Dennis Sellers

<p class="">WaterField Designs has announced the US$179 <a href="https://www.sfbags.com/products/tech-folio-16-inch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tech Folio 16-inch</a>, both a high-capacity tech-accessory organizer and a compact laptop bag for Apple’s MacBook Pro 16-inch, Surface Laptop 3, or similarly sized device. You can pre-order it now; it will ship Aug. 15.</p>

<p class="">OWC says it’s offering the highest capacity memory upgrades available for the new 2020 27-inch iMac 5K — up to a 128GB memory kit users can save up to 78% compared to Apple’s grade upgrade pricing.</p>

<p class="">In a research note shared by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-12-release-lower-price-no-5g-2021-analyst-2020-8?r=US&IR=T?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=topbar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Business Insider</a>, Wedbush Securities analysts said that Apple may release a cheaper iPhone 12 in early 2021 with no 5G connectivity.</p>

<p class="">Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,739,292) for “systems for detecting cracks in windows” of automobiles. Not big cracks that, of course, would be obvious, but small cracks that might be imperceptible to most of us.</p>

<p class="">Future Apple Pencils could measure the coordinates of a 3D object and create 3D illustrations, as hinted at by a newly granted patent (number 10,739,870) for a “stylus for coordinate measuring.”</p>

<p class="">If you’re looking for indoor or outdoor cameras for a home security system, you should check out the <a href="https://www.eufylife.com/products/variant/eufycam-2c-2cam-kit/T88311D1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eufyCam 2</a>, which integrates with Apple HomeKit. It also offers better battery life and enhanced video resolution than its predecessor.</p>

<p class="">Apple has posted the first public beta of watchOS 7. The public betas are available on <a href="https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple's Beta Software Program website</a>. Just remember that beta software, so proceed with care.</p>

<p class="">The Russian Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) says Apple has limited competition in the market for iOS-based mobile apps and abused its dominant position with respect to the developers of parental control apps, reports the <a href="https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/69512/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Interfax</a> international information group.</p>

<p class="">It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy: Apple CEO Tim Cook is now a billionaire, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-10/apple-s-cook-becomes-billionaire-via-the-less-traveled-ceo-route" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>'s Billionaires Index.</p>

<p class="">Apple ranks 12th in the annual <a href="https://fortune.com/global500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fortune Global 500</a> list of the world's largest companies for profit, down one spot from last year.</p>

<p class="">Apple has imported clothes – likely shirts for retail store employees – from a company facing U.S. sanctions over forced labor at a subsidiary firm in China’s western Xinjiang region, reports <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/aug/10/apple-imported-clothes-from-xinjiang-firm-facing-us-forced-labour-sanctions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Guardian</a>.</p>

<p class="">New York’s Mass Transit Agency (MTA) wants Apple to come up with a better way for iPhone users to unlock their iPhones without taking off their masks, which are required to be worn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

<p class="">Foxconn's Zhengzhou main production area is looking to beef up its work force for production of the upcoming “iPhone 12,” <a href="https://view.inews.qq.com/w2/20200810A0O1MP00?tbkt=D&uid=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tencent Tech</a> reports, citing unnamed “industry chain sources.”</p>

<p class="">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumor</a>s — Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that, in a worst-case scenario, Apple's annual global iPhone shipments could decline by 25–30% if it is forced to remove WeChat from its App Stores around the world. WeChat a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app developed by Tencent.</p>

<p class="">The HomePod offers news briefs from a variety of news sources to help keep you y up to date.</p>