Dennis Sellers

<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 <a target="_blank" href="http://iphoneaddict.fr/post/news-184272-apple-pay-disponible-france-voici-comment-lactiver-lutiliser" rel="noopener noreferrer">debuted Apple Pay in France</a>. This makes the country the eighth one to get Apple’s mobile payment service — after the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, China, Singapore, and Switzerland.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">In an ultimatum, Iranian officials asked iPhone manufacturer Apple Inc. to either officially register in Iran or have its products banned, according to <em>Tasnim News</em>, a local news agency — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/19/business/tehran-threatens-ban-iphones-unless-apple-officially-registers-iran/#.V44dJWWMBBw" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Japan Times</a>.</p>

<p>Siri has proven to be extremely useful for iPhone users. I’m not as certain Apple Watch users are taking full advantage of it. But they should. Apple’s personal assistant can send your messages, place calls, get directions, and more using Apple’s smartwatch.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.tlight.cc" rel="noopener noreferrer">TLight's</a> tLight S3 and S3x LED desk lights are good desk accessories for iPhone and iPad users. They offer true-color light output and charging dock for recharging iPhones and iPads with a Lightning connector. With the additional USB port the tLights can also recharge other tablets and most smartphones.</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 rolling out iTunes Match audio fingerprints to address an Apple Music bug that could cause pre-existing music libraries to be improperly matched with Apple Music songs, reports <a href="http://www.loopinsight.com/2016/07/18/apple-begins-rolling-out-itunes-match-with-audio-fingerprint-to-apple-music-subscribers/"><em>The Loop</em></a>. </p>

<p>Apple has released finished (that is, non-beta) versions of OS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.3, tvOS 9.2.2, and watchOS 2.2.2. All are basically maintenance releases with bug fixes and performance tweaks.</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">U.S. Army Special Operations Command is dumping its Android tactical smartphone for an iPhone model, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dodbuzz.com/2016/07/15/army-sof-to-trade-in-its-androids-for-iphones/" rel="noopener noreferrer">DoD Buzz</a>.</p>

<p>The Japanese firm, SoftBank, plans to scoop up British chip designer and major Apple partner ARM Holding, for $31.4 billion, reports the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36822806" rel="noopener noreferrer">BBC News.</a> ARM employs more than 3,000 people and designs microchips used in most smartphones (including the iPhone).</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Once Apple announced <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2016/6/24/if-apple-is-smart-it-has-a-thunderbolt-display-replacement-in-the-works?rq=Thunderbolt%20Display" rel="noopener noreferrer">it was no longer making its Thunderbolt Display</a>, NEC contacted <em>AppleWorld.Today</em> to let us know that — hint, hint — its <a target="_blank" href="http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/ea275uhd-bk" rel="noopener noreferrer">MultSync+EA275UHD</a> is a fine replacement. They sent us a test unit, so here are my impressions.</p>

<p>In these days of high-speed Internet connections and low-capacity SSD drives in laptops, cloud storage services are becoming more and more popular. Like me, you may have several different cloud accounts. This is where Eltima’s $29 <a target="_blank" href="http://mac.eltima.com/mount-cloud-drive.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">CloudMounter app</a> for Mac OS X (Yosemite or El Capitan) comes in handy.</p>

<p>Apple News steps out of the shadows and allowing publishers track their success without having to pay up for an Apple Developer account and agree to iAds, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.slightfuture.com/technote/applenews-user-agent" rel="noopener noreferrer">Slight Future</a>.</p>

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.gsk.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">GlaxoSmithKline</a> -- a science-led, global health care company -- has started a rheumatoid arthritis study using Apple’s ResearchKit, marking the first time a drugmaker has used the health system for the iPhone to conduct clinical research, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-15/apple-scores-glaxosmithkline-study-in-key-test-of-health-apps" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg.</a></p>

<p>Apple has submitted a preliminary proposal to the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board to simplify the way music-streaming companies pay songwriters and publishers -- in a way that could make it more expensive for rivals like Spotify and YouTube to keep offering free streaming, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/7439046/apple-proposes-simplified-statutory-licensing-scheme" rel="noopener noreferrer">Billboard</a>.</p>