Dennis Sellers

<p class="">Global shipments of wearable devices grew 29.7% year-over-year during the first quarter of 2020 (1Q20) as total device volume reached 72.6 million units according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.idc.com%2Ftracker%2Fshowproductinfo.jsp%3Fprod_id%3D962&esheet=52227554&newsitemid=20200528005801&lan=en-US&anchor=Worldwide+Quarterly+Wearable+Device+Tracker&index=2&md5=67499333cf3bdcadb78d90a176790cb3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker</a>. And, thanks to the Apple Watch, Air Pods, and Beats products, Apple once again dominates the wearables market.</p>

<p class="">Apple has given a straight-to-series order for an upcoming TV show about film legend (and inventor!) Hedy Lamarr, which is set to star Gal Gadot, reports <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/gal-gadot-hedy-lamarr-series-apple-1234619029/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Variety</a>.</p>

<p class="">The <a href="https://www.thefilmdetective.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Film Detective (TFD)</a>, a classic media streaming network and film archive that restores and distributes classic films for cord-cutters, is bringing the nostalgia of classic drive-in movies to the comfort of home this summer. Starting in June, TFD is rediscovering its Drive-In Classics category, with newly added titles never before shown on The Film Detective.</p>

<p class="">Apple has filed for yet another patent involving the rumored “Apple Glasses.” This one (number 20200166738) is for an “optical system for a head-mounted display.”</p>

<p class="">Let the Apple Car rumors roll on. Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200169855) for “systems and methods for locating mobile devices within a vehicle.” The idea seems to be a vehicle-specific version of “Find My” for folks like my wife and daughter who are constantly misplacing their iPhone (or iPad or Apple Watch.)</p>

<p class="">The U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C. <a href="https://casetext.com/case/freedom-watch-inc-v-google-inc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dismissed a lawsuit</a> accusing top tech companies such as Apple of silencing conservative voices, reports <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/27/appeals-court-rules-in-favor-of-google-apple-facebook-and-twitter-in-anti-conservative-bias-suit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TechCrunch</a>. Filed in 2018 by Freedom Watch, the lawsuit accused Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter of violating antitrust statutes and the First Amendment by censoring conservative content.</p>

<p class="">Apple is in final talks with Paramount to partner and produce <em>Killers of the Flower Moon</em>, which carries a price tag of more than US$150 million, for its Apple TV+ streaming service, reports <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/apple-partner-paramount-martin-scorseses-killers-flower-moon-1287944" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.</p>

<p class="">Apple has acquired Inductiv Inc., a machine-learning start-up, reports <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-27/apple-buys-machine-learning-startup-to-improve-data-used-in-siri" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>. The engineering team joined the tech giant in recent weeks to work on Siri, machine learning, and data science, the article adds.</p>

<p class="">As noted by <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MarketWatch</a>, shares of Apple rose 0.2% in morning trading Wednesday, enough for the tech giant to leapfrog Microsoft into first place on the list of largest U.S. companies by market capitalization, for the first time in three months.</p>

<p class="">Apple co-founder Mike Markkula is <a href="https://hallhall.com/property-for-sale/california/rana-creek-ranch/a091Y00002CyV8O/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">selling his California ranch for $37.5 million.</a> He was Apple’s third employee and second CEO.​</p>

<p class="">Apple is finally giving customers in India the ability to order customized versions of iMacs, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, Mac minis, and other Macs, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/27/apple-begins-offering-macs-with-custom-configurations-in-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports TechCrunch</a>.</p>

<p class="">The <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/youtube-kids/id936971630#?platform=appleTV" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouTube Kids app</a> is now available for the iPhone, iPad, and the Apple TV set-top box. And it’s free.</p>

<p class="">The <a href="https://fidoalliance.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance</a>, an open industry association “with a focused mission: authentication standards to help reduce the world’s over-reliance on password, has launched <a href="http://loginwithfido.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">website</a> to help educate consumers on what Login with FIDO is all about.</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://www.hbomax.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HBO Max </a>— the new US$14.99/month streaming service — has launched and is available on Apple devices and integrated with the TV app on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and the Apple TV set-top box.</p>

<p class="">Quibi chief producer Tom Conrad announced Quibi 1.3 in a <a href="https://twitter.com/tconrad/status/1265430153150128128?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tweet</a>, adding that it adds AirPlay support. Users can now stream video from the app on an iPhone or iPad to an Apple TV set-top box or smart TVs that support AirPlay.</p>