Dennis Sellers

<p class="">Here’a blast from the past (posted Feb. 4, 2013) from a website I owned in the past, <em>Apple Daily Report</em>: With Intel purportedly planning to take on the cable/satellite industry, Apple may be feeling pressure to unveil its long-rumored Apple TV (assuming, of course, that the company actually plans an HDTV (the “iTV”?)— though I think it does).</p>

<p class="">Apple is looking into enhanced stopwatch and timer user interfaces for its various devices including the Apple Watch and iPhone as evidenced by a new patent filing (number 20200117329).</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="">Logistics Victory Los Angeles is receiving a donation of 160,000 face shields from Apple. Donated through Apple’s Giving program, the face shields will assist in L.A.’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

<p class="">The Ontario government <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2020/04/ontario-establishes-key-partnerships-to-make-home-learning-more-accessible.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has announced </a>that it's partnered with Apple and Rogers Communications to help meet the educational needs of students and families during the COVID-19 outbreak.</p>

<p class="">Apple Music head Oliver Schusser will be taking the top post at Beats, replacing Luke Wood, who's leaving the company on April 30, according to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/an-apple-veteran-will-take-over-the-beats-headphones-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNET</a>.</p>

<p class="">Apple CEO Tim Cook has been named to a task force in California that will focus on getting the economy up and running again, reports <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/17/gov-newsom-names-tom-steyer-tim-cook-to-business-recovery-task-force.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNBC</a>.</p>

<p class="">Two new games — Beyond Blue and A Fold Apart -- have been added to Apple Arcade, Apple’s game streaming service that costs US$4.99 per month or $4.99 per year. They're available on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Alas, neither seem to be available for the Mac.</p>

<p class="">Blackmagic tells <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors </a>that it is no longer manufacturing its Blackmagic eGPU Pro due to AMD discontinuing its Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics chip. The eGPU Pro — an US$1,199, non-upgradeable external graphics processor featuring the aforementioned graphics processor — debuted in October 2018.</p>

<p class="">Goldman Sachs expects iPhone shipment to drop 36% during the third quarter due to coronavirus-related lockdowns around the world and downgraded Apple Inc stock to “sell," according to <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-apple-iphone/goldman-predicts-36-drop-in-iphone-shipment-says-time-to-sell-apple-shares-idUKKBN21Z1QW" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p class="">The second generation iPhone SE is <a href="http://www.apple.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">available for pre-order.</a> It comes in three colors — black, white and (PRODUCT)RED — with prices starting at US$399.</p>

<p class="">The American Civil Liberties Union has <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/apple-and-google-announced-a-coronavirus-tracking-system-how-worried-should-we-be/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">raised concerns </a>about Apple and Google's joint contact tracing effort to to help alert people who have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.</p>

<p class="">"Home," a documentary series about folks who live in innovative houses, has debuted on Apple TV+, Apple’s streaming service.</p>

<p class="">Macstock organizer Mike Potter has announced that this year’s event has joined the list of cancellations due to COVID-19. On the <a href="https://youtu.be/ZljfeiNHx-I" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">latest episode of MacVoices</a>, he joins host Chuck Joiner to walk us through the behind-the-scenes factors that went into that decision.</p>

<p class="">I’m anxiously awaiting the release of the <a href="https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magic Keyboard</a> now that iPadOS now offers dedicated trackpad/mouse support. However, if the thought of paying US$299 for a keyboard/case combo for an Apple tablet gives you shudders, you may want to check out the $149.99 <a href="https://www.zagg.com/en_us/rugged-book-go-ipad-12-inch-pro" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rugged Book Go</a> for the third and fourth generation iPad Pros. Of course, you won’t get a built-in trackpad, so keep that in mind.</p>