Amazon won't have to contend with two unionized warehouses in the US, at least for the time being. Workers at the company's LDJ5 facility in Staten Island have voted overwhelmingly against unionization. Of the 1,633 employees who were eligible to cast a ballot in the election, 618 said no to unionization. Only 380 workers voted in favor of the bid. There were no contested ballots. In the end, 61 percent of eligible workers voted.  

The failed vote comes after the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), led by former employee Christian Smalls, won a historic victory at the start of the month at JFK8, a facility just across the street from LDJ5. Despite its initial upset victory against the country's second-largest employer, Monday's defeat is likely to leave a sting for the ALU. Going into the election, there was hope a second victory would help build momentum toward a nationwide labor movement.  

Following the vote, the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversaw the election, said both parties have until May 9th to file objections. The Amazon Labor Union told Vice News it would contest the result. We've reached out to Amazon for comment.

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Alongside the news that Peacock will begin streaming Lionsgate movies in 2024, NBCUniversal announced a new update for the platform. The next time you open the app on your TV, you’ll notice the company has moved the navigation bar to the left-hand side of the interface. 

NBCUniversal

NBCUniversal says the tweak will help users more quickly and easily access all the content you can find on Peacock. At the same time, the company has refreshed the browser interface so that every catalog entry includes a synopsis and trailer. You can also start watching something without leaving the page.

But the most significant change is the addition of a feature called Key Plays tied to Peacock’s offering of Premier League games. When you start watching a match late, the platform will show highlights so that you can quickly catch up with what happened on the pitch before you tuned in. Ultimately, it’s not the most exciting update, but if you find yourself using Peacock frequently, you'll appreciate the improvements all the same. 

Next-day streaming of Bravo shows is coming to Peacock earlier than expected. Starting today, Peacock Premium subscribers can watch new episodes of select shows – including Top Chef, Below Deck and The Real Housewives of Atlanta – one day after their network debut, with the entire Bravo catalog becoming available for next-day streaming in September. Additionally, Peacock will offer full access to past seasons of Bravo shows.

NBCUniversal says the move will help it grow Bravo’s brand. According to the company, a “significant” number of US adults don’t have access to the network’s linear channel. And while it already offered Bravo shows through Peacock, there was a much longer gap previously between when they debuted on TV and made their way to the streaming platform. The move also falls in line with Comcast’s strategy to grow Peacock. When the company recently announced the platform ended 2021 with 9 million subscribers, it said it would shift resources from some of its linear channels to maintain Peacock’s growth trajectory.

Optoma has unveiled a new lamp-based DLP projector that delivers 4K output and a peak brightness of 3,600 lumens. With a claimed contrast ratio of 1,200,000:1, the company says the UHD55 is suitable for daytime use as long as there’s no natural or artificial light falling directly on your wall or projection screen. There’s no mention of Dolby Vision support, but it does offer HDR and HLG compatibility. With its shutter enabled, the UHD55 covers 97 percent of the DCI-P3 wide color gamut.

It also comes with 3D support in side-by-side, top and bottom and frame sequential modes. You can expect to get up to 15,000 hours of use from the included bulb if you use the projector's built-in Dynamic Black mode. Provided you have the space to accommodate it, the UHD55 can project a 300-inch image.

A dedicated gaming mode limits input lag to below 16 milliseconds at 4K, but the UHD55 is more of a PC gaming projector than a console one. It doesn’t feature an HDMI 2.1 port, limiting its ability to refresh a 4K image at 60Hz. However, connected to a PC, the UHD55’s two HDMI 2.0 ports with HDCP 2.0 support a 240Hz refresh rate at 1080p. Input lag is also reduced to 4 milliseconds or less. Other notable features include Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility and built-in IFTTT support. The UHD55 is available to purchase starting today for $1,799.

Apple is moving forward with a second season of its critically-acclaimed adaption of Min Jin Lee’s best-selling novel Pachinko. The company announced the renewal shortly before the show’s season one finale premiered this past Friday on Apple TV+.

Published in 2017, Lee’s multi-generational tale won accolades for its portrayal of a Korean family that immigrates to Japan before the outbreak of the Second World War. What’s striking about both the novel and Apple’s drama series is how they effortlessly weave history and the deeply personal stories of their characters together. From Japanese colonialism in Korea to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and later Japan’s economic boom in the 1980s, history has a profound effect on Pachinko’s characters and yet the story always feels intimate.

Friday’s season one finale pulled from a scene that occurs about a third through Lee’s approximately 500-page novel, so there’s plenty of story left for Apple’s TV+ series to adapt. The company didn’t say when season two will begin filming or when it plans to stream the new episodes. All of that just means you have time to catch up on Pachinko if you’ve been sleeping on it.

For the first time since February, Amazon has discounted the Echo Show 8 to $90. That’s a $40 saving over the smart display’s usual $130 price. We gave the second-generation model a score of 87 when Amazon released it midway through last year. We liked the Echo Show 8’s vibrant 1,280 by 800 resolution display and handy video calling functionality. It comes with a digital pan-and-zoom face-tracking feature that follows you while you move around. Best of all, that feature works with every video chat platform available for the device, including Skype and Zoom.

In addition to discounting the Echo Show 8, Amazon has also put the Echo Show 15 on sale. At the moment, you can buy the device for $200, down from $250. The Show 15 is the most niche option in Amazon’s smart display lineup. While you can place it on a desktop stand, Amazon sells that accessory separately. You’ll get the most use out of the Show 15 by mounting it on a wall in your home. 

Outside of a device like Meta’s Portal Plus, there aren’t many smart displays that feature a screen as big as the one found on the Show 15. It’s bright, and the picture frame design does a lot to enhance its best qualities. But don’t buy the Show 15 for its video calling capabilities. At best, we found they were average. Also, don’t expect a great speaker. It’s okay for playing music while you’re cooking, but you won’t be entertaining guests with the Show 15.

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As of May 2nd, Amazon will no longer offer paid time off for workers who test positive for COVID-19, according to CNBC. Starting Monday, the company will instead grant frontline staff up to five days of unpaid leave, with the option for workers to use their accrued sick time if needed.

Announced in a memo the company sent out on Saturday, the new policy sees Amazon once again scaling back the protections it offers workers. At the start of the pandemic, the company gave workers up to 14 days of paid time off. In January, it cut COVID-19 leave in half.

Citing the wider availability of rapid testing, Amazon also said it would no longer grant workers excused time off while they wait for their COVID-19 test results. At the same time, the company will end its vaccine incentive program. The initiative saw Amazon pay workers $40 for every COVID-19 vaccine dose they went out to get. And unless required to do so by local law, the company says it will no longer notify entire sites of positive COVID-19 cases.

“The sustained easing of the pandemic, ongoing availability of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and updated guidance from public health authorities, all signal we can continue to safely adjust to our pre-COVID policies,” the company said in the notice, according to CNBC.

Amazon’s updated COVID-19 policies will go into effect the same day we’ll find out if workers at the company’s LDJ5 warehouse in Staten Island voted to unionize. Like with nearby JFK8, the Amazon Labor Union, led by former employee Christian Smalls, hopes to represent the workers at the facility. Smalls gained international recognition when he led a walkout at JFK8 at the start of the pandemic to protest Amazon’s COVID-19 safety policies.

If you missed the chance to buy Apple’s second-generation AirPods when they were $100 a few weeks ago, Amazon has once again discounted them to that price. While we think most people are better off purchasing the third-generation AirPods or AirPods Pro due to their more comfortable fit, Apple’s older Bluetooth earbuds still have a lot to offer to iPhone owners. Like their more expensive siblings, the second-generation AirPods come with Apple’s H1 wireless chipset, meaning they include features like hands-free Siri and seamless pairing with the company’s other devices.

Amazon has also discounted the Beats Studio Buds. At the moment, they’re $50 off, making them $99.95. If you don’t mind the design of Beats products, they’re a better purchase than the second-generation AirPods. The Studio Buds come with active noise cancellation and IPX4-certified protection against sweat and moisture, two features you won’t find on Apple’s most affordable AirPods. They also feature a customizable fit with interchangeable silicone ear tips. The only thing you won’t find on the Studio Buds is Apple’s H1 chip, but they still come with one-touch pairing and hands-free Siri support.

Lastly, we’ll note Amazon is still selling the AirPods Pro for $175. While they’re a few years old now, the AirPods Pro remain among the best Bluetooth earbuds you can pair with an iPhone. We like them because they feature a customizable fit, IPX4 protection against sweat and active noise cancellation.

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Nintendo’s first-party titles almost never go on sale, and even when they do, they’re rarely discounted by much. That’s what makes Amazon’s latest promotion so notable. The retailer has discounted Animal Crossing: New Horizons to $40, marking the first time you’ve been able to pick up Nintendo’s cozy life sim from Amazon for $20 off.

A few things to note about this deal. If you’re not a Prime member, you won’t see the discounted price until you add it to your cart. The discount is also only valid on the physical edition of New Horizons, so you’ll have to wait for the company to deliver you the game before you can begin playing it. But chances are if you’ve waited this long to buy Animal Crossing, you won’t mind waiting a few extra days to start the experience.

New Horizons is a far more meditative and relaxing experience than almost any other game you can play. There is no plot to complete or bosses to overcome. Instead, you’re prompted to spend your time gardening, catching bugs and chatting with the anthropomorphic animals that live on your island. Released at the beginning of the pandemic, New Horizons was the perfect game at a time when everything felt so uncertain. That quality hasn’t changed, and we can’t recommend it enough if you’re looking for something to relax with after a long and challenging day out in the world.

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Netflix has canceled Space Force, according to Deadline. The comedy series from Parks and Recreation co-creator Greg Daniels won’t get a third season. The cancelation comes only weeks after season two of Space Force premiered on February 18th. Very much inspired by the Trump administration’s decision to create a space force, the series starred Steve Carell as a four-star general. And despite surrounding Carell with a star-studded cast that included the likes of John Malkovich and Ben Schwartz, the show never lived up to its premise.

Deadline reports Netflix caned Space Force for its usual reasons. The series failed to attract enough of an audience to justify its production budget. The cancelation comes mere days after Netflix laid off a significant number of the writers and editors it had hired to run its Tudum fan site website. On April 19th, the company revealed it lost about 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, its first such loss in a decade.