Leadership in design requires the humility to listen, the courage to take risks, and the patience to nurture creativity in an oftenContinue reading on UX Collective

If you use Amazon Music, you might feel out of loop this time of year, as Spotify and Apple Music users share their listening stats from Wrapped and Replay, respectively. This year, however, is a bit different: It seems Amazon has finally jumped onto the end-of-year recap bandwagon, rolling out its own version to users it calls "Delivered." (Get it? Because Amazon?)If you've ever used a platform with a yearly recap, Amazon Music Delivered seems pretty standard: The feature summarizes your listening activity for 2024, including stats like your top artists, songs, and podcasts of the yearif you used Amazon Music for your podcasting needs, of course. Amazon also says that you'll see any "hidden gems" you discovered, as well as the "top request" you made on Amazon Music via Alexa. I'm sure your social media feeds will be abuzz with that stat.Amazon does say that certain listeners may receive a message from one of their top artists. The company didn't confirm which artists provided these messages, but Amazon does say you need an "Alexa-enabled" device in order to receive messages. In any case, it's a big improvement over how things used to work: Amazon Music used to offer an annual playlist, comprising your top tracks from the past year. But this new feature, like Spotify Wrapped, is a more engaging way to review your 2024 listening habits. How to find your 2024 Amazon Music Delivered To check out your 2024 Delivered, open the Amazon Music app on your iPhone or Android, then head to your Library. Here, tap the "2024 Delivered" banner, and you're in. While all the graphics are new, you can still access a year-end playlist. You'll find these as a new "Top Songs 2024" playlist, rather than the old "My Year in Review" playlist. You can also ask Alexa to play the playlist by saying, "Alexa, play My Top Songs 2024." If you have an Alexa-enabled device attached to your Amazon Music account, you'll see a blinking yellow light if you received a message from a top artist. Credit: Amazon

PlayStations 30th anniversary is here, and in addition to running over 500 sales, Sony is celebrating by giving PS5 owners a little bit of nostalgia.As part of an update released yesterday, PlayStation 5 owners can now customize their home screen, menus, and system sounds to resemble the interfaces of past PlayStation consoles instead, all the way from the original to the PS4 (portable consoles notwithstanding).Its the systems first real go at themes, which are a standard feature over on Xbox, but sadly, the changes will only work for a limited time, with no announcement yet on when the fun will be over.Personally, my husband and I are running the PS3 theme on our PS5, since hes got a soft spot for the old XMB menu. It doesnt quite replicate that, but we do get the old soft click sound when moving between games and apps, and theres a PS3-style abstract background that now sits just under our app bar. Putting the PS5 to rest also now sees our console thank us for 30 years of play (they dont know I personally skipped the PS3), which youll also see regardless of how you customize your UI.The PS1, PS2, and PS4 all have different menu effects (personally, Im partial to the PS2 cube background), and theres also a general 30th Anniversary theme that highlights the classic PlayStation shapes. Regardless of which option you pick, they all share one especially neat trick powering on a PS5 running the anniversary update, regardless of which console youve chosen to apply as your theme, will run the original PSOne boot screen, complete in all its compressed glory.Again, theres currently no word on when the anniversary update is set to expire, or if enterprising gamers will be able to keep their hands on these themes somehow. Regardless, heres how to get the anniversary themes and the PS1 boot screen on your own PS5.How to get the PS1 boot screen on your PS5Boot up your PS5. You should be prompted to download the anniversary update, but if not, go to Settings > System > System Software and select System Features Update.Download the update and restart your console. Youll see the original PS1 boot screen and get a few pop-ups introducing you to the feature.Click through the pop-ups to be taken to a page where you can select one of the available themes. Click Appearance and Sound and choose your desired theme.To change your theme again after your initial boot, simply navigate to Settings > PlayStation 30th Anniversary > Appearance and Sound.

Apple has wrapped up all your listening stats in a bow with its annual recap of your entire year in music streaming. This time, you can view the full Replay experience in the Apple Music app via the home, new and search tab yes, no need to go to a microsite for your vital listening statistics. You can save a playlist of your most-played songs in 2024, though that and your stats will be cemented in January if youre looking to kick out a particularly embarrassing song thats wormed its way into your head, you could spam other tracks? You can even access your Replays from previous years (something Spotify doesnt offer with Wrapped).More widely, the most-listened-to song on Apple Music overall this year was Kendrick Lamars Not Like Us, his most recent Drake-diss track. Benson Boones Beautiful Things, meanwhile, was the most identified song on Shazam. Beautifully hard to identify. Mat SmithGet this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest tech stories you missedWalmart completes its $2.3 billion purchase of VizioChina has banned certain metal exports in retaliation for the US chip restrictionsJaguar unveils polarizing concept EV as part of its rebrandMSIs new Claw gaming handhelds have Lunar Lake processorsIntel unveils its budget Battlemage Arc GPUsThe $249 Arc B580 is reportedly faster than NVIDIAs RTX 4060.IntelWho cares if Intel doesnt have a boss! The companys second-generation Xe2 Arc GPUs are real, and once again, they could be compelling options for gamers looking for capable video cards under $250. Confirming leaks from the past week, Intel today unveiled the $249 Arc B580 and the slightly less capable $219 B570, both of which target 1,440p gaming. We liked Intels last cards, but that hasnt stopped its overall GPU market share from falling to zero percent. The Arc B580 cards will be available on December 13 for $249, while Arc B570 models will arrive next month, on January 16, for $219.Continue reading.Firing Pat Gelsinger doesnt solve Intels problemsTurning around 20 years of bad decisions.As Intel searches for a new boss, Daniel Cooper explores the state of things at the chip manufacturer, the missteps made by the outgoing CEO including a disastrous aside about Taiwan and where Intel goes from here.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-intels-ceo-just-suddenly-retired-121513539.html?src=rss

The connected fitness boom of pandemic-era lockdowns is long behind us (hopefully), but Growl, a new startup, is still looking to bolt a workout to the wall of your home. Think of Tonal, except instead of resistance training, it's a boxing-inspired heavy bag session.The wall-mounted Growl is, according to the company, powered by AI and Unreal Engine and appears to have overhead projectors, which beam the image of a life-sized coach onto the convex punching surface. 3D motion tracking technology claims to gather information about your form and technique and provide insights.Besides the projection, the bag has an interactive coaching system to help motivate users. It also supposedly supports side-by-side training, which works great for training partners.Growl isn't available yet, but pre-sales are likely to open in April 2025. Pricing is projected to be between $150 and $190 a month, putting it on the steeper end of fitness devices, if it ever ships. And keep in mind you'll need to install this thing into a wall that can withstand hours of punching.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/this-new-startup-wants-to-be-your-ai-powered-boxing-coach-120022634.html?src=rss

Otoy has released OctaneRender 2025.1 in beta. See what's new in the next production build of the GPU renderer, including a new decal system, rest attributes for texture projection, and the realistic lens camera.https://www.cgchannel.com/2024/12/otoy-releases-octanerender-2025-1/

After Effects 25.1 is outCheck out the changes to 3D workflows in the latest version of Adobe's compositing software for motion graphics and VFX workhttps://www.cgchannel.com/2024/12/adobe-releases-after-effects-25-1/

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Intel shares fell 6% on Tuesday, a day after the chipmaker announced the ouster of CEO Pat Gelsinger.