Dennis Sellers

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A new Apple Pay promotion is offering "dinner and a movie” with Apple’s mobile payment service.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-07/iphone-maker-foxconn-warns-staff-to-keep-away-from-shenzhen-base?srnd=technology-vp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a> reports that Apple manufacturer Foxconn has told employees at its Shenzhen facility not to return to work when the extended Lunar New Year break ends Feb. 10 due to the Coronavirus.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">France's Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud (DGCCRF) says <a href="https://www.economie.gouv.fr/files/files/directions_services/dgccrf/presse/communique/2020/CP-Ralentissement-fonctionnement-iPhone200207.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in a press release</a> (that’s, of course, in French) that it's fining Apple 25 million Euros (about $27 million) for “Batterygate.”</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a recent <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2020/01/the_ipad_awkwardly_turns_10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Daring Fireball column</a>, John Gruber said the iPad hasn't come close to living up its potential. He's right.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (202004196) for a “crown for an electronic watch” that suggests an upcoming Apple Watch with a Touch ID sensor. Perhaps a sensor built into the Digital Crown itself.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus-outbreak/Exclusive-Apple-orders-for-45m-AirPods-at-risk-from-coronavirus2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nikkei Asian Review</a> reports that Apple’s three primary AirPods manufacturers, Luxshare, Goertek, and Inventec, have all halted AirPods production, due to the Coronavirus outbreak.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">mophie, a ZAGG brand, has unveiled three new universal power solutions designed to charge an iPhone at the fastest speed possible. They’re available at <a href="http://apple.com/"><span style="text-decoration:underline">Apple.com</span></a> and select Apple retail stores stores. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://9to5mac.com/2020/02/06/new-apple-tv-4k-hardware-appears-closer-to-launching-based-on-tvos-13-4-beta-code/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">9to5Mac </a>has found references to a new Apple TV set-top box in the code of the tvOS 13.4 developer beta released yesterday.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Last August Apple announced an Independent Repair Program (IRP), offering customers additional options for the most common out-of-warranty iPhone repairs. The tech giant said it would provide more independent repair businesses — large or small —  with the same genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals and diagnostics as its Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs).</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/20/20813761/apple-tv-plus-budget-money-disney-netflix-hulu-warnermedia-hbo-amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reportedly spent $6 billion</a> to create the opening roster of shows on its Apple TV+ streaming service, which debuted in November. But will its content be enough to catch and holder viewers?</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200043237) for a “media composer for computer-generated reality" that would allow iPhones and iPads to “film” computer generated reality images, overlaying objects on the devices to real world scenes.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200045245) for a “creative camera" feature on an iPhone and iPad that would allows users to use Animoji and Memoji in new, fun ways.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">When the iPad went on sale 20 years ago, it quickly became Apple's fastest-selling product ever. With all the hoopla surrounding it, many folks believed it would eventually replace the Mac. That hasn't happened and won’t happen anytime soon. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.strategyanalytics.com%2Faccess-services%2Fdevices%2Fwearables%2Freports%2Freport-detail%2Fapple-watch-outsells-entire-swiss-watch-industry-in-2019&esheet=52169356&newsitemid=20200205005756&lan=en-US&anchor=Apple+Watch+outsold+the+entire+Swiss+watch+industry+by+a+huge+margin+in+2019&index=1&md5=6373d700cf23a2847e033ef1676b6606" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Watch outsold the entire Swiss watch industry by a huge margin in 2019</a>. Apple’s smartwatch shipped 31 million units worldwide in 2019, compared with 21 million for all Swiss watch brands combined. Swiss companies, like Swatch, are losing the smartwatch wars, according to the research group.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">O’Shea Jackson is now set to star in the Apple drama series “Swagger,” for the Apple TV+ streaming service, <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/oshea-jackson-jr-swagger-apple-1203492592/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Variety </a>reports.</p>