There is not much news for this week's issue of In the news because the Coronavirus has so completely dominated the news this week. But of course, in some ways that makes the iPhone and iPad even more valuable, whether you are using them to work remotely as I discussed earlier this week or you are using them for entertainment purposes since so many sports and entertainment options outside of the home are shut down in much of the United States right now. If you are looking for a great TV show to watch on your iPad (or iPhone if you don't mind the smaller screen), I highly recommend Counterpart, which recently became available on Amazon Prime. There are only two seasons of 10 episodes each so it won't take you long to get through the entire show, and it is a fantastic spy thriller with a science fiction twist featuring amazing acting by J.K. Simmons and others. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Sometimes you have the need to change the case of a block of text. If you want a utility to help you do that faster, you should consider Text Case, a $2.99 utility. Brett Burney of Apps in Law explains how attorneys can use the Text Case app, both in an article and in a video at the top of his article.
- For those with a deep interest in law and technology, Georgetown University Law Center (where I went to law school) announced this week that it is starting two new programs. For attorneys, there is a new LL.M. program called Masters of Laws in Technology Law and Policy. For non-attorneys, there is a new Master of Law and Technology program. The programs will go deep on critical issues like "data security, privacy, surveillance, artificial intelligence, fintech, intellectual property, and emerging technologies” according to Georgetown Law Professor Paul Ohm. Click here for more information.
- Following up on the topic I discussed earlier this week about cleaning an iPhone or iPad screen to ensure that it is free of germs, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal wrote a detailed article on this topic. Even if you don't read the article (because, for example, you don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal), the video at the top of the article is worth watching.
- Jason Cross of Macworld recommends his favorite wireless chargers for the iPhone.
- If you have a third-generation iPad Air and the screen goes blank, it may be because of a manufacturing defect that occurred in a limited number of those devices. Click here for more information from Apple for how to get the problem fixed free of charge. My wife recently started using this most recent version of the iPad Air, and it is a very nice device — as long as you don't have one with this defect.
- And finally, about a month ago, New York-based filmmaker Junting Zhou visited with his family in China for Chinese New Year. His family was under voluntary quarantine because of the Coronavirus, and Zhou used his iPhone to create a short film. You can watch the film and read the associated story in an article on the New York Times, plus I have the video embedded below. I started watching the eleven-minute film not intending to watch the whole thing, but the film is so fascinating that I loved it all the way to the end. It is interesting to see what real life in China is like during this time, and his mother is a real hoot. Worth watching: