Dennis Sellers

<p class="">watchOS 7 includes a handwashing feature. No, it won’t enable your Apple Watch to actually wash your hands, but it’s designed to make sure you do a good job of washing ‘em yourself.</p>

<p class="">The rumored “Apple Glasses” — an augmented reality/virtual reality/mixed reality head-mounted display (HMD) —may sport a coordinated camera and display operation, as evidenced by a new patent filing (number 20200342678).</p>

<p class="">An Eastern District of Texas jury said Friday that Apple should pay US$502.8 million for infringing VirnetX's network security patents, wrapping up a damages retrial held after a nearly identical award was thrown out on appeal, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1324809">Law 360</a> (a subscription is required to read the entire article).</p>

<p class="">Apple <a href="https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-issues" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has announced </a>the AirPods Service Program for sound issues. The tech giant says it has determined that a small percentage of AirPods Pro may experience sound issues. Affected units were manufactured before October 2020.</p>

<p class="">A mobile app designed to help ensure that Pennsylvania ballots are getting counted has already been rejected—by Apple itself, according to <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-rejects-app-for-verifying-pennsylvania-ballots" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Information</a>.</p>

<p class="">On a regular basis, <em>Apple World Today </em>posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are this week’s picks.</p>

<p class="">Apple’s Apple One bundle of services is now available. It includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple News+ and Fitness+ — at a discounted price. One caveat: Fitness+ hasn’t yet launched, but is coming later this fall.</p>

<p class="">Apple tops Interbrand's "Best Global Brands" list for the eighth time. The tech giant was assigned a “brand value” of about US$323 billion, up 38% from $234 in 2019.</p>

<p class="">The Ninth Circuit of California has amended a ruling in favor of Apple retail store workers who say they should be paid for time spent waiting for end-of-shift bag searches, giving Apple a chance to argue to the district court that the time was too trivial to merit pay, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1324206/apple-sways-9th-circ-to-revive-bag-case-defense?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology&read_more=1&attachments=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law360</a> (a subscription is required to read the entire article).</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/south-of-the-circle/id1477077753"><span style="text-decoration:underline">South of the Circle</span></a> is this week's addition to <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-arcade/">Apple Arcade</a>, Apple’s US$4.99/month or $49.99/year game streaming service that has over 120 games,. It's available for the the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac.</p>

<p class="">Apple shipped 41.6 million iPhones in the third quarter of 2020, down 10.6% year-over-year, which placed the company in fourth among smartphone manufacturers for the first time with 11.8% share, according to <a href="http://www.idc.com"><span style="text-decoration:underline">IDC</span></a>.</p>

<p class="">Tomorrow is Halloween. Here are some macOS and iOS apps to help celebrate the scary day.</p><p class=""></p>

<p class="">A newly granted Apple patent (number 10,814,167) for a “wearable computer with fitness machine connectivity for improved activity monitoring” shows that future Apple Watches could interact directly with fitness machines.</p>

<p class=""><a href="http://claris.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Claris International Inc.</a> — a wholly owned Apple subsidiary and specialist in low-code development of intelligent apps — has expanded its workflow orchestration and intelligent automation platform Claris Connect with new connectors—third-party app integrations—and enhanced capabilities to continue powering remote work.</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2965949-1&h=3564465144&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.johnhancock.com%2Findex.html&a=John+Hancock" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Hancock</a> has announced the expansion of its Apple Watch program to include the recently announced Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE for life insurance customers participating in the <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2965949-1&h=4262459477&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.johnhancockinsurance.com%2Fvitality-program.html&a=John+Hancock+Vitality+Program" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Hancock Vitality Program</a>, which rewards customers for the everyday things they do to live longer, healthier lives.</p>