Here’s your firmware update for December 7, 2024
The year might be coming to a close, but there’s still a few more weeks of 2024 for the tech giants to cram in some announcements ahead of 2025 and CES in January – and that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Hot on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday we’ve had some major moments take place such as PlayStation turning 30 – sorry if that makes some of you feel old – and Spotify Wrapped 2024 highlighting what our year looked like in music. One of our colleagues listened to Beyonce for over 17,000 minutes this year (or over 12 days) and we can’t decide if that’s far too much or not enough.
To catch up on all that and more (tech news we mean, not 17,000 minutes of Beyonce) then scroll down for this week’s seven biggest tech news stories. And once you’re all up to speed check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to stream this weekend.7. Sony turned the big 3-0
Even if you missed out on the quick-to-sell-out 30th Anniversary edition PS5 consoles and accessories, you can still celebrate the 30th anniversary of PlayStation (which officially took place on December 3) with some limited-time digital cosmetics and gaming deals.
The first are new free PS5 themes which aim to mimic the look and sound of PlayStation eras on your dashboard, with options for PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, and a general 30th anniversary theme. The catch? They’re only available for a limited time but this writer hopes Sony changes course so they’ll get to keep using their PS2 theme for years to come.
Then there’s the Anniversary sale which boasts sales and a large range of iconic PlayStation titles across PS4 and PS5 consoles. Of note, The Last of Us Part 1 is 50% off, the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is 60% off, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, received a massive 80% price cut. The sale will run until December 20.
Read more: Sony announces its PlayStation 30th Anniversary sale6. IKEA smart lights got brighter
IKEA smart tech – such as its bulbs, fixtures, and lamps – might not be as expensive as the competition but they can offer a lot of the same useful features at fraction of the cost. And thanks to an update this week they just got a feature to more closely match the smarts of Philips Hue lights – now IKEA’s smart lights can intelligently adjust their settings throughout the day
The feature just dropped onto the iOS version of IKEA’s Home Smart app, with this dynamic adaptive lighting tool automatically adjusting the bulbs to cooler temperatures during the middle of the day, and warmer hues towards the beginning and end of the day.
