Dennis Sellers

<p class=""><a href="http://www.synology.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Synology</a> has introduced its next-generation 8-bay NAS, the US$949.99 DS1821+, which is designed for high-capacity and high-performance data management and storage.</p>

<p class=""><em>PCMag</em> lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, reports on new research from Wave7 indicating that <a href="http://email.msgsnd.com/c/eJwdTkuKxCAUPE2yU3xPfSYLF81A38P46QjGhCiEvv04AwVFUR8qWGNEcnO2KFAAAoDRJIADR1qJNJnlR4B8A01KHO3TauD-PObdekEoVHJShHVBE2XUoDQacJqINjkXu_d-tUm-JnwPPM_DL3-4z9_A0DU-bZCrrnxbZ-66SmT52s8aGSA7cs0sN1bP4bEtf9ie-3zbEGvNjbdYSrzbePVffM67BN7P4L5zt1qaTSJFIqUWJ5PGbYkJPawavEI9IsasRhkpdCJyQY_jhCn6FTdFFLT6Bfu3U20"><span style="text-decoration:underline">the iPhone mini isn't making a big splash when it comes to sales</span></a>.</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/alba-a-wildlife-adventure/id1528014682" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alba: A Wildlife Adventure</a> is the latest addition to <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-arcade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Arcade</a>, Apple’s US$4.99/month or $49.99/year game streaming service that has over 130 games,. It's available for the the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac. It’s also available as part of the <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-one/?cid=svc-us-kwgo-brand&adc=AO_NA_EBT_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple One bundle</a>.</p>

<p class="">Apple has shared <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=361Rql5FfCY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a trailer</a> for the second season of its Apple TV+ series, “Dickinson,” which has already been renewed for season three.</p>

<p class="">The animated, family friendly (and acclaimed) film "Wolfwalkers" is now available on Apple TV+.</p>

<p class="">Apple has released a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OLoYssoZF8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trailer </a>for the second annual <a href="http://apple.co/AppleMusicAwards2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Music Awards</a> that “recognize the best and boldest musicians of 2020 and their enormous impact on global culture.”</p>

<p class="">With iOS 14, Siri, Apple’s “personal digital assistant,” expands its knowledge, helps find answers from across the internet, and can now send audio messages. Keyboard dictation runs on device when dictating messages, notes, email, and more.</p>

<p class="">Most Apple employees probably won’t return to work at Apple's Cupertino, California campuses before June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CEO Tim Cook said yesterday at a town hall meeting, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-11/apple-s-cook-says-most-staff-won-t-return-to-office-until-june" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>.</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://www.fibro-genesis.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FibroGenesis</a>, a Texas-based regenerative medicine company focused on tissue regeneration and chronic disease reversal using Human Dermal Fibroblasts (HDFs), has announced the incorporation of Apple Watch to monitor patients through the course of global studies using PneumoBlast, for the treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in patients affected by COVID-19.</p>

<p class="">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200386570) for “augmented reality maps” that shows it’s looking at future ways to enhance the augmented reality (AR) features on the iPhone and iPad.</p>

<p class="">The state of California has expanded access of its CA Notify app to all in the state, after originally deploying the app in a pilot program at UC Berkeley in November, which later expanded to other UC campuses.</p>

<p class="">Apple has seeded the release candidates of macOS Big Sur 11.1, iOS 14.3, and iPadOS 14.3 to developers.</p>

<p class="">The new <a href="http://www.macvoices.com/macvoices-20275-macvoices-live-apples-airpods-max-announcement-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MacVoices Live!</a> has a panel discussing the new AirPods Max. Oliver Breidenbach, Frank Petrie, Kelly Guimont, Mark Fuccio, Guy Serle, Brittany Smith, and host Chuck Joiner try to decide who the target market is, whether the price reflects the technology or something else.</p>

<p class="">Apple has started work on building its own modem for future devices that would replace the ones from Qualcomm that are currently used, reports <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-10/apple-starts-work-on-its-own-cellular-modem-chip-chief-says?sref=MRDu5QV3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>.</p>

<p class="">An <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Support document</a> notes that Apple is retiring its Music Memos app and encouraging users to move to Voice Memos.</p>