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It's that festive time of year again. All of the algorithm elves living inside our favorite music-streaming apps have begun cranking out personalized "best of" lists in the vein of Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay. This year, however, there's a new kid on the block. Amazon Music just rolled out its own version of a yearly recap.
It's called Amazon Music Delivered, which I guess is a play on the fact that the company delivers lots of packages in real life? In any event, the yearly recap displays all of your favorite songs, artists and podcasts from throughout the year. The tool will even show off "the top request you've made with Alexa." Uh oh. I asked Alexa to sing that horrible, yet catchy, song about cats like 25 times this year. Will that count?
The feature is available to all Amazon Music customers. This includes Prime members who use the basic version and those who sprang for the monthly Unlimited subscription. Just head to the Library page and tap on the banner that says "2024 Delivered." You can access a playlist by asking good ole Alexa about your top songs of 2024.
Amazon also says that Alexa might play "an exclusive, special message" from one of your top artists, though the company didn't note how many artists took part in this promotion. It just says that "
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 Apple today released a firmware update for the Beats Solo Buds, marking the first new software the earbuds have received since their June 2024 launch. The firmware has a build number of 3A130, up from the 3A112 firmware the Solo Buds shipped with.
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There's a good chance you've heard of a white elephant gift exchange before, even if you have yet to participate or even know where the tradition originated. According to legend, the King of Siam would give a white elephant to courtiers who had upset them rather than having them executed. But this was a far more devious punishment. The recipient had no choice but to accept the opulent gift with gratitude, even though they knew they could not afford the upkeep for such an animal. Inevitably, this would lead them to financial ruin.
This story is almost certainly untrue, but it has led to a modern holiday staple: the white elephant gift exchange. Picking the right white elephant gift means toeing a fine line: the goal isn't simply to buy something terrible and make someone take it home. Rather, it should be just useful or amusing enough that it won't immediately get tossed into the trash. So here are a few suggestions that will not only get you a few chuckles, but will also make the recipient feel (slightly) burdened.
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 Apple has significantly hiked its investment proposal to Indonesia and is now offering $1 billion in a bid to resolve the ongoing iPhone 16 sales ban in the country, according to the country's investment minister Rosan Roeslani (via Reuters).
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