Dennis Sellers

<p>If you're a movie buff, you've probably heard of the Steadicam, one of those big harnesses videographers use to stabilize their shots while filming. For $149.95, you can have a mini-version of the device for your iPhone. Overkill? Maybe.</p>

<p>The overall PC (personal computer) market has been declining for seven consecutive quarters, but the Mac has avoided the trend. No more. Both the IDC and Gartner research groups have issued new reports that show Apple’s computers have lost market share in the second quarter of 2016. (Of course, it might help if there were some substantial upgrades to the Mac line-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>For over a year after its introduction, Apple Pay was the only real option for consumers who wanted to pay with their smartphone. That changed towards the end of 2015, when Android Pay and Samsung Pay were rolled out.</p>

<p>U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew will meet with European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager as she prepares to deliver a final verdict on a probe into Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-11/u-s-treasury-chief-lew-set-for-apple-tax-showdown-with-vestager" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports Bloomberg</a>, quoting two unnamed people “people familiar with the case, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.”</p>

<p>Canalys forecasts that 7.5 million smart watches with cellular connectivity — including a second generation Apple Watch — will ship in 2016, rising to 53.6 million in 2020. </p>

<p>Camtasia is a program for recording and annotating audio and video captured from your Mac commonly known as screencasting.  I’ve used other programs in the past to do raw captures from my Mac and then did the painful editing in iMovie and GarageBand but Camtasia does everything  with an intuitive and easy-to-use Mac interface.</p>

<p>In its biannual Computer Repair Report, RESCUECOM — a computer repair company in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada — says that difficulty with Windows has not eased as much as expected, though it has slightly. As for Macs, the report says they’re “extremely reliable” and make up just 0.7% of the repair calls to RESCUECOM.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/network-1-announces-settlement-of-patent-litigation-with-apple-inc-300296095.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Network-1 Technologies says</a> Mirror World Technologies, its wholly-owned subsidiary, has agreed to settle its patent litigation against Apple pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,006,22 (the '227 Patent).</p>

<p>Will the next iMac — which I expect to arrive in September or October — have an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) connector? The Mac mini, Mac Pro, and MacBook Pros do, so why not the company's best-selling all-in-one?</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://store.mcetech.com/mm/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=MTOS&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=COMPLEMENT" rel="noopener noreferrer">MCE Technologies</a>' MCE Complement is a handy, all-in-one, portable USB 3.0 device comprised of a 2TB Hard Drive, a Blu-ray, DVD, CD Reader/Recorder, a USB 3.0 Hub, and SD Card Reader. </p>

<p>The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has handed out its annual Heroes and Villains awards, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2464320/privacy-and-apple-are-the-big-winners-at-ispa-heroes-and-villains-awards" rel="noopener noreferrer">honoring Apple</a> as a “Hero” for its refusal to acquiesce to the FBI’s demand for iPhone unlocking. </p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="https://actions.sumofus.org/a/planned-obsolescence-is-why-apple-isn-t-a-green-company/?sub=homepage" rel="noopener noreferrer">A petition</a> by the watchdog organization, SumOfUs, that demands Apple stop “sabotaging” older devices with iOS upgrades that slow them down has attracted 150,000 signatures. </p>

<p>It's likely that the Mac OS X Finder will go "3D" at some point in the near future. Perhaps in 2017 or 2018. Apple has considered the possibility. The company has been granted a patent (number 20080307360) for a multi-dimensional desktop.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.paloaltoaudio.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Palo Alto Audio Design's CUBIK digital audio speaker</a> is a computer speaker system that designed with the audiophile in mind. Though $199.95 seems a bit pricey for a speaker system with no subwoofer, the sound is as good for a subwoofer-less speaker system as I've heard. </p>