Dennis Sellers

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple, Nike, Disney, American Eagle, Caterpillar. Companies across tech and beyond are starting to leverage subscriptions as part of their business strategy. New data suggests that this move could be exactly what most businesses need to attract and maintain customers at a time when consumer attention is fleeting and requires instant and personalized gratification.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Sentis has introduced the Libra, keyboard for iPadOS users that sports a built-in trackpad, adjustable backlit keys and shortcut keys. It’s available now via <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/libra-keyboard/libra-turns-your-ipad-pro-into-a-macbook " target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a Kickstarter campaign</a>. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="https://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a> — analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple will release a lower-priced iPhone SE 2 in the first quarter of 2020.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Enterprise health record (EHR) vendor MEDITECH now supports Health Records on iPhone, which brings together hospitals, clinics, and the existing Apple Health app to make it easy for consumers to see their available medical data from multiple providers whenever they choose, according to CEO Howard Messing.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.JohnHancockInsurance.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Hancock</a> says it’s expanding its Apple Watch program to include the new Apple Watch Series 5. Beginning this fall, customers can earn the watch through the John Hancock Vitality Program for $25, simply by being more active.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for multiple patents involving “smart” bands for the Apple Watch. The latest (number 20190298265) for “fabric-based items with stretchable bands.”</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I’ve never found a virtual keyboard to be nearly as effective as a physical keyboard. That could change if a new Apple patent filing (number 20190202889) for a “static pattern electrostatic haptic electrodes” comes to fruition. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Just Mobile’s <a href="https://just-mobile.com/collections/case-screen-protector-for-new-iphones/products/xkin-3d-iphone11-pro?variant=29531949170730" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Xkin 3D Tempered Glass</a> offers a lot of protection for Apple’s new iPhones. However, it takes patience to install it, and I found the installation instructions to be confusing.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the preservation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, with CEO Tim Cook and Senior Vice President for Retail and People Deirdre O'Brien putting their names on the filing alongside the company for the first time, reports <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/10/02/apple-tim-cook-deirdre-obrien-jointly-file-in-support-of-daca" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has successfully implemented OpenID Connect with Sign in With Apple, according to the OpenID Foundation. Apple addressed some concerns the Foundation found with Sign in with Apple in June. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Strategy Analytics in a newly published report from the Device Technologies (EDT) practice, forecasts that 5G devices, from a sluggish start in 2019 will take off in 2020. The report, <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.strategyanalytics.com%2Faccess-services%2Fdevices%2Fmobile-phones%2Femerging-device-technologies%2Fmarket-data%2Freport-detail%2Fglobal-handset-sales-forecast-by-88-countries-and-19-technologies-to-2024&esheet=52104360&newsitemid=20191002005151&lan=en-US&anchor=Global+Smartphone+Sales+Forecast+by+Technology+for+88+Countries+to+2024&index=2&md5=6e5f6bb90c44f8140b7587b55ae6f1b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Smartphone Sales Forecast by Technology for 88 Countries to 2024</a> shows that within five years 5G phones will equal nearly half of all phones sold.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple TV+, Apple’s upcoming streaming service, can’t get here soon enough. <a href="https://www.parksassociates.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parks Associates</a> research finds that the percentage of households with multiple over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions has increased by 130% since 2014. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-02/apple-to-loosen-reins-on-outside-messaging-phone-apps-via-siri" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>'s Mark Gurman that it will ease some restrictions on developers of third-party apps wishing to use Siri, the company’s “personal digital assistant,” following a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-01/iphone-ios-users-can-t-change-default-apps-safari-mail-music" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg News story</a> about the rise of in-house software that gets prized default status on iPhones and iPads.  </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">An appeals court in London on Wednesday revived a multibillion-pound privacy suit brought by an activist accusing Google of tracking iPhone users, ruling that he can seek damages from the technology giant on the behalf of 4.4 million consumers in Britain, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1205167" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law360 </a>(a subscription is required to read the entire article).</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Vena has released two new cases for the 2019 iPhones. There’s nothing groundbreaking about them, but both are solid cases with reasonable price tags.</p>