Steve Sande

<p><span>After years of Caturdays, I've finally seen something I thought I'd never see -- a cat who is into gaming. This is Floyd, the sister of Pink and a three-year-old </span><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maine Coon Cat</a><span>. His human companion Niall Gillespie says of the picture above that "It would appear that my wife has trained him to kill me every time I play Team Fortress 2 on the Mac- he takes great delight in sitting on the keyboard as I frantically scrabble to see around him."</span></p>

<p>Here are some of the best free apps, app updates and new apps that have landed in the App Store recently. Today’s notable apps include a discount on Yoga Studio; the new Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon game; and an update to WatchList - The Grocery Shopping List on your Apple Watch.  All app prices are USD and subject to change. Some deals may expire quickly, so grab them while you can.</p>

<p>It’s time to save some of your hard-earned money with our <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/?tag=deals" rel="noopener noreferrer">Daily Deals</a>, featuring highlighted deals for AWT readers, hardware discounts and our own handpicked iOS and OS X sales. All prices are USD and subject to change. Please check prices before you purchase as some deals may expire quickly.</p>

<p>When Apple's global radio station, <a href="http://www.apple.com/music/radio/">Beats 1</a>, goes live, the company will ask customers to relinquish control over their music and let someone else determine what they listen to. As someone who has been a Beats Music customer since day one,  I'm eager to see it reborn as Apple Music. Knowing this and how I listen to music, why would I tune into Beats 1 while I'm living the life of Riley with on-demand streaming?</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">As spotted by <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2015/06/19/apple-quietly-pulls-ipad-mini-from-web-site-and-apple-store/">9to5Mac</a>, Apple today quietly removed the original iPad mini from its website and its online storefront. Released in 2012, the first-generation iPad mini was innovative when it debuted, sporting the same internal specifications as the iPad 2, its bigger 9.7-inch counterpart. The loss of the non-retina iPad mini is a transition point for Apple as all of its iOS devices and most of its Mac lineup now sport a high-resolution Retina display. </p><p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Our take on the news...</p>

<p>It's Father's Day weekend, and time is running short to get a gift. If you need some last-minute ideas, then look no further as we have compiled a handy list of physical and digital presents that you can purchase right away. </p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">Congratulations to Apple for receiving the <a href="http://www.afb.org/info/about-us/events-and-awards/helen-keller-achievement-awards/123">Helen Keller Achievement Award</a> for <a href="http://www.apple.com/accessibility/osx/voiceover/">VoiceOver</a>. The accessibility feature reads what's happening on a device's display out loud, enabling vision-imparired to use Apple's devices more easily and successfully. </p><p>The American Federation for the Blind's vice president, Paul Schroeder, <a href="https://twitter.com/AFB1921/status/611697233776496641">noted the achievement in a tweet published earlier this week</a>:</p><p>"VoiceOver came out...and the world changed." --VP Paul Schroeder on #Apple and #accessibility #HKAA</p><p><strong>Our take on the news</strong>...</p>

<p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">The <a href="http://starlocalmedia.com/coppellgazette/coppell-isd-apple-ibm-talk-possible-partnership/article_529e5c90-15ee-11e5-be6c-3f33468fb30f.html">Coppell Gazette reports</a> that Apple and IBM have been working on a "Student Achievement App" aimed at educators. Representatives from both companies attended a meeting of the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees to discuss the solution, which will provide teachers with "actionable intelligence on a per-student basis." The app will reportedly run on Apple hardware exclusively. </p><p>A pilot program is scheduled to roll out in 2016 and include US school districts, including Coppell, Texas. </p><p><strong>Our take on the news</strong>...</p>

<p>Here are some of the best free apps, app updates and new apps that have landed in the App Store recently. Today’s notable apps include a discount on  Drylands; the new Star Wars - Heroes Path game; and an update to Swype! All app prices are USD and subject to change. Some deals may expire quickly, so grab them while you can.</p>

<p>It’s time to save some of your hard-earned money with our <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/?tag=deals">Daily Deals</a>, featuring highlighted deals for AWT readers, hardware discounts and our own handpicked iOS and OS X sales. All prices are USD and subject to change. Please check prices before you purchase as some deals may expire quickly.</p>

<p>Here's a clever would-be product on Kickstarter that deserves a little attention. It's called <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/meezycube/meezycube-protective-cover-for-macbook-magsafe-ada">the Meezy Cube</a> and it's meant to protect your MagSafe adapter's power cube and prevent cord fray. It's the latter that I'm excited about. Not that <a href="https://sugru.com/guides/how-to-repair-a-laptop-charger">fixing a cable with Sugru isn't effective and fun</a>, it's that preventing damage in the first place is even better. </p>

<p>As Apple World Today accessibility editor Alex Jurgensen can tell you, one of the features that makes Apple devices so usable by those with impaired or no vision is VoiceOver. Apple is currently highlighting apps that support VoiceOver with a special section on the App Store.</p>

<p>Slice Intelligence analyzes emailed receipts to estimate how many of a specific item have been sold. While the market research firm's technique is proprietary, it <a target="_blank" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/18/us-apple-watch-idUSKBN0OY0FC20150618" rel="noopener noreferrer">provided information to Reuters estimating that 2.79 million Apple Watches have been sold so far</a>. While that may add a nice bit of change to Apple's bottom line, sales of accessory bands may be far more profitable. So far, Slice estimates that 17 percent of Apple Watch owners have purchased at least one more band for their device.</p>

<p>Duty managers at Québec City John Lesage International Airport are now receiving operational alerts on their wrists. Skift blogger Marisa Garcia reports that <a target="_blank" href="http://skift.com/2015/06/17/quebec-airport-becomes-worlds-first-to-use-apple-watch-to-help-planes-take-off/" rel="noopener noreferrer">the airport is the world's first to use a wearable</a> -- in this case, the Apple Watch -- to keep things running smoothly.</p>

<p>OK, rumor has it that Comcast is in talks with T-Mobile USA parent company Deutsche Telekom to purchase the American wireless carrier. All I can say as a consumer is, PLEASE... NOOOO!</p>