Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Future Apple Pencils may have adjustable sizes. Apple has been granted a patent (number 20190064936) for an “adjustable handheld stylus.” The tech giant notes that styluses are available in a variety of shapes and sizes that are each intended to satisfy certain user preferences. However, while some shapes and sizes are advantageous for certain purposes, the same shapes and sizes can be less desirable for other purposes. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is teaming up with Adidas — which makes footwear, sports, and casual apparel— for a new Apple Pay promo: use the latter’s mobile payment service in the Adidas app — available at the Apple App Store — and get 15% on your purchase.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.strategyanalytics.com%2Faccess-services%2Fdevices%2Fwearables%2Fmarket-data%2Freport-detail%2Fglobal-smartwatch-vendor-market-share-by-region-q4-2018&esheet=51947836&newsitemid=20190227006074&lan=en-US&anchor=global+smartwatch+shipments+grew+an+impressive+56+percent&index=1&md5=61f23c443143e129e150fb081ec8d67e" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">global smartwatch shipments grew an impressive 56% </a>annually to reach a record 18 million units in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018. Apple Watch maintained first position with 51% global smartwatch marketshare, while Samsung jumped to second place, overtaking Fitbit and Garmin.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Plugable’s 10Gb USB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 2) <a href="https://plugable.com/products/usbc-nvme" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration:underline">NVMe SSD Enclosure</span></a> is, as far as I can tell, the first high performance NVMe enclosure to feature a completely tool-free, spring-loaded design for inserting and removing a compatible SSD. It’s compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux systems.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Vulnerabilities in Thunderbolt has been disclosed by security researchers, with "Thunderclap" allowing a device connecting over Thunderbolt to acquire sensitive data from the host Mac, an issue that affects almost all Macs released since 2011, notes <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/02/27/thunderbolt-3-thunderclap-vulnerabilities-let-malicious-peripherals-attack-a-macs-memory" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is laying off 190 employees who worked in its Santa Clara and Sunnyvale self-driving car division dubbed “Project Titan,” the company said in a letter to the California Employment Development Department noted by the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Apple-self-driving-car-layoffs-hit-190-employees-13649994.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>San Francisco Chronicle</em></a>. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">KeepSolid has released an update for their registration-free VPN service, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vpn-lite-without-registration/id1445553327?mt=12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KeepSolid VPN Lite</a>. The app is finally available on macOS. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">HITCASE has released the Ferra, a handcrafted, full grain leather drop resistant case for iPhone X, Xs, and Xs Max. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I suggested this idea four years ago. It never came to fruition, but I still think it’s a timely idea: Apple should open small retail stores — Apple mini stores, if you will — in towns that are too small for the traditional, bigger Apple retail stores and Mac Specialists.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 10,216,147) for a “tactile switch for an electronic device” — the device being an Apple Watch. The plan seems to be to add even more functionality to the smartwatch’s Digital Crown and screen.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.</p><p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The creators of the upcoming Apple TV series inspired by Hilde Lysiak, the 12-year-old investigative reporter who exposed a murder in her Pennsylvania hometown when she was 9 in her self-started newspaper, have been keeping up with her work. Most recently, that included standing her ground against an Arizona town marshal, according to <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/02/hilde-lysiak-journalist-apple-series-latest-scoop-1202563511/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Deadline</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. As reported by<em> </em><a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/02/26/apples-iphone-ipad-more-targeted-in-new-lawsuit-over-lte-patents" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a>, a group of firms operating under the name Optis Wireless Technology are suing Apple over seven patents connected to LTE cellular standards.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is expected to debut “Apple Glasses,” an augmented reality/virtual reality head-mounted display (HMD), perhaps as early as next year. And the company has been granted another patent (number 10,217,288) dubbed “methods for representing points of interest in a view of a real environment on a mobile device.” The patent could also apply to AR features on an iPhone or iPad.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">You may one day be able to control your Mac — and perhaps your Apple TV — by gestures. Apple has been granted yet another patent (number 10,218,963) for a “gesture-based user interface” that hints at gesture controls for Macs. This one is dubbed “scanning projectors and image capture modules for 3D mapping.”</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is testing a sleep tracking app for the Apple Watch, according to report by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-26/apple-is-said-to-plan-sleep-tracking-feature-for-future-watch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Bloomberg</em></a>'s Mark Gurman, who has a good track record regarding Apple rumors.</p>