Sony had a lot of entertainment news to share during its CES 2025 press conference, especially when it came to movies and shows based on PlayStation properties. The company is also expanding its anime streaming service, Crunchyroll, with a new manga app.The standalone Crunchyroll Manga app is coming to iOS and Android later this year. It'll debut in the US and Canada. It will only be available in English at first and support for more languages will arrive down the line. You'll need to pay extra to use the app, however, as it's slated to be a premium add-on for Crunchyroll. The service hasn't divulged which titles you'll be able to read in the app it will announce details about that and publisher involvement at a later date. Web browser support is coming at some point as well.Word of the Crunchyroll Manga app comes soon after Sony was in talks to buy Kadokawa, the parent company of Elden Ring developer FromSoftware and (more pertinently in this case) a major publisher of anime and manga. The companies instead agreed for Sony to take a larger stake in Kadokawa and become its biggest shareholder. As such, it would be quite a surprise if Kadokawa's library of manga was somehow not featured in the upcoming app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/a-new-crunchyroll-manga-mobile-app-arrives-later-this-year-155234860.html?src=rss

Sony has announcedthe latest additions to its Midnight Black Collection for the PS5. The new accessories join existing Midnight Black Collection products, such as the Midnight Black PS5 console cover and DualSense wireless controller.The most important accessories for the PS5 are the controllers, and there are three in this collection. They include the PlayStation Portal Midnight Black remote player and DualSense Edge Midnight Black. Both controllers cost $200.Next, we have audio peripherals. The Pulse Explore wireless earbuds and Pulse Elite wireless headset will now come in Midnight Black. They cost $200 and $150, respectively. Both will come with a felt grey carrying case and necessary accessories.These products are expected to be available on February 20, but pre-order access begins on January 16 at 10AM ET. Participating retailers will also begin pre-orders on that day, but the exact time depends on the region.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sonys-latest-ps5-midnight-black-accessories-arrive-next-month-155005798.html?src=rss

How are you ever going to improve your Elo if you cant stop shivering or sweating in your gaming seat? Razers latest innovation is Project Arielle, a gaming chair that sports integrated temperature controls, plus the companys signature pretty lighting of course. Evolved from the Fujin Pro, Razers breathable mesh chair, Project Arielle uses a bladeless fan system to either warm up or cool down the entire frame. The side of the seat features a touchscreen control panel where you can change the three-speed fan settings and swap between warm and cool airflow. The edges of the seat and backrest have RGD lights that change dynamically from blue to red as the temperature changes, too. The bladeless fan is housed in a cylinder dangling off the base of the backrest like a little stubby tail, and a cable runs from this same area, connected to a sizable power brick. Razer says Project Arielle can reduce the perceived temperature by 2 to 5 degrees C in dry environments, and its self-regulating, energy-efficient heater delivers warm air of up to 30 degrees C (86 degrees F). Razer In action, Project Arielle is surprisingly effective and quiet. I had a chance to experience not just sit in the chair at CES 2025, and it functioned even better than expected. With the warm setting engaged, I felt a breeze of heated air swirl around my head, neck and upper back, and the temperature change was tangible even in a hot room. The cool setting provided instant relief, with the airflow particularly noticeable along my back, neck and under my arms. The fan was noiseless in the demo room, which contained about a dozen people and a handful of laptops and PCs. I strained to hear the fan running in this environment, and even then, it was barely noticeable as a soft hum. As someone whos always chilly, especially in sedentary situations, Project Arielle is an incredibly attractive chair. Instead of piling on sweatshirts and blankets to warm up my frozen bones, Id be happy to just switch on the heating function and bask in the warm air. The cute lights certainly dont hurt, either. Project Arielle is just a concept for now, but Razer has a pretty good track record when it comes to turning its experiments into actual products. Just look at the Project Esther haptic gaming cushion, which debuted at CES 2024 and then went on sale nine months later as the Razer Freyja. Will Project Arielle help boost your rank or shave seconds off your speedrun? Maybe, maybe not. But itll definitely keep you cozy while you try. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/razer-reveals-project-arielle-at-ces-2025-its-first-temperature-controlled-gaming-chair-140053028.html?src=rss

Could a Samsung Galaxy Ring 2 debut at Unpacked?

Maingear's latest custom-built gaming PCs are on display at CES 2025, and trust me, you're going to want to see them in person.

The new Lenovo Legion Go S might be the most exciting PC gaming handheld of 2025 so far, thanks to SteamOS and the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Go.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta both announced $1 million donations, and Amazon and Apple CEO Tim Cook have also reportedly contributed.

We talk about redesigns and rebrands (and refreshes) a lot herebut its easy to forget that its a bit of a small miracle that any of them made it across the finish line in the first place.Briefs. Pitches. Indecisive clients. Money (or lack thereof). And, of course, the design by committee factor that can permeate such projects.So! As we enter the blank slate of a new year, we once again wondered: What would some of todays creative leaders choose to redesign if they didnt have to deal with any of that? What would they choose to redesign, blue-sky style, if budget, time and practicality were no consideration, and they could tackle anything they wanted, from the macro to the micro in the world today?We hit up some of our favorites creatives to ask just thatand were once again surprised and delighted by their thoughtful picks.Redesigning societyWhen a brand needs a refresh, its usually because its gone stale. The world has moved on, but the brand? Not so much. And if the whole companys values are stuck in the past, well, you cant just put [lipstick] on a pig. Things are moving faster than ever, and keeping up isnt optional. So, as everything else evolves, what parts of society are dragging their feet and begging for a rebrand?First off, empathy. Not exactly humanitys strong suit these days. If we could work on that from an early age, the world might look a little less like a mess. Next up, masculinity. Weve got generations of emotionally stunted men who bottle everything up. Add a little extra testosterone, and youve a great recipe for aggression. A modern take on masculinity that values emotional expression? Not [bad].In our industry, AI and data could use a little humanizingtheyre about as warm and fuzzy as a spreadsheet. Advertising isnt faring much better: Its so polished and safe that its practically putting us to sleep. But lets leave industry woes aside and look at countries. The U.S. and Sweden? Both are having an identity crisis. Right-wing politics and fucked up values, they could both use a rebrand that brings things back to basics: a focus on shared ethics and values that actually mean something. Freddie st, Founder, SNASKUndesigning a lotInstead of redesigning something, I would un-design some things. Im not a luddite by any means, but with everyone debating the pros and cons of AI, Im just going to say: Not everything needs to be digital.For instance, the new washing machine in my house had a fancy-schmancy digital display. As soon as the warranty expired, it died. It was useless. But the 30-year-old one in the basement still works just fine. The same goes for cars with digital displays. Putting a giant screen in a car is not an improvement (or necessarily a good idea just because it looks cool)! Those cars will die way before the old ones with analog dashboards.Why do I care? Because when the zombie apocalypse comes (and the way last year went, it might not be far off), my family and I will escape the city by driving an old Volvo (or Dodge Dart) to our bunker in the basement. There we will live, with clean clothes from my old washer/dryer. I will keep time on my old M&Co. watch while some zombie is wearing the useless Apple Watch I threw away. We will listen to great music from my vinyl collection because all the music apps will be gone. (And it wont even be old music, because vinyl is back!) And every once in a while, Ill sneak out of my bunker to yell at the zombies: Get off my lawn!Emily Oberman, Partner, PentagramRethinking healthcareHumanizing the environments where people receive care is a big part of our work. Lighting, materials, sound, the flow and integration of technology and physical features within a spacethey all inform how a patient feels, and not just about the facility. It can influence their attitude toward a challenging prognosis or course of treatment.Its tempting to call these the front doors of the care experience, but that discounts a huge challenge people face before they ever set foot in a clinical environment: choosing health insurance.The way insurers convey details is cumbersome, if not borderline cruel. Lost amid the PPOs, HMOs, in-network deductibles and ridiculous, tiered levels of coverage is the fact that a health plan is one of the most consequential purchases of our lives. Theres no legitimate reason for the vocabulary to be so cryptic.Rather than confuse and obfuscate, what if this terminology helped reassure people that the protection theyre taking out for themselves and their families will benefit them? Lets start by ditching the cryptic abbreviations and instead favor language that conveys the patient benefit and anticipated experience of care. I can think of fewer design interventions that would be more welcome, or more immediately transformative. Matt Quinn, Managing Director, JourneyMaking it easier to make a career choiceI would love to redesign the broken system for exploring and finding ones ideal career path. Mentoring young people is a top priority for me, and it boggles my mind that even with the worlds knowledge at our fingertips, Gen Z seems as mystified about career options as I was at their age. Its not their fault; were just not prioritizing making it easier.Lack of knowledge about careers contributes to our lack of socioeconomic mobility, where the U.S. is ranked 27th in the world. And the problem is not just confined to young folks. Career trajectories are rarely a straight line. What we wanted in our 20s might not be for us in our 30s or 60s. Why is it so hard to find the right match for us?If design is the process of using creativity to solve problems, I would love to redesign the career-matching system with a technology platform that makes it easy and fun to explore the A to Z of work. I imagine it as a cross between a dating app and a career Wikipedia/Reddit. Thoughtfully designed quiz questions help create your profile, leading to introductions to career matches for your passions and aspirations. Learn intuitively. Swipe right to discover more. Swipe left if you are not interested.The depth of information would be crowdsourced and moderated to ensure you get the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unexpected from real people with real experience. Discover the different roles you can play within this profession. Get your questions answered through an AI LLM trained on all the career paths, with the ability to visualize connections from the subjects you studied to potential futures. Dig into the pros and cons for different ages and stages of life. Conjure up salary ranges tailored by location.The platform design would reward curiosity and exploration like Roblox, gamifying the learning experience to dial up the fun factor. Your career, after all, should be engaging and rewarding, and so should the experience of finding the right career choices for you.LinkedInwould you fund this project, please?Julia Beardwood, Founder, Beardwood&Co.Red LobsterWe had a blast rebranding Sizzler, but my new white whale is Red Lobster (Okay, I guess its my white lobster.)Chain restaurants are some of the most important businesses in America, employing nearly 16 million people and bringing in around $227 billion in revenue. We all know about Red Lobsters recent challenges and bankruptcy; regardless, theyre the undisputed GOAT in casual dining. However, for Red Lobster to make the greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry, as their new CEO Damola Adamolekun hopes, they need to remind people why they fell in love with them in the first place. Adamolekun is already championing that at a business level, but now they must put that magic back into their branding.Lucky for them, they have decades of heritage tucked away in their lobster pot (plus those iconic Cheddar Bay Biscuits, I mean, cmon). Red Lobster was modeled after old Maine seafood shacks before General Mills purchased them in the 70s, and they have a treasure trove of brand archives, but thats not what you see today. Like so many casual spots, its a sterile eating environment thats unappetizing and needs an injection of fun. Fortunately, they have all the right pieces and equity to create an ownable brand world. They need only look back at those branded assets from the past and give them an injection of modernity.I want to make Red Lobster all its cracked up to be and help reclaim its throne as a harbor for seafood lovers. After all, we need more third places in this country where all Americans can sit down with friends and family and break breador biscuits.Mike Perry, Founder and CCO, Tavern

The U.S. Defense Department has added dozens of Chinese companies, including games and technology company Tencent, artificial intelligence firm SenseTime and the worlds biggest battery maker CATL, to a list of companies it says have ties to Chinas military, prompting some to protest and say they will seek to have the decision reversed.In recent years, Washington has sought to restrict sharing of advanced technology, including semiconductors and AI, deeming it to be a threat to national security.The U.S. Defense Department updates its list of Chinese Military Companies, or CMC list, annually. With the latest revision, it includes 134 companies. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 bans the Defense Department from dealing with the designated companies beginning in June 2026.Tencents Hong Kong-traded shares fell 7.3% on Tuesday and the company said it would initiate a reconsideration process to correct this mistake, seek talks with the U.S. Defense Department and if need be take legal measures to get it removed from the list. Tencent is the worlds largest video gaming company and operates Chinese messaging platform WeChat.As the company is neither a Chinese military company nor a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base, it believes that its inclusion in the CMC List is a mistake, Tencent said in an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.Unlike other lists maintained by the U.S. Government for sanctions or export control measures, inclusion in the CMC List relates only to U.S. defense procurement, which does not affect the business of the Group, it said.Battery maker CATL said in a statement posted on its website that the company has never engaged in any military-related business or activities, and said that the designation wouldnt have adverse impact on its operations.Like Tencent, CATL maintains that its inclusion to the list was a mistake and that it would proactively engage with the Pentagon to address the false designation and take legal action if necessary to protect company and stakeholder interest. CATLs stock fell 2.84% in Shenzhen.AI company SenseTime said in a statement that the decision to include it on the list had no factual basis.We firmly disagree with it, SenseTimes statement said, adding that the decision has no material impact on our global operations.SenseTime remains firmly committed to working collaboratively with the relevant stakeholders to address this matter, and to safeguarding the interests of the company and our shareholders, the company said.During a daily news briefing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun urged the U.S. to immediately correct its wrong practices, and lift the illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction on Chinese companies.China consistently and firmly opposes the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security, creating discriminatory lists under various pretexts, and unwarrantedly suppressing Chinese companies, hindering Chinas high-quality development, Guo said.Zen Soo, AP Business Writer

Four years after launching a push for more diversity in its ranks, McDonalds is ending some of its diversity practices, citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions.McDonalds is the latest big company to shift its tactics in the wake of the 2023 ruling and a conservative backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Walmart, John Deere, Harley-Davidson and others rolled back their DEI initiatives last year.McDonalds said Monday it will retire specific goals for achieving diversity at senior leadership levels. It also intends to end a program that encourages its suppliers to develop diversity training and to increase the number of minority group members represented within their own leadership ranks.McDonalds said it will also pause external surveys. The burger giant didnt elaborate, but several other companies, including Lowes and Ford Motor Co., suspended their participation in an annual survey by the Human Rights Campaign that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees.McDonalds, which has its headquarters in Chicago, rolled out a series of diversity initiatives in 2021 after a spate of sexual harassment lawsuits filed by employees and a lawsuit alleging discrimination brought by a group of Black former McDonalds franchise owners.As a world-leading brand that considers inclusion one of our core values, we will accept nothing less than real, measurable progress in our efforts to lead with empathy, treat people with dignity and respect, and seek out diverse points of view to drive better decision-making, McDonalds Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski wrote in a LinkedIn post at the time.But McDonalds said Monday that the shifting legal landscape after the Supreme Court decision and the actions of other corporations caused it to take a hard look at its own policies.A shifting political landscape may also have played a role. President-elect Donald Trump is a vocal opponent of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Trump tapped Stephen Miller, a former adviser who leads a group called America First Legal that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies,as his incoming deputy chief of policy.Vice President-elect JD Vance introduced a bill in the Senate last summer to end such programs in the federal government.Robby Starbuck, a conservative political commentator who has threatened consumer boycotts of prominent consumer brands that dont retreat from their diversity programs, said Monday on X that he recently told McDonalds he would be doing a story on its woke policies.McDonalds said it had been considering updates to its policies for several months and planned to time the announcement to the start of this year.In an open letter to employees and franchisees, McDonalds senior leadership team said it remains committed to inclusion and believes a diverse workforce is a competitive advantage. The company said 30% of its U.S. leaders are members of underrepresented groups, up from 29% in 2021. McDonalds previously committed to reaching 35% by the end of this year.McDonalds said it has achieved one of the goals it announced in 2021: gender pay equity at all levels of the company. It also said it met three years early a goal of having 25% of total supplier spending go to diverse-owned businesses.McDonalds said it would continue to support efforts that ensure a diverse base of employees, suppliers and franchisees, but its diversity team will now be referred to as the Global Inclusion Team. The company said it would also continue to report its demographic information.The McDonalds Hispanic Owner-Operators Association said it had no comment on the policy change Monday. A message seeking comment was left with the National Black McDonalds Operators Association.Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Business Writer