Category Archives: Technology

Cyber Monday Hits Record $13.3 Billion in Online Spending with Majority of Sales Driven by Mobile

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adobeToday, Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) released online shopping data for the 2024 holiday season covering Cyber Week, the five-day shopping period from Thanksgiving through Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Based on Adobe Analytics data, the report provides the most comprehensive view into U.S. e-commerce by analyzing commerce transactions online, covering over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories. Adobe Analytics is relied upon by the majority of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S.* to deliver, measure and personalize shopping experiences online.

Consumers spent a total of $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, up 7.3% YoY, and surpassing Adobe’s initial projection of $13.2 billion. In the peak hours of 8 pm to 10 pm, consumers spent $15.8 million every minute. Cyber Monday remains the biggest online shopping day of all time, as shoppers took advantage of bigger-than-expected discounts in categories such as electronics (peaking at 30.1% off listed price), toys (26.1%), apparel (23.2%), televisions (21.8%), and computers (21.5%).

Cyber Week (the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday) brought in $41.1 billion online overall, up 8.2% YoY. It was bolstered by record spending online during Thanksgiving ($6.1 billion, up 8.8% YoY), Black Friday ($10.8 billion, up 10.2% YoY) and over the weekend of Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 ($10.9 billion, up 5.8% YoY). Adobe expects the full holiday season (Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024) to hit $240.8 billion, up 8.4% YoY.

Deals are expected to linger in the weeks ahead. After Cyber Week, discounts will come down from their peaks, but shoppers can still find good bargains through December 2024 in computers (peaking at 18% off listed price), toys (18%), electronics (17%), televisions (17%), apparel (17%), sporting goods (16%), and appliances (14%).

“While Cyber Monday remained the season’s and year’s biggest online shopping day, year-over-year growth was stronger on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights. “Early discounts were strong enough that many consumers felt comfortable hitting the buy button earlier on during Cyber Week, with Cyber Monday becoming ‘last call’ for shoppers to take advantage of big holiday deals.”

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Apple reveals 45 app and game finalists for the 2024 App Store Awards

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Apple-reveals-45-app-and-game-finalistsGlobal App Store Editors recognize developers who delivered the highest levels of user experience, design, and innovation

Every year, Apple honors the very best apps and games of the year through the App Store Awards — a recognition of exceptional user experience, design, and innovation from developers across the world. With 45 App Store Award finalists across 12 different categories, these apps and games have helped users accomplish more, be more creative, and better connect with friends and family.

This year, the App Store Awards include a new Apple Vision Pro category, highlighting stunning achievements in the world of spatial computing. App Store Award winners chosen from this distinguished group of app and game developers will be announced in the coming weeks.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate this year’s App Store Award finalists, whose imagination and craftsmanship have produced amazing apps that users love,” said Carson Oliver, Apple’s head of Worldwide App Store. “From games that transport players to fantastical new worlds, to apps that fuel creativity, these developers are delivering remarkable experiences that captivate and inspire.”
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New SAG-AFTRA and Ethovox Agreement Empowers Actors and Secures Essential A.I. Guardrails

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sag-aftra-and-thovoxSAG-AFTRA and Ethovox today announced a new agreement that ensures performers are protected and empowered in the A.I. age.

Co-founded by BAFTA Games Award-winner Cissy Jones, Ethovox is building a fully-authenticated foundational A.I. model for voice. In addition to ensuring performers can participate in Ethovox’s consensual foundational model knowing that they will be protected and compensated fairly, the voice model will reflect a commitment to diversity and inclusion. Further, the SAG-AFTRA-Ethovox contract leads the field in performer compensation as it provides both session fees and ongoing revenue sharing for the life of the foundational model.

A foundational voice model provides the basis for digital replicas. It requires volumes of underlying voice data to enable the replicas to function properly. The Ethovox model will not be user-facing, and the voices included in the model will not be identifiable in any of the speech generated.

“What will safeguard voice actors’ livelihoods in the A.I. age is more contractual protection, not less,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “That’s why SAG-AFTRA will continue to recognize A.I. companies, like Ethovox, that agree with our union’s A.I. guidelines. Not everyone will want to work with an A.I. company, and that’s understandable. But for those who intend to utilize the opportunities A.I. offers, it’s important that agreements require companies to secure informed consent, and provide fair compensation. Without informed consent and fair compensation, this new era will become a ‘Wild West’ of A.I. misuse and exploitation.”

Longtime advocate for A.I. regulations and guardrails, Ethovox CEO Cissy Jones said, “Ethovox is the only voice AI company owned and managed by voice actors, and we are pleased to be partnering with SAG-AFTRA on building a foundational voice A.I. model that prioritizes the interests of voice actors. A.I. should be a choice. For that reason, we have reached out to the voice actor community throughout this process. Ethovox will continue to do so as we demonstrate that artists can, and should, be compensated for contributing to ethical A.I. development while also maintaining consent and control over their voice data.”

The Ethovox Agreement was approved by the union’s Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast Committee and was additionally presented to and approved by SAG-AFTRA’s National Executive Committee.

Visit www.sagaftra.org/ethovox to learn more about what this agreement means for performers interested in this opportunity.

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Lumen Prize Announces Winners of 13th Annual Competition

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Left to right: UchanSun, AI Nüshu; Keiken, Spirit Systems of Soft Knowing ༊*·˚;
Chia Amisola, We Are Only Moving Towards Each Other.


The Lumen Prize—the world’s preeminent award for art created with technology—has announced the winners of its 13th annual competition at a ceremony held at Kachette, London. Since 2012, The Lumen Prize has awarded over 140 artists leading the way in technology-based arts, including Refik Anadol, Sougwen Chung, Mario Klingemann, Malitzin Cortés (CNDSD), Iván Abreu, Operator, and Casey Reas. This year’s winners represent the pinnacle of technology-driven creativity, selected from a pool of 65 finalists and nearly 2,000 entries from 62 countries.

“The 2024 Lumen Prize winners exemplify the innovative spirit and technical mastery that define the intersection of art and technology,” said Gillian Varney, Director of The Lumen Prize. “Their work pushes the boundaries of what’s possible, offering new perspectives on our rapidly evolving digital world.”

The largest International Selectors Committee (ISC) in Lumen Prize history—featuring over 65 members from world-renowned institutions, including Sotheby’s, Royal College of Art, Google, Tezos, and Gucci—selected this year’s finalists. The winners were then chosen by a distinguished Jury Panel, a body of 5 individuals from prestigious institutions, including the Whitney Museum, V&A Museum, M+ Hong Kong, and HeK.
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‘Impulse: Playing with Reality’ Takes Achievement Award at the 2024 Venice Film Festival in Immersive

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The mixed reality experience created by May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy and narrated by Tilda Swinton world premiered in the 2024 Venice Immersive Program at the 81st Venice International Film Festival

The Venice Film Festival announced Saturday that Impulse: Playing with Reality, directed by May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy, created and produced by Anagram, supported by Meta VR for Good and co-produced by Floréal & France Télévisions, has been awarded the prize for Achievement as part of the 2024 Venice Immersive Program.

Impulse: Playing with Reality is an interactive mixed reality documentary that explores ADHD and how you make sense of the world around you, told through the stories of four people coming to terms with the decisions which have chartered their lives.
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Lucy Liu’s ‘Pirate Queen’ Franchise with Singer Studio’s Expands to Include Graphic Novel and Podcast

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pirate-queenSinger Studios has announced exciting expansions to their Emmy-nominated virtual reality experience The Pirate Queen, featuring Lucy Liu. The groundbreaking project, which immerses audiences in the extraordinary life of Cheng Shih—history’s most powerful pirate—will now include a graphic novel series and a podcast. Directed by Eloise Singer and narrated by Liu, The Pirate Queen tells the story of Cheng Shih, who commanded a 70,000-strong fleet during the lead-up to the Opium Wars. The original VR experience, based on a story by Maja Bodenstein, earned widespread acclaim in 2023, winning the Tribeca Storyscapes Award and the Raindance Discovery Award. It is currently nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Emerging Media category.

The upcoming graphic novel, to be published worldwide by Andrews McMeel Publishing, will kick off The Pirate Queen series co-created by Singer and Liu. The expansive project will continue to explore the world of history’s most formidable female pirates, telling the stories of 17 women who led pirate fleets across the globe.

“Launching The Pirate Queen as a graphic novel series presents an incredible opportunity to dive deeper into the legendary stories of these female pirate leaders,” said Eloise Singer, founder of Singer Studios and co-creator of the graphic novel. “We’re honored to collaborate with Andrews McMeel Publishing, whose legacy has helped shape the literary world for generations.”
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SDCC 2024: The National Association of Voice Actors Returns to San Diego Comic-Con

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NAVANAVA is returning to SDCC after a successful panel last year. NAVA is the leading advocate for voice actors and AI protections, will lead a discussion on how new standards need to be built for artists, performers, and producers to collaborate on great products, while still protecting individual rights to intellectual property, performance, and publicity.

One issues that is ever looming is the threat of AI, and very likely to be a major panel issue. “Entertainment performers and artists of all kinds must adapt to this groundbreaking technology that can not only replicate their words, art, images, voices, and movements but also feed machine learning to create entirely new content,” according to the release.

Moderated by voice actor Linsay Rousseau (Transformers: War for Cybertron, media affairs director for NAVA), panelists include voice actors Tim Friedlander (president/founder of NAVA, Like a Dragon), JP Karliak (founder/president of QueerVox, X-Men ’97), Carin Gilfry (co-founder of NAVA, Starfield), Matthew “Reazon” Parham (director of operations for NAVA, Marvel’s MechStrike), and lawyer Scott Mortman (founder/CEO of global business consulting and legal advisory services AREDA Ventures, council for NAVA).

“AI in Entertainment: The Threat to Performers Writers and Artists” will be on Saturday July 27, 2024 4:00pm – 5:00pm PDT, at Omni San Diego Hotel, Omni Grand Ballroom DE, 4th Floor.

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Explosive Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Thriller “Max Beyond” Set For Release

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max-beyondThe upcoming sci-fi thriller created using realtime animation technology Unreal Engine is set to be available on digital download in the UK from 22nd April & US from 23rd April.

Max Beyond tells the story of Max, a young boy held captive in a research facility. Using his ability to create rifts in the fabric of spacetime across parallel universes, he searches for the reality in which his brother Leon, a former-marine, manages to rescue him. With attempt after attempt ending in Leon’s death, the strain starts to take its toll on both brothers. When Max discovers his captors are using his power against him, he realizes he must stop focusing on how the story ends and rewrite the story from the beginning.

The cast includes BAFTA-award winning actor Jane Perry (Cyberpunk 2077, Hitman, Returnal), Dave Fennoy (The Walking Dead) and Cade Tropeano (Black Bird). Motion capture performances from Ace Ruele (Eternals) and Alex Kong (Marvel Studio’s What If?).
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Felix & Paul Studios Marks 10th Anniversary With Behind-the-Scenes Series Inside Felix & Paul Studios

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Felix & Paul Studios Marks 10th Anniversary With Behind-the-Scenes Series Inside Felix & Paul Studios, Presented by Canon

Inside Felix & Paul Studios lifts the curtain on the studio’s pioneering creative process, decade of groundbreaking immersive storytelling, and upcoming productions.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Felix & Paul Studios, the Emmy-Award winning creator of immersive entertainment experiences, proudly introduces Inside Felix & Paul Studios, an 8-episode series presented by Canon available on Meta Quest (3D 180) and YouTube (2D and 3D 180). This series offers an exclusive look at the studio’s decade-long journey as a pioneer of immersive entertainment experiences, providing unique access into its creative and technological laboratories.

The series reflects on the studio’s legacy, emphasizing how instilling a profound sense of presence has been pivotal to each project.

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Adobe Appoints Cristiano Amon to its Board of Directors

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AdobeLogoAdobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) today announced that Cristiano Amon has been appointed to its board of directors. Amon currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Qualcomm Incorporated, a role he assumed in 2021. Amon brings deep technical, mobile and AI experience to Adobe’s board. The Adobe Board now consists of 12 board members with the addition of Amon.

Before becoming chief executive officer, Amon served as president of Qualcomm where he spearheaded Qualcomm’s 5G strategy and drove the expansion and diversification of the business to serve multiple industries, including automotive, computing, VR and AR, networking and industrial. He has overseen the successful execution and integration of acquisitions to augment Qualcomm’s capabilities in areas such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), spatial computing, advanced CPU and RF Front End. Amon has held numerous leadership roles at Qualcomm since joining the company in 1995, including leading Qualcomm’s semiconductor business and overall responsibility for Snapdragon® processors.

Amon has also served as chief technical officer for Vésper, a wireless operator in Brazil, and held leadership positions at NEC, Ericsson and Velocom. Amon holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and an honorary doctorate from Universidade Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. He is a member of the President’s Export Council, vice chair of the U.S.-China Business Council and currently serves on the board of directors for the nonprofit Father Joe’s Villages.

“Cristiano’s deep technical expertise and leadership in mobile, AI and global operations will be invaluable as Adobe empowers millions more people to create, collaborate, and deliver personalized digital experiences across surfaces,” said Shantanu Narayen, chair and chief executive officer at Adobe. “I look forward to working with him to continue to expand our business and further increase shareholder value.”

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