Dennis Sellers

<p>The new MacBook Pro may be controversial (and that’s an understatement), but <a target="_blank" href="http://intelligence.slice.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Slice Intelligence </a>reports that in the first five days of availability online, the latest model generated over seven times the revenue that the 12-inch MacBook did during its April 2015 launch. </p>

<p>Up to four million Australians will soon be able to use Apple Pay following a deal Cuscal has made with Apple, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://news.com.au" rel="noopener noreferrer">news.com.au</a>. Cuscal is an independent provider of payment solutions including card and acquiring products, mobile payments, fraud prevention, EFT switching and direct entry.</p>

<p>Here's some good news for Apple's iBookstore: the ebook market will more than double by 2020, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.strategyanalytics.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics</a>. Increasing e-reading device penetration, more readily available content, new business models, and adoption in China will see the market's revenue top $16 billion in the next eight years, the research group adds.</p>

<p>If you need to completely erase data from a hard drive, you need to check out the <a href="http://www.wiebetech.com/products/Drive_eRazer_Ultra.php">Drive eRazer Ultra</a> from <a href="http://www.cru-dataport.com/products/RAX-Wizard.php">CRU-DataPort</a>. Let me rephrase that: it’s a great device if you regularly have to erase data. It’s overkill for those who only do this occasionally — say, such as when they’re selling a Mac.</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 is now selling refurbished iPhones from its U.S. online store, which is a first for the company. The refurbished phones are available at the company’s <a target="_blank" href="//www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals" rel="noopener noreferrer">Certified Refurbished site</a> along with Macs, iPads, and iPods. </p>

<p>Apple <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/apple-pay/holiday/" rel="noopener noreferrer">has launched a website</a> with “exclusive holiday offers with Apple Pay on the web.” However, the offers regarding the mobile payment service are good in the U.S. only.</p>

<p>This week the Irish government will <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-apple-taxavoidance-ireland-idUSKBN13320P">formally submit an appeal</a> against the <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/30/apple-repay-14-5-billion-back-taxes-ec-rules/">European Commission's ruling</a> that it must collect 13 billion euros in unpaid back taxes from Apple.</p>

<p>Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,488,488) for “augmented reality maps.” If the technology ever sees the light of day (and I’d bet that it will) look for augmented reality (AR) features in the Maps app on the iPhone.</p>

<p>Despite all the controversy surrounding them, Apple has been placing orders for lots of new MacBook Pros and strong shipments of the laptops are expected to last into 2017, reports <a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20161107PD201.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">DigiTimes</a>, quoting unnamed “sources from the upstream supply chain.”</p>

<p>Feral Interactive's LEGO Movie Videogame — an adaptation of the hit film, <em>The LEGO Movie</em> — is fun if too familiar and too faithful to the movie.</p>

<p>If you launch the Maps app on the Apple Watch, you can search for a location. To do so, follow these steps:</p>

<p>Apple has hired at “least 16” employees and purchased select technology from Omnifone, an early player in streaming music services that filed for bankruptcy this summer, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/07/apple-picked-up-talent-tech-from-defunct-music-startup-omnifone-in-august/?ncid=rss" rel="noopener noreferrer">TechCrunch</a>. Omnifone is the company behind MusicStation, a cloud-based global media platform that provides back-end solutions for digital music services.</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 will turn over ad sales for its Apple News app to Comcast’s NBCUniversal in an exclusive deal that starts in January, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.recode.net/2016/11/7/13547014/apple-news-nbcuniversal-sales" rel="noopener noreferrer">recode</a>. The new deal means that NBCUniversal, instead of Apple, will sell any remaining ad inventory.</p>