Steve Sande

<p>Cloud storage is a great way to keep your important documents backed up and accessible from any device, but it can be expensive. Apple's 2TB iCloud Drive plan will grab nearly $120 a year from your wallet, while Dropbox Plus gives you only 1TB at the same cost. Zoolz Cloud Storage is less pricey and gives you the storage you need -- Instant Vault for those documents you need to have instant access to, and Cold Storage for files that are just being archived. Today's Apple World Today Deals Shop deal: get <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/zoolz-cloud-storage-lifetime-subscription-2tb?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zoolz-cloud-storage-lifetime-subscription-2tb_042518&utm_term=scsf-284731&utm_content=a0x1a000003NJST&scsonar=1" rel="noopener noreferrer">a lifetime of 1TB Instant Vault and 1TB Cold Storage from Zoolz for $49.99</a></strong>.</p>

<p>We have some entertaining short news stories for you on today's podcast:</p><ul data-rte-list="default"><li><p>Verizon gains subscribers in the March quarter, most likely from the Apple Watch Series 3</p></li><li><p>Instagram has a new web tool for downloading all of your content; unfortunately, it was down at the time we broadcasted this!</p></li><li><p>Original Mac icon designer Susan Kare is in the news, winning a prestigious medal from the American Institute of Graphics Art and being called upon by Apple to testify on the company's behalf in the Samsung damages retrial</p></li><li><p>Amazon can already get into your house if you let them...now they are expanding that capability to cars</p></li></ul>

<p>Happy Monday! Cheer up, buttercup, there's lots of good news from the world of Apple today:</p><ul data-rte-list="default"><li><p>Have the Kindle reader app for iPhone or iPad? Good, because it is World Book Day and Amazon wants to give you some free books to celebrate</p></li></ul><ul data-rte-list="default"><li><p>Two new Apple ads use light-hearted imagery to convince Android users that it might be a really good idea to switch to iPhone</p></li><li><p>HomeKit fans in the US can now purchase the first HomeKit-compatible window air conditioner available in the country; just don't expect to get a bargain price on it</p></li><li><p>Does it seem like everyone loves the iPhone X? A survey by Creative Strategies shows that it's extremely popular with the early adopters and has a very high satisfaction rate</p></li><li><p>Snapseed has been update for the iPhone X</p></li></ul>

<p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shazam/id284993459" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shazam</a> is an amazing app and service -- you let it "listen" to songs that are playing, and it can tell you what the song is, who the artist is, and even let you purchase that song. The way that Shazam is used by millions of users to point them towards streaming services like Spotify or purchase points like iTunes is exactly why Apple is proposing to acquire the service. Now the European Commission is investigating the proposed acquisition to see if it poses an antitrust threat.</p>

<p>With all the recent gloom and doom from Wall Street analysts, you'd think that Apple and its suppliers are all about to go out of business. Nothing could be further from the truth -- Digitimes reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is expected to have a very profitable year as it will be manufacturing the Apple A12 system-on-a-chip (SoC) for the 2018 iPhones.</p>

<p>Back in December of 2017, we reviewed the Lofree Four Seasons Mechanical Wireless Keyboard and found out that a lot of readers were fascinated with it! This is a fantastic keyboard, and the new Four Seasons design brings four new color combinations to a proven design. We have a heck of a deal for you on this excellent keyboard that ships early next month: get the Lofree Four Seasons Mechanical Wireless Keyboard at 28 percent off the regular price!</p>

<p>It's finally Friday, and Apple's probably glad that the stock exchanges are closed for two days after negative analyst reports pushed the company's shares -- and the Dow Jones Industrial Average -- lower. Other news for this Friday:</p><ul><li>Developers who have apps featured in the iOS 11 App Store see huge increases in downloads, according to data from research firm Sensor Tower</li><li>Several questionable "supply chain reports" from Wall Street analysts have driven Apple's share price down almost $13 a share in three days</li><li>AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson announced a new skinny streaming service called AT&T Watch while testifying in the antitrust case against his company over the proposed acquisition of Time Warner</li></ul>

<p>Sure, Macs have some pretty decent speakers but if you compare them to speakers that are designed for listening to music or video soundtracks they can sound flat and unimpressive. That's why Boom 3D for Mac was created -- it's a system-wide volume booster and equalizer for macOS that is designed to give you complete control over your Mac's audio. This awesome utility would usually set you back $16.99, but we have <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/boom-3d-2?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=boom-3d-2_042018&utm_term=scsf-283833&utm_content=a0x1a000003NHQN&scsonar=1" rel="noopener noreferrer">Boom 3D for Mac on sale for just $7.99</a></strong>.</p>

<p>Wow, lots of interesting news in the world of Apple today (except for AAPL's share price tanking, but...) -- Apple's environmental report for 2017 shows significant progress, FoundationDB goes open source, there's good news for snorers, and don't tear apart an iMac Pro and expect Apple to repair it...</p><ul><li>Apple is making good progress on all environmental fronts, including a goal to plan to eventually eliminate the need for mining for materials for its products</li><li>Apple's FoundationDB is now open source, so perhaps developers can add the Dropbox-like sharing functionality to it that we need</li><li>Keep waking up your partner with your snoring? Sleep Cycle will now wake you up with a tap on the wrist from an Apple Watch, so you can change position and hopefully stop snoring</li><li>A YouTube vlogger is griping that Apple won't repair the iMac Pro that he tore apart for an online review</li></ul>

<p>The Keyboard System Preferences pane in macOS lets you create keyboard shortcuts for menu items that don’t have them by default.</p>

<p>It's hump day, and the week is all downhill from here... Today we have a few stories dealing with competition in the smartphone and smart speaker markets:</p><ul><li>A head-to-head comparison of the iPhone X and Google's Pixel 2 results in a solid win for the iPhone X...but not for Siri</li><li>A Wall Street analyst thinks Apple is working on a cheaper version of the HomePod due to lagging sales</li><li>That same analyst foresees dual-SIM versions of the iPhone coming later this year, both on a less expensive LCD phone and a larger iPhone X</li><li>The continuing lawsuit battle between Qualcomm and Apple is starting to hurt Qualcomm badly, with rumors of layoffs at the San Diego-based chipmaker</li></ul>

<p>April 17, 2018 was not only the night that we recorded AWT TV episode 38, but it was also Black Cat Appreciation Day. Apparently Steve's cat Merry thought that meant that she could participate in the AWT TV episode, since she shows up toward the end of the show.</p>

<p>OK, this is cool. <a target="_blank" href="http://august.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">August Smart Lock</a> now has an all-new native Watch app that lets house owners using any generation of the lock and any Apple Watch unlock and lock the door without needing to carry an iPhone.</p>

<p>Selfie sticks are great for helping you get that perfect shot of you and your friends, but sometimes you need more than just a stick. That's where the uniquely-designed GekkoStick comes in. It's flexible, can wrap around an arm or tree limb to act as a tripod, and it even has an included Bluetooth remote so you can trigger your phone to take photos from up to 30 feet away. <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/gekkostick-black?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=gekkostick-black_041818&utm_term=scsf-283832&utm_content=a0x1a000003NHQI&scsonar=1" rel="noopener noreferrer">The GekkoStick is on sale today for $16.95 in the Apple World Today Deals Shop.</a> </strong></p>

<p>Happy Tax Day in the USA! We hope you got your taxes early this year and didn't wait until today to file, because the IRS electronic filing system had issues earlier today... Our stories today include that, and:</p><ul><li>If you filed your federal taxes earlier in the year, you can celebrate tonight by watching AWT TV, live at 6:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM ET on the <a target="_blank" href="https://facebook.com/AWToday" rel="noopener noreferrer">AWT Facebook page</a>. </li><li>Otterbox has release three new cases in honor of the upcoming Star Wars film "Solo: A Star Wars Story". Hint: The Millennium Falcon case is really nice...</li><li>More evidence that the iPhone X has been a success - the model alone accounted for 35% of the profits for the entire cellular handset industry in the two months it was was available in 2017</li></ul>