Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">For the first time, there's a shakeup at the top of <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2409566-1&h=765275721&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bcg.com%2F&a=BCG%27s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BCG's</a> annual list of the most innovative companies. In this year's global survey of more than 2,500 senior innovation leaders, longtime leader Apple ranks third, and Google (or its parent company, Alphabet) and Amazon move up to first and second place, respectively. Microsoft and Samsung round out the top five.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is teaming up with Instacart— a same-day grocery delivery service — for a new Apple Pay promo: use the latter’s mobile payment service in the Instacart app — available at the Apple App Store — and get free deliveries on groceries.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Future iMacs could wirelessly charge its mouse, trackpad, and keyboard, if a newly filed Apple patent (number 20190089185) ever results in a real world product.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple Pay will now be available as a payment option for more than 45,000 U.S. billers. <a href="http://www.doxo.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">doxo</a>— an all-in-one bill payment service that allows consumers to pay all their bills in one place, from any device — is adding support for Apple’s wireless payment service.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is now accepting Worldwide Developer Conference 2019 scholarships for students. The event will be held June 3-7 in San Jose, California. Developers selected for a scholarship will receive a WWDC19 ticket, lodging for the conference, and one year of membership in the Apple Developer Program free of charge. You <a href="https://developer.apple.com/wwdc19/scholarships/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">must apply</a> by Sunday, March 24, 5 p.m. (Pacific).</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-launches-new-airpods-in-wearables-push-11553092528" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Wall Street Journal</em></a> says Apple approved production of the long-awaited AirPower earlier this year after facing challenges with developing the accessory. So I’m predicting that we’ll see the wireless charger go on sale either Thursday or Friday.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has updated its Apple Watch band lineup with new colors. The $49 Sport Band now comes in Spearmint, Delft Blue and Papaya. The $49 Nike Sport Band now comes in Black/Hyper Grape, Spruce Fog/Vintage Lichen, and Teal Tint/Tropical Twist.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">OWC is now offering <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2408403-1&h=1306730864&u=https%3A%2F%2Feshop.macsales.com%2Fshop%2Fmemory%2Fimac-2019-27-inch&a=memory+upgrades+for+the+just+announced+2019+27-inch+iMac+5K" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">memory upgrades for the just announced 2019 27-inch iMac 5K</a>. An the upgrades are a heck of a lot less expensive than what Apple charges.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has announced new <a href="https://www.apple.com/airpods/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AirPods</a>, the second generation of the company’s wireless headphones. The Apple-designed H1 chip, developed specifically for headphones, delivers performance efficiencies, faster connect times, more talk time and the convenience of hands-free "Hey Siri.” </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.filemaker.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FileMaker Inc</a>,, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, has released its Workplace Innovation Platform report that examines the pitfalls and problems that businesses are grappling with when it comes to disparate sources of information and other inefficiencies. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for another patent (number 10,236,725) that gives us hope that the long-awaited AirPower may actually see the light of day at some point. It’s for a “wireless charging system with image-processing-based foreign object detection.”</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. Despite a long history of working with the tech giant, Kaspersky Lab, a global security company, <a href="https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/apple-fas-complaint/26017/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has filed a complaint</a> against Apple Inc. with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia regarding Apple’s policy on apps distributed through the App Store. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.recode.net/2019/3/18/18271916/netflix-apple-reed-hastings-video-plans-tech-company-regulation-press-conference-ted-sarandos" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says </a>Netflix won’t sell subscriptions or offer existing content to customers through an Apple branded video streaming service expected for unveiling on March 25. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In an email to business customers, Apple announced a new feature for the Wallet app on iOS devices for implementing a “seamless checkout” at one of the company’s retail stores. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The <a href="https://audeara.com/products/audeara-a-01-headphones" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Audeara A-01 </a> is the world’s first headphone that offers an in-built hearing test to protect users’ ears. It also offers excellent sound, although, to my ears, my AirPods sound just as good.</p>