Steve Sande

<p>Can you believe we're already half way through January? We have some stories today to warm your heart during the cold weather:</p><ul><li>The Apple App Store has a huge economic impact and will be larger than worldwide movie ticket sales later this year</li><li>A change in India's complex sourcing and taxation requirements today might make it easier for Apple and other multinational firms to open stores in the country</li><li>Holdout Toyota announced that starting with the 2019 Avalon, it will start support Apple CarPlay</li></ul>

<p>10 years ago today I was at Macworld Expo, where I got up at about 4 AM in order to get a place in the line for a "Stevenote" -- a keynote presentation by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs. At the event, he used his usual flair for showmanship by pulling the incredibly thin MacBook Air out of an interoffice envelope. Here's a video of the reveal:</p>

<p>Since August 2015, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/duncansinfield" rel="noopener noreferrer">Duncan Sinfield</a> has been posting gorgeous drone video of Apple Park. From a pile of dirt to the completion of the gleaming circular headquarters building, Sinfield has done a wonderful job of documenting the construction of Apple Park. Over the weekend, Sinfield posted another upgrade of the nearly complete facility, and in this video it's apparent that most of the major construction equipment is now gone and that the work is just about done.</p>

<p>Today's deal is perfect for those of you who love reading content on the web. But do you often find a fun post, bookmark it to future reading, then find it won't load correctly on another device? <strong><a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/emailthis-lifetime-subscription?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=emailthis-lifetime-subscription_011518&utm_term=scsf-269450&utm_content=a0x1a000003axkn&scsonar=1" rel="noopener noreferrer">EmailThis is the answer, and we have a lifetime subscription to it for $29.99</a></strong> -- that's 84% off the regular price.</p>

<p>Friday at last! Today we have stories about how "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson kept the screenplay safe, why you won't need to sign for Apple Pay purchases after April, and an interesting CarPlay app.</p><ul><li>Rian Johnson ("The Last Jedi") used a remarkably low-tech method to keep the screenplay for the blockbuster movie safe from leaks</li><li>Visa joins the other major credit card companies in making signatures for chip card and contactless payments unnecessary after April</li><li>Gracenote's CarPlay app makes listening to radio stations easier, but it won't be in the App Store anytime soon</li></ul>

<p>The last time we had a sale on these 3-in-1 cables, they flew off the shelves. They're back in stock and we've got 'em for as little as $9.99 each. The <a href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/3-in-1-usb-c-lightning-microusb-cable-grey?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=3-in-1-usb-c-lightning-microusb-cable-grey_011218&utm_term=scsf-268709&utm_content=a0x1a000003awEb&scsonar=1">3-in-1 USB-C / Lightning / micro-USB cables</a> feature a standard USB connector on one end and a "three-headed" connector on the other end with a USB-C connector, Lightning connector and micro-USB connector. </p>

<p>Today's podcast topics deal with history - the history of emoji on iPhones, the FBI's poor opinion of Apple's excellent encryption, and an IPO for a company that Steve Jobs once unsuccessfully tried to buy:</p><ul><li>The designer of some of the first 500 emoji to be used on iPhones provides a ten-year retrospective on her work</li><li>An FBI forensic expert frustrated with Apple's encryption refers to the company as "jerks" and "evil geniuses"</li><li>Dropbox, the file-sharing powerhouse that Steve Jobs once referred to as a "feature, not a product", will be going public later this year</li></ul>

<p>It's Hump Day™! As we reach the middle of this week, there's not a lot of news that we haven't covered elsewhere, but we still have two kinda creepy stories for you.</p><ul><li>Remember the "FruitFly" malware that was infecting Macs last year? The hacker behind the attack has been indicted for not only his malware attacks and stealing data, but for child pornography as well</li><li>A second iPhone fire has occurred, this time in Spain. The uptick in incidents seems to be tied to the increase in iPhone battery replacements taking place due to Apple's discounted replacement plan</li></ul>

<p>Being an old-school kind of guy, I love it when modern technology meets history. That’s the reason the upcoming <a href="https://www.muzenaudio.net">Muzen OTR Wood</a> speaker is so attractive to me. I had the opportunity to test a prototype of this little speaker recently, and I think anyone with a love of history and workmanship will appreciate it. The Muzen OTR Wood will available through a crowdfunding campaign soon... but let's look at the device before I tell you how to get one.</p>

<p>Those who love chasing Charizards, Snorlaxes and the rest of the <a target="_blank" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pokémon-go/id1094591345?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pokémon Go</a> AR characters will need to upgrade to iOS 11 soon if they haven't already, as Niantic has said that the app will only be able to run on the latest version of iOS beginning February 28.</p>

<p>For years, the go-to Mac app for burning digital media to optical media has been Roxio Toast. Today we have a deal on <a target="_blank" href="https://deals.appleworld.today/sales/roxio-toast-16-titanium?utm_source=appleworld.today&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=roxio-toast-16-titanium_011018&utm_term=scsf-268708&utm_content=a0x1a000003awEa&scsonar=1" rel="noopener noreferrer">Roxio Toast 16 Titanium for $49.99</a> -- that's 50% off the usual price. You can capture your screen, edit videos, and burn DVDs seamlessly!</p>

<p>In the news today on the podcast -- Apple's ITP is choking online advertising firms, an overheated battery causes an evacuation at a Swiss Apple store, WPA3 is announced and may force Apple AirPort users to go elsewhere for Wi-Fi router equipment, and a tiny USB-C flash drive with a big capacity is displayed at CES:</p><ul><li>"Hundreds of millions of dollars" are being lost by online advertising firms due to Apple's ITP feature in Safari</li><li>A Zurich, Switzerland Apple retail store was evacuated after an iPhone battery overheated and started filling the back of the store with smoke</li><li>WPA3 is announced, and will require hardware certification on new Wi-Fi routers -- most likely meaning that Apple AirPort routers will be left out</li><li>SanDisk shows off a tiny 1TB USB-C flash drive</li></ul>

<p>If you've been wanting to get your hands on a 10.5-inch iPad Pro but didn't want to pay full price, your ship has just come in. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple is now selling fully refurbished 10.5-inch iPad Pros</a> starting as low as $549 for the Wi-Fi only/64GB model.</p>

<p>Everything is getting smarter, including your toothbrush. Colgate announced today the release of the new $99.95 Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1, which not only monitors brushing but is integrated with Apple ResearchKit so that the dental hygiene company can "anticipate the future of oral care."</p>

<p>Happy Monday! We have stories on today's podcast about a survey showing that smart speaker users don’t use their smartphones as much, a rumor about an iPhone SE 2, and Intel being slapped with three lawsuits so far over the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities.</p><ul><li>Accenture surveyed 2,271 smart speaker owners, and the majority of them say they’re not using their smartphones as much anymore</li><li>An Indian tech site says that an iPhone SE 2 will be released this year, complete with a glass back for wireless charging</li><li>Intel is facing class action lawsuits from three states so far alleging damages due to the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities</li></ul>