The best Amazon Prime Day 2022 deals in the UK we could find

Amazon Prime Day is officially here and a number of our favorite gadgets are on sale. If you’re a Prime member, you can save hundreds on devices from Sony, Razer, Apple and others over the next 48-hours, plus Amazon has discounted most of its own devic…

Meta reportedly tells managers to identify people for layoffs

Some Meta employees could lose their jobs as the company prepares for leaner times ahead. According to The Information, Maher Saba, Meta’s VP for Remote Presence, has instructed managers to identify people on their team who “need support” by end of day on Monday. He also told the managers to “move to exit” poor performers “who are unable to get on track.” Based on that wording, employees who get singled out will get the chance to redeem themselves, but since the company didn’t respond to the publication’s request for comment, it’s not entirely clear what that means.

A person familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that workers are concerned that this will be used to create “performance improvement plans” that end up resulting in mass layoffs. Saba also reportedly wrote in his note: “If a direct report is coasting or is a low performer, they are not who we need; they are failing this company. As a manager, you cannot allow someone to be net neutral or negative for Meta.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned employees during a Q&A session earlier this month that the company is experiencing “one of the worst downturns [it has seen] in recent history.” It previously said that it’s slowing hiring this year, but it was at that session when Meta revealed that it’s slashing its target number for new engineers hires by about 30 percent. Zuckerberg also announced at the time that Meta is going to raise expectations on its employees and giving them more aggressive goals. “I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is okay with me. Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” he said.

The social network/metaverse company started preparing to cut costs due to weak revenue forecasts a few months ago, even going as far as to axe some of its metaverse initiatives. Facebook lost daily active users in the last quarter of 2021, and while it bounced back a bit in the first quarter of this year, Meta expects a revenue drop in part because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company also expects to lose $10 billion in revenue due to the changes in Apple’s privacy settings on iOS, which limits advertisers’ access to the unique code that enables them to show users targeted ads.

Amazon Prime Day deals knock the Kindle Paperwhite down to a new low of $95

If you’ve been holding out for a new e-reader at a great price, Amazon Prime Day has delivered. The latest Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $95 right now, which is the cheapest we’ve seen it since it launched last year. It’s arguably the best e-reader for most people, but you have options as all of Amazon’s other Kindles have been discounted, too. You can pick up the standard Kindle for only $45, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition for $130 or the Kindle Oasis for $175.

Buy Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon – $95Shop Kindle deals at AmazonShop Kindle accessories at Amazon

Amazon updated the Kindle Paperwhite and introduced the Signature model last fall, and even though the e-reader doesn’t look too different from previous models, it has some important upgrades. The screen is slightly larger at 6.8-inches, and it has 17 front LEDs for better illumination. You can even adjust the warmth of the lights now, too, if you prefer to have cooler or warmer light at different times of the day. The design still has an IPX8 waterproof rating but it also now has a USB-C port for charging, which is a much-needed update. As for battery life, you can expect weeks of use before you’ll need to power up the e-reader again.

The new Signature Edition is a slightly more advanced Paperwhite. It has the same sized screen and 17 front lights, but you’ll get 32GB of storage instead of 8GB, along with wireless charging and auto-adjusting light capabilities. Out of those features, the extra storage and auto-adjusting lights are likely the most practical: those who have huge digital libraries could use the additional storage, and lights that automatically change depending on your environment almost make the e-reader more tablet-like. We gave the Signature Edition a score of 97, calling it the best e-reader, period.

The remaining two Kindles are on opposite ends of the price spectrum. The standard Kindle is the most basic and budget-friendly, and it features a 6-inch display, four front lights and a weeks-long battery life. The Kindle Oasis, on the other hand, has an ergonomic design, a 7-inch screen, 25 front LEDs, page-turn buttons, automatically rotating pages and more.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

Amazon Prime Day deals include half off the Fire HD 10 tablet

Amazon’s Fire tablets make great couch devices or gadgets to give to your kids when you don’t want them messing with your more expensive tech. They’re usually pretty affordable, but Amazon Prime Day brings the opportunity to grab any of Amazon’s tablets at all-time-low prices. Both the Fire HD 10 and Fire HD 8 tablets are half off and down to $75 and $45, respectively, while the 2019 Fire 7 tablet is only $30 for Prime Day. On top of that, all of the Kids Pro versions of the slabs are also on sale, so you can pick one up for as low as $50.

Buy Fire HD 10 at Amazon – $75Buy Fire HD 8 at Amazon – $45Shop Fire tablet deals at Amazon

You’ll get the best bang for your buck if you spring for the Fire HD 10. It’s the most powerful of Amazon’s tablets, running on a 2.0 GHz oct-core processor, 3GB of RAM and at least 32GB of storage. It has a 10.1-inch 1080p display, Dolby Atmos support and a USB-C port for charging. Amazon estimates you’ll get up to 12 hours of battery life on a single charge, and it takes roughly four hours to charge the device up from nothing. The Fire HD 10 also supports Show Mode, which essentially lets you turn the thing into a makeshift Echo Show smart display. If you have a stand or case that props the tablet up, you could use it in Show Mode to display information like the weather, calendar events, news stories and more.

But the best option under $50 this Prime Day is the Fire HD 8. We gave the tablet a score of 81 for its refined design, decent performance, hands-free Alexa capabilities and good battery life. While the display isn’t as high quality as the HD 10’s, and it won’t feel as zippy as the larger slab, the Fire HD 8 is a solid option if you just want a basic tablet at a great price.

If you’re thinking about buying a Fire tablet for your kids, maybe as a first device of theirs, consider getting one of the Fire Kids Pro devices. They’re basically the same as the standard Fire tablets, but they come with additional parental controls, a customizable home screen theme, a two-year warranty, a protective case and a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The latter is the company’s service that provides child-friendly, ad-free games, books, videos and other content that kids can access from their tablets.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

US$1,060 入手 MSI Stealth 15M 電競筆電，折扣達 24% | Amazon Prime Day 2022

電競筆電一向被貼上「性能優異但價格昂貴」的標籤，可是這卻不適用於 Prime Day 上。MSI 兩款電競筆電 Pulse GL66 以及 Stealth 15M 現正於 Amazon 熱賣中，它們都採用 30 系列的顯示卡，加上 Intel 11 代處理器，最重要的是它們都有 30% 以上的折扣，性價比極高！…

Amazon Prime Day knocks up to $600 off some of Sony’s best mirrorless cameras

Sony’s popular full-frame mirrorless cameras rarely go on sale, so if you’ve been eyeing one, now might be the time to act — multiple models have discounts for Amazon Prime Day. The best deals are on the high-resolution “R” models, with the current A7R IV on sale at $2,998 ($502 off) and the A7R III available for just $2,198 ($602 in savings). You can also find great deals on desirable Sony lenses like the 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master zoom ($300 off) and Sony 24-105 f/4 G zoom ($300 off). 

Buy Sony A7R IV at Amazon – $2,998Buy Sony A7R III at Amazon – $2,198

The Sony A7R IV received one of Engadget’s highest camera review scores ever thanks to the fast and accurate autofocus, superb high-resolution photo quality, a bright and sharp viewfinder and great handling. I was particularly impressed with the high burst speeds considering the huge RAW file sizes on the 61-megapixel images. It can even handle video reasonably well for a high-res camera. The downsides are a mediocre menu system and high price, but the Prime Day discount helps take the sting off the latter. 

The older A7R III offers a lower 42-megapixel resolution, but it’s also a highly-rated camera with excellent autofocus performance, 5-axis stabilization and more. And along with the two high-res models, Sony is also offering a $200 discount on its stalwart A7 III ($1,798) and has dropped the price on the aging, but still very useful A7 II model to just $900 — making it one of the cheapest new full-frame cameras you can get. 

If you’re more in the market for lenses, Sony has you covered there, too. Along with the $300 price drops on the 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master zoom and 24-105 f/4 G zoom, you can grab $100 discounts on highly desirable models like the Sony 50mm f/1.2 G Master ($1,898) and FE 35mm F1.4 GM G Master ($1,298). The sale ends on July 17th but the best deals are liable to get snapped up well before then, so it’s best to act soon. 

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

Apple Watch Series 7 hits new all-time low of $279 for Prime Day

Apple’s most powerful smartwatch right now has dropped to the best price we’ve seen it. You can pick up the Apple Watch Series 7 (GPS only) for only $279, which is more than $100 off its normal price and $20 cheaper than we saw it during a sale at the start of June. GPS + Cellular models are also on sale starting at $379. While it is worth noting that we could see the next generation wearable, the Series 8, debut in September, this deal is the best around right now if you can’t wait until then to get a new smartwatch.

Buy Apple Watch Series 7 at Amazon – $279Shop Apple Watch deals at Amazon

While Apple didn’t change too much when going from the Series 6 to the Series 7, it did make a couple of meaningful updates. First and foremost, the Series 7’s display is larger, making it easier to see text and graphics, plus you can use the on-screen keyboard to type out messages, too. In addition to that, the Series 7 has new overnight respiratory tracking and faster charging. The former is an interesting feature of the smartwatch’s sleep tracking capabilities, although the device still lags behind competitors when it comes to the amount of data it tracks during sleep. Speedier charging is quite handy, as you’ll get 10 percent power in just 10 minutes of charging.

Otherwise, the Series 7 has all of the same features you’ll find on the Series 6. It tracks all-day heart rate and activity, plus it includes a built-in GPS, ECG tool, blood oxygen sensor, onboard music space and more. It can be used with Apple Pay to make NFC purchases and it supports features like fall detection and Emergency SOS. Not only is the Series 7 our current favorite smartwatch, but it’s the most comprehensive Watch that Apple has ever made — so it’s a no-brainer purchase when you can pick it up for $279. 

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Amazon’s Fire TV Stick Lite drops to only $12 for Prime Day

Amazon has discounted all of its Fire TV devices for Prime Day this year, and the standout is the Fire TV Stick Lite for only $12. That’s $18 off its normal price and the cheapest we’ve ever seen it. That’s not surprising either, consider it’s the most basic of Amazon’s streaming dongles. But all of the more powerful models are less than usual, too. You can pick up the Fire TV Stick for $17, the Fire TV Stick 4K for $25, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $35 and the Fire TV Cube for only $60.

Buy Fire TV Stick Lite at Amazon – $12Shop Fire TV deals at Amazon

The Fire TV Stick Lite provides the most essential streaming technology, supporting 1080p content and voice commands with the basic remote that comes with it. You won’t be able to control your TV with the included remote, but if that’s a must-have for you, you can spend just a bit more for the standard Fire TV Stick. We like that you at least get an Alexa button on the remote, which allows you to ask the device to search for your favorite shows and movies. Ultimately, the Fire TV Stick Lite is best for those who want to outfit older TVs with streaming capabilities without dropping a ton of money.

If you’re not committed to going for for the lowest-priced gadget available, we’d recommend the $35 Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Aside from the Cube set-top box, it’s the most powerful of Amazon’s streaming devices and it supports 4K HDR content, Dolby Atmos, Live Picture-in-Picture View and WiFi 6. Plus, the remote that it comes with has both the Alexa voice command button and TV controls as well.

For those who are looking for a new TV that already has streaming chops built in, Amazon’s discounted most of its Omni Series Fire TVs, too. The cheapest of the bunch is the 43-inch Omni set, which is $170 off and down to $240 for Prime Day. But even the most advanced model, the 75-inch set, won’t set you back too much: it’s $350 off and down to $750 right now.

Buy 43-inch Omni Fire TV at Amazon – $240Buy 75-inch Omni Fire TV at Amazon – $750

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