Apple on Thursday disclosed its iPhone sales dipped slightly during the holiday-season quarter, signaling a sluggish start to the trendsetting companys effort to catch up to the rest of Big Tech in the race to bring artificial intelligence to the masses.The iPhones roughly 1% drop in revenue from the previous years October-December period wasnt entirely unexpected, given the first software update enabling the devices AI features didnt arrive until just before Halloween, and the technology still isnt available in many markets outside the U.S.The countries still awaiting Apples AI suite include China, a key market where the company continued to lose ground. Although he didnt mention China, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors on a conference call that a software upgrade enabling the AI features in more European markets, as well as Japan and Korea will be rolling out in April.But in the past quarter Apple also was only able to eke out a modest revenue gain across its entire business, although the results came in ahead of the analyst projections that guide investors. The Cupertino, California, company earned $36.3 billion, or $2.40 per share, a 7% increase from the previous year. Revenue edged up from the previous year by 4% to $124.3 billion.Those numbers included iPhone revenue of $69.1 billion. In China, Apples total revenue registered $18.5 billion, an 11% decrease from the previous year.Part of that erosion in China reflected the iPhones shrinking market share in that country, where homegrown companies have been making more headway. Apples iPhone year-over-year shipments in China declined nearly 10% in the most recent quarter, while native companies Huawei and Xiaomi posted year-over-year increases of more than 20%, according to the research firm International Data Corp.While China is a potential risk, we think the appeal of Apple products as a luxury product and the potential of AI innovations will keep demand steady in the country, Edward Jones analyst Logan Purk wrote in a research note assessing the companys quarterly report.The holiday-season results served to confirm bringing AI to the iPhone and Apples other products may not boost the companys recently lackluster growth as much as investors initially thought it might after Cook unveiled the technology before a rapt crowd last June.The anticipation that an AI-infused iPhone would prod hordes of consumers to ditch their current devices and splurge on an upgrade is the main reason Apples stock price surged by 30% last year. But the sinking realization that an uptick in demand may take longer than expected has caused Apples shares to backtrack by 5% during the first month of the new year. The stock initially slipped slightly in extended trading after the numbers came out, but later reversed course and rose by more than 3% after Cook said Apple is seeing a record number of people upgrading their iPhones.I could not feel more optimistic about our product pipeline, Cook said during the conference call. So I think theres a lot of a lot of innovation left on the smartphone.A management forecast calling for revenue that will at least match or exceed analyst projections for the January-March quarter also seemed to bolster investor confidence in the company.The concerns hovering around Apples weakening iPhone sales come against broader worries about whether AI will be as lucrative for U.S. tech companies as once envisioned after Chinese startup DeepSeek released a version of the technology that was built at a far lower cost than had been previously thought possible.Unlike tech peers such as Microsoft, Google corporate parent Alphabet Inc., and Facebook corporate parent Meta Platforms, Apple hasnt been investing as heavily in AIone of the reasons it has been seen as an industry laggard. But that restraint could work to its advantage if DeepSeeks early breakthroughs in driving down AI costs gains momentum.Apples services division remained the companys biggest moneymaker outside the iPhone, with revenue of $26.3 billion in the past quarter, a 14% increase from the previous year. Although the services division has been thriving for years, it generates more than $20 billion annually by locking in Google as the automatic search engine on the iPhone and other products. That deal is now under threat of being banned as part of the proposed punishment for Googles search engine being declared an illegal monopoly.Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer

Last years election came with a Greek chorus: rampant speculation about what a second Trump term might actually look like. Would it be a leaky ship once again? Would a team of loyalists turn it into the well-oiled machine Trump boasted of at the time, but whose true lubrication was debatable? Or would it be more like the dystopia that Trumps harshest critics warned about?If the first 10 days are any indication, what Trumps second administration most closely resembles is . . . Twitter just after Elon Musk took it over.Ever since Trump first announced the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last November, it was clear the Tesla impresario would play a role in Trumps second term. Musk contributed over $250 million to Trumps campaign and boosted the candidate in other ways. Now he would have a seat at the table. Or thats how it looked on paper, anyway. In practice, Musk appears to now occupy several seats. His influence has been unmistakable in the rocky early days of the new administration, and many of its familiar messes.We the tweepleA grinning Musk famously barged into the Twitter offices in October 2022 carrying a kitchen sinka punny nod to the meme let that sink in. Days later, he laid off roughly half the staff.Although Trumps return to the White House was thankfully devoid of any visual puns, it has a similarly disruptive focus on efficiency. At least 240 employees of the federal government have reportedly already been fired, reassigned, or designated to be laid off so far. And just as Musk offered Twitter workers in 2022, Trumps administration on Tuesday presented two million government employees with what seemed to be a buyout option: eight months pay now, if they resign by next week. (Details of the murky ultimatum and its legality seem up for interpretation.)As if the two propositions werent similar enough, the language in the new memo echoes that of the one Musk once sent to Team Twitter. According to the New York Times, the email carrying the respective memos even bore the same subject line: Fork in the Road.Back in 2022, Musk shook up the lives of the Twitter workers who didnt accept his buyout. He demanded a companywide return to office, ending pandemic-era remote work practices; made those remaining employees commit to an extremely hardcore work ethic, which translated to long hours at high intensity; and implemented a broad series of cost-cutting measures around everything from infrastructure to real estate and content moderation.Each of these aspects of Musks Twitter takeover has a counterpart in the new administration. One of Trumps 26 day-one executive orders was a return to office mandate; many roles have new performance benchmarks; some employees have been made to justify their current projects in ambush meetings; and the cost-cutting-at-all-costs ethos has manifested in widespread funding freezes and budget cuts of dubious legality.As if all these initiatives didnt smack of Musk already, helping to enforce them are a collection of loyal acolytes from Musks various businesses, similar to the crew he assembled years ago to hollow out Twitter.But why is that effort something the worlds sole superpower would ever want to emulate?Why what happened to Twitter mattersTwitters transformation into X is not the typical aspirational business story. Musk bought the microblogging platform for $44 billion in 2022; as of last September, its estimated value was $9.4 billion. Ad revenue has reportedly plummeted amid eased content moderation and Musks erratic behavior, while subscription revenue for premium tiers of X has not brought in nearly enough to make up the shortfall. In a recent email to X staff, Musk reportedly described the companys financial situation bluntly: Were barely breaking even.Given the companys tumultuous recent history, that gloomy assessment seems charitable.Beyond the financial decline, Twitter sustained even more grievous damage to its reputation over the past several years. While Musk claimed that part of his motivation for buying Twitter was to correct an alleged bias against conservatives, by any metric, he overcorrected. During last years election, X had become an atmosphere where the right-wing echo chamber thrives, and where legacy media accounts are throttled.While X remains something of a hub for news junkies, it no longer attracts the same heady mixture of athletes, artists, journalists, comedians, and scientists as it did during Twitters 2010s heyday.The United States of XThe same chaos and confusion that engulfed Twitter in November 2022 has spread throughout the federal government since Trumps inauguration. Beyond the flood of sweeping executive orders, the bedlam peaked earlier this week when a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget paused all federal grants and loanswithout clarifying the extent of who might be affected.Although the memo was eventually rescinded 36 hours later, amid an onslaught of lawsuits, the freeze is still ongoing. According to language in the memo, the freeze is meant to root out programs that have anything to do with the broadly defined concepts of DEI or gender identity. However, just about everything beyond a shortlist that includes Medicaid and food stamps is potentially on the chopping block.Anyone whose well-being or livelihood depends on government funding now knows what its like to work in an office where heavy layoffs are imminent. Except more than jobs are at stake.There are plenty of reasons why the U.S. government should not be run like a company. The objective of a businessprofits, profits, profitsis fundamentally at odds with the government objective of serving the public interest and keeping people safe. The same cost-cutting measures that seem to please investors, for instance, can lead to crises like the 2014 water contamination in Flint, Michigana result of the city trying to save money by switching sources for its drinking water.Citizens are more than just a user base. A company like Twitter might troubleshoot how lean it can run without degrading its offering so much that users flee in mass, but the U.S. government has a slimmer margin of error. When its offering is degraded, the results can get far more catastrophic than soft quarterly profits. And sometimes its unclear exactly what or who is keeping degradation at bay until after theyre gone.When Musk took over Twitter in 2022, he fired and laid off so many workers the company actually couldnt afford to lose, the HR team had to create an accidental termination category to re-onboard them all. How many layoffs and firings will he initiate in the new administration before learning the hard way which government employees were important after all?Perhaps theres one bright spot in the ongoing efforts to pare down the government. Some of the former Twitter employees who took the buyout offer in 2022 ended up suing Musk for the severance he never paid. This time around, politicians like Senator Tim Kaine and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are warning anyone tempted not to take the bait.Some of them hardly seem to need the encouragement, however.Employees have been posting on Reddit about how this whole episode has only made them more fired up to stick around and see to the business of keeping the government functioning.

Promotion: the School of Architecture and Design at IE University in Spain has launched a fully funded award for students to apply for its Master of Interior Design in Madrid.The IE and JLL Design Wonder Award launched in collaboration with JLL Project and Development Services (PDS) offers selected candidates a fully funded, intensive 10-month Master of Interior Design programme, along with opportunities to work for two years at JLL offices worldwide.There are nine places in the awards schemeThe course aims to help students address design challenges at all levels, from grand communal areas to smaller spaces.Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of key interior design principles, including social impact, materials and sustainability.There are nine places on the awards scheme. After completing the ten-month programme, selected graduates will get the opportunity to work for two years at JLL offices and apply their experience to real-world projects.JLL Project and Development Services (PDS) collaborated with the university to launch the awardAccording to the university, the initiative will open new opportunities for design enthusiasts and positively impact the next generation of interior designers.It intends to be an intensive year of refining skills, guided by experts, and "learning alongside like-minded peers" and takes place IE University's campus in Madrid, Spain.The School of Architecture and Design at IE University has launched a fully funded award for students to apply for its Master of Interior Design"Great interior designers have the power to transform spaces, enhancing how people live, work and play," said Adrian Davidson, head of design at JLL."Positively impacting the education of interior designers like this ensures the next generation of designers will not only master sustainable practices and leverage technology like AI.""It also means they will master business dynamics and client relationship management, aligning best-in-class design solutions with overarching strategic objectives," Davidson explained.The initiative takes place at IE University's campus in Madrid, Spain"Our collaboration with IE University in delivering masterclasses for interior design students has revealed a powerful synergy between our organisations," said PDS global head of design at JLL Nicasio Gutirrez. "IE School of Architecture and Design's innovative and forward-thinking approach to design education is evident in the quality of global talent they nurture.""As we work with our clients to push the boundaries of design and shape the future, this award represents an exciting opportunity to drive innovation and excellence in our industry," said Gutirrez.Graduates will get the opportunity to work for two years at JLL officesTo be selected as part of the initiative, students must apply to the masters degree as usual and write a 500 abstract explaining why they are a good fit to gain the award.Applicants must have a strong record of academic excellence across the design fields.The course intends to give students a comprehensive understanding of key interior design principlesThe applications close on 16 May 2025 and the masters programme starts at the beginning of September 2025.To find out more about The IE and JLL Design Wonder Award visit IE University's website.Partnership contentThis article was written by Dezeen for IE University as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.The post IE University and JLL launch interior design awards programme appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Showroom:Alejandra Ganda-Blasco Lloret has added the Valentina Up dining chair to her outdoor furniture collection for Diabla, channelling the range's characteristic crisscrossing metal frames into a versatile seat.The new dining chair adds to the Valentina Up range itself an adaptation of Diabla's popular Valentina collection, but with the seats lifted up off the floor on slender legs.The Valentina Up dining chair combines ample cushioning with a slender crisscrossing metal frameGanda-Blasco Lloret said she aimed to the Valentina Up designs to continue to place ample cushioning centre stage, but for the metal legs to bring in a feeling of lightness."I have attempted to design using minimal elements in order to give the cushions more prominence, as they do in Asian culture, Hindu culture or Spanish-Arabic culture," said Ganda-Blasco Lloret.It is an addition to the Valentina Up outdoor collection"Normally with chairs the cushions become complementary elements, not structural, we use them to make us feel more comfortable," she continued. "With the Valentina Up chair, the cushions are an integral part of the design."The Valentina Up chair's frame is made from sturdy textured zinc-plated thermo-lacquered steel. Its cushions are filled with polyurethane foam rubber and polyester fibre and covered with a choice of water-repellent fabrics.Product details:Product: Valentina UpDesigner: Alejandra Ganda-Blasco LloretBrand: DiablaContact: info@gandiablasco.comDezeen ShowroomDezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen's huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.The post Valentina Up dining chair by Alejandra Ganda-Blasco Lloret for Diabla appeared first on Dezeen.

Sprout is an industrial design consultancy that not only does design work, but invests in promising startups. They spied a business opportunity in Yardhaus, a startup that focuses on enhancing outdoor living space.At Home, Outside: Introducing YARDHAUS, a Sprout Ventures-Backed CompanyIntroA major home trend in home improvement is the transition of indoor lifestyle elements to the outdoor areas of the home, outfitting decks, patios, and porches with the same comfort, convenience, and technology typically only found inside. As the founders of YARDHAUS sought to transform their outdoor spaces, they discovered there were no existing string light hanging systems. Recognizing a gap in the market, they sought a solution that enhances the aesthetic appeal of outdoor spaces while simplifying the installation process.Sprout Ventures saw this as a prime investment opportunity, perfectly aligning with our entrepreneurial nature and commitment to supporting innovative, early-stage startups. As part of our business model, we invest in startups by taking part-equity and part-cash payments in exchange for our services. The companies we invest in leverage the full breadth of Sprout's multidisciplinary team to propel projects from concept to launch, ensuring a comprehensive approach to development and market success.The ChallengeTackling Inefficiencies in Outdoor IlluminationYARDHAUS partnered with Sprout to design the Pillar Pro Deck System to address the problem of a complete lack of viable string light installation products. Traditional methods often required ad hoc solutions from big-box hardware retailers, resulting in a time-consuming and frustrating experience one that didn't really solve anything. The Pillar Pro system offers a streamlined solution, revolutionizing how homeowners enhance their outdoor spaces.The ApproachDesigning the Ultimate Outdoor Lighting ExperienceLeveraging the full breadth of Sprout's multidisciplinary team, we developed the YARDHAUS Pillar Pro Deck System, ensuring a premium blend of simplicity, elegance, and functionality. Our comprehensive approach encompassed the full Sprout service profile product research, insights and strategy, industrial design, branding, packaging, merchandising, marketing collateral development, product rendering, and animation culminating in a premium solution that revolutionizes outdoor lighting installations. Product DesignOur industrial design team developed the Pillar Pro Deck System to embody simplicity and sophistication. Comprising just two primary componentsthe Crown Elite anchor and Pillar Pro polethe design facilitates effortless string light installation and adjustment, ensuring a hassle-free experience for users. Its sleek and minimalist aesthetic seamlessly blends with any outdoor setting, enhancing the ambiance while complementing existing decor and architectural elements. BrandingThe brand team crafted the identity by defining key attributes, shaping the brand's personality, and establishing its voice. The outcome aims to evoke an air of poise and refinement, characterized by a serene color palette, assured simplicity, and a visually straightforward design language. Every touchpoint is designed for a consistent and compelling brand experience in every interaction. Package DesignWe designed a comprehensive structural and graphic packaging system for the YARDHAUS product line. Through rigorous testing and refinement, the packaging solution not only safeguards the product but also enhances its shelf appeal, effectively communicating its quality to consumers with a premium unboxing experience. MerchandisingSprout developed engaging retail displays that highlight the features and benefits of the Pillar Pro system, enticing customers with the promise of transforming their outdoor spaces with ease and style. The retail displays are designed to seize shoppers' attention, swiftly communicate benefits, and maintain interest with a simple and inviting appeal. Product RenderingThroughout the design and development process, Sprout's in-house visualization team played a pivotal role in bringing the Pillar Pro system to life. Photorealistic 3D renderings and videos provided stakeholders with compelling visuals that accelerated the go-to-market timeline and garnered support from retailers and investors alike.Insights and StrategyOur strategic approach began with in-depth product research to define clear objectives and milestones. By analyzing user behavior and market trends, we identified key pain points and opportunities for innovation. The Sprout team developed a naming strategy that supports future expansion, and a comprehensive product roadmap to align the YARDHAUS vision with market needs. The OutcomeRedefining Outdoor AmbianceYARDHAUS has garnered rave reviews on platforms like Amazon, with users praising its quality and ease of use. Beyond its lighting capabilities, the Pillar Pro system is poised for future expansion, with plans to expand into accessories supporting outdoor areas of the home with the same comfort, convenience, and technology typically only found inside. You can see more of Sprout's work here.

The intelligent design of wheelbarrows greatly reduce the force required to move heavy loads. But the incumbent design of the handles, unchanged since the object's inception, fails the user when it comes time to dump. When pushing a wheelbarrow up onto its nose, the angle of the handles places stress on the wrists, before eventually overcoming the limits of the joints altogether; at this point the user must awkwardly transition their grip, at the precise moment that the load is growing perilous.To solve this, acompany called Pivot-All Motion Tools has come up with a clever design for wheelbarrow handles that pivot.These allow you to maintain the same neutral wrist posture throughout the entirety of the dumping motion.The company has licensed the design to Milwaukee and other manufacturers. (Hence the disparity between the company's name, Pivot-All, and the "Pivot-Haul" you see in the video above.) They also sell their own version for $70.

When it comes to sports shoes, the bouncier you get, the better. Whether youre running or playing basketball, having the shoes conserve and rebound the energy you put in every step means conserving more of your energy for other things. Of course, you also have to balance bounciness with durability, a problem that shoe designers and engineers constantly try to solve with new technologies and sometimes unusual materials.Japanese sportswear company Mizuno has one such technology that it will be flaunting at the Osaka World Expo 2025 in April this year. More than the brands bold claims of bounciness and softness, the Mizuno Enerzy will probably be most remembered for its rather unusual and perhaps a little disturbing design, with soles filled with spheres that look like bubbles or some otherworldly creature. Perhaps its for the best that it will come in black instead of the original design.Designer: MizunoSome have likened them to caviar because of their red spherical shapes, while others have compared them to eyeballs. In fact, one of the designs for these rather odd sneakers does have red eyeballs beneath the blue upper, just like Osaka Expos equally odd mascot, Myaku-Myaku. The similarity is just coincidental, of course, but the perfect match-up feels almost fated.The bubbly outsole of the Mizuno Enerzy sneakers immediately conjures up images of bouncy things like balls and, well, some bubbles, which is probably the intention behind this quirky design. Its supposed to be a shoe that promises the ultimate bounce and energy return, though funnily enough, its not because of those soles. Mizuno Enerzy technology, particularly the Enerzy Core, is actually found in the midsole.Mizuno Enezy Core, according to the official marketing spiel, is the companys bounciest and softest midsole material yet. It is claimed to be 293% softer (hopefully not a typo), and provides 56% more energy return, giving you more bounce at every step with less effort. If you indeed feel those effects, you probably wont mind how the shoes look, especially if you gain a bit of fame from it. Unless, of course, you happen to have a case of trypophobia or a similar aversion.The original red sole and black upper color scheme of the Mizuno Enerzy was supposed to just be a concept model meant to symbolize that bounciness. For better or worse, Mizuno has decided to actually bring the shoes to the world, though in an all-black scheme that almost minimizes the shocking impact of those small spheres. If you feel like youre missing out on the Osaka Expo connection, however, the insoles still have that alien-like mascot, though wearing the shoes will probably make it feel like youre stepping and squashing the poor thing.The post Mizuno Enerzy is bringing its weird bubbly sneakers to Osaka Expo 2025 in all black first appeared on Yanko Design.

I lived in an era where printed photos and Polaroid cameras were not vintage or a fad but were in fact the norm. Of course living through the digital revolution, I got to see these actual photos become a thing of the past or something that the younger generation looked at with fascination. And eventually, it became a new fad since everything old is new again. Were now seeing the popularity of cameras that can print photos from your phone camera n a blend of the digital and analog. So were also seeing some more innovations for this particular product line, at least in concepts. Designer: Samarth SalujaTrance is a concept for a polaroid-like camera but adds a bit more modern functionalities to it. Its not just a photo printer (like a lot of the polaroid-like products out there) but an actual digital camera that you can adjust and configure to capture the perfect photo at the moment. The name comes from the deep focus we fall into when trying to take photos that best represent our current experience. It has the usual features like a shutter, viewfinder, screen, zoom, dials to adjust focus and aperture, etc.What makes this concept different from other cameras and printers are the incorporation of features that lets you create custom polaroids. The me2 button lets the photographer become part of the moment. By pressing this button after you take your photo, the front camera will take your selfie and then print it at the bottom of the polaroid. This way youre still part of the memory of the moment even though you were behind the camera so to speak. The other innovative feature of the Trance concept is Moments. It lets you access a brief playback of the scenes before and after the moment the photo was taken. It lets you have a more immersive experience of that moment in case you want to relive those times. The design of the camera itself is pretty standard for a camera and printer so its those features that can make this concept stand out. The post Polariod camera and printer concept adds more modern features first appeared on Yanko Design.

Our pick of the most beautiful new theatrical posters.

This Blender animation is ASMR heaven.