Dennis Sellers

<p class="">According to <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/apple-michelle-mendelovitz-svp-drama-20th-century-fox-tv-1203520847/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Variety</a>, Apple creative executive Michelle Mendelovitz is heading to 20th Century Fox Television to become the studio’s senior vice president of drama development. She most recently served as a creative exec developing scripted and documentary series for Apple TV Plus since 2018, overseeing “For All Mankind,” “Servant,” “Visible: Out on Television,” “Severance,” “Defending Jacob,” and “Invasion,” as well as Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s mental health documentary.</p>

<p class="">With the Coronavirus spreading to new countries, causing a halt in air travel, and impacting the stock market, it's clear that the situation is only escalating. Unfortunately, hackers often benefit and profit from public fear and anxiety, as they have been through Coronavirus-themed malware and phishing attacks.</p>

<p class="">Throughout March, Apple Stores worldwide will host a series of over 5,000 Today at Apple sessions titled “She Creates” to highlight inspiring female creators using photography, design, technology, business, music and film to address tough topics, explore new perspectives and empower their communities, says Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People.</p>

<p class="">Apple has agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle litigation accusing it of quietly slowing down older iPhones to induce owners to buy replacement phones or batteries, reports <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-apple-iphones-settlement/apple-to-pay-up-to-500-million-to-settle-u-s-lawsuit-over-slow-iphones-idUKKBN20P2D7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p class="">Housing Trust Silicon Valley – a nonprofit community loan fund that works to create a strong affordable housing market in the greater Bay Area – is launching the Apple Affordable Housing Fund, funded by an US$150 million grant to Housing Trust with the goal of building more affordable housing in the greater Bay Area.</p>

<p class="">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a> analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasts that iPhone production won’t improve much until the second quarter of the year due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus outbreak.</p>

<p class="">A <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute</a> (ASPI) says it has identified 27 factories in nine Chinese provinces that are using Uyghur labour transferred from Xinjiang since 2017. It adds that several Chinese factories are making components for Apple or their suppliers using Uyghur labour and that "political indoctrination is a key part of their job assignments.”</p>

<p class="">Streaming platforms have changed the way Americans consume content, with viewership across traditional Pay TV as well as theaters dipping with each passing year, according to <a href="https://www.piplsay.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Piplsay,</a> a “global platform for getting people’s opinions at scale.”</p>

<p class="">A newly granted Apple patent (number 10,572,072) for “depth-based touch detection” shows the company still has big plans for ARKit, the rumored “Apple Glasses," and augmented reality/virtual reality on its iOS, iPadOS, and perhaps macOS devices.</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jonpeddie.com%2F&esheet=52178039&newsitemid=20200224005272&lan=en-US&anchor=Jon+Peddie+Research&index=1&md5=cd45371279d7df6a08e3c612661f3f06" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jon Peddie Research</a> (JPR), a market research firm for the computer graphics industry has issued its latest report for TV and cloud gaming. JPR estimates the TV and cloud gaming hardware market will reach $25 billion by 2025, representing an 11.3% compound annual growth rate [CAGR] from 2019. This represents an unprecedented increase of almost $12 billion.</p>

<p class="">On a regular basis, <em>Apple World Today </em>posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are this week’s picks.</p>

<p class="">Lady Gaga has a new single, Stupid Love, which will be available today. The vicdeo for it was filmed with an iPhone 11 Pro. You can see the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L6xyaeiV58" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">video here</a>.</p>

<p class="">At the 2005 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, Steve Jobs announced that the first Macs with Intel processors would arrive a year after the event. Instead, Apple worked to get this done in half that time.</p>

<p class="">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200066025) for “rendering virtual objects with realistic surface properties that match the environment” that hints at features of the rumored “Apple Glasses.”</p>

<p class="">Apple is considering other health-related wearable devices beyond the Apple Watch. The tech giant has filed for a patent (number 20200060617) for “wearing independent operation of a wearable device.”</p>