Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Are you into fidget spinners? I’m not, but if I were, I’d probably make good use of the ZenPod.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">iOS 12 supports QR codes. A QR code (quick response code) is a type of 2D bar code that is used to provide easy access to information through a smartphone. In this process, known as mobile tagging, the smartphone's owner points the phone at a QR code and opens a barcode reader app which works in conjunction with the phone's camera.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s alive! Maybe. According to a tweet from ChargerLab, mass production of Apple’s AirPower has begun at Luxshare Precision, which makes AirPods and USB-C cables. If the long-promised product ever actually arrives, it will be able to charge a Qi-compatible iPhone, an Apple Watch, and a pair of AirPods (in a special wireless charging case) at the same time regardless of where they're placed on the pad. AirPower hasn't been priced yet, but guesses have it costing anywhere from $150 - $200. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Twenty-eight percent of mobile shoppers used wallets like Apple Pay or PayPal and 29 percent of mobile orders came from mobile wallets on peak days including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to the 2018 Holiday Shopping Report from <a href="http://www.salesforce.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Salesforce</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">PayPal has appointed marketing (and Apple) veteran Allison Johnson to the position of executive vice president and chief marketing officer (CMO), effective today. In this newly created role, she’ll be based in the company’s San Jose headquarters and report directly to PayPal CEO Dan Schulman.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Charlie Sloth has announced a show on Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio; <em>The Charlie Sloth Rap Show</em> starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19,  which will hear the former BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra DJ bring interviews and “his famous <em>Fire In The Booth</em> freestyles to a new audience, according to a <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/music/charlie-sloth-to-host-new-apple-music-beats-1-show-2430901#ssZd5yQmdXb6QDKK.99" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>NME </em>report.</a></p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">HitCase’s $69.99 <a href="https://twitter.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9b280c9e97d13a9a745a52bb5&id=be6531df57&e=48ea76e720" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">SPLASH</span></a> has just about everything I’m looking for in an iPhone case. My only issue — and it’s not really HitCase’s fault — is that the SPLASH is adds a smidge too much width to the Apple smartphone (in my case, an iPhone Xs Max) to allow it to slip into smartphone holsters, which I like to use.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The HomePod, Apple's wireless speaker from Apple, will be available in mainland China and Hong Kong markets starting Friday, Jan. 18. It will be available in white and space gray.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">There are rumors that Apple will release Apple-branded over-the-ear headphones this year along with its AirPods and Beats-branded product. And the tech giant has been granted a patent (number 10,178,463) for such a product.</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;"><a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/10/lady-gaga-pulls-rkelly-song-from-itunes-apple-music/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Engadget </em>reports</a> that Lady Gaga has removed a song from her 2013 album <em>Artpop </em>on iTunes and Apple Music. The song in question, "Do What U Want," features a performance from disgraced hip-hop performer R. Kelly, who is accused of multiple sexual crimes, and can no longer be streamed or purchased from Apple's music services. <em>Artpop</em> is still available on both, but the album just moves from track six to track eight, as if the song never existed.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple’s general counsel Kate Adams took home about $5 million in pay last year, in addition to earning stock in the Cupertino, California-based computer giant, according to <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1117443/apple-gc-earned-5m-in-2018-over-20m-stock-on-horizon?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Law360</em></a><a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1117443/apple-gc-earned-5m-in-2018-over-20m-stock-on-horizon?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology">.</a> With all the lawsuits the tech giant faces, I’d say she’s worth it.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple will release three new iPhone models again this fall, including a successor to the” struggling Xr, the lower priced 2018 device with a liquid-crystal display that has fallen short of Apple’s sales expectations,” reports the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-plans-new-lcd-iphone-this-year-despite-xrs-stumble-11547199263" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Wall Street Journal</em></a>, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20190012072) for “character recognition on a computing device” that shows the company is working on further improvements to the handwriting tech on iOS devices — and is even considering bringing it to macOS.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">At this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), LG was showcasing its  <a href="https://www.lg.com/us/laptops/lg-17Z990-RAAS8U1-ultra-slim-laptop"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">ultralight $1700 17-inch Gram laptop</span></a> that, as I’ve noted previously, makes me long for a new 17-inch MacBook Pro. </p>