Tangible Tech

We're back for another day of news with the Apple World Today News Update Podcast:

• Apple's offering a $50 credit to anyone who paid for an out-of-warranty battery placement for an iPhone 6 or newer device during 2017
• A longtime Windows developer brings Frooty Loops to Mac
• Seeing a lot of Apple Watches? It's not surprising -- Canalys says Apple sold an estimated 3.8 million Apple Watches in the first three months of 2018
• Ground hasn't been broken for Foxconn's Wisconsin display factory, but now rumor has it that the company might produce smaller displays for Apple and automakers at the plant instead of TV displays

For this sunny (at least at Apple World Today HQ) day in May, we have four short news items that you'll find interesting:

• Apple has announced the date and time of the annual Apple World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote. Expect to see new versions of every Apple operating system, as well as announcements of some other surprises...
• Dropbox updated its iOS app today, adding a file activity notifications feature and a refreshed file preview design
• Apple Pay may seem ubiquitous...but it falls behind the Starbucks app in terms of the number of users in the USA
• The iPhone continues to dominate the United States smartphone market, with six of the top 10 smartphone models being from Apple

Welcome to another week of the Apple World Today News Update Podcast! Today we have stories about a real proposed "Apple Tax", a fun new "feature" in Google Maps, Apple slipping a spot in the Fortune 500, and a cool portable second monitor for MacBook and MacBook Pro users:

• Cupertino is considering an employee head tax that would specifically target its biggest employer -- Apple
• Want to drive a green pickup truck around the city? Google Maps for iOS adds that icon and two more to replace the familiar blue arrow
• Apple's now number 4 on the Fortune 500 list, but it's still the most profitable company in the country
• AOC's I1601FWUX portable USB-C monitor can make it easy and affordable for MacBook/MacBook Pro users to take a second monitor with them on the road

After a week off on a nice relaxing vacation, Steve's back with a jumbo-sized Apple World Today News Update podcast. Today we talk about privacy, a building resembling a huge iPod on a dock, and the goals of the nascent Developers Union:

• Apple collects surprisingly little personal information on its customers, according to a ZDNet report who compared the small amount of mostly anonymous data collected on him by Apple to the huge files sent to him by Facebook, Google and Twitter
• A new 24-story apartment building in Dubai is opening later this year. The design, which began in 2006 when iPods were the hot Apple product, resembles an iPod leaning on its charging and syncing dock
• Developers who want more of a cut from Apple than the 70% of sales they already get are forming a "Developers Union". They also want Apple to allow free trial offers for any app.

Happy Friday! This will be the last AWT News Update podcast until next Friday, but we have some good news for you:

• Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster thinks that "Apple as a Service" is the next big reason for investors to keep backing the company
• A 76-year-old Hong Kong man is the latest to have his life saved by Apple Watch
• Microsoft wants to work with Apple to get iMessages on Windows

It's a rather slow news day in the world of Apple, but we have a real estate story, some info about a new app that does something pretty amazing, and a rumor about the next-generation iPhone SE:

Eddy Cue is putting his vacation home near Lake Tahoe up for sale. Anyone with $11.9 million can get a nice home, and it's only three years old

Lost the prescription for your eyeglasses? If you have a pretty simple prescription, you can use a new app that will determine that prescription and help you buy new glasses online

More rumors are coming out about the iPhone SE 2, with an iPhone case maker saying it will resemble a small iPhone X complete with a notch at the top

Just a short podcast for you today, with a heartwarming FaceTime story, news from Google's tech conference this week, and an upcoming security update in iOS 11.4 that will make it even more difficult for law enforcement officers to get personal data off of iOS devices:

• A soldier thought he was going to miss out on the birth of his daughter due to an early delivery and a flight delay. FaceTime saved the day
• Google announces ML Kit, a machine learning software development kit that allows developers for iOS and Android to build machine learning enabled apps
• iOS 11.4 will apparently have a new feature called USB Restricted Mode that will disable data transfer over USB if a device isn't unlocked after a week

Another manic Monday, with AAPL zipping to a new high close. We have info about that and a lot more for you in today's Apple World Today News Update Podcast:

• Apple is soliciting Apple Watch owners to join in on the Apple Heart Study being done in partnership with Stanford Medicine
• The iMac turned 20 yesterday. The all-in-one is credited with beginning the turnaround in Apple's fortunes
• iOS 13 rumors are beginning to seep out, and we haven't yet heard what's going to be in iOS 12
• During trading today, Apple hit $187.67 per share. Warren Buffett would love to own all of Apple's stock...

May the Fourth Be With You! Today we've got four short news items to make your day:

• Apple informs Windows users that the Texture app -- which it recently purchased -- will be retired on that platform on June 30
• Shares in Apple almost made it to $184 per share today, reaching an all-time high of $183.99 at one point (this was before the close of the market...) and a market cap of about $932 billion
• The Spanish-language People magazine's latest issue features 50 portraits and a cover photo, all done with the iPhone X
• Facebook is looking into a subscription-based ad-free feed

We missed yesterday's podcast due to a conflict, but we're back today with all sorts of great news for you:

• Yet another person can thank the Apple Watch for saving his life, after a New York man followed his Watch's advice to seek medical attention immediately after suffering from a ruptured ulcer
• Just a reminder: your Mom wants flowers for Mother's Day on May 13th, and you can get some nice deals by using Apple Pay to pay for them
• The big beneficiary of all of the negative news about Apple from Wall Street analysts during the past few months was Apple, which was able to buy up a record amount of its shares at a discount price
• Apple's iPads are bucking the trend of shrinking tablet market share