Dennis Sellers

<p class="">Conferencing usage has skyrocketed in the last three weeks with <a href="http://freeconferencecall.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FreeConferenceCall.com</a> reporting a nearly 700% increase in new customer sign-ups the week of March 22 (vs. sign-ups from the week of Feb. 23). It also looks as if it could be a viable alternative to the <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2020/4/1/zoom-sued-for-security-failures-so-its-time-for-apple-to-open-source-facettime?rq=Zoom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trouble-plagued Zoom</a>.</p>

<p class="">Satechi is donating 5% of all sales today through April 15 to <a href="https://projectcure.org/project-cure-response-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Project C.U.R.E.</a>, which is working diligently to provide critical supplies and resources to hospitals and heroes on the front lines of the fight against theCOVID-IT pandemic.</p>

<p class="">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200106955) for “devices, methods, and graphic user interfaces for assisted photo taking” with the goal of helping the vision-impaired take better pics with their iPhones and iPads.</p>

<p class="">Apple, Laurene Powell Jobs [Steve Jobs’ widow], actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Ford Foundation have partnered to launch <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/americasfoodfund" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">America's Food Fund</a>, an initiative aimed at helping to ensure that all people have reliable access to food in the United States. Its goal is “to help ensure that all people have reliable access to food.”</p>

<p class="">Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Software and Services, has been named to the Board of Trustees for the <a href="http://www.paleycenter.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paley Center for Media</a>.</p>

<p class="">Apple has <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1279707387" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spotlighted</a> several apps for Autism Acceptance Month, part of a history of campaigns by autistic people and their allies to shift the month’s focus from autism awareness to autism acceptance.</p>

<p class="">Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has circulated draft rules permitting unlicensed devices to operate in the 6GHz band. The proposed rules would make 1,200 megahertz of spectrum available for unlicensed use.</p>

<p class="">Despite previous reports that the next iPad Pro update -- expected this fall or early 2021 — would include the U1 chip introduced with the iPhone 11 line-up, <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2020/04/01/2020-ipad-pro-may-not-have-u1-chip/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a> says it has “compiled evidence” that this may not happen.</p>

<p class="">Apple has been granted a patent (number 202000104887) for “techniques for identifying ingenuine [false, not genuine or authentic] online reviews” and preventing them from being published.</p>

<p class="">The long-rumored “Apple Glasses” — an augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) — may sport features that encourage a wearer to re-position his/her head for more comfortable use. Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200103962) for “application placement based on head position.</p>

<p class="">You may one day be able to control Sir, Apple’s perssoal digital assistant, and your HomePod by looking at it. Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200103963) for “device control using gaze detection.”</p>

<p class="">Tile Inc, which makes products to help users find lost items, told a congressional panel on Wednesday that Apple failed to live up to promises aimed at resolving a dispute between the two companies and introduced requirements that would hurt their business, reports <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tech-antitrust-apple-tile/tile-says-apples-behavior-is-anticompetitive-and-has-gotten-worse-not-better-idUSKBN21J72V" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p class="">On the <a href="http://www.macvoices.com/macvoices-20106-bob-dr-mac-levitus-on-his-training-music-productivity-hardware-part-2/"><span style="text-decoration:underline">latest episode of MacVoices</span></a>, Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus continues his discussion of being productive while working from home with an update on the training he provides at Working Smarter For Mac Users, some of the things that he is doing for himself, and two surprising pieces of gear that he uses to stay on track and focused. He also provides some discount offers for his products and outlines how you can get a free scholarship to his training.</p>

<p class="">As they did for March, Apple and Goldman Sachs are allowing Apple Card users to defer their April payments without incurring interest due to the economic chaos from the COVID-19 pandemic, reports <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/apple-goldman-to-let-apple-card-holders-defer-april-payments" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>. Apple Card users need to opt in to the program by messaging a support representative via the Wallet app on an Apple device.</p>

<p class="">Apple has posted <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3Q4-zCTHc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a trailer</a> for "Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth," an upcoming short film for Apple TV+. It’s set to debut Friday, April 17.</p>