Dennis Sellers

<p class="">The rumor mill is off to a strong start this week. Let's round 'em up and see how likely they are to happen.</p>

<p class="">Apple and Google's plan to track the spread of COVID-19 by tracing the contacts of those with confirmed cases through Bluetooth technology on their cellphones got an early blessing on Friday from the U.K.'s privacy watchdog, while the American Civil Liberties Union said it was “cautiously optimistic,” according to <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1265000/apple-google-virus-tracing-gets-watchdog-s-early-blessing?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology&read_more=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law360</a>.</p>

<p class="">Here’a blast from the past (posted Feb. 4, 2013) from a website I owned in the past, <em>Apple Daily Report</em>: With Intel purportedly planning to take on the cable/satellite industry, Apple may be feeling pressure to unveil its long-rumored Apple TV (assuming, of course, that the company actually plans an HDTV (the “iTV”?)— though I think it does).</p>

<p class="">Apple is looking into enhanced stopwatch and timer user interfaces for its various devices including the Apple Watch and iPhone as evidenced by a new patent filing (number 20200117329).</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="">Logistics Victory Los Angeles is receiving a donation of 160,000 face shields from Apple. Donated through Apple’s Giving program, the face shields will assist in L.A.’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

<p class="">The Ontario government <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2020/04/ontario-establishes-key-partnerships-to-make-home-learning-more-accessible.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has announced </a>that it's partnered with Apple and Rogers Communications to help meet the educational needs of students and families during the COVID-19 outbreak.</p>

<p class="">Apple Music head Oliver Schusser will be taking the top post at Beats, replacing Luke Wood, who's leaving the company on April 30, according to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/an-apple-veteran-will-take-over-the-beats-headphones-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNET</a>.</p>

<p class="">Apple CEO Tim Cook has been named to a task force in California that will focus on getting the economy up and running again, reports <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/17/gov-newsom-names-tom-steyer-tim-cook-to-business-recovery-task-force.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNBC</a>.</p>

<p class="">Two new games — Beyond Blue and A Fold Apart -- have been added to Apple Arcade, Apple’s game streaming service that costs US$4.99 per month or $4.99 per year. They're available on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Alas, neither seem to be available for the Mac.</p>

<p class="">Blackmagic tells <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors </a>that it is no longer manufacturing its Blackmagic eGPU Pro due to AMD discontinuing its Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics chip. The eGPU Pro — an US$1,199, non-upgradeable external graphics processor featuring the aforementioned graphics processor — debuted in October 2018.</p>

<p class="">Goldman Sachs expects iPhone shipment to drop 36% during the third quarter due to coronavirus-related lockdowns around the world and downgraded Apple Inc stock to “sell," according to <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-apple-iphone/goldman-predicts-36-drop-in-iphone-shipment-says-time-to-sell-apple-shares-idUKKBN21Z1QW" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p class="">The second generation iPhone SE is <a href="http://www.apple.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">available for pre-order.</a> It comes in three colors — black, white and (PRODUCT)RED — with prices starting at US$399.</p>

<p class="">The American Civil Liberties Union has <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/apple-and-google-announced-a-coronavirus-tracking-system-how-worried-should-we-be/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">raised concerns </a>about Apple and Google's joint contact tracing effort to to help alert people who have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.</p>

<p class="">"Home," a documentary series about folks who live in innovative houses, has debuted on Apple TV+, Apple’s streaming service.</p>