Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple plans to close both of its retail stores within the Eastern District of Texas — Apple Willow Bend in Plano and Apple Stonebriar in Frisco — in an effort to protect itself from “patent trolls,” according to five sources familiar with the matter.  according to <a href="https://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a>, quoting five unnamed sources.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has asked the whole Federal Circuit to rehear a panel decision upholding a $439 million Eastern District of Texas jury verdict that the tech giant infringed VirnetX's network security patents, arguing it flouts a damages precedent, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1131692/apple-urges-full-fed-circ-to-undo-439m-patent-loss?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></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A new Apple support <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208544" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">document</a> covering eGPU usage with macOS external graphics card usage notes, at last, compatibility with AMD's Radeon RX 560 — via Sonnet's Radeon RX 560 eGFX Breakaway Puck. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20190056832) for an “input/output device with a dynamically adjustable appearance and function” that hints at possible future versions of the Touch Bar on certain Mac laptops.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple and Goldman Sachs Group plan to start issuing this spring a joint credit card paired with new iPhone features that will help users manage their money, according to <em>The Wall Street Journal</em>. Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at <a href="http://creditcards.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration:underline">CreditCards.com</span></a>, thinks it will be “interesting, but not groundbreaking.”</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple and Goldman Sachs Group plan to start issuing this spring a joint credit card paired with new iPhone features that will help users manage their money, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-goldman-sachs-team-up-on-credit-card-paired-with-iphone-11550750400" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Wall Street Journal</em>.</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is almost certainly moving its Mac line to custom ARM-based chips in the coming years. Or make that year — as in 2020.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The "Apple Car" won’t be a car at all, but rather an electric van, according to German site <a href="http://www.manager-magazin.de/digitales/it/apple-car-apple-will-autoprojekt-mit-elektrokleinbus-retten-a-1254005.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Manager Magazin</em></a>, as noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors</em></a>. The article says:</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent for a “TV side bar user interface” (number 20190058921) that may offer a peak at what the interface of its upcoming video streaming service will look like. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A new report from YouTube channel <em>Tailosive Tech — </em>as noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/02/21/apples-modular-mac-pro-design-may-mean-units-that-connect-like-lego-bricks" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider </em></a><em> — </em>claims that the Mac Pro refresh will rely on a custom data connector, and mission-specific modules (think Legos) that can be stacked to provide what users need, though it may not ship to customers until 2020.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">One of the most common battery-powered devices are our cell phones. With more than 300 million mobile phones in use throughout the U.S.alone, that's a lot of battery power according to <a href="https://www.devicepitstop.com/store-locator/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Device Pitstop</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Global sales of smartphones to end users stalled in the fourth quarter of 2018, totaling 408.4 million units — growth of just 0.1% over the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the <a href="http://www.gartner.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gartner, Inc. research group</a>. Apple recorded its worst quarterly decline (11.8%) since the first quarter of 2016.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Charter Communications has announced that it will launch Spectrum TV Essentials, a $14.99/month, Internet delivered over-the-top (OTT) video service, to be made available exclusively in Charter's footprint to Spectrum Internet customers who don't already subscribe to Spectrum video services. It will be available through the Spectrum TV App for the Apple TV, iOS devices, Android devices, Roku, Xbox One, Amazon Kindle Fire, Samsung Smart TVs, and computers (via <a href="http://SpectrumTV.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration:underline">SpectrumTV.com</span></a>).</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has toppled from first place to 17th place in the World’s Most Innovative Companies list from <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Fast Company</em></a><em>.</em></p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.apple.com/education/apple-teacher/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Teacher </a>— a a free professional learning program designed to support and celebrate educators using Apple products for teaching and learning — has been updated with a new professional learning experience. </p>