TECHNOLOGY

NEW YORK — Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series continues dominating the foldable smartphone market in 2026, leaving potential buyers weighing whether to purchase the latest Z Fold 8 now or hold out for Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone expected later this year. The decision hinges on immediate needs versus anticipation of Apple's ecosystem integration and premium build quality in its first book-style foldable device.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Alphabet Inc. shares edged lower in midday trading Friday, trading around $384 after the tech giant delivered robust first-quarter results that underscored its dominance in search advertising and accelerating growth in artificial intelligence-powered cloud services. The modest decline of roughly 0.13 percent came amid broader market fluctuations as investors digested strong earnings against ongoing antitrust scrutiny.

Zelle, the popular peer-to-peer payment network used by millions of Americans through their banks and credit unions, has seen scattered user reports of issues on Friday, though major monitoring sites indicate no widespread outage affecting the service as of early May 2026. Customers attempting transfers have posted complaints about delayed processing, app errors and failed transactions, prompting many to ask: Is Zelle down today?

Sony's PlayStation 6 remains on the horizon, with industry insiders pointing to a potential late 2027 or 2028 launch following the successful lifecycle of the PlayStation 5 and its Pro variant. While official details are scarce, leaks, analyst reports and hardware trends paint an exciting picture of what gamers can expect. As anticipation builds, here are 10 compelling reasons why the PS6 could prove irresistible upon release, blending technological leaps with enhanced experiences that build on PlayStation's legacy.

NEW YORK — Twilio Inc. shares skyrocketed more than 16% in early trading Thursday after the cloud communications company delivered stronger-than-expected first-quarter results and raised guidance, reigniting investor enthusiasm and prompting fresh debate over whether the stock represents a compelling long-term buying opportunity in an artificial intelligence-driven enterprise software landscape.

NEW YORK — Atlassian Corp. shares skyrocketed more than 24% in early trading Thursday after the collaboration software giant reported stronger-than-expected revenue growth and outlined ambitious AI expansion plans, sparking renewed debate among investors about whether the volatile stock represents a compelling long-term buying opportunity in a rapidly evolving enterprise technology landscape.

NEW YORK — California, Texas and Washington are emerging as the top three states experiencing the heaviest job losses from major corporations in 2026, driven by widespread tech sector restructuring, artificial intelligence adoption and broader economic pressures that have prompted thousands of layoffs across Fortune 500 companies.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday warned investors of significantly higher memory costs in the coming quarters due to an intensifying global supply crunch driven by artificial intelligence demand, signaling potential pressure on the company's hardware margins and hinting at a range of mitigation strategies under consideration.

OAKLAND, Calif. — A viral X thread capturing live courtroom notes from Elon Musk's high-stakes lawsuit against OpenAI has thrust the landmark trial into the spotlight, with the plaintiff's lawyer dramatically declaring that the company "stole a charity" created for the benefit of humanity rather than private profit. The April 28 post by attorney Ariel Givner, who received real-time updates from inside the federal courthouse, quickly spread as opening statements laid bare the bitter feud between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Elon Musk posted a video on X late Thursday showing Grok AI delivering real-time, step-by-step instructions to a blonde woman baking banana bread in her kitchen, quickly racking up more than 12 million views and thousands of replies praising the AI's practical everyday usefulness.

NEW YORK — As artificial intelligence video technology matures in 2026, creators, marketers and hobbyists now have access to remarkably capable free tools that produce cinematic results once reserved for expensive professional software. From text-to-video realism to advanced motion control, the leading free AI video generators deliver impressive output while removing financial barriers for millions of users worldwide.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Meta Platforms Inc. terminated its contract with a Kenyan data-labeling firm after workers reported viewing highly intimate and explicit footage captured by Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses users, including scenes of people having sex, using the toilet and undressing, sparking fresh accusations of retaliation and poor treatment of overseas contractors.

Apple Inc. is on track to unveil its first foldable iPhone in September 2026, according to multiple supply chain reports and analyst forecasts that have intensified in recent weeks. The device, widely expected to carry the name iPhone Ultra, would mark the company's long-anticipated entry into the foldable smartphone market alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at its annual fall event.

NEW YORK — Tumblr users across the United States and several other countries reported intermittent access problems on Thursday, April 30, 2026, with many unable to log in, load dashboards or publish new posts as the blogging platform faced another wave of technical difficulties.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple is preparing one of its most ambitious iPhone redesigns in years for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, with fresh leaks suggesting a foldable-like form factor, under-display Face ID, advanced Apple Intelligence features and major camera improvements for a 2026 launch that could reshape the premium smartphone market.

NEW YORK — Meta Platforms Inc. stock has delivered strong gains in 2026, leaving investors debating whether to buy more shares or lock in profits as the company bets heavily on artificial intelligence while its core advertising business continues to rebound.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Elon Musk took the witness stand for a second day Wednesday in his high-stakes lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, accusing the company's leaders of betraying its founding nonprofit mission to benefit humanity and instead pursuing massive profits through a for-profit structure backed by Microsoft.

NEW YORK — Samsung is facing mounting criticism after its April 2026 security update triggered widespread battery drain and overheating issues on Galaxy S25 and S24 series phones, with thousands of users reporting rapid power loss and no official fix available more than two weeks after the patch rollout.

NEW YORK — MaxLinear Inc. shares surged more than 31% on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, trading around $68.60 in midday action after the semiconductor company delivered a strong first-quarter earnings beat and raised its full-year outlook, driven by robust demand for its high-speed connectivity and AI infrastructure solutions.

NEW YORK — NXP Semiconductors NV shares skyrocketed more than 24% on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, trading around $314 in morning action after the analog chipmaker reported robust first-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations and highlighted broad-based growth driven by industrial, automotive and AI-related demand.

NEW YORK — Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SIMO) shares surged more than 32% on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, trading around $314 in morning action after the company reported blockbuster first-quarter results that far exceeded expectations, driven by surging demand for its embedded storage controllers and AI-related solutions.

NEW YORK — Shopify, the leading e-commerce platform for millions of online businesses worldwide, faced significant technical difficulties on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, with numerous merchants reporting problems accessing the admin dashboard, login failures and delayed processing of orders and payments.

BERLIN — Elon Musk congratulated the Tesla team at Giga Berlin on Wednesday after the factory reached the major milestone of producing 1 million drive units, marking a significant achievement for the company's European manufacturing operations and underscoring its growing presence in the global electric vehicle market.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple's long-awaited foldable iPhone, widely referred to as the iPhone Fold, has been delayed to 2027 as the company continues to wrestle with technical and cost challenges, according to the latest supply chain reports and analyst briefings. The news has reignited intense speculation about how Apple plans to enter the foldable smartphone market dominated by Samsung and Chinese manufacturers.

NEW YORK — Users of X, formerly known as Twitter, reported scattered technical difficulties on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, with complaints centering on login failures, slow-loading feeds and intermittent access problems affecting both the web platform and mobile app across multiple regions.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple has rolled out iOS 26.4, delivering a long-requested feature that allows users to set custom alarm tones on their iPhones for the first time, ending years of frustration for millions who have been stuck with the limited built-in sounds since the smartphone's launch.

NEW YORK — As PlayStation 5 sales continue strongly into 2026, rumors about Sony's next-generation console — the PlayStation 6 — are heating up, with leaks suggesting a potential 2027 or 2028 release window, advanced AMD silicon delivering up to three times the performance of the PS5, and possible multiple device variants including a dedicated handheld.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple has pushed back the launch of its long-awaited foldable iPhone to 2027, according to multiple supply chain reports and analyst briefings, as the company continues to wrestle with technical hurdles, high production costs and concerns about durability in a market already crowded with competing foldable devices.

NEW YORK — Microsoft Outlook users faced renewed disruptions on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, with widespread reports of login failures, email sync issues and intermittent access problems affecting both Outlook.com and the desktop application across multiple regions.