While companies like Apple clearly put effort into the design of their new products, that ethos doesnt necessarily always exist in the companies that build more utilitarian electronics products, like power strips. What if, however, the focus on modern design existed inall areas of modern tech? That is the goal of AVOLT. The AVOLT Square 1 is a power solution that blends Scandinavian design with function.At its core the Square 1 serves a purpose. Its basically a cube with power outputs on each side, including three standard US power outputs and two USB-C ports that support power delivery at up to 30 watts. In other words, its perfect for those spots in which you need to be able to power a number of devices at once.It also has a 5.9-foot flexible cable that will allow you to plug it in at nearby power outlets without too much restriction on where you can place it.On top of its functionality, its also built for modern design. The AVOLT Square 1 is a minimalistic-looking cube that comes in one of seven modern colors, including Stockholm Black, Gotland Grey, Shark Blue, New Pink, Oak Green, Nomad Sand, and Opal White.Even better is the fact that it has some flexibility in placement. It comes with a mounting plate that can attach to a wall or other surface, allowing you to magnetically attach the Square 1 to the plate without having to mount clips or Velcro for that placement.The Square 1 has been hailed for its great design, despite its arguably basic function. In fact, the device has won the Red Dot Design Award and the Swedish Design Prize. Our ambition is to only design beautiful objects that we actually use on a daily basis, and that stand the test of time, said Johan Runstrmer, Founder and Creative Director of AVOLT.The Square 1 is the first product that AVOLT is selling in the United States, but itll be followed up soon with the companys Cable 1, a charging cable that follows a similar design aesthetic and is available in basic USB-C form or USB-C to Lightning.In the meantime, you can get the AVOLT Square 1 for $69.99 via avolt.com.

Weekly curated resources for designersthinkers andmakers.This is why earning trust is better than building trust. Earning trust prioritizes user needs over arbitrary design choices. And when those trust credits are needed, they become a competitive advantage in uncertain situations.UX, how can I trust you? By DarrenYeoGone are the days of time-consuming research analysis [Sponsored] Speed up your UX workflow by over 80% with Marvins AI-powered research repository. Say goodbye to bottlenecks and auto-generate actionable, shareable insights using Deep Research Analysis and ChatGPT-like prompts. Get started for FREEtoday!Editor picksYour leadership playbook is outdated Bias, blind spots, and broken systems.By MeghanLoganDoes AI dream of synthetic experiences? When AI falls short of real conversation.By gerryduffyWhen empathy becomes the enemy of productivity How UX inflexibility stalls progress and frustrates teams.By Michael F.BuckleyThe UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about theirwork.The hardest working font in Manhattan Make methinkArresting reality When we consider the sublime, proportion and scale are what principally come to mind, but this experience of being dwarfed by scale isnt limited to the visual. In music, live performances similarly impress upon the audience a sensation that there is something greater than themselves.Natural information architecture As the neocortex is divided by region (vision, hearing, touch, language, etc.), so too are our mental models, which are stored in cortical columns. This is tacit knowledge. We dont know what we know. Perception is the consensus the columns reach by voting, and the basis for our actions and explicit knowledge.Everything in its place Mise en place is something I try to practice in my life where I can. Its a concept that is very important to me, not only when I cook, but for lots of things that I do. I like to be organised, I love to be organised well ahead of time, otherwise I seem to fixate on what could go wrong, right up until the thing happens.Little gems thisweekUX Research isnt optional: arguing like Socrates will help you prove it By JoeSmileyA study of gatcha games: the UX of the Pokemon TCG Pocket app By DaleyWilhelmHow culture shapes UX: Western vs. Asian product design By KristinaVolchekTools and resourcesUI & UX micro-tips: 8-bit anniversary edition A collection of 36 powerful tips to improve your designs.By MarcAndrewThinking past the cliche of LLMs AI design patterns Can we start acting like Product Designers again?By Matt JedraszczykHyper-personalization: a practical UX guide Leveraging real-time data, AI, and behavioral analytics.By Taras BakusevychSupport the newsletterIf you find our content helpful, heres how you can supportus:Check out this weeks sponsor to support their worktooForward this email to a friend and invite them to subscribeSponsor aneditionTrusting UX, outdated leadership, empathy as a roadblock, UI micro-tips was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.The movies and television shows below are the best of what's coming to Hulu this monthaccording to me. Because I'm an expert at watching things. The best of the month is Deli Boys, a fishes-out-of-water comedy about pampered Pakistani brothers who inherit a criminal empire. Also of note: Good American Family, a series based on a very strange true story. Deli Boys, season 1 Created by Abdullah Saeed, Deli Boys is an outrageous comedy series about a pair of sheltered, pampered Pakistani American brothers whose lives are upended when their father dies, and they learn that baba's real money didn't come from the delis he owned, but from the illegal drugs he dealt. Now the sons must take over the family business, but these goofs are the furthest thing on earth from drug dealers. Starts streaming March 6. Good American Family Mark Duplass and Ellen Pompeo star as a Midwestern couple who adopt a child they believe has a rare form of dwarfism, but they start to suspect she's not actually a child, and wonder what nefarious designs she has on their family. Based on the same true stories that inspired The Orphan, Good American Family aims to go deeper than a potboiler by telling its creepy, bizarre story from multiple points of view to explore the subtleties of bias, culture, and trauma that are really behind this odd story. Starts streaming March 19.O'Dessa I don't know whether O'Dessa will be good or not, but this Hulu original is the kind of movie that takes such a huge swing, it's bound to be entertaining, even if it falls apart. It's a sci-fi rock opera in which Sadie Sink plays a farm girl who ventures out into a post-apocalyptic wasteland to save the world through song, so it's bound to be either a classic or a cult-classic. Either way, I am so on board.Starts streaming March 13. Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna When a movie quality camera is pointed at a shooting, you'd think it would be obvious who's to blame, but the story of Alec Baldwin killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust is way more complex than that. Through interviews with people who were there, police interrogation videos, and behind-the-scenes footage from the movie set, Last Take goes beyond the sensational headlines to tell the real story of the day everything went so horrifically wrong.Starts streaming March 11.Control Freak This Hulu original horror movie stars Kelly Marie Tran as a successful motivational speaker whose life is close to perfect, until her head starts itching. The maddening itch gets worse, but not lice. It's a parasitic infection, a malevolent creature that begins to take control of her mind and body. If you're into body horror, you should definitely check out this squirmy, suspenseful flick. Starts streaming March 13.Am I Being Unreasonable? season 2 If you're looking for something unusual to watch, check out Am I Being Unreasonable? Produced by BBC, the first season of this dark comedy/thriller series earned rave reviews for its anarchic, try-everything cinematic style, its sharp writing, and its talented cast headed by Daisy May Cooper. She plays Nic, a woman stuck in an unhappy marriage whose life unravels in hilarious ways when she tells someone her darkest secret. Starts streaming March 12.Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years Bill Burr's new special showcases the honesty, anger, and wit that brought him to the top of the stand-up comedy heap. Age hasn't softened Bill at all: in this deeply personal hour of stand-up, Burr focuses on subjects like aging, death, and male sadness with his unique, don't-give-a-fuck style. Starts streaming March 14.Last month's picksA Thousand Blows Created by Steven Knight, the genius behind Peaky Blinders, this British boxing drama is made for fans of hardcore Victoriana. A Thousand Blows takes viewers to the mean streets of London in the 1880s where we follow Hezekiah (Malachi Kirby) and Alec (Francis Lovehall), two friends from Jamaica who immigrate to the UK only to find themselves fighting for their lives in the crime-ridden East End. The pair run afoul of criminal kingpin and pugilist Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham) and find a friend in Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), head of an all-woman shoplifting gang known as the Forty Elephants.Starts streaming February 21.The Kardashians, season 6 Love 'em or hate 'em, the Kardashians are an American institution, and they're back for another season of rich people hijinks, including the potential of Khlo reuniting with her ex, Lamar Odom, a look at Kim and Khlo's summer getaway to India, and North West's Lion King tribute performance. I can't freakin' wait. (OK, I can wait.)Starts streaming February 6.SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) If you don't like Sly and the Family Stone, we probably shouldn't hang out. Directed by Questlove, whose first documentary series, Summer of Soul, is a classic, SLY LIVES! investigates the life and legacy of Sly Stone through amazing archival performance footage of Sly in his prime and in-depth interviews with the people who were there. Deeper than the "wasn't Sly cool?" movie this could have been, SLY LIVES! doesn't shy away from the bigger issues surrounding his fame or gloss over the downfall of a legend.Starts streaming February 13.My Best Friend's an Animal As anyone with a loyal pet can tell you, love doesn't care what species you are. My Best Friend's an Animal is a for-the-whole-family documentary series by National Geographic that examines the bond between people and unusual, exotic pets. Expect a ton of awwwwws.Starts streaming February 5.Muslim MatchmakerHulu's original series Muslim Matchmaker is from Indian Matchmaking creator Smriti Mundhras Meralta Films, a company with a proven track record of creating cross-cultural, reality dating shows. The series follows the adventures of Hoda Abrahim and Yasmin Elhady, matchmakers who help Muslim Americans find romance. The focus is on traditional Muslim relationships, so this is not a show about hook-up culture; it's a show about finding the person you want to settle down with, but that doesn't mean there's a shortage of awkward first dates. Starts streaming February 11.Wicked Game: Devil in the DesertI can't find a ton of information about this Hulu original documentary series, but I'm intrigued by Wicked Game's official show description: "Hunting the mastermind of a violent abduction, authorities unravel a twisted tale of obsession during the early days of legalized pot." That's a good enough premise for me to give it a spin, for sure. Starts streaming February 4. Shoresey, season 4 I have a confession to make: I'd never heard of Shoresey before today, and I can't believe I haven't been watching this show. Why wasn't I informed? This Canadian sports comedy series is excellent and totally deserves the 100% fresh rating it has on rotten tomatoes. Shoresy follows the adventures of a Shoresy, a foul-mouthed, fan-favorite hockey player on the Sudbury Bulldogs in Sudbury, Ontario, known as the dirtiest player in the game. Hockey comedy has been funny since the original Slap Shot!Starts streaming February 26. Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke If you're a true-crime fan and you're unfamiliar with the bizarre story of Ruby Franke, you're in for twisted treat. Franke was once a prominent mommy vlogger, but something went terribly wrong and she ended up in jail, accused of abusing her children in horrible ways. Devil in the Family promises new insight into this dark story through interviews with the Frankes' eldest children, Shari and Chad, and Ruby's husband, Kevin.Starts streaming February 27.

It's your lucky day if you've been looking for a good deal on a power bank or charging station. A sale on many Anker products is taking place at Amazon. One power bank, the Anker 621, is 35 percent off. That discount brings it down to $26, which is almost a record low. The device typically costs $40. This model is MagSafe-compatible, meaning it'll attach magnetically to an iPhone 12 and above (but, annoyingly, not the new iPhone 16e unless you resort to a workaround) and charge your phone wirelessly. However, if you plug a cable into the Anker 621's USB-C port, you can top up your phone's battery a little faster at a rate of 12W vs. 7.5W for wireless charging. The power bank has a capacity of 5,000mAh, which Anker says is enough to charge an iPhone 15 to 85 percent of its capacity from zero and an iPhone 14 to 80 percent. Anker makes some of the best power banks and best portable chargers around, in our opinion. There are lots of options to consider as part of this sale. A new power bank that Anker introduced at CES has a large enough capacity to top up an M3-powered MacBook Air's battery approximately 1.3 times, per the brand. This model has dropped by 18 percent from $110 to $90. This particular power bank can charge four devices simultaneously it has two built-in USB-C cables, another USB-C port and a USB-A port. It supports fast charging at up to 100W as well. Elsewhere, a 3-in-1 charging cube is down to $104, which marks a 31 percent discount given that it usually costs $150. This compact device can charge your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time. There are a few other deals that caught our eye. An Anker Zolo power bank with a built-in USB-C cable is just $13, which is half off. It has a capacity of 10,000mAh, which Anker says is enough to fully charge an iPhone 15 Pro twice over. Meanwhile, Prime members can pick up a travel-friendly 3-in-1 charging station (that can top up your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods batteries simultaneously) for $88, which is a $21 discount. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/anker-power-banks-and-charging-stations-are-up-to-35-percent-off-right-now-155626053.html?src=rss

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has announced it's investigating how TikTok, Reddit and Imgur protect children on their platforms.The probe into TikTok is looking at how the platform uses it young users' (13 to 17 year olds) personal data for recommendations and suggested content, while the investigation into Reddit and Imgur focuses on both how the platforms are using children's personal information and how they're using measures that estimate or confirm a child's age."If social media and video sharing platforms want to benefit from operating in the UK they must comply with data protection law," UK Information Commissioner John Edwards stated. "The responsibility to keep children safe online lies firmly at the door of the companies offering these services and my office is steadfast in its commitment to hold them to account." The UK doesn't yet know if these companies have infringed on personal data protections.In 2023, the ICO handed down a 12.7 million ($16.1 million) fine to TikTok. The platform had allowed up to 1.4 million children under 13 on it in 2020, and used their data without parental consent. The ByteDance-owned company has also faced backlash in the US around young users, with mixed results.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/uk-watchdog-investigates-chidrens-safety-on-tiktok-and-reddit-153052793.html?src=rss

Roku app Cinema Box plays host to the original, unedited Star Wars.

These sectors are falling behind when it comes to digital transformation, and SMBs are likely at a higher risk.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Monday vowed to defend the interests of America's technology companies against "excessive" European regulation.

Microsoft announced a new health-care AI assistant called Dragon Copilot that builds on its existing offerings.

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has launched a sale of its Hong Kong shares to raise up to $5.2 billion via an accelerated book-building, according to a deal term sheet seen by Reuters on Monday.The company has set a price range of HK$333-HK$345 per share for the offering, representing an up to 8.4% discount compared to the stocks market closing price of HK$363.60 on Monday.The offering is expected to be priced on Monday, the term sheet said.BYD did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.The company plans to use the proceeds to invest in research and development, expand overseas businesses, supplement working capital, and for general purposes.The deal adds to a sharp pickup this year in share offering momentum in Hong Kong, the preferred destination for Chinese companies looking to raise offshore capital, as investors bet on a possible recovery in Chinas economic growth.Shares of Chinas largest bubble tea and drinks chain, Mixue Group, jumped more than 47% in their debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, with new listings in the city recording their strongest start to a year since 2021.The stellar start reinforces hopes for a strong year in new equity issuances by Chinese companies in Hong Kong, as Beijing steps up support for its private enterprises to revive a slowing economy amid heightened geopolitical tensions.The fundraising comes amid a hectic pace of hiring and expanding to other markets for BYD.BYD plans to hire 20,000 employees in Zhengzhou in the first quarter as it boosts production capacity, government-run Henan Daily reported last month.The company also aims to complete its $1 billion plant in Indonesia at the end of 2025, the head of its local unit said in January.BYD, which overshot its global sales target to more than 4 million units sold last year, opened its first EV plant in Southeast Asia in Thailand in 2024, worth $490 million and which has a production capacity of 150,000 units per year.Scott Murdoch, Reuters