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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Multi-Sensor Prototyping Platform for Wireless IoT and Embedded Machine Learning
Nordic Semiconductor has announced the new multisensor prototyping platform ‘Nordic Thingy:53’ that comes with multiprotocol short-range wireless connectivity and support for embedded machine learning (ML).
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SpaceX has long been gearing up for the Starship's first orbital test flight, but that significant milestone may be delayed yet again. A Super Heavy booster designed for its massive launch vehicle has exploded at the company's Boca Chica, Texas facility. According to NASA Spaceflight, which uploaded a video of the incident, the booster caught fire while the company was testing its Raptor engines. As Gizmodo notes, Super Heavy's current prototype, the Booster 7, is equipped with 33 version 2 Raptor engines.
In response to NASA Spaceflight's tweet about the explosion, Musk said it's "actually not good" and that his team is assessing the damage. He also revealed that this issue was specific to the engine spin start test SpaceX had conducted — "Raptor has a complex start sequence," he said as an aside — and that going forward, the company "won't do a spin start test with all 33 engines at once."
Yeah, actually not good. Team is assessing damage.
Several Starship rocket prototypes had exploded in the past due to various reasons before the company finally managed its first successful launch and landing sequence in May 2021. Some of the boosters exploded during ground testing, while others caught fire after Starship had already landed following test flights. It's not just exploding Starships that had contributed to the heavy-lift space vehicle's orbital test flight delay — the company's plans also got held up by regulatory approvals. The FAA, for instance, kept extending its environmental review of SpaceX's Boca Chica launch site. Without that approval, the company can't launch the Starship from the facility. The agency finally approved a final environmental assessment of the Starship launch proposal from Boca Chica in June.
Last month, Musk said that Starship will be "ready to fly" in July, but this incident will likely affect the company's timeline. In a tweet, Musk said the "[b]ase of the vehicle seems ok by flashlight" when they checked it out, but it remains to be seen how bad the damage was and how much it will affect the company's plans for the vehicle's first orbital flight.
The AirPods Pro remain Apple's best sounding wireless earbuds, but they're also the priciest, too. Amazon Prime Day deals have knocked the earbuds down to a more manageable $170, which is $80 off their normal price and close to their all-time low. If you're on a tighter budget, you can pick up the 2nd-gen AirPods instead while they're on sale for $90.
Even though the AirPods Pro are nearly three years old at this point, we still recommend them for Apple diehards who want the best sound quality possible along with conveniences offered by the H1 chipset. audio quality is stellar and it's only enhanced by the buds' strong ANC, which does a good job of blocking out surrounding noises. We also like that you can hop in and out of Transparency Mode when necessary, so you never miss an important conversation happening around you.
The AirPods Pro have a more comfortable design than regular AirPods, too, thanks to their interchangeable ear tips. They're also IPX4 water resistant, so they'll withstand your toughest, sweatiest workouts. Inside is Apple's H1 chipset, which enables things like hands-free Siri access and quick pairing and switching between Apple devices. The H1 chip is one of the biggest selling points for any pair of AirPods because it helps them work seamlessly with things like iPhones, MacBooks and other Apple gadgets. Another big perk to the AirPods Pro is that they now come with a MagSafe charging case, so you can wirelessly power them up using any compatible magnetic power accessory.
If you're willing to pass on features like ANC, you can save some money and opt for the 2nd-generation AirPods. They're just about the cheapest they've ever been at $90, and those who liked the fit of Apple's old-school EarPods will enjoy the design of these buds. Sound quality is decent and we liked their improved wireless performance and good battery life.
There's arguably no better time than Prime Day to buy a piece of tech made by Amazon. Echo speakers, Kindle e-readers, Fire TV devices and everything in between drop to record-low prices for the company's annual shopping event, and this year's no different. You'll find most of Amazon's gadgets are on sale for Prime Day, including the latest models of things like the Kindle Paperwhite and the Echo Show 8. Also, Amazon-owned devices, like Eero routers and Blink security cameras, are cheaper than ever, too. Here are the best deals on Amazon devices you can get for Prime Day 2022.
Echo
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Amazon's Echo smart speaker has dropped to $60. It earned a score of 89 from us for its solid audio quality, attractive design and its inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack.
The Echo Dot is on sale for $20 while the Echo Dot with Clock is down to $33. We like these tiny smart speakers for their good audio quality, compact design and tap-to-snooze feature.
The Echo Show 5 has dropped to $35, or $50 off its usual price. If you want a smart alarm clock, this is the smart display to get. We like its sharp 5-inch display, ambient light sensor, smart home controls and tap-to-snooze feature.
The Echo Show 8 smart display is on sale for a record-low price of $75. It earned a score of 87 from us for its attractive design, stellar audio quality and improved camera for video calls. The first-generation Show 8 is also on sale and you can get a bundle with it and a Blink Mini camera for only $65.
Amazon's swiveling Echo Show 10 has been discounted to $180. We gave it a score of 83 for its automatic panning and zooming during video calls, excellent audio quality and its ability to double as a security camera.
The Echo Show 15 has been discounted to $180, or $70 off its usual price. Instead of propping this display up on a table or countertop, it can go on your wall and act as an interactive information board, providing access to things like calendar events, shopping lists and more.
The Echo Frames are on sale for $100 right now. We gave them a score of 76 for their lightweight design, hands-free Alexa capabilities and compatibility with prescription lenses.
The second-generation Echo Buds are down to $70 right now, while the model with a wireless charging case is on sale for $90. Amazon massively improved these wireless earbuds from the original versions and we gave them a score of 80 for their better sound quality, good ANC and smaller design.
The Fire 7 tablet is on sale for $30, or half off its normal price. If you're looking for a cheap tablet to bring with you everywhere or to give your kid without worry, this is a good option. While it doesn't have the Google Play Store, you can still use it to check email, watch videos, play music and more.
The Fire HD 8 tablet is half off and down to $45. We gave it a score of 81 for its decent performance, good battery life, wireless charging capabilities and USB-C port.
The Fire HD 10 has dropped to only $75 for Prime Day. It's the Fire tablet to get if you want the best performance possible. We like its 1080p display, 12-hour battery life and its Show Mode feature.
Amazon's Fire 7 Kids Pro tablet is down to $50, or 50 percent off its usual rate. It's the smallest of the company's affordable tablets and the kids version comes with a protective case, a two-year warranty and one year of access to Amazon Kids+.
The 8-inch version of Amazon's kids tablet is on sale for $70. This also comes with a protective case, a two-year warranty and a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+.
The Fire HD 10 Kids is also on sale for $120 right now. You're getting the same thing in this bundle — a protective case, a two-year warranty and a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ — along with a larger tablet.
Amazon's Fire TV Cube has dropped to $60, or half off its regular price. It supports 4K streaming, Dolby Vision and Atmos, plus hands-free Alexa controls.
You can pick up Amazon's most affordable streamer, the Fire TV Stick Lite, for only $12 right now. It supports 1080p streaming and gives you access to some of the most popular services like Netlfix and Disney+.
The standard Fire TV Stick is on sale for $17. It supports 1080p streaming with Dolby Atmos and it comes with an Alexa Voice Remote that has power and volume buttons on it.
The Fire TV Stick 4K is on sale for $25 for Prime Day. This one supports 4K streaming with Dolby Vision along with Dolby Atmos audio and Amazon's Fire TV OS.
The higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max has dropped to $35, which is $20 less than usual. On top of all of the features in the standard Fire TV Stick 4K, the Max version also supports WiFi 6 and live picture-in-picture viewing.
Amazon's standard Kindle has dropped to $45, which is half off its normal price. We gave this e-reader a score of 91 for its improved contrast display, extra front lights and sleeker design.
The Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $95, which is a new record low for the e-reader. The updated model has 17 front lights, a sleeker design, an adjustable warm light, weeks of battery life and Audible support.
The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has dropped to $135 for Prime Day. This is the best e-reader Amazon makes right now and we gave it a score of 97 for its larger screen, USB-C charging, automatic brightness adjustment and wireless charging support.
The Kindle Oasis is on sale for $175 right now, or $75 off its usual price. We gave this device a score of 89 for its thin and light design and improved backlighting system.
The Kindle Kids edition has been discounted to $50. This is essentially a standard Kindle with a few extra perks including a protective case and one year of Amazon Kids+.
The Eero 6 dual-band mesh WiFi system has dropped to $71. One node can cover up to 1,500 square feet and it supports WiFi 6 and has a built-in Zigbee home hub inside.
The Eero Pro 6 tri-band system starts at a discounted price of $148 for Prime Day. This system can cover up to 2,000 square feet with just one router and it supports WiFi 6 and has a built-in Zigbee home hub inside.
You can pick up the new Eero Pro 6E WiFi system for as low as $194 on Prime Day. Amazon recently launched this system and its the most capable WiFi 6 setup in the Eero family. It covers up to 6,000 square feed and supports speeds up to 2.3Gbps.
The Eero 6+ system is down to $90 right now. This is Amazon's most budget-friendly WiFi 6 router set and the dual-band system supports speeds up to 1Gbps and a coverage area of up to 4,500 square feet.
Amazon's smart plug is $12 off and down to $13. You can plug almost any "dumb" appliance into this accessory to make it a smart one that can be controlled via a companion app and with Alexa voice commands.
Amazon's smart thermostat is on sale for $42 right now. This affordable IoT gadget lets you control your home's temperature from anywhere and it can be adjusted via Alexa commands.
The Blink Indoor camera is on sale for $55, or $20 off its normal rate. This accessory is totally wireless, so you can place it almost anywhere. It supports 1080p recording, motion alerts, two-way audio and temperature monitoring.
Blink's Outdoor camera is $40 off and on sale for $60. It has all of the features of the Indoor model along with a weather-resistant design, so you can use it to monitor the outside of your home.
The Blink Mini has been discounted to only $30 for Prime Day, and you can get two of them for the price of one as well. This camera needs to be plugged in, but we like its compact design, 1080p recording, motion alerts and two-way audio.
Amazon's Ring Video Doorbell is 25 percent off and down to $75. It records 1080p video and lets you see what's going on outside your front door. It also has two-way audio so you can speak to visitors, and a rechargeable battery.
