Google previously directed employees not to discuss antitrust matters following the search monopoly ruling.

The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surged after President Donald Trump said he authorized a 90-day pause on tariffs for countries that haven’t retaliated against the U.S. The price of Bitcoin rose about 6% to nearly $82,000, while other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana jumped more than 10%. Overall, the $2 trillion-plus global crypto market posted a one-day increase in excess of 7%, according to CoinMarketCap. Crypto traders, like traders of other financial assets, welcomed the news Wednesday that Trump has backtracked on tariffs for most countries just days after announcing an aggressive agenda that upended global financial markets. Trump hasn’t relented on levies on goods imported from China; in the same post on Truth Social, he said he’s increasing tariffs on China to 125%. While the trade war with China is far from over, traders instead celebrated that Trump reduced reciprocal tariffs on other countries to 10% during the pause period after a brutal few days of whipsawed trading. Before announcing the pause, Trump posted on Truth Social urging Americans to “be cool” and that “this is a great time to buy.” The price of cryptocurrencies has provided an interesting read on the pro-crypto Trump administration. While cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin rallied in the weeks following his November 2024 election victory, that enthusiasm had already dissipated by mid-January when Trump returned to the White House. Bitcoin bear market In March, Bitcoin entered a bear market, defined as a decline of at least 20% from a high. Even with Wednesday’s gains, the price of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap is still down more than 22% from an all-time high of more than $109,000 just hours ahead of Trump’s second inauguration in January. Since then, global crypto markets have lost nearly $900 billion in value. Meanwhile, the major U.S. stock indices have thus far not entered bear markets, though they were all in bear market territory in recent days. Trump’s announcement Wednesday buoyed stock prices, as the S&P 500 jumped 9.5% and the Nasdaq 100 spiked 12%. Still, while some sense of euphoria has returned to financial markets, some crypto experts caution that it could be some time before these assets recover their losses as the newest traders are being hit hardest by losses. Ki Young Ju, the CEO of CryptoQuant, has predicted the Bitcoin bear market could last as long as six months, for example.

The Elouera tiny house, measuring 9 meters (nearly 30 feet) in length, features a spacious covered porch that promotes indoor/outdoor living, making it ideal for a small family on the move. It boasts a bright, open interior design and operates off the grid using solar power. Designed by Australia’s Tiny Solar Homes, the Elouera is built on a triple-axle trailer with an aluminum frame and exterior, ensuring durability. Designer: Tiny Solar Homes Access to the home is provided through an optional outdoor porch, which enhances the living space. The sliding glass doors seamlessly connect the interior with the outdoors, allowing for an open, airy atmosphere. The living room is designed to be light-filled, thanks to its ample glazing and high ceiling. It features a sofa bed that can accommodate two people, along with built-in wall speakers that are part of a surround sound system, and a TV for entertainment. Adjacent to the living area is the well-appointed kitchen. This space is thoughtfully designed with stone countertops and includes a breakfast bar that seats two. The kitchen is equipped with an oven, a four-burner propane stove, and a fridge/freezer. It also houses a small dishwasher and an integrated air-conditioning unit, ensuring comfort and convenience for residents. The Elouera’s bathroom is well-equipped with a vanity sink, a shower, and a standard flushing toilet. For those interested in eco-friendly options, the toilet can be upgraded to either a composting toilet or an incinerating toilet for an additional cost. The bathroom also serves as a washroom, featuring a convenient washer/dryer unit. To enhance ventilation and maintain a fresh atmosphere, louver-style windows are installed. The Elouera contains two bedrooms, both designed as loft-style spaces with low ceilings that add a cozy touch. These lofts are accessible via a staircase that cleverly incorporates storage, providing practicality without sacrificing space. The staircase leads to a hallway, with each bedroom situated on opposite ends of the tiny house, ensuring privacy. Despite their compact size, each bedroom is adequately spacious to accommodate a queen-sized bed, offering a comfortable sleeping area for residents. As previously noted, the Elouera tiny house derives its power from an array of solar panels mounted on the roof. This solar setup is connected to an inverter and a battery storage system, ensuring that the home remains powered even during nighttime or adverse weather conditions. The system can also be upgraded with additional batteries. The Elouera also offers customization options to better suit the needs and preferences of its occupants. Prospective buyers can add another bedroom or choose from a selection of different materials available. Currently, there is no available information regarding the price of the tiny home. The post This 30-Foot Solar-Powered Tiny Retreat Is Perfect For Families Who Want An Off-Grid Lifestyle first appeared on Yanko Design.

Uses for CAD range from architecture to product design and more.

Players of the mega-popular battle-royale game have a particular way of speaking. Unlearning it can be a challenge.

The spacecraft are the online giant’s entry into beaming wireless service from space, but the company has much to do before it can compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.

Macworld Apple is one of the world’s most valuable and powerful companies, offering some of the world’s most popular products. And yet, with the stroke of a sharpie, a raft of U.S. tariffs threatens its entire business. Life comes at you quick. Speculation says that the prices of Apple products are headed up. Apple Stores are crowded with buyers who are trying to beat the anticipated price increases. But while prices are probably going up, that’s only one of the many levers Apple can pull in order to deal with the tariff situation. Here’s a look at what the company might do to mitigate the tariff issue as much as possible. Eat into profit margins Here’s something Apple could do to deal with tariffs: hold prices steady and let all the added costs eat into its profit margins. It will never, ever do that because no company prizes its profit margins more than Apple, but it’s certainly an option. At the very least, there’s a short-term option for Apple to mitigate some of the tariff expenses by reducing product profit margins, at least temporarily. Let’s put this in perspective: Apple’s reported products gross margin last quarter was 39.3 percent, the highest it’s been in recent memory. Obviously, margin varies by product, but Apple is one of the world’s most profitable companies because it has enormous profit margins. (That’s why they call it money!) One way Apple could (but won’t) respond to the tariff situation is to take in lower profits from iPhone and other sales.Connor Jewiss / Foundry Every time I read about a billionaire sports team owner refusing to pay players, I am reminded that rich folks didn’t get rich by spending all their money. Similarly, Apple didn’t get where it is by cultivating a culture of acceptable hits to its profit margin. Any proposal to allow those margins to drop is going to be fought off like a body rejecting a virus. And yet… it’s a tool in Apple’s arsenal. As I wrote above, it’s a short-term option, and taking less profit to smooth out pricing is definitely an option, but in the long term, Apple is going to want its profits. Play a shell game Apple doesn’t just make products in China. It makes iPhones in India and Brazil and has been moving more production of various products to Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Different countries have different tariff levels, so Apple can redirect its production to minimize tariffs in the U.S. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Apple is planning to send the U.S. more iPhones from India (26 percent tariff) rather than China (54 percent). Apple also makes a small number of phones in Brazil (10 percent tariff), but might be tempted to ramp up production there. For all products that are manufactured in more than one location, Apple will be able to change the flow of those products to optimize its profits. If it’s cheaper overall to send the entire factory output from Brazil to the United States and then import phones into Brazil, it could choose to do so. The problem, of course, is that getting these plants up and running takes time, and it’s really only been since the pandemic that Apple has stepped up efforts to diversify its manufacturing and assembly operations beyond China. Apple can play a shell game with product shipments, sending those over there while these others come over here, but it can’t make new assembly plants spring up overnight. Raise prices For a company that makes huge profits, Apple actually hates changing the prices of its products. The iMac has almost always cost $1,299. The last time there was a major iPhone price hike, it was cloaked behind the splitting of the line between the more expensive iPhone X and the iPhone 8. (That split is basically the split between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro today.) Or take the MacBook Air, which Apple really wants to start at $999. When the M2 Air arrived, it carried so much new tech inside that the company had to price it at $1,199–and so it kept older models around for years until, with the M4 Air, it could finally get the new model’s base price down to $999. Yes, Apple reaps huge profits from its products, especially from all the add-on options that elevate products above their base configurations, but it sees enormous value in price floor stability. That’s what the impact of tariffs is threatening to dislodge. Apple hasn’t raised the price of products like the iMac in some time.Foundry Thanks to inflation, though, the net result of Apple’s solid pricing floors is that its products have actually cost less over time. As pointed out by Ben Thompson, the real-price cost of a new iPhone has gone from $799 in 2020 dollars to $657 as of last fall. If Apple were to simply re-price its products to reclaim all the value lost to inflation since 2020, the iPhone 16 would start at $980, and the MacBook Air would start at $1,226. That’s probably asking too much of consumers, but it would be very easy for Apple to raise everything by 10 to 20 percent and reclaim some of the tariff cost. However, I’d be surprised if Apple re-prices its existing products while they’re on store shelves. In other markets, Apple has tried hard to keep its prices from floating based on the vagaries of foreign exchange rates. Yes, repricing has happened from time to time, but it always feels more like the exception that proves the rule. It’s more likely that as Apple introduces new versions of existing products, it’ll do so at higher starting prices. So this fall, the rumored M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro would start a bit higher than they do today. Another option Apple has used to cloak price increases is to eliminate old base configurations so that the new base has a higher price with a larger margin built in. This is what happened with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which eliminated the prior year’s $1,099 Pro Max option with 128GB of storage, making the $1,199 model with 256GB of storage the base. An extra 128GB of storage doesn’t cost anywhere near $100, so that change instantly boosted the minimum profit Apple made from any iPhone Pro Max sold. Over the next year, as Apple adjusts to tariffs and inflation, expect some combination of regular price increases and the removal of low-spec options. Work the refs Apple’s top strategy goal during this process isn’t about pricing or manufacturing; it’s about politics. During the first Trump administration, Tim Cook worked hard to ensure that the White House knew about Apple’s issues with international trade policy, and it worked pretty well for Apple. This administration sure seems different, but Cook is going to earn his money trying to argue for conditions that are more favorable to Apple. And while everything happening right now seems really chaotic and unpredictable, I will say that it’s generally quite hard for a President of the United States to be perceived as harming great American businesses that dominate across the globe, especially if it favors foreign companies (like Samsung) that manufacture their products in more favorable tariff environments. TIm Cook might have to work extra hard with President Trump to come up with a way to handle the tariffs.Apple Part of that negotiation will involve Apple doing what it’s already been doing since 2016, demonstrating its commitment to American industry and building campuses and manufacturing facilities and the like, and probably offering photo ops where Trump can claim victory and show that his policies are making a difference. Is that cynical? Well, yeah, but that’s politics. None of us can predict where this is all going, but I’d expect at least some relaxation of these policies in areas where the administration can declare victory. Apple’s political goal will be to provide those opportunities so that it can get out from under the most onerous of the tariffs. Play the longest game Tim Cook has built Apple into a tech giant by optimizing the supply chain and manufacturing, relying primarily on China. It’s all gone well so far, but if the international economy changes so much that its largest market is no longer accessible from that supply chain, changes are going to have to be made. Hovering over all of this is also the fact that Apple’s chip supplier is in Taiwan, and any war over Taiwan would be ruinous for both Taiwan and U.S.-China relations. There’s no way to predict the future, and sure, this might all blow over–but would you bet on that if you were Tim Cook? While Cook will likely be prompted to make some showy gestures to get what he wants out of the U.S. administration, he’s also got to make some tough and expensive decisions that have real long-term consequences. If Apple has the will, it’s one of the few companies that could make a real impact in terms of American production capacity, as well as building up capacity in other countries in order to reduce its reliance on a single market. It can’t mitigate all its risk, but it could spend a lot of money to reduce it at least somewhat. This is the long game, though. It’ll likely be measured in decades. But Apple is not a company known for thinking bigger and more long-term than a lot of its competitors. Tim Cook’s final legacy as Apple CEO may be how he starts to unravel the efficient, China-focused manufacturing machine he spent two decades building.

watchOS 12 could see some visionOS-inspired design changes according to a new rumor, but the unreliable source also shares the unlikely possibility that Apple Intelligence will also come to the platform.A new rumor claims the Apple Watch will gain support for Apple Intelligence, along with a visionOS-inspired design.For well over a year, we've heard all sorts of rumors saying the iPhone operating system would take stylistic cues from visionOS. Though multiple less-than-credible sources believed this would happen with iOS 18, it never did. Recently, however, other leakers have said a visionOS-style redesign would instead debut with iOS 19 and macOS 16.Now, a report publication The Verifier, spotted by MacRumors, claims that watchOS 12 will receive the same visual treatment. The Apple Watch will reportedly contain user interface elements heavily inspired by the Apple Vision Pro operating system, with semi-transparent and revamped menus, icons, and more. Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Sony has released a new firmware update for the PlayStation Portal. With the update, Sony is bringing in improvements to the system’s Cloud Streaming Beta technology, as well as other, more general user experience improvements across the board. One of the bigger new features is the ability for players to sort the games in their Cloud Streaming catalogue screen. Among the sorting methods available are “Recently Added to PS Plus”, Release Date, and Alphabetical. The update will now also allow PlayStation Portal users to capture gameplay during a Cloud Streaming session. Much like the PS5, the gameplay capture options on the PlayStation Portal make use of the device’s Share button. Pressing it once opens up the create menu. Pressing and holding takes a screenshot, while pressing it twice starts or finishes recording a video clip. Any screenshots and videos captured through this will automatically be uploaded to the cloud server, which can then be accessed through the PlayStation App. Captures are stored for 14 days. If PlayStation’s cloud streaming servers are full, the PlayStation Portal now allows players to join a waiting list. This also lets the player know what the estimated waiting time will be, and the waiting list will automatically start the game when it becomes available. Cloud Streaming users can now also pause their game during a session. This is done by opening up the PS Portal quick menu by hitting the PS button. A game can also be suspended by putting the PS Portal into rest mode. However, a streaming session will be disconnected if the PS Portal is in rest mode for more than 15 seconds with a game suspended. In order to further help players manage their time during Cloud Streaming, the PS Portal will also display a notification in case the player has been inactive in the game for long enough that the session is close to being ended automatically. Ultimately, there is also a new feedback screen where PS Portal users trying out the Cloud Streaming beta can submit their feedback for Sony. “Thanks to the support and feedback from our player as we continue to add new features to further enhance the PS Portal experience, including support for select public Wi-Fi networks, which we launched last year,” wrote Sony Interactive Entertainment’s VP of Product Management Shuzo Kikuchi on the PlayStation Blog. “We hope you enjoy the new beta features – your feedback is essential for us to evolve the streaming game experience even further, and we look forward to hearing what you think!” The PlayStation Portal kicked off its Cloud Streaming Beta back in November 2024. The beta, available specifically to PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers, features a library of more than 120 PS5 games from across the PlayStation Plus catalogue. This includes major releases like Monster Hunter Rise, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Ghost of Tsushima. The device is currently capable of streaming games at up to 1080p and 60 frames per seconds. It is also capable of making use of all DualSense features of the PlayStation Portal even when streaming games.

The gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Found across Europe, it is typically orange with two large brown spots on its wings and a brown pattern on the edge of its wings, although a large number of aberrant forms are known. The eyespots on the fore wings most likely reduce bird attacks; the gatekeeper is therefore often seen resting with its wings open. Colonies vary in size depending on the available habitat, and can range from a few dozen to several thousand butterflies. This male gatekeeper was photographed in Bernwood Forest in Buckinghamshire, England. The photograph was focus-stacked from 15 separate images. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp Recently featured: Florence Price Blue-ice area Buff-tailed coronet Archive More featured pictures