TECHNOLOGY

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max is shaping up as one of the most ambitious upgrades in years, with leaks pointing to a powerful 2nm A20 Pro chip, variable aperture camera system, significantly smaller Dynamic Island and larger battery as the flagship prepares for a September 2026 launch alongside the company's first foldable iPhone.

NEW YORK — Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) stock draws a resounding "Buy" recommendation from Wall Street in May 2026, with consensus ratings of Moderate Buy to Strong Buy and average 12-month price targets implying 30-50% upside from current levels near $175–$183.

SEATTLE — Steam, Valve Corporation's dominant digital gaming platform, is currently operating normally as of Tuesday, May 5, 2026, with no widespread outages reported across major monitoring services.

NEW YORK — As Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) navigates a volatile 2026 market environment, Wall Street analysts overwhelmingly recommend buying the stock, with a consensus "Strong Buy" or "Moderate Buy" rating and average 12-month price targets suggesting substantial upside from current levels near $610.

NEW YORK — Zoho, the popular cloud-based business software suite, is currently operating normally across its major services as of Monday, May 4, 2026, with no widespread outages reported on official status pages or major monitoring platforms. While some users experienced intermittent issues with specific components like Zoho PhoneBridge and CRM tools in late April, the company's global infrastructure has stabilized, allowing millions of small and medium-sized businesses to continue relying on its integrated applications for CRM, email, project management and more.

NEW YORK — Tesla Inc. shares edged lower by 0.16 percent to $390.20 in midday trading Monday, May 4, 2026, as investors paused following recent gains and positioned for upcoming catalysts including the company's highly anticipated robotaxi event scheduled for August.

NEW YORK — Target's mobile app and website are functioning normally for most users as of Sunday, May 3, 2026, though scattered reports of intermittent glitches have surfaced on social media and outage tracking sites, prompting questions about reliability during peak shopping periods.

NEW YORK — Sony is preparing to unveil the Xperia 1 VIII in May 2026, with global availability expected in June, continuing its tradition of premium flagship smartphones that prioritize photography, display quality and unique features like the 3.5mm headphone jack.

NEW YORK — Sony Interactive Entertainment has reached a $7.85 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging the company illegally suppressed competition for digital PlayStation games, resulting in higher prices for millions of gamers across the United States.

NEW YORK — Sony's next-generation console, the PlayStation 6, remains shrouded in secrecy as of May 2026, with the latest rumors pointing to a potential launch window pushed back to 2028 or even 2029 due to ongoing global RAM shortages driven by artificial intelligence demand, while leaks suggest an ambitious hardware leap featuring AMD's Zen 6 CPU, RDNA 5 GPU and a possible dedicated handheld companion.

NEW YORK — Investors weighing Alphabet Inc. against Apple Inc. as 2026 unfolds confront a classic growth-versus-stability choice, with Wall Street tilting toward Alphabet's AI-fueled momentum and expanding cloud business as the higher-upside pick despite Apple's rock-solid services engine and dividend appeal.

REDMOND, Wash. — Xbox players checking for outages on Sunday, May 3, 2026, found the Xbox Network largely operational with no widespread downtime reported on Microsoft's official status page, though scattered user complaints about connection issues continued to surface on third-party trackers like Downdetector.

Chase Bank customers across the United States reported widespread problems with the Chase mobile app Saturday, with many unable to access accounts, view balances or complete transactions. Downdetector and other outage tracking sites showed spikes in complaints, prompting the financial institution to acknowledge technical difficulties and work on a resolution. The issues come at a time when mobile banking has become essential for millions of Americans handling daily finances.

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Elon Musk announced Saturday that Starlink satellite internet service is now officially available in Papua New Guinea, marking a significant expansion of the SpaceX-owned network into one of the world's most remote and geographically challenging nations.

NEW YORK — Investors weighing Samsung Electronics against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in 2026 face a classic semiconductor showdown: TSMC's ironclad dominance in advanced foundry services fueled by insatiable AI demand versus Samsung's aggressive multibillion-dollar gamble to close the gap through massive capital spending and memory leadership.

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.