Dennis Sellers

<p class="">Apple has informed Apple Card holders suffering from the impact of the coronavirus that they can enroll in a new financial assistance program that allows them to skip the March payment without interest charging for that billing cycle.</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/03/apples-covid-19-response/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple says</a> that all of its retail stores outside of the Greater China region are closed through March 27 due to coronavirus outbreak.</p>

<p class="">Apple has <a href="https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=03142020a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> that it's evaluating apps critically to ensure data sources are reputable and that developers presenting these apps are from recognized entities such as government organizations, health-focused NGOs, companies deeply credentialed in health issues, and medical or educational institutions.</p>

<p class="">Apple has filed for a patent (number 10,586,372) for “online modeling for real-time facial animation” involving its Animoji and Memoji features, as well as other applications.</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="">VirnetX says it's received payment of $454,033,859.87, representing the previously announced judgment with interest in the “VirnetX Inc. v. Apple case.”</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/roundguard/id1484566760" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Roundguard</a> for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV is the latest game for Apple Arcade, Apple’s game streaming service.</p>

<p class="">It's been expected due to the coronavirus outbreak, but now it’s official. Apple says it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June in a new online format “packed with content for consumers, press and developers alike.” The exact date hasn't been announced.</p>

<p class="">The worldwide market for wearable devices grew 82.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019 (4Q19), reaching a new high of 118.9 million devices shipped according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) <a href="https://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=962" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker</a>.</p>

<p class="">Apple has confirmed that all 42 of its stores in mainland China will have re-opened today (local time), says <a href="https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1238231719884382208" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg's Mark Gurman</a>. They were all closed in early February due to the coronavirus outbreak.</p>

<p class="">In June 2005, user interface experts at one of the world's top design houses said Mac OS X 10.4 ("Tiger") was the beginning of the end for the Mac Finder and that the era of organizing files in nested folders was over, reported <em>Wired</em> (the article is no longer online).</p>

<p class="">Future Apple Watches may change their look and functions even more than they do presently depending on their orientation. Apple has been granted a patent (number 20200081536) for “gravity-induced position offset tracking for dynamic management of haptic module mechanical offset.”</p>

<p class="">Patrick Gates — an Apple senior director of engineering who led development of iCloud, FaceTime, and iMessage during nearly 14 years at the the tech giant — left Apple to join a stealth startup founded by two other former Apple employees, Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri. Now the founders have <a href="https://hu.ma.ne/news/20200612.html">announced</a> that another Apple engineer has come aboard: Rubén Caballero (pictured) has joined as technical advisor.</p>

<p class="">France’s competition watchdog will fine Apple next week over anti-competitive behavior in its distribution and sales network, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-competition-france/french-watchdog-to-fine-apple-over-anti-competitive-behaviour-sources-say-idUSKBN20Z33R" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> reports, quoting two unnamed “sources close to the matter.”</p>

<p class="">Apple has secured new deals for songs from major record labels including Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music for the Apple Music streaming service, reports the<em> </em><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2b57fc8c-ef3b-40f5-83a5-2373ff203bfb" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Financial Times</a> (a subscription is required to read the entire article).</p>