Engadget

17.07.2024 15:01 Tinder is trying to end the long-festering nightmare of having to actually look at yourself long enough to choose profile pictures. The new Photo Selector feature uses AI to pore through pictures to pick the ones most likely to get that much-coveted right swipe. The tool has been in a testing phase since August of last year and it’s finally ready for prime time. Photo Selector works by automatically browsing through a smartphone’s entire camera roll and using AI algorithms to pick the, well, hottest ones. It’s like a supercharged version of the pre-existing Smart Photos feature. “With Photo Selector, Tinder offers a digital companion that curates a diverse selection of photos from users’ camera roll optimized to help users find a match,” the company wrote in a press release. You have to pose for a selfie and give the system access to the camera roll to get started. The AI uses that selfie to find other photos and presents you with a selection of your best and brightest glow ups. You make the final selections and then get married and sail off into the sunset or whatever. Photo Selector will be available to US customers later this month, with a global launch coming at some point during the summer. I very much plan on popping a wig and some glasses on my cat to try to trick the algo.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tinders-new-ai-will-pick-your-most-attractive-photos-for-you-100020367.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 15:01 As it teased earlier, Canon has launched the R5 II, a successor to the powerful but imperfect EOS R5. With a new 45-megapixel backside-illuminated stacked sensor, it not only has superior specs for video, shooting speeds and more, but also adds advanced features like eye-controlled AF. The R5 II was launched alongside Canon's new flagship, the EOS R1, which I've covered in a separate post. With the new R5, Canon has mostly dealt with the original's primary problem: overheating while shooting video. To see what’s different and try out some of the new features, I spent some time with an R5 II pre-production camera in Phoenix, Arizona. The R5 II’s body is largely the same as before, but there are a couple of key changes. First off, Canon has moved the power switch over to the top right, next to the mode dial. On the left, where the on/off switch used to be, the company added a dedicated video and photo switch. That should make it easier for hybrid shooters to switch modes and keep settings separate. Other controls are mostly where they were. The original R5 was already a sweet-handling camera, with a comfortable grip and logical control layout, so Canon wisely left well enough alone. Also unchanged is the flip-out rear touch display, but the R5 II does have a new OLED electronic viewfinder. It has the same sharp 5.76-million dot resolution — on par with other models in this price range — but is brighter than before. It supports both UHS-II SD cards and CFexpress Type B, with a slot for each. If you want to shoot 8K RAW or sustain long shooting bursts, you’ll need to use CFexpress cards, which are much faster but considerably more expensive. Canon introduced three new battery grips for the R5 II, with one containing a cooling fan. That largely reduces heating issues, as I’ll discuss shortly. Another grip is designed to improve vertical operability, making the R5 II handle more like the R1. The third grip adds 2.5G base-T ethernet for studio shooters. With the new stacked sensor, the EOS R5 II is faster than ever. You can shoot blackout-free bursts at up to 30 fps in electronic shutter mode, or 12 fps using the mechanical shutter. Rolling shutter is also substantially reduced. The R5 II has a large buffer as well, supporting up to 93 RAW and 20 compressed RAW shots before it fills in electronic shutter mode. Steve Dent for Engadget Autofocus is improved in nearly every way, too. Like the R1, the R5 II comes with Canon’s new EyeAF II eye-tracking autofocus that sets focus where you look. Canon touts it as the fastest way to to move the AF tracking point. It needs to be calibrated, and won't work with all eye types, but in my brief experience it worked for me. It can be a bit twitchy and isn’t 100 percent reliable, but I didn’t have enough time to really shake it out — so stay tuned for a full review. Canon also added sports-related features like an action priority mode, subject crossing and the ability to register multiple faces. Face- and eye-tracking is improved, and it supports animals, birds and vehicles, too. Of course, it has 5-axis in-body stabilization with 8.5 stops of shake reduction, up from 8 before. Shooting in the basketball scenario Canon set up, I found the AF to be generally reliable. The new pre-continuous shooting feature is also a nice bonus, helping ensure you capture shots even before fully pressing the shutter. However, some new things like action crossing require practice to get used to and I didn’t have enough time with the camera to adapt. It’s hard to evaluate image quality in pre-production cameras, and Canon warned us that it was still working on RAW processing. Still, the benefit of a 45-megapixel sensor is seriously sharp photos. JPEG images appeared color accurate with pleasing skin tones, as you’d expect from Canon. Using the company’s software, I was able to process the 14-bit RAW images and found that they offer plenty of latitude for pushing and pulling in post. Like the R1, the R5 also supports Canon's new in-camera upscaling, which quadruples resolution to around 179 megapixels. This uses deep learning to reduce noise, but Canon didn't explain precisely how it works. A lot of my shooting was done in a gym with relatively low light, but the R5 II handled the high ISOs without generating excessive noise up to ISO 6400 or even beyond. It’s not in the same league as the R1, though, so you’ll need fast lenses if shooting action in dark spaces. Steve Dent for Engadget The R5 II is a seriously powerful video camera, right up there with Nikon’s Z8 or Z9. You can shoot 8K DCI RAW video at up to 60 fps, or 4K RAW at 60 fps. It also offers 8K MP4 support at up to 30 fps, or 4K DCI at 120 fps with pixel binning. 4K profiles at up to 30 fps use the full sensor width in “fine” mode, or you can capture higher frame rates with pixel binning. Full HD can be recorded at 240 fps with pixel binning as well. Most 4K modes can also be captured cropped to an APS-C frame size. The addition of RAW recording and C-Log2 boosts dynamic range, and all the oversampled video modes are very sharp. Canon’s RAW is also easy to work with in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve. That takes us to the most glaring issue: overheating. The original R5 certainly struggled in this respect, with temperature limiting recording times in some modes. Steve Dent for Engadget With the new camera, the only modes affected are 8K 60p RAW, which is capped at 18 minutes, 8K 30p limited to 37 minutes and 4K 120p, which shuts down after 22 minutes. Adding the fan accessory removes most of those limitations and increases operating times at 8K 60p RAW and 4K 120P. With incredible video and photos specs, Canon’s R5 II could retake its old crown as the best hybrid camera. The only model that can keep up with it for photos is the $6,500 Sony A1, but it's over $2,000 more expensive. Nikon’s $3,500 Z8 can match it video-wise with 8K RAW at up to 60P. However, it isn’t as good for photos as the R5 II, because speeds are limited to 20 fps and it lacks a mechanical shutter. The R5 II will be more expensive than the Z8, however, at an estimated $4,300. It will arrive in stores sometime in August. Canon paid for this contributor's travel and accommodation for the launch of its new cameras in Phoenix, Arizona. This article was produced independently for Engadget, with no oversight from Canon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/canon-eos-r5-ii-hands-on-nifty-eye-tracking-autofocus-and-reduced-overheating-problems-100002588.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 05:32 Amazon Prime Day 2024 has brought a bunch of solid tech deals on some of our favorite gadgets. The annual shopping event is a great time for Prime members to put that subscription to work and actually get some good deals on gadgets including tablets, earbuds, robot vacuum cleaners and more. This year has been, for lack of a better word, typical. Most of the best Prime Day deals have been exclusive to Prime members, with a few decent stragglers that anyone can buy. Not every Prime Day deal is worth your time or money, though, so we’ve scoured Amazon’s site to find the best of the best when it comes to tech deals. We’ve gathered the best Prime Day tech deals on tech that we could find here, and we’ll be updating this post regularly throughout the duration of the Amazon Prime Day sale, so check back to see the latest discounts. If you're looking for even more Prime Day deals, check out Engadget's Prime Day hub where you'll find all of the best tech deals you can get for the shopping event this year. In addition to Amazon devices, Prime Day is typically a great time to pick up big-ticket items like tablets, laptops and robot vacuums, and accessories like power banks, streaming devices, Bluetooth speakers and the like. Best Prime Day deals: Engadget top picks Apple AirPods Pro for $169, $80 off Apple 10th-gen iPad for $299, $50 off Apple AirTag for $24, $5 off Google Pixel 7a for $249, $250 off Dyson V15 Detect Plus for $550, $200 off Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones for $298, $102 off iRobot Roomba Combo Essential robot vacuum and mop for $190, $110 off Amazon Echo Show 8 for $85, $65 off Sonos Era 100 for $199, $50 off Anker Soundcore Space A40 earbuds for $49, $30 off Best Prime Day tech deals Apple AirPods Pro for $169: The Pros are the best pair of wireless earbuds that Apple sells and one of our top picks overall. They'll be hard to beat if you live in the Apple ecosystem and appreciate the conveniences provided by the built-in H1 chip. Apple AirTag for $24: We think these are the best Bluetooth trackers you can buy if you’re an iPhone user. They rely on Apple’s vast Find My network that calls on every nearby iPhone to anonymously pinpoint an AirTag’s location. We found their locating features to be eerily accurate. Apple Watch Series 9 for $280: We consider the Series 9 to be the best smartwatch available today, period, and it's a no-brainer accessory for iPhone owners. If you want to spend less and get most of the code features found here, you should consider the more affordable Apple Watch SE. AirPods Max for $395: We gave this pair a review score of 84 when it arrived way back in December 2020. Despite its age, the Max remains one of the more premium sets of wireless headphones you can buy. Apple 10th-gen iPad: This is the best iPad for those on a budget thanks to its modern design, USB-C charging, solid battery life and solid performance for the price. It’s even compatible with an optional folio keyboard if you want to turn it into a productivity machine. Apple MacBook Air for $850: Apple's 2024 MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display that can support one billion different colors. We gave it a 90 in our review thanks to offers like a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, three mics and up to 18 hours of battery life. Apple MacBook Air for $799: If you're coming from an older, Intel-based MacBook, any M-series machine will feel like a big upgrade. This M2 laptop excels thanks to its stellar performance, excellent screen and thin-and-light design. Amazon Amazon Echo Dot for $25: Amazon’s smallest smart speaker has dropped to $25 for Prime Day. It’s one of the best smart speakers you can get right now thanks to its compact design, physical button controls that compliment voice commands and its solid sound quality for its size. The Kids version is also on sale for $28 for this sale. Amazon Echo Show 8 for $85: The smart display has dropped to $85 for Prime Day. This is our current top pick for the best smart display with Amazon’s Alexa thanks in part to its 8-inch touchscreen, 13MP camera that supports auto-framing for better video chats and its built-in Zigbee smart home hub. Amazon Kindle for $85: The base Kindle is on sale for $85 for Prime Day. It’s our top pick for the best budget ereader out there, and it’s an even better value when you can snag it on discount. In addition to giving you access to Amazon’s vast Kindle ebook library, the entry-level Kindle has a good number of page customization options and Audible integration, which lets you listen to Audible audiobooks if you have a pair of Bluetooth headphones. Engadget Sony WH-1000XM5 for $289: These are our top pick for the best headphones on the market today — it doesn't get much better than the XM5. If you're on a tight budget and still want the core features in these cans, consider the previous version, the Sony WH-1000XM4. Anker Soundcore Space A40 for $49: These buds top our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds due to its impressive ANC, wireless charging and multi-device pairing support, comfy fit and 8-10 hours of battery life. Google Pixel Buds Pro for $120: The Pixel Buds Pro made our list of the best wireless earbuds for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we love the sound. These earbuds offer deep and punchy bass, which is a rarity with this class of device. They also have decent ANC, reliable touch controls and wireless charging. Beats Fit Pro for $150: These are our top picks for the best headphones for running thanks to their comfortable, IPX4 design, great sound quality with adaptive EQ, good ANC and transparency mode and solid battery life. Sony WF-1000XM5 for $228: The XM5 earbuds stand out thanks to their improved design, good sound quality, impressive ANC and special features like adaptive sound and Speak to Chat. These are the best true wireless earbuds to get at the moment. Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds for $229: Bose has consistently provided the best wireless earbuds for noise cancellation, and the QC Ultra are the latest and our top pick at the moment. Engadget LG C3 OLED TV for $1,097: This is a 2023 model, but at this price it’s a nice value if you want the deep contrast, wide viewing angles and fast motion response of a quality OLED panel. Samsung The Frame TV with white bezel for $998: You’d mainly get a Frame TV for the aesthetic, as the whole thing is designed to mount flush against a wall and hang like a piece of art. You can even use it to display actual artwork and photos when you aren’t watching something. Its image quality is still decent as well, though it’s not on the level of the best LED TVs in this price range. Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $29: One of the best streaming devices available today, this model supports 4K HDR content, long-range Wi-Fi, Apple AirPlay and private listening through the companion mobile app. Sonos Ray for $199: In our testing, this soundbar provided good sound quality for both TV audio and music, impressive bass performance for a soundbar of its size and an attractive, compact design. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for $975: This handset is probably overkill for most users, but nevertheless, it’s our top pick for the best premium handset in our best Android phones guide. It stands out for its luxe build quality, speedy performance, excellent cameras and handy new AI tools. Google Pixel 8a for $449: This is our top pick for the best midrange smartphone you can get right now, as it builds off of the solid foundation found in Google’s Pixel 7a. The 8a boasts a colorful 120Hz OLED touchscreen, excellent cameras, solid performance and a good battery life. Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K for $63: Anker's MagGo Power Bank was one of the earliest Qi2-certified devices on the market, and this early 2024 model is impressive, to say the least. The 10,000mAh and 15W capacities provide you with fast wireless charging. The power bank can bring an iPhone 15 from near-dead to half-charged in just 45 minutes. Sonos Era 100 for $199: In our testing, this speaker impressed with excellent sound quality , easier TruePlay tuning, Bluetooth and in-line support and a simple yet attractive design. It's on our list of the best smart speakers you can get thanks to its Alexa compatibility and it's ability to work with Sonos' own voice assistant Engadget Ninja Creami ice cream maker for $150: This machine earned a high score of 90 in our review, with our reviewer saying it “makes your frozen dreams come true.” Dyson V15 Detect Plus for $550: The V15 Detect is our top pick for the best cordless vacuum you can get right now because it has fantastic suction power , a lightweight design and good battery life — plus it comes with a number of useful attachments. Dyson Airwrap bundle for $550: In addition to the Airwrap and its storage case, the bundle includes six attachments: two long barrels, three brushes and the Coanda smoothing dryer, plus a filter cleaning brush, a detangling comb and another storage bag. That's enough to achieve a bunch of different hairstyles with one tool, and you get a couple of ways to store the machine when you're not using it or when you need to travel with it. iRobot Roomba Combo Essentials for $190: This model ups the ante a bit by adding in mopping capabilities to the usual robot-vacuum formula. It’s the most affordable vac-and-mop machine that iRobot makes, and it’s an even better buy at this sale price. Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum for $295: A version of one of our top picks for the best robot vacuums, it supports cleaning schedules and home mapping, plus it comes with a self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days worth of debris. The base is also bagless, so you don't have to buy and replace proprietary garbage bags in it over time. Theragun Mini 2.0 for $149: The runners on the Engadget staff appreciate this percussion massage gun for its compact size, three speeds and swappable attachments. Fitbit Charge 6 for $100: The Charge 6 sits at the top of our list of the best fitness trackers you can get precisely because it has such a comprehensive feature set. It also has a seven-day battery life, so you won't have to worry about recharging it for days on end. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-31-best-amazon-prime-day-deals-on-our-favorite-gadgets-are-up-to-50-percent-off-071542018.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 05:32 AMC and Netflix have inked a deal to bring several series from the cable network to the streaming platform later this summer. Variety reports that the agreement includes seasons 1-8 of Fear the Walking Dead, season 1 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, seasons 1-4 of Preacher, seasons 1-3 of A Discovery of Witches, seasons 1-3 of Into the Badlands, seasons 1-2 of Kevin can F*** Himself, seasons 1-2 of Dark Winds, seasons 1-2 of Gangs of London, season 1 of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire, season 1 of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, season 1 of Monsieur Spade, season 1 of That Dirty Black Bag and season 1 of The Terror. All of them will join Netflix on August 19 and will be available for one year. The first seasons of both The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will land on Netflix on January 13. Budget-minded viewers may also appreciate that these AMC shows will be available to watch ad-free, even for people on Netflix's ad-supported standard plan. The same is true of all eleven seasons of The Walking Dead that are already on the streaming service. "These curated titles are also being strategically windowed to drive interest in current and upcoming seasons on our direct-to-consumer and partner platforms," AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan said of the arrangement. "We believe this significant expansion of our Netflix relationship will drive viewership and engagement on Netflix, while also raising awareness and interest in our award-winning content on AMC-branded and partner platforms across our distribution ecosystem. The cable company pursued a similar, even shorter-term deal to get Fear the Walking Dead and other programming in front of the Max streaming audience in 2023. The company’s own streaming service, AMC+, had 11.5 million subscribers as of May 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amc-is-bringing-fifteen-shows-to-netflix-for-one-year-230551808.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 05:32 The sudden and tragic passing of Kevin Conroy, the revered voice actor who voiced Batman/Bruce Wayne for Batman: The Animated Series and the Batman Arkham games and died in 2022 at 66, somehow felt worse with the release of the Suicide Squad game. Rocksteady’s disappointing open world DC Comics game almost marked the last time that Conroy would voice The Dark Knight and an evil Batman at that. Even if the game was good, it wouldn’t feel right letting Conroy’s credit list end on such a down note. Thankfully, a new Warner Bros. Animation trilogy based on the Justice League: Crisis of Infinite Earths DC comics series will feature the final voiceover performance of Conroy as Batman. The climatic scene showing his final moments found its way to X yesterday. Conroy's final voiceover occurs in the final film of the trilogy. If you don’t want to know how it ends before you’ve had a chance to watch the whole thing, you should stop scrolling down right now. This is a much better way to End Conroy’s performance as Batman. I loved the dialogue here, I miss Kevin so much

17.07.2024 00:10 Anthropic announced that its Claude chatbot is now available as an Android app. After introducing the platform’s free iOS app in May, Android owners can now also play with the company's AI on their mobile devices. The Android app is free and works with both the Pro and Team plans for paid users. Conversations with Claude can happen across hardware, with both of the mobile apps and the web version connected to each other. This platform is one of several large-language model AI chatbots currently available to the public. OpenAI and its ChatGPT tool have attracted the lion's share of attention. ChatGPT is already available in both Android and iOS app form, and it underlies many features of the new Apple Intelligence. However, it's possible that Claude may have more powerful skills. According to Anthropic, the Claude 3 version of the platform performed better than both ChatGPT and Google's Gemini on some important benchmarks. The Claude 3 Opus version scored top marks in March and the Sonnet 3.5 version did the same in June. We always need to take that kind of comparison from one of the companies in question with many grains of salt. But even the leaps between the Sonnet and Opus over the course of a few months do appear to be impressive. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anthropics-claude-chatbot-is-now-an-android-app-220046355.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 Amazon’s Prime Day sale rolls out discounts in every category, including kitchenware and consumer electronics. At Engadget, we’re interested in the intersection of those two departments and have tested dozens of smart appliances like air fryers, ice cream makers and sous vide machines as well as lower tech stuff like pepper mills. We’re happy to report that many of the cooking gadgets we recommend are currently on sale for Prime Day, and we’ve gathered the best kitchen tech deals here.As with all Engadget tech deals coverage, we almost exclusively highlight discounts on gear we've tested or have otherwise used and know to be worthy of your money. We cross-checked our guides and reviews with the Prime Day deals Amazon has put forth to come up with what you see here. And we'll update these deals roundups throughout both days of Amazon's Prime Day sale. Best Amazon Prime Day kitchen deals Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-17-best-amazon-prime-day-kitchen-deals-on-gadgets-weve-tested-in-2024-123010902.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 Google’s secret new line of Pixel 9 phones isn’t that big of a secret anymore. Taiwan’s National Communications Commission released new photos of the phones including the Pixel 9 Pro Fold from almost every conceivable angle. Android Authority found the photos in the NCC archives and uploaded galleries of each of the four phones including the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL and 9 Pro Fold. They reveal some interesting details about the new Pixel phones. The charging rates will be a little faster than the last generation of Pixel phones: Taiwanese authorities measured 24.12W for the base model, 25.20W for the Pro and 32.67W for the 9 Pro XL. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, however, was the slowest of all of them at 20.25W. These numbers don’t often match up perfectly with the advertised ratings, so expect Google to be promoting higher numbers at its event. Speaking of chargers, it looks like Google needed a bigger charger to power its new phones. Photos included in the NCC leak show each phone will come with a wall charger that’s around 45W depending on which model you purchase. The charger’s plug moved from the middle to the top of the brick. NCC/Android Authority The latest photo dump also shows the 9 Pro Fold unfolded for the first time. Google has moved the selfie camera to the inside screen for a wider field of view. The 9 Pro Fold also has a slimmer top and bottom, a reduced fold crease on the display and a full 180 degree unfolding angle to make a screen that’s just over 250mm or just under 10 inches. These photos are the latest in a very long list of leaks of Google Pixel 9 photos. The last Pixel 9 leak came down yesterday showing two prototype models of the base and XL models. Google might look into buying a new combination lock for the high school locker where they apparently keep all their unreleased gear.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-photos-reveal-more-details-about-googles-pixel-9-pro-fold-213344869.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 The small devices and handy accessories are the unsung heroes of the tech world. They power our tablets and laptops, lend extra storage to our cameras and handhelds, and even bring a little entertainment in the form of smaller speakers and streaming devices. Now that Amazon’s Prime Day is in full swing we’ve rounded up the best Prime Day deals under $50 on the smaller tech we love. Browse below for the sale’s more affordable Prime Day deals. As with all Engadget tech deals coverage, we only highlight discounts on gear we've tested or have otherwise used and know to be worthy of your money. We cross-checked our guides and reviews with the Prime Day deals Amazon has put forth to come up with what you see here. And we'll update these deals roundups throughout both days of Amazon's Prime Day sale. Best Prime Day tech deals under $50 Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-day-deals-under-50-we-found-46-of-the-best-tech-deals-on-sale-during-amazons-biggest-event-110004274.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 Turns out, Amazon isn’t the only one with a huge sale going on right now. We’re also finding deals at Walmart, Target, B&H Photo, Best Buy and more. A few brands like Sonos, Sony and Logitech are having their own sales too. If you’ve exhausted our main Prime Day coverage and are looking for more — or if you’d simply rather not shop at Amazon — check out the best anti-Prime Day deals we could find below. As with all Engadget tech deals coverage, we almost exclusively highlight discounts on gear we've tested or have otherwise used and know to be worthy of your money. We cross-checked our guides and reviews with the Prime-Day adjacent deals other retailers have put forth to come up with what you see here. Site-wide anti-Prime Day sales A variety of brands are hosting site-wide sales of their own. Some of the deals are no different than what you’d see on a typical Tuesday, but a few of the discounts seem like they were inspired by Amazon’s giant July bonanza. If you’re down to browse, you may find a few worthwhile deals on the sale pages from: Marshall speakers Breville Sony Google Store Logitech Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-anti-prime-day-deals-from-walmart-target-best-buy-and-more-164056737.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 A US Senate Committee led by Bernie Sanders has issued a report claiming nearly half of Amazon warehouse workers were injured during the week of Prime Day 2019. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman described the company’s behavior from five years ago as “incredibly dangerous.” For its part, Amazon claims Sen. Sanders is distorting and cherry-picking facts while ignoring others to fit a narrative. The report cites internal company data, including injuries Amazon isn’t required to document for OSHA, allegedly showing warehouse workers suffered nearly 45 injuries per 100 workers during the week of Prime Day 2019. Meanwhile, of the “recordable” injuries serious enough that the company has to report them to OSHA, the report claims Amazon’s were more than double the industry average — over 10 per 100 workers. “The incredibly dangerous working conditions at Amazon revealed in this investigation are a perfect example of the type of corporate greed that the American people are sick and tired of,” Sanders wrote Tuesday in a HELP Committee announcement. The Senator said Amazon treats its workers as “disposable” and “with complete contempt for their safety and wellbeing.” Meanwhile, an Amazon spokesperson’s statement, shared with Engadget, claims the committee’s findings paint a misleading picture. The company says the committee’s conclusions drew from unverified anecdotes, misrepresented years-old documents and included factual errors and misguided analysis. “For example, one of the false claims in the report implies that we’re not adequately staffed for busy shopping periods,” company spokesperson Kelly Nantel wrote in Amazon’s statement. “This is just not true, as we carefully plan and staff up for major events, ensure that we have excess capacity across our network, and design our network so that orders are automatically routed to sites that can handle unexpected spikes in volume.” Amazon says it’s made “significant progress” in the five years since the data the report cited, including reducing its recordable incident rate by 28 percent in the US. The company says it also lowered its “lost time incident rate” by 75 percent. No matter whose framing you prefer, this isn’t the first time Amazon has been criticized for its warehouse working conditions. Last year, a coalition of labor unions, citing OSHA data, claimed the company was responsible for 53 percent of all serious warehouse injuries recorded in the US in 2022. That report claimed Amazon’s warehouse workers were injured more frequently than their non-Amazon counterparts. Last month, the California Labor Commissioner’s office fined Amazon nearly $6 million for violating a state law requiring large companies to notify warehouse and distribution workers in writing about their expected quotas, how often they’re expected to perform certain tasks and what consequences they would face for failing to meet their quotas. That law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021, was drafted in reaction to Amazon workers claiming they would skip bathroom breaks or risk injury to optimize their output. That followed a 2021 report by The Washington Post , claiming data shows Amazon's warehouse workers "suffer serious injuries at higher rates than other firms.” The company, still helmed by Bezos at the time, quickly changed its “Time Off Task” policy in response. In addition, as CNBC notes, OSHA and the US Attorney’s Office are investigating conditions at some Amazon warehouses. The Department of Justice is also investigating whether the company underreports injuries — an accusation echoed by Sanders in the HELP Committee’s findings. Perhaps The Coalition for Workplace Safety , an organization that tries to balance corporate and regulatory priorities , found a spin we can all agree on. “If wants to improve safety for delivery workers, he should start with the US Postal Service, as OSHA’s own data shows the USPS by far has the highest percentage of investigations resulting in citations compared to other large employers in the industry.” The moral of the story? No matter what a company is accused of, there’s a good chance the US Postal Service sucks even more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senate-probe-bernie-sanders-claims-nearly-half-of-amazon-warehouse-workers-were-injured-during-prime-day-2019-204028410.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 Streaming has hit a new high on the American viewing charts. According to the latest Nielsen data, streaming services were responsible for 40.3 percent of daily TV viewing in June 2024. It's a banner result for streaming video, which first overtook cable in Nielsen ratings back in 2022. The June result marks not only the biggest share recorded for streaming since Nielsen added it as a tracked category on The Gauge report, but it is also the largest share Nielsen has ever recorded for a single viewership category. Cable TV secured 27.2 percent of American viewing for the month, followed by broadcast TV at 20.5 percent. YouTube was the favorite streaming platform with 9.9 percent of the monthly usage, followed by Netflix at 8.4 percent. The summer sensation of Bridgerton helped boost Netflix's performance; the costume drama was responsible for a staggering 9.3 billion minutes of viewing during the month. There's a notable drop after those two services, with Amazon's Prime Video securing 3.1 percent, and companion platforms Hulu and Disney+ coming in with 3 percent and 2 percent shares, respectively. In case those streaming figures seem low, it's important to note that Nielsen tracks viewing only on television screens. That means the vast number of hours Americans spend streaming shows on their phones and tablets isn't part of this accounting. While streaming continues to draw ever-more eyeballs, executives are more focused on drawing in dollars. Another report, this one from analyst PricewaterhouseCoopers, projected that advertising would be responsible for about 28 percent of global streaming revenue. In 2023, the ad share was 20 percent. The report credited that shift to the growth rate of subscription revenue stalling out. "Usage and consumer uptake of the core offering is continuing to increase — albeit at a lower rate than in recent years – but companies are having greater difficulty getting people to pay more for digital goods and services," PwC said. "As the number and range of streaming services proliferate, a form of market saturation has begun to kick in." In response, recent years have seen many of the top video streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video have introduced hybrid models that offer lower monthly subscription costs in exchange for viewers watching ads. If the PwC forecast is accurate, we can expect other platforms to follow suit.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/streaming-accounted-for-more-than-40-percent-of-tv-viewing-in-june-203206939.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 Apple gear currently holds the top honor in our lists of the best laptops, smartwatches and tablets you can buy — and our reviewers have tested out just about every major device out there. We're also looking forward to the software updates announced at WWDC and coming this fall which will give all current-gen Apple products new tricks. Amazon’s biggest Prime Day sale of 2024 has given a huge swath of Apple gear considerable discounts. While the Amazon usually hosts another Prime event in October, the savings aren’t historically as good. So if you've been waiting for discounts on a new iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, AirPod or Apple Pencil, check out the best Prime Day deals on the Apple products we've reviewed below.As with all Engadget tech deals coverage, we only highlight discounts on gear we've tested or have otherwise used and know to be worthy of your money. We cross-checked our guides and reviews with the Prime Day deals Amazon has put forth to come up with what you see here. And we'll update these deals roundups throughout the two days of Amazon's Prime Day sale. Best Prime Day Apple Watch deals Best Prime Day AirPod deals Best Prime Day iPad deals Best Prime Day MacBook deals Best Prime Day deals on Apple gear Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-prime-day-apple-deals-ipads-macbooks-airpods-and-more-are-up-to-32-percent-off-072858344.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10 Amazon Prime Day is a chance for Prime members to pick up all sorts of things on sale, and while most of the discounts aren't worth your time, those on gadgets actually can be. Prime Day deals have discounted plenty of our favorites in the past, and this year is shaping up to be no different. Engadget has you covered if any of the items on your wishlist happen to fall under the consumer tech umbrella. We've sifted through all of the junk to find all of the tech deals that are actually worth your time. And the good news is that not all of the discounts are on high-priced items. Yes, you can actually pick up good tech during this sale without spending a fortune. These are the best Prime Day deals under $25 we could fine for 2024. As a reminder : Engadget treats tech deals with the same care as we would “regular” tech news. When we scour the web for deals, we’re looking not only for the best prices possible, but also the best products as well. Our goal with our deals coverage, especially surrounding events like Amazon Prime Day, is to surface only the best deals we can find on the gadgets we’ve tested and rated highly, or that we’ve used and know to be worth your money. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-prime-day-deals-under-25-available-now-154512516.html?src=rss

17.07.2024 00:10  Behaviour Interactive has shared a bunch of Dead by Daylight-related updates, including the release date for an upcoming spinoff. The Casting of Frank Stone, which was developed by Until Dawn studio Supermassive Games, will hit PC, PlayStation and Xbox on September 3. This is a single-player game that brings the narrative adventure format that Supermassive has used so effectively in its previous projects to the DbD universe. The story will change based on the decisions you make and how you deal with quick-time events and puzzles. It focuses on a bunch of young people who want to film their own horror movie in a condemned steel mill, only to find evidence of crimes carried out by a serial killer. The game is said to take between five and seven hours to complete. As for the main game, Lara Croft is now available as a survivor as part of the Tomb Raider chapter, which went live today. Cross-progression will finally be available starting on July 22 as well. You'll need a Behaviour account and a copy of the base game for each platform on which you want to play it. You'll have access to all of the same progress and purchases on each system. Those who have been waiting for extra DbD mayhem can look forward to a limited-time mode that pits two killers against eight survivors when the long-awaited 2 vs. 8 option goes live on July 25. The maps are larger and survivors will need to repair twice as many generators to escape. To keep the action fast paced, hooks and perks will be removed. Survivors will be able to try out a new class system instead. The 2 vs. 8 mode will be available until August 8. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-by-daylight-spinoff-the-casting-of-frank-stone-arrives-on-september-3-192339402.html?src=rss