Apple's earnings for the second fiscal quarter surpassed expectations; however, future growth prospects remain clouded by President Trump's tariff policy. In response to escalating tariff pressures, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the majority of devices sold in the United States will henceforth be manufactured in India and Vietnam. The company anticipates that these tariffs will inflate costs by approximately $900 million during the third fiscal quarter. Additionally, Apple's sluggish progress in AI development and the legal hurdles faced by the App Store in the US have dampened investor confidence. Despite a robust financial performance in the current quarter, Apple's stock price declined by roughly 4% during after-hours trading.

In response to the court's decision in the legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, Apple has revised its app review guidelines to align with the verdict. At the heart of the dispute was Apple's policy that limited developers' ability to inform users about alternative in-app purchasing options. This update marks a compliance effort with the court's ruling.

Apple has secured a groundbreaking new patent for the anodized casing of its iPhones and iPads. This patent showcases a sophisticated design that incorporates a metal substrate, a porous anodized layer, and a hydrothermal sealant coating. The primary objective of this innovation is to tackle the persistent problem of fingerprints and stains that easily mar device surfaces. The revamped design not only bolsters the anti-fingerprint capabilities and simplifies cleaning but also ensures the long-lasting durability of the casing. Additionally, the patent provides versatility by offering two material options: aluminum alloy and titanium alloy, tailored to meet the diverse needs of users.

In an article published on May 2, The New York Times asserted that Apple Inc. continues to heavily rely on China, despite the mounting pressure from the US government. The report suggests that without the crucial support of Chinese suppliers, Apple's market value could potentially plummet by more than 50%.

As of May 2, 2025, Microsoft will introduce a default passwordless mode for all newly registered accounts, leveraging advanced login methods like Passkey and push notifications. The company has unveiled a streamlined login interface that prominently features the passwordless option, enhancing user experience and simplifying the authentication process. Boasting a user login success rate of 98%, Passkey significantly outperforms traditional password-based systems. To underscore this shift, Microsoft has renamed "World Password Day" to "World Passkey Day" and aims to vigorously promote Passkey technology over the next year. With daily Passkey registrations nearing 1 million, it's evident that consumers are increasingly embracing passwordless authentication methods.

Recently, numerous netizens have taken to social media to report the launch of online motorcycle hailing services in various counties across the nation. These platforms have quickly gained traction among users for their competitive pricing and convenience. Notably, 'ModeYiXia' and 'DaMoXing' are two prominent platforms that enable users to hail a motorcycle directly through WeChat Mini Programs. The user interface of these apps mirrors that of online car-hailing services, allowing customers to effortlessly set their pickup and drop-off locations before awaiting a driver's acceptance of the request.

During a quarterly earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook disclosed that if current US tariff policies persist, the company anticipates an additional $900 million in costs for its fiscal third quarter. This figure is contingent upon any adjustments made to the tariff policies in the future.

In the Windows 11 24H2 update, Microsoft has made the bold move to enable the BitLocker device encryption feature by default, with the intention of bolstering system security. However, this decision has inadvertently sparked a series of incidents where users have lost their data. Reddit user MorCJul shared their experience, highlighting that Microsoft automatically enables BitLocker encryption upon logging in through a Microsoft account, which could potentially jeopardize user data. For those less tech-savvy, they might remain unaware that their devices are encrypted and may lack the knowledge to securely store the encryption keys. If access to their Microsoft account is compromised, their data could be lost forever. Furthermore, some users have reported that Windows updates have disrupted certain functionalities, necessitating the input of a decryption key, a fact that Windows failed to inform users of in advance.

Samsung has officially unveiled high-definition renderings of its upcoming Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone, offering a trio of captivating color options: titanium crystal black, titanium crystal ice blue, and titanium crystal silver. Positioned as a mid-to-high-end device, the S25 Edge boasts an impressive 5.8mm ultra-slim design, a spacious 6.66-inch screen, and is poised to make its debut in China and South Korea. The anticipated price tag for the 256GB variant stands at approximately RMB 7,413, with an official launch scheduled for May 23, followed by a phased global rollout. To meet anticipated demand, Samsung intends to manufacture 3 million units.

The Pentagon Inspector General is broadening its investigation into the Signal group chat incident that involves Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The probe now encompasses the analysis of a second chat log and an examination of how sensitive information was transferred from government-secured computers to Hegseth's personal devices. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the investigation seeks to uncover more intricate details surrounding this matter.

Microsoft is forging ahead with its commitment to passwordless authentication. Effective May 2, 2025, newly created Microsoft accounts will automatically adopt a passwordless mode, enabling users to log in via innovative methods like passkeys, push notifications, or security keys. This initiative is designed to bolster security and streamline the user experience, boasting a login success rate of up to 98% for passkey users. Furthermore, Microsoft has unveiled a refreshed login interface that prominently showcases passwordless options, making the process even more intuitive and effortless.

On May 2, Taobao's official Weibo account announced that Taobao Flash Buy would be rolled out nationwide on the same day, four days ahead of its initial schedule. From this moment on, users across the country can claim two substantial takeout red envelopes per person per day, in addition to enjoying long-term perks such as fixed pricing and free orders for brand products. The decision to advance the nationwide launch from the original May 6 date was spurred by the overwhelming enthusiasm demonstrated by both consumers and merchants. According to insiders at Taobao, the unanticipated surge in consumer interest and the active participation of merchants from cities nationwide were the primary drivers behind this early rollout.

Microsoft has officially announced that support for Windows 10 will terminate on October 14, 2025. Following this date, Windows 10 users will no longer receive free software updates, technical support, or security patches via Windows Update. This announcement also extends to standalone Office versions, encompassing Office 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016. Although these applications will continue to function post-support, Microsoft cautions users about potential performance and reliability issues. To mitigate these risks and maintain ongoing support, Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows 11. Furthermore, for those who prefer to stay with Windows 10, Microsoft offers a paid Extended Security Updates program, which extends security updates for up to three years beyond the official support end date.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has officially granted California's request to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Initially outlined by the California government in 2020, this ambitious plan mandates that all newly sold passenger cars, SUVs, and small pickup trucks in the state must achieve zero emissions by 2035, with a provision allowing up to 20% of sales to be plug-in hybrid vehicles. Securing this exemption from the EPA was crucial for California to move forward with its goal. Despite this regulatory green light, claims that the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to reject California's plan have yet to be substantiated by authoritative sources.

Inspired by the unique attributes of nematodes, a Chinese research team has triumphantly engineered a microrobot known as the "mechanical nematode," featuring a blood gel fiber with a 1-millimeter diameter. Propelled by a magnetic field, this sophisticated device has demonstrated remarkable precision in delivering drugs intracranially in animals. The groundbreaking findings of this research have been published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Intel is set to release the inaugural SKU of its Panther Lake processor by year's end, boasting a 4P+8E+0LPE+4Xe configuration and a 45W power consumption design. This variant is tailored primarily for the thin and light gaming laptop segment and notably excludes an LPE integrated graphics processor, opting instead for 4 Xe3 GPU cores. This differs from earlier speculations about a 4P+8E+4LPE+12Xe model. Additional configurations are slated for debut in early 2026. Leveraging Intel's cutting-edge 18A process technology, the Panther Lake processor is anticipated to exceed 170TOPS in AI computing power, promising users unparalleled performance and energy efficiency.

In the first quarter of 2025, the Chinese hardcover real estate market contracted significantly, shrinking to 61,000 units, a 42.1% year-on-year decline. Despite this trend, the adoption of smart home systems in these properties defied the broader market downturn, reaching 21,500 units with a configuration rate of 35.3%, marking a 4.5% increase from the previous year. The competition was fierce, with 17 brands participating, but the top 5 brands collectively dominated 77% of the market, a substantial 23.7% increase year-on-year. Domestic brands shone brightly, capturing 94.1% of the market share, with Huawei, Dnake, and CloudThink leading the pack. Foreign brands, on the other hand, accounted for only 5.9%, with Morgan and TCL-Legrand being notable exceptions. Notably, among newly launched high-end projects priced above 50,000 yuan, Huawei occupied a prominent position with 10 projects.

Apple has issued its financial report for the second fiscal quarter, revealing a total net revenue of $95.359 billion, marking a 5% year-over-year increase from the $90.753 billion reported in the corresponding quarter last year. Net profit also saw a 5% year-over-year growth, rising to $24.780 billion compared to $23.636 billion in the same period of the previous year. In Greater China, revenue amounted to $16.002 billion, experiencing a slight 2% year-over-year decline from the $16.372 billion recorded in the same quarter last year.

Ford initially adopted nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) ternary lithium-ion batteries and, in 2023, added lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to its lineup. Looking ahead, Charles Pan, Director of Ford's Electrification Propulsion Engineering, emphasized that lithium-manganese-rich (LMR) batteries represent the next significant step in battery development. He affirmed that Ford intends to maintain its focus on LMR technology, with plans to integrate these batteries into its future vehicle models by 2030. Ford is actively expanding the application scale of LMR batteries, underscoring its commitment to this promising technology.

DeepSeek has unveiled its latest model, DeepSeek-Prover-V2, which is dedicated to mathematical theorem proving and has achieved groundbreaking results across several high-difficulty benchmarks. In the prestigious Putnam test, DeepSeek-Prover-V2 solved an impressive 49 problems, vastly outperforming the current leader, Kimina-Prover, which managed only 10 problems. Kimina-Prover is a collaborative effort between Kimi and the esteemed AIME2024 champion team Numina. The exceptional performance of DeepSeek-Prover-V2 underscores its formidable prowess in the realm of mathematical theorem proving, even with a relatively compact 7B parameter count, showcasing skills that elude much larger 671B models.