out Griffin Technology’s elegant <a target="_blank" href="https://griffintechnology.com/us/products/stands-and-mounts/elevator" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elevator</a>. It elevates your laptop 5.5 inches, which offers several advantages. </p>

<p>Google has regained its position as the world's most valuable brand, overtaking 2015 winner Apple, according to the 2016 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/brandz/" rel="noopener noreferrer">BrandZ</a> Top100 Most Valuable Global Brands compiled by Millward Brown and WPP. </p>

<p>Apple has <a href="http://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2016/">added a page</a> for the 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference to its events website, confirming plans to live stream the keynote event on June 13 at 10 a.m. (Pacific).</p>

<p>A new survey by the ad tech company <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fluentco.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fluent</a>— as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/06/07/success-of-next-generation-iphone-could-rest-with-siri-survey-says-" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a> — suggests updates to Siri and the unlocking of the personal digital assistant's software development kit could be a key factor in future iPhone adoption.</p>

<p>Apple Pay today has expanded to over 30 new banks and credit unions in the U.S. You can view the full list of banks and credit unions that support Apple’s mobile payment service on Apple’s <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204916">website.</a></p>

<p>The U.K. House of Commons has passed a controversial bill giving spy agencies the power to engage in bulk surveillance and computer hacking, but ceded some ground to protests from the technology industry (such as Apple) and civil liberty groups, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-07/apple-s-encryption-looks-safe-as-u-k-commons-passes-spy-bill" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports Bloomberg.</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>The U.S. International Trade Commission launched an investigation into Apple and AT&T, following up on a complaint by Immersion, a haptic feedback company, that various products are violating its haptic feedback patents, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/06/07/itc-investigates-apple-att-over-haptic-patent-complaints-by-immersion" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>.</p>

<p>Apple is hiring for "several" stores in Mexico, despite having yet to launch its first one in the country, r<a target="_blank" href="http://iphonedigital.es/tienda-apple-store-mexico-df-confirmada/" rel="noopener noreferrer">eports iPhone Digital </a>— as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/06/07/apple-begins-hiring-for-several-mexican-apple-stores" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>.</p>

<p>A new report from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gartner.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gartner, Inc.</a> says that global smartphone sales will continue to slow and will no longer grow in double digits. </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>Apple has sold a 30-year U.S. dollar bond in Taiwan at a yield of 4.15%, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-bonds-idUSKCN0YT08M" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports Reuters</a>, quoting unnamed sources. The company plans to raise between $1 billion and $1.2 billion in the first issue of debt on the island.</p>

<p>Apple has added the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.alexanderwang.com/us/music_section" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Music Fashion channel</a> to its streaming platform containing songs curated by designer Alexander Wang. </p>