Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-batterygate-lawsuits-cause-apple-to-set-aside-money-2019-" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Business Insider</em></a>, Apple is setting aside money to pay for lawsuits related to the “Batterygate” brouhaha.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In March 2017,  <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-20/apple-s-next-big-thing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a> reported that Apple has built an augmented reality (AR) team of hundreds of engineers “combining the strengths of its hardware and software veterans with the expertise of talented outsiders” and is “very serious about AR. Now one of those team members has left.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Advertising agency employees who work on augmented reality and virtual reality are worried that Apple “is about to upend web-based AR and VR,” according to <a href="https://digiday.com/marketing/definitely-going-break-things-apple-prepping-ios-change-may-hurt-ar-vr-advertising/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>DigiDay</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A <a href="https://schedule.gdconf.com/session/xbox-live-growing-engaging-your-gaming-community-across-ios-android-switch-xbox-and-pc-presented-by-microsoft/865429" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">note  regarding the session</a>s at the upcoming Game Developers Conference (March 18-22) notes that Jeffrey Shi and Ramsey Khadder of Microsoft’s Xbox team will lead a session about how Xbox Live will expand to iOS and Android devices.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">If you longingly remember the heyday of digital albums, you're the person for whom Turntable for Mac is made. It's a "real album" app for macOS (10.13 and higher) and is available at the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/turntable/id835925938?mt=12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mac App Store</a> for $4.99. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Future iOS, watchOS, and perhaps macOS devices may allow you to control some user interface elements with your eyes. Apple has been granted another patent (number 20190035356) for “electronic devices with orientation compensation.” It’s the fifth patent filing by the tech giant that involves some form of gaze detection.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">With iOS 12, it’s easy to find folks in your photos. In the Photos app, there’s a section of the app called “People.” </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In December 2018, <a href="http://www.waterstonegroup.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Waterstone</a> surveyed 5,000 Americans to establish their relationship with cable TV and streaming services. The management consulting firm found that cord cutting continues to rise.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">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 style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Bill Stasior (pictured), who was lured from Amazon in 2012 to lead Siri after two of the personal digital assistant’s creators left Apple, is no longer heading the voice assistant group, though he remains at the tech giant, according to a report at <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apples-siri-leader-is-out?" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Information</em></a>, citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter.”</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has apologized for the FaceTime bug . You can read the statement of the apology at <a href="https://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em>.</a> The company says a fix is coming next week for the the<a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/1/28/be-aware-of-this-facetime-bug-on-ios-devices"> Group Calling exploit </a>that allows a FaceTime video caller to hear the audio from a recipient's iPhone without the call even being picked up.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The Russian security services could soon have access to the personal data of thousands of Apple users in Russia, following the tech giant’s decision to comply with Russian law and store user data on servers in the country, according to <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/31/how-russia-is-strong-arming-apple-data-security-icloud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an <em>FP </em>article</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">During Heart Month, Apple will offer an Activity Challenge on Apple Watch and heart health events in Apple Stores in San Francisco, Chicago and New York to educate consumers on their heart health and encourage them to get active and live a better day.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to the latest market share survey from <a href="http://netmarkeshare.com/">NetMarketShare,</a> the market share for both macOS and iOS was down in January.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20190037342) for “location-based ticket books.” It would allow iPhones, iPads, and perhaps even Apple Watches to alert you of tickets available for events in your location. </p>