Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The iPhone XR was Apple's best-selling smartphone in February, according to <a href="http://www.counterpointresearchcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Counterpoint Research's </a>monthly U.S. smartphone churn tracker. The XR was responsible for more than 26% of all iPhone sales during the month, notes the research group.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to the latest research from <a href="http://www.strategyanalyltics.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics, global s</a>martphone shipments will reach a modest five million units in 2019. Early 5G smartphone models will be expensive and available in limited volumes. Samsung, LG and Huawei will be the early 5G smartphone leaders this year, followed by Apple next year, according to the research group.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is working on a new app — codenamed “GreenTorch” that will replace the Find My Friends and Find My iPhone apps, reports <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2019/04/17/find-my-iphone-revamp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac</em></a>, quoting unnamed “people familiar with its development.”</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Let the Apple Car speculation roll on. Apple has held talks with at least four companies as possible suppliers for next-generation lidar sensors in self-driving cars, evaluating the companies’ technology while also still working on its own lidar unit,, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-autonomous-exclusive/exclusive-apple-in-talks-with-potential-suppliers-of-sensors-for-self-driving-cars-sources-idUSKCN1RT16V" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Reuters</em>.</a></p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. As noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/04/16/class-action-suit-alleges-misleading-apple-financial-statements-amount-to-securities-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AppleInsider</a>, a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/406536715/Security-Fraud-Class-Action" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">class action</a> lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the City of Roseville Employees' Retirement System, filing on behalf of all Apple stockholders, seeks redress for violation of federal securities laws. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According <a href="https://money.udn.com/money/story/5612/3760015&xid=17259,15700023,15700124,15700149,15700186,15700190,15700201,15700214&usg=ALkJrhjRt4jyqtpgHi8Z6_De147faV9Big" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to the</a> <em>Economic Daily</em>, a Chinese language site, Apple plans to release a 4.7-inch “iPhone 8” next year. Think iPhone SE, version 2.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has compiled with the request from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to remove the Chinese social video app, TikTok, from the Apple App Store. It’s <a href="https://qz.com/india/1597347/tiktok-app-download-not-available-on-android-apple-in-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">no longer available</a> for download there or at Google Play store reports <em>Quartz India</em>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,264,383) for a “multi-listener stereo image array” that hints at what I like to call the HomePod Theater — a high end (higher end?) HomePod designed as a sound system for use with an HDTV.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">CEO Tim Cook has tweeted that Apple is "heartbroken" over the enormous fire damage to France's Notre Dame. He says the company will be donating to the rebuilding efforts to help restore Notre Dame’s precious heritage for future generations.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2019/04/16/mac-ipad-display-feature/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>9to5Mac</em></a>, Apple is planning a feature for the upcoming macOS 10.15 dubbed “Sidecar,” which will offer the functionality of the Luna Display (see <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/2/26/luna-display-lets-you-easily-quickly-turn-your-ipad-into-a-mac-display?rq=Luna%20Display" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">my review</a>) and <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/1/3/duet-display-lets-you-add-a-virtual-touch-bar-to-any-mac?rq=Duet%20Display" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Duet Display.</a> In other words, it will allow an iPad to act as a secondary display (and more) when paired with your Mac.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">OWC has announced its new line of <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2437241-1&h=2941613543&u=https%3A%2F%2Feshop.macsales.com%2Fshop%2Fssd%2Fowc%2Faura-pro-x2&a=Aura%C2%AE+Pro+X2+SSDs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aura Pro X2 SSDs</a> for select MacBook Pro Retina, MacBook Air, Mac Mini and Mac Pro models. They’re available in capacities up to 2TB.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked Apple to remove the Chinese social video app, TikTok, from the Apple App Store.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Future HomePods and Mac speakers might be able to detect where you are in a room and adjust their sounds accordingly. Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,264385) for a “system and method for dynamic control of audio playback based on the position of a listener.”</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1149967/qualcomm-wants-win-on-patent-defenses-apple-cut-midtrial?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology&read_more=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Law360</em> reports</a> that Qualcomm has told a California federal court that Apple shouldn't be able to revive challenges against three Qualcomm smartphone processing patents that the iPhone maker dropped in the middle of the tech giants' recent intellectual property trial.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The latest smartphone operating system data from <a href="http://www.kantarworldpanel.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kantar</a> for the three months ending March 2019, shows Android accounted for 79.3% of all smartphone sales across the five major European markets.  </p>