Dennis Sellers

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple continues its spending spree to beef up content for its Apple TV+ streaming service. <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/01/cecily-strong-star-apple-series-musical-comedy-1202846820/"><span style="text-decoration:underline">Deadline</span></a> reports that the company is in final negotiations on a series order for a musical comedy project starring<em> Saturday Night Live</em>‘s Cecily Strong, from Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video, <em>Despicable Me</em> duo Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, and Universal TV.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple says all users in the U.S. can now experience a redesigned Maps with faster and more accurate navigation and comprehensive views of roads, buildings, parks, airports, malls and more. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has canceled its contract with Project Maven, a Pentagon project to use artificial intelligence to analyze military drone photos, (<a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-ends-ai-startups-work-on-project-maven-after-acquisition" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to</a> <em>The Information</em> (a subscription is required to read the entire article).</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A new annual ranking of Fortune 100 companies shows many fail to include faith and religion as part of corporate diversity initiatives. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.i2cinc.com%2F&esheet=52165853&newsitemid=20200129005754&lan=en-US&anchor=i2c+Inc.&index=1&md5=df57495cdf49a70577680c892d4860f2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">i2c Inc.</a>, a provider of digital payment and open banking technology, together with <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.najm.ae&esheet=52165853&newsitemid=20200129005754&lan=en-US&anchor=Najm&index=2&md5=40dd90983349061c3017a8842a0cc1b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Najm</a>, a provider of financial solutions, have introduced Apple Pay to Najm Prepaid cardholders in the Middle East. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Some iPad users are hoping that when iPadOS 14 arrives, there will be full support for mice and trackpads rather than the limited support Apple currently offers. A new patent filing (number 2020033912) suggests the tech giant is at least considering this.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has filed for a patent (number 20200033815) for a “watch with optical sensor for user input” that hints at future Apple Watches that ditch the currentl Digital Crown for an optical one.  </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.strategyanalytics.com%2Faccess-services%2Fdevices%2Fmobile-phones%2Fsmartphone%2Fsmartphones%2Freports&esheet=52165959&newsitemid=20200129005865&lan=en-US&anchor=global+smartphone+shipments+held+steady+at+zero+growth&index=1&md5=772de295eed29e9f8fa74e11f81508d9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">global smartphone shipments held steady at zero growth</a> to reach 375 million units in the fourth quarter of 2019. Apple grabbed first position with 19%global smartphone marketshare.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple keeps beefing up its Apple TV+ line-up. According to <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/01/rose-byrne-star-apple-dramedy-physical-annie-weisman-series-1202845808/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deadline</a>, the tech giant is nearing a series order for <a href="https://deadline.com/tag/physical/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Physical</a><em>,</em> a dramedy headlined by actress Rose Byrne in her first regular role on an ongoing series since FX’s <em>Damages</em>. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Carmi Zlotnick, who just resigned as president of Programming at Starz, has signed an exclusive producer deal with Apple, reports <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/01/carmi-zlotnick-exclusive-producer-deal-apple-1202843100/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deadline</a>. Zlotnick’s deal with the tech giant will begin next month, as he transitions from his post at the Lionsgate-owned network, to develop content for the Apple TV+ streaming service.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A California federal jury ruled today that Apple and Broadcom infringed three California Institute of Technology (CalTech) data transmission patents with Wi-Fi chips used in hundreds of millions of iPhones and other devices, awarding the university over $1.1 billion in damages, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1238923" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law360</a> (a subscription is required to read the entire article).</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has hired Rusian Meshenberg, one of Netflix Inc.’s top engineers, part of a broader strategy to build out the technical team supporting Apple TV+ and its other subscription services, reports <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-hires-key-netflix-engineer-in-bid-to-boost-subscription-services-11580324237" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Wall Street Journal</a>. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/"><span style="text-decoration:underline">MacRumors</span></a> — analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says release several new products in the first half of 2020, the follow-up to the iPhone SE 2, new iPad Pros, 13-inch MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs with new keyboards,“Apple Tags,” high-end headphones, and … an AirPower Lite?</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple’s long-awaited online store in India in India will be operational starting in the third quarter of 2020, according to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/28/apple-to-start-online-sales-in-india-in-q3-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TechCrunch</a>.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple’s iPhone accounts for 24.3% of all smartphone sales across the five major European markets (EU5), with share also up across Urban China, the U.S., Japan and Australia, according to the <a href="https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kantar Worldpanel ComTech research group</a>. (The EU5 is France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom).</p>