Dennis Sellers

<p>Responding to the brouhaha that the position of product manager of Automation Technologies <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2016/11/17/the-product-manager-of-automation-technologies-at-apple-is-terminated">has been eliminated</a>, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, told <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/18/automation-tech-apple-response/" rel="noopener noreferrer">9to5Mac</a> that “we have every intent to continue our support for great automation technologies in macOS.”</p>

<p>Home-building company <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kbhome.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">KB Home</a> has unveiled the nation’s first HomeKit-enabled community at its <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kbhome.com%2Fnew-homes-bay-area%2Fpromenade-at-communications-hill&esheet=51463311&newsitemid=20161118005139&lan=en-US&anchor=Promenade+at+Communications+Hill&index=1&md5=8fbc79650f5d325738246331af9b9c54">Promenade at Communications Hill</a> in San Jose, California. It’s the first homebuilder to make a HomeKit smart-home package available to homebuyers. HomeKit is a framework that allows control of compatible home automation devices through iOS and Siri.</p>

<p>Wei Gu, a long-time China reporter most recently with the Wall Street Journal, has joined Apple to take up a PR Director role based out of its office in Shanghai, China, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/18/apple-adds-former-wall-street-journal-editor-to-its-china-pr-team/" rel="noopener noreferrer">TechCrunch</a>.</p>

<p>After returning to Apple in 1997, Steve Jobs attempted to re-negotiate the clone manufacturers' license agreements. When the clone makers refused, Jobs refused to license later versions of the Apple hardware and operating systems to the clone vendors, effectively ending the clone program. Perhaps it’s time to bring it back.</p>

<p>The gang at iFixIt, which tears apart devices to examine their innards, has torn down the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (look for my review soon). <a href="http://createsend.ifixit.com/t/r-l-yhkrlhuy-xlkjygu-t/">Teardown</a> highlight include:</p>

<p>Apple has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6plus-multitouch/" rel="noopener noreferrer">launched a program</a> to repair iPhone 6 Plus devices exhibiting t display flickering or Multi-Touch issues after being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then incurring further stress on the device.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://ctt.marketwire.com/?release=1286521&id=10311205&type=1&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.promise.com%2f%3futm_source%3dpress%26utm_medium%3dMarketwired%26utm_campaign%3dnab2016" rel="noopener noreferrer">Promise Technology Inc.</a> has launched <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apollo-cloud/id1093918446?mt=12" rel="noopener noreferrer">a free software upgrade</a> for its <a target="_blank" href="http://ctt.marketwire.com/?release=1286521&id=10311208&type=1&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.promise.com%2fApollo" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apollo Cloud</a> personal cloud device and app designed to make it easier to manage all of your digital content. New features include cheduled daily backup, direct USB upload/download and more.</p>

<p>Wacom has announced the <a href="http://globalmessaging2.prnewswire.com/clickthrough/servlet/clickthrough?msg_id=8361880&adr_order=227&url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy53YWNvbS5jb20vZW4tdXMvcHJvZHVjdHMvcGVuLWRpc3BsYXlzL3dhY29tLWNp%0AbnRpcS1wcm8%3D">Wacom Cintiq Pro</a> line of creative pen displays, the Cintiq Pro 13 and Cintiq Pro 16. The line “wraps the most natural and precise pen performance to date into a sleek, thin and portable form factor to help designers, illustrators, photographers or anyone with a passion for art to unlock their creativity,” says Masahiko Yamada, president and CEO of Wacom. </p>

<p>Despite three in four Americans believing that they maintain a healthy tech-life balance, a majority of Americans can't go more than two hours without checking their electronic devices, such as Macs, iPhones, and iPads, according to a Crucial.com Tech-Life Balance Survey. </p>

<p>Apple won the top prize in <em>Trusted Reviews</em> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/apple-ipad-pro-9-7-inch-tablet-of-the-year-trusted-reviews-awards-2016#jWOaq5CvxiUF8jpD.99" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tablet of the Year category</a> for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, beating the likes of Google's Pixel C and Microsoft's Surface Book.</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 has updated <a href="http://www.apple.com/swift/playgrounds/">Swift Playgrounds</a>, a free iPad app to teach kids of any age basic coding skills in Swift, to version 1.1. The upgrade — available at the Apple App Store — adds new Learn to Code lessons, support for sound and music.</p>

<p>Make of this what you will as far as the future of AppleScript and Automator is concerned: Sal Soghoian’s position as product manager of Automation Technologies at Apple has been terminated, after nearly 20 years at the company.</p>

<p>Apple has a hidden feature in iPhones in which call logs going back as far as four months are stored in near real-time in the iCloud, claims Elcomsoft, a Russian provider of iPhone hacking tools. Elcomsoft, claims the feature is automatic and there’s no way to turn it off bar shutting down iCloud Drive altogether, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2016/11/17/iphone-call-logs-in-icloud-warns-elcomsoft-hackers/#2ef03dde2936" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes</a>.</p>

<p>Apple supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the U.S.,  according to Japanese website <a href="http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/Apple-could-make-iPhones-in-US-in-future-sources"><em>Nikkei Asian Review</em></a>.</p>