It's a three-day weekend for many of us here in the United States. I'm looking forward to watching Hamilton with my family on Disney+, and something tells me that I won't be the only one doing so. I strongly suspect that my daughter knows every line of the lyrics to every single song, which hasn't happened since she was a much younger girl watching Frozen. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Legal technology expert Tom Mighell explains why Apple's announcements at last week's WWDC conference should appeal to many lawyers.
- According to a post from a Microsoft engineer on the official Microsoft Teams feedback forum, Teams will soon support a 7x7 grid with 49 participants on the screen at one time. And not just for the computer; Microsoft is "targeting full availability including mobile clients for iOS and Android by early September."
- Speaking of videoconferences, Joel Stein of the New York Times writes about people who have a "Zoom shirt" that they use to look professional when on a video call.
- Jason Cross of Macworld explains how Siri will change later this year in iOS 14.
- Scott Stein of CNet interviews Kevin Lynch, who is in charge of the Apple Watch at Apple, to discuss the sleep tracking feature that is coming to the Apple Watch later this year.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reviews the Fi smart dog collar, a device for your dog that uses GPS and LTE-M so that you can always track your dog using your iPhone.
- Dennis Sellers of AppleWorld.Today announces that if you sign up for a new Apple Card and use the credit card to pay for an Apple service, you will get $50 in Daily Cash.
- J.R. Bookwalter of Macworld reviews Camera FrontBack, an interesting $1 iPhone app that lets you take a video with the back camera while also embedding in the video a picture of you and your reaction using the front camera.
- Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that an Apple Watch helped to save the life of a California anesthesiologist when it discovered a critical heart disease.
- Julie Cornell of KETV in Omaha, Nebraska explains how an Apple Watch saved the life of a 92-year-old farmer after he fell from a ladder.
- Nick Statt of The Verge reports that Apple has closed more than 25% of its U.S. retail stores due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
- And finally, here is a new promotional video for Apple TV+ that provides an overview of some of the best shows currently on the network, plus some that are coming soon — such as the Tom Hanks film Greyhound, which debuts on Apple TV+ on July 10:
