Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple wants to make it easy for you to take augmented reality self-portraits with an iPhone. The company has filed for two patents regarding such a process.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20190079301) for a “face seal for a head-mounted display.” One of several such patents, it doubtless involves the company’s “Apple Glasses” headset that’s expected to debut next year.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (20190081509) for a “wireless charging mat with dynamic surface texture.” It seems to involve its long-awaited AirPower product.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Last week <a href="http://www.sfbags.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WaterField Designs</a> announced Wallet Month — the culmination of a two-month, 2,000-customer-participant, crowdsourced design project — with the launch of two <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/3/5/waterfield-designs-debuts-two-new-wallets-as-part-of-wallet-month?rq=wallet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">minimalist wallets</a>: the Minemo and the Clyff.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Last November, Apple and Amazon <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/devices/alexa-play-bebe-rexha-on-apple-music" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced </a>that Apple Music was coming to Amazon’s Echo devices. Now support for the streaming music service has come to Amazon’s Fire TV, according to <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2019/03/13/apple-music-launches-on-amazon-fire-tv-coming-to-echo-for-uk-users-soon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has scooped up Laserlike, a small Silicon Valley-based machine learning startup, reports <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-acquires-machine-learning-startup-in-boost-for-ai-group?" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Information</em></a>. Terms of the acquisition haven’t been disclosed, but the deal was almost certainly done with an eye toward improving Siri.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a <a href="https://twitter.com/coiiiiiiiin/status/1105859133377396736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1105859133377396736&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.macrumors.com%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter account</a>, CoinX says Apple plans will not only release a 10.2-inch seventh-generation iPad, but a brand new 10.5-inch (non-Pro) iPad. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In 2019, 105.2 million people in the U.S. will use an iPhone, giving Apple a 45.2% share of the US smartphone market. That share will grow 0.1% each year through 2021, according to <a href="http://www.emarketer.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eMarketer.</a></p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple says it’s increased its commitment to coding and education in Southeast Asia with the expansion of its App Development with Swift curriculum at partner schools in Singapore and the opening of Indonesia’s second Apple Developer Academy in Surabaya, offering aspiring developers the skills they need to thrive in today's app economy.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Smartphone shipments to China in February fell to their lowest in six years, as consumers continued to put off handset purchases amid a slowing economy, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government-affiliated research institute.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A California federal judge on Tuesday nixed a whistleblower’s suit accusing Apple of bringing two trainers from India into the country using B-1 visas instead of the more expensive and necessary H1-B visas, ruling there's "no exhaustive list or case law of all permissible activities" under the B-1, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1138231/apple-beats-back-whistleblower-suit-over-b-1-visas?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></p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-13/apple-races-to-get-studios-signed-up-for-new-streaming-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Bloomberg</em> </a>says that Apple is still hustling to sing up TV and movie studios for its upcoming video streaming service.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Spotify has filed an anti-competition complaint about Apple with the European Commission, claiming the Cupertino, California-based company limited innovation and constraining user choice by refusing to allow Spotify and other firms access to technology and information via the App Store.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 10,230,722) for “trusted status transfer between associated devices.” It involves secure methods for transferring data between your various Apple gadgets.</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>