Here’s what we have for you today:
• US environmental standards
• Apple and India
• Upgrades from Google
US Environmental Protection Agency goes electric
Overview: The Environmental Protection Agency announced two proposed rules designed to ensure that 67% of new passenger cars and 25% of heavy trucks sold in the U.S. are all-electric by 2032 (from the Biden Administration to reduce planet-warming emissions).
Emission standard: The agency is not forcing a certain number of electric cars be sold, but is setting tighter pollution standards for new cars and trucks with model years between 2027 and 2032.
Estimation: The Biden Administration projects the new standards would avoid emitting 10 billion tons of carbon emissions through 2055.
Apple’s ongoing diversification
The migration: Tech giant Apple assembled more than $7 billion of iPhones in India last fiscal year, tripling production in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone arena after transitioning from China.
Previous struggle: The world’s most valuable company struggled in 2022 with chaos at Foxconn’s main “iPhone City” complex in Zhengzhou, which drove home vulnerabilities in Apple’s supply chain and forced it to cut output estimates.
Expansion: Even before 2023’s iPhone city flareup, Apple had recognized the need to diversify its supply chain. It successfully lobbied for incentives in India and pushed suppliers Foxconn, Wistron Corp. and Pegatron to ramp up locally.
Google Maps upgrading new features
New features: Google is adding new “Maps” features to make it easier for users to navigate national parks using the app. The new updates are designed to help users find the information they need when visiting a national park, such as discovering things to do and finding their way around the park.
The point: The company says this feature is meant to help people easily identify where a trail ends and starts, and what the route looks like.
Plus: Google is also launching a new way to download an offline map for a park. Users can tap the “download” button on the park’s Google Maps listing to download it for offline use. With this option, one can easily find their way around without internet access or cellular data.
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