Last year, DJI showed what was possible in a small drone with the Mini 3 Pro by fitting tons of technology and a high-quality camera into a sub-250 gram drone. Following that up was never going to be easy, but now (after numerous leaks) it’s unveiled the Mini 4 Pro with a long list of new features.

Aside from one improvement, the camera is largely the same. However, it has new omnidirectional obstacle sensors that eliminate the blind spots on the Mini 3 Pro. It also comes with a new feature called ActiveTrack 360 that lets you program camera moves when tracking a subject.

Small drones are the best way to track fast-paced action, as they’re maneuverable and less prone to damage when crashing. With all the improvements, the Mini 4 Pro is better and safer at that than its predecessor — at least on paper. Now, let’s find out if it lives up to that in the real world.

Design

The Mini 4 Pro is still under 250 grams so it can be flown without a license or registration in many regions, but it has subtle design changes all around. The four forward- and rear-facing sensors are now placed so that they can see to the sides as well, and the body is a bit more streamlined. It has larger cooling vents, slightly smaller rear arms and new landing feet at the front. The camera/gimbal shield is smaller and easier to put on, and it has a new guard that protects the propellers when it’s stored.

As before, the gimbal tilts up 60 degrees and down 90, and the camera flips 90 degrees to give you full vertical resolution for social media. At the rear is a microSD port, and the Mini 4 Pro has 2GB of internal storage for emergencies.

The Mini 4 Pro comes with one of two controllers, the basic RC-N2 that requires a smartphone, and the RC2 with a built-in screen. Since it uses DJI’s new Ocusync 4 transmission, first introduced with the Air 3, it only works with the new controllers and not the older models — for now, anyway.

You can buy it with a $55 ND filter set for sunny days, which I’d recommend if you can afford it. DJI also offers a wide-angle 18mm equivalent lens attachment ($40), but it has significant barrel distortion and can cause focus issues.

The drone also supports DJI’s Lightcut, an editing app that lets you generate quick videos for social media. As DJI says, it allows “one tap generation of captivating videos by merging ActiveTrack, MasterShots, and QuickShots footage,” while automating sound effects and more. It also works wirelessly, so there’s no need to download footage to your smartphone.

Performance

Given its small size and maneuverability (and the same sensor as DJI's Action 4), you can think of the Mini 4 Pro as a flying action camera. The light weight (and low price compared to, say, a Mavic 3 Pro) also makes crashes less consequential.

Maximum speed is a decently fast 35 MPH in sport mode, or 26 MPH in regular operation. It can handle winds up to 24 MPH, an impressive figure for a sub 250 gram drone. In operation, it can look like it’s being buffeted fairly hard by the wind, but you wouldn’t know it from the footage thanks to DJI’s gimbal and stabilization technology.

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The Mini 3 Pro was effectively blind on the sides, but the Mini 4 Pro offers protection all around like the Mavic 3 Pro and Air 3 — thanks to four new omnidirectional sensors on top and two on bottom (along with a time-of-flight sensor). It also uses DJI’s APAS, which offers automatic braking and obstacle bypass for extra security.

If you’re spending $760+ on a drone, you may not want to test the obstacle detection limits. That's my job, so I had it follow me while I walked and biked among trees and other potential snags. I did have a few crashes, but here’s what I learned on how to avoid them.

The sensors are visual, so they don’t work in dim light. And dense forest with fine branches is a no go — the omni sensors can miss those, but the propellers won’t. Finally, the Mini 4 Pro detects obstacles best when traveling forward, less so when going sideways, and worst of all when flying backwards.

It did work around well-spaced trees with thick branches and plenty of leaves, near buildings and generally around well-defined obstacles. It was able to maneuver around those, choose decent routes and reacquire subjects if they disappeared. That helped me capture some nice action footage, though one should always remain wary of accidents.

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ActiveTrack 360 adds camera moves to the usual subject tracking to create dramatic shots. It looks confusing at first, but the idea is pretty simple. You use the so-called steering wheel to “draw” a route on concentric circles, and the drone will follow it, ducking any obstacles it encounters.

You can change parameters including the inner and outer radius, inner and outer height, camera speed and ground proximity. That makes it possible to get a wide variety of shots. The tricky part was figuring out which side the drone considered to be forward and backward — DJI should work on this to make things clearer.

If you plan carefully you can get some gorgeous, swooping ActiveTrack shots. The usual obstacle caveats apply, though, and it also adds complexity — because you have to figure out where the drone is going to be when you arrive at your end point. With all that, it’s best to practice in an open area before trying it in a complex environment.

Of course, the Mini 4 Pro still has DJI’s automatic modes aimed at social media users, like MasterShots, QuickShots and Panorama along with Hyperlapse. It even includes the Waypoint feature from the Mavic 3 Pro, which lets you pre-program complex drone moves and repeat them — a sophisticated feature for a small drone.

Steve Dent for Engadget

For the latter feature, you launch the drone and select the Waypoint function, fly to a spot of interest and set the correct camera angle. Once there, you tap “+” on the screen (or hit the C1 button the RC2 remote) to program a waypoint. Repeat that process through all your points of interest, and once you’re done, you can play back the sequence. The drone will smoothly fly to each point the same way each time, so you use it to show a scene during the day and then later at night, for instance.

The Mini 4 Pro uses Ocusync 4 transmission first seen on the Air 3 that sends 1080/60p video up to 20 km, compared to 1080/30p over 12 km with Ocusync 3. Those distances are lower here in Europe because of transmitter power rules.

In use, it provides a noticeable improvement in connectivity, with fewer dropouts and much greater range — even if the drone goes behind obstacles. The change is very noticeable here in Europe with smoother video and dropouts now very rare. It should be even better in the US, where you could send the Mini 4 Pro on a pretty long trip.

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The standard 2,590 mAh Intelligent Flight Battery has a bit more capacity than the Mini 3 Pro’s 2,453 mAh cell, but range remains the same at 34 minutes. In real-world flying, we saw about 25 minutes before hearing the return-to-home warning, so plan accordingly.

If you have a Mini 3 Pro, its cells appear to be compatible with the new drone, so that’s a good thing if you already own that model. In the US, you can get the Plus batteries that provide up to 45 minutes of range, but local rules block their use in Europe.

The RC-2 first seen on the Air 3 is DJI’s third screen controller after the RC and the RC Pro. It’s significantly better than the RC, with a brighter screen, better feel and more precise controls. The other option is the non-screen RC-N2 (requiring a smartphone), which is similar to the RC-N1 model but with O4 compatibility.

Camera

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The Mini 4 Pro’s camera has the same 1/1.3 dual ISO sensor as its predecessor, using an identical 24mm equivalent lens with a fixed f/1.7 aperture. That’s a pretty sizable sensor for such a small drone, just a bit smaller than the 1-inch sensor on the Mavic Air 2S.

The difference is that it now supports 4K slow-mo at up to 100 fps, or 1080p at 200 fps. The motion is embeded 30fps, but it’s still a nice feature for wildlife, crashing waves and more. That’s on top of 4K at up to 60fps and 1080p at 120fps. It has a two times digital zoom for 4K and four times at 1080p, with a slight loss in sharpness.

There’s also support for DJI’s D-LogM, which boosts dynamic range and gives you more flexibility in post. DJI has a LUT that makes it easy to convert it to regular video — but some editing is required for best results. You can also shoot in DJI’s HLG mode, which again boosts dynamic range. You can see the results right away on an HDR TV, but you’ll need to do an HLG to REC.709 color-space transform to use it with regular video. Both support 10-bit 4:2:0 capture for improved fidelity and reduced banding.

Quality is about the same as a really good smartphone — but not on par with a mirrorless camera or DJI’s pro-level Mavic 3. Video is sharp with accurate colors. The automatic mode delivers nice video, though it sometimes over- and underexposes on sunny or dark days. You can change exposure compensation, but nothing else. Luckily, a fully manual pro mode is available for better control of color balance, LOG, HLG, shutter, ISO and more

The Mini 4 Pro can shoot sharp 48-megapixel images or combine four pixels into one for 12-megapixel images with improved night sensitivity. You can easily fix over- or under-exposed photos if you use the RAW DNG format.

Low-light sensitivity is good but not great —- better than, say, a GoPro 12. Shooting at twilight, video was less clear than a similar scene shot with the Mavic 3 Pro. The drone also offers a “night” mode that effectively boosts dynamic range, making dimly-lit scenes pop better.

In all, image quality isn’t perfect, but remember that this is a $1,000 lightweight drone. It beats all other models in that category, and it’s better than many heavier drones, too.

Wrap-up

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Once again, DJI’s Mini 4 Pro sets a benchmark for small drones. It has multiple new useful features, including updated obstacle detection, ActiveTrack 360, O4 transmission and Waypoints. All of those make it a solid budget choice for action sports, events, aerial photography, industrial applications and more.

Its main competition is the Autel Evo Nano Plus, currently on sale for $580. That model has a similar 50-megapixel 1/1.27-inch camera sensor, three-way obstacle avoidance, subject tracking, and more. However, it’s limited to 4K 30p and doesn’t offer a remote with a screen. If you have a bit more to spend, DJI’s Air 3 offers more stability and an extra tele camera.

All that said, the Mini 4 Pro isn’t cheap for a budget drone. It’s priced at $759 for the drone with a battery and RC-N2 controller, $959 with the RC2 controller and $1,099 for the Fly More kit with three batteries and a charger, the RC2, a carrying case and extra props. Still, if you’re in the market for a drone in that price range, nothing else can really touch it.

Amazon is investing up to $4 billion in OpenAI rival Anthropic as a way to provide advanced deep learning and other services to its Amazon Web Service (AWS) customers, the company wrote in a press release. In return, AWS becomes Anthropic's "primary cloud provider" to train and deploy its future foundation models. It's the second large investment in the company, founded by former OpenAI executives, following Google's $400 million partnership with the firm. 

The e-commerce company will start with a $1.25 billion investment to gain a minority stake in Anthropic, with an option to boost that to a total of $4 billion. Along with Google and Amazon, Anthropic also counts Salesforce, Zoom, Spark Capital and others as backers. Notably, Anthropic's deal with Google didn't require it to buy cloud services from the search giant. 

Anthropic recently unveiled its first consumer-facing chatbot Claude 2, accessible by subscription much like OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Claude “Constitutional AI” system is guided by 10 “foundational” principals of fairness and autonomy and is supposed to be harder to trick than other AI. Anthropic is also working on a chatbot it calls "Claude-Next" that's supposed to be ten times more powerful than any current AI, according to TechCrunch. 

The startup touts itself as an advocate for responsible AI deployment, and recently formed an AI safety group with Google, Microsoft and Open AI. It has been with AWS since 2021. "Claude excels at a wide range of tasks, from sophisticated dialogue and creative content generation to complex reasoning and detailed instruction, while maintaining a high degree of reliability and predictability," according to Amazon.  

Instead of training their own models, AWS customers will be able to use Anthropic's AI models via Amazon's Bedrock, a service designed specifically for AI development. Amazon Cloud also offers its own AI applications, and with the new partnership, is hoping to position itself as a key player in the field.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI is largely considered to be the leader in AI and chatbot tech, thanks to its ultra-popular ChatGPT chatbot and DALL-E image generation service. Use of AI in business continues to grow exponentially, despite concerns over the legality and ethics of AI-appropriated content — it was considered to be a strong sticking point in the WGA writer's strike, for example. 

Amazon is investing up to $4 billion in OpenAI rival Anthropic as a way to provide advanced deep learning and other services to its Amazon Web Service (AWS) customers, the company wrote in a press release. In return, AWS becomes Anthropic's "primary cloud provider" to train and deploy its future foundation models. It's the second large investment in the company, founded by former OpenAI executives, following Google's $400 million partnership with the firm. 

The e-commerce company will start with a $1.25 billion investment to gain a minority stake in Anthropic, with an option to boost that to a total of $4 billion. Along with Google and Amazon, Anthropic also counts Salesforce, Zoom, Spark Capital and others as backers. Notably, Anthropic's deal with Google didn't require it to buy cloud services from the search giant. 

Anthropic recently unveiled its first consumer-facing chatbot Claude 2, accessible by subscription much like OpenAI's ChatGPT. The Claude “Constitutional AI” system is guided by 10 “foundational” principals of fairness and autonomy and is supposed to be harder to trick than other AI. Anthropic is also working on a chatbot it calls "Claude-Next" that's supposed to be ten times more powerful than any current AI, according to TechCrunch. 

The startup touts itself as an advocate for responsible AI deployment, and recently formed an AI safety group with Google, Microsoft and Open AI. It has been with AWS since 2021. "Claude excels at a wide range of tasks, from sophisticated dialogue and creative content generation to complex reasoning and detailed instruction, while maintaining a high degree of reliability and predictability," according to Amazon.  

Instead of training their own models, AWS customers will be able to use Anthropic's AI models via Amazon's Bedrock, a service designed specifically for AI development. Amazon Cloud also offers its own AI applications, and with the new partnership, is hoping to position itself as a key player in the field.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI is largely considered to be the leader in AI and chatbot tech, thanks to its ultra-popular ChatGPT chatbot and DALL-E image generation service. Use of AI in business continues to grow exponentially, despite concerns over the legality and ethics of AI-appropriated content — it was considered to be a strong sticking point in the WGA writer's strike, for example. 

Following marathon negotiations over the last five days, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and major studios have reached a tentative deal to end a 146-day strike that has shut down much of the industry, Variety has reported. "We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership," the WGA wrote in an email to members.

Picketing has been suspended as of Sunday night, but the strike is still in force until it's ratified and approved by members. "To be clear, no one is to return to work until specifically authorized to by the Guild. We are still on strike until then," the email stated.

One of the last sticking points was reportedly around the use of generative AI in content production. Other details of the contract have yet to be released, including around streaming residuals, staffing levels for shows and more. "Though we are eager to share the details of what has been achieved with you, we cannot do that until the last ‘i’ is dotted," wrote the WGA.

Things were looking bleak for the industry in mid-September, but some high-profile WGA members reportedly pressured leadership to restart negotiations. In addition, four key AMPTP executives (Bob Iger from Disney, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, Ted Sarandos and David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery) participated in negotiations for three days. Bargaining resumed on September 20, and the deal was reached five days later.

Considering the strike length and WGA leadership's high level of praise for the deal, a positive vote from membership seems probable. The guild credited membership's solidarity and its willingness to "endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days" as key to clinching the deal. "It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal," it stated in the message.

The labor strife isn't finished yet, though. The SAG-AFTRA actors' guild is still on strike after hitting picket lines on July 14 over issues like likeness rights. "While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP’s tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members," the union wrote in a statement.

Even after the actors reach their own deal, it will take time for TV series, films, talk shows and other productions to get back up to speed — so expect delays in your favorite shows coming back. The AMPTP has yet to comment on the WGA deal. 

Content creators have become a key segment in the mirrorless camera industry, and Sony fully embraced them back in 2020 with the launch of the ZV1 camera. It has since added no less than four models to its ZV lineup, with the latest being the 12-megapixel full-frame ZV-E1 — its most capable model by far.

It uses the same sensor as the $3,500 A7S III, a video-focused camera that’s also a low-light marvel. However, the ZV-E1 costs $1,300 less, so of course it’s missing some key features like an electronic viewfinder (EVF), dual high-speed card slots, a mechanical shutter and some physical controls.

At the same time, the ZV-E1 has some functions that the A7S III lacks, surprisingly enough. Most of those are in the area of AI, and very useful for vloggers, like auto-framing, advanced subject detection and dynamic stabilization. With the sensor and AI features combined, it’s not a spoiler to say that this camera is both a mini A7S III and a powerful vlogging camera at the same time. The sheer number of advancements also make it a technological tour de force.

Body

The sensor might be the same, but the ZV-E1 looks radically different from the A7S III. Instead of Sony’s classic A7-style mirrorless form, the body is squat and chunky like an A6700 or full-frame A7C. It’s also significantly smaller and weighs a third less than the A7S III at 483g, making it Sony’s smallest full-frame camera to date.

Sony boasts that it’s built of recycled plastic, and that makes the camera feel significantly cheaper and less grippy than the A7 series. The grip is also smaller, but I was still able to get a reasonably firm grasp considering the lighter weight. Despite the lower-end materials, it is dust and moisture resistant.

As we’ve seen on numerous recent cameras, there’s a switch for photos, video and slow & quick, and each has its own dedicated settings. It has a prominent red record button on top, and like Sony’s other mirrorless vlogging camera (the APS-C ZV-E10) it has a zoom rocker for supported zoom lenses, and also works with Sony’s “Digital Zoom” feature.

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Other than that, it’s significantly stripped down compared to the A7S III. While it does have a few vlogging-specific buttons like Product Showcase and Background Defocus, there’s just a single control dial on top (at the back) and no dial on the front – making it difficult to operate the camera using physical controls in full manual mode.

That said, the ZV-E1 is one of Sony’s first cameras that can be fully operated using touch controls. Most of the key settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc) can be changed in that way, and it also lets you tweak the display settings by swiping left or right. And of course, the LCD screen fully articulates for vloggers, though it’s a bit low-res at 1,030K dots.

Where the A7S III’s 9.44 million-dot EVF is the best on the market, there’s no viewfinder at all on the ZV-E1. I missed that feature when shooting on bright days, but the EVF does have a “sunshine” mode that automatically maxes out brightness.

It uses the same battery as Sony’s flagship models, so you get a generous 95 minutes of 4K 30p video recording and 570 photos on a charge. Luckily, the USB-C Gen 3.2 port lets you charge while shooting, and also supports high-speed transfers.

Along with headphone and mic ports, it’s got a micro rather than a full sized HDMI port, which isn’t ideal for a vlogging camera. It has just a single high-speed UHS-II card slot. Oddly the lack of a fast CFexpress type A slot doesn’t appear to limit video capture compared to the A7S III.

Video

As you’d expect for a camera based on the powerful A7S III, video specs are impressive. It can handle 4K UHD video at up to 60 fps, though it’s lightly supersampled from the 12-megapixel, 4,240 x 2,832 sensor – so it’s slightly less sharp than higher-resolution Sony cameras like the A7 IV. Thanks to a recent firmware update, it can also shoot native 4K at up to 120 fps with no supersampling.

Steve Dent for Engadget

You can choose from high- and low-quality MP4 longGOP options, all with up to 4:2:2 10-bit color depth and 280 Mbps data rates. There’s also an I-mode at up to 4K 60p with 4:2:2 10-bit color that offers a more fluid editing experience with no transcoding. That setting uses higher data rates at up to 600Mbps (60 fps), so it requires expensive, high-speed V90 UHS-II cards.

Sony’s S-Log3 boosts dynamic range to 14-plus stops, and you can preview footage using Sony’s LUTs or install your own. If you don’t want the hassle of log, S-Cinetone also boosts dynamic range and is easier to tweak and edit later on.

What about overheating? Since it lacks the thermal capabilities as the A7S III, continuous recording times are shorter, particularly at 4K60 and up. In that mode you can expect less than an hour depending on the outside temperature. Content creators might be OK with that, but event shooters may need to look elsewhere.

Autofocus and AI

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When it comes to autofocus, the ZV-E1 actually outshines the A7S III. That’s because it uses Sony’s new AI processor introduced in the A7R V, so it behaves more like that model –- particularly when it comes to image tracking.

It can now track human heads and bodies, not just faces and eyes. And besides people, it has specific settings for animals, birds, insects, cars, planes and trains. Unfortunately it does lack an auto setting, so it can’t automatically select the type of subject — you have to dive into the menus and do that yourself.

Subject tracking sets a new speed and reliability standard for mirrorless cameras, nailing autofocus consistently – even in tricky settings with fast moving subjects. That’s hugely important for vloggers, who often work alone. That said, even Sony’s system isn’t perfect, as it can occasionally lose a subject’s eyes in busy backgrounds.

AI powers other features too. For example, the built-in microphone is now directional, and can automatically aim toward the front, rear or all around, based on subject detection.

A key AI feature lets you digitally zoom an extra 1.5 times without much noticeable loss in quality. It works with the zoom rocker, and unlike with past ZV implementations, includes full subject tracking. That ability to zoom smoothly and automatically scale the image powers other features as well

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That starts with the ZV-E1’s in-body stabilization. Optical-only offers 5 stops, enough to smooth handheld video without much movement. Active stabilization considerably boosts performance, but adds a slight 1.1x crop. However, dynamic stabilization is new and quite remarkable. It adds a 1.3x crop, but can effectively remove bouncing from footsteps, making it like using a dedicated gimbal – albeit with some loss in sharpness. With that feature, the ZV-E1 is the first camera that can really match the smoothness of the latest GoPro action cams.

The digital zoom teams up with subject tracking on two other new features as well. One is the Framing Stabilizer, which crops into the image, steadies the shot and keeps the subject in the center of frame, allowing for dolly-like smoothness.

Auto Framing, meanwhile, gives the illusion of camera movement. It first digitally zooms into the subject, then tracks it within the frame. You can choose a small, medium or large crop, different tracking speeds and more. You can even send an uncropped video to HDMI so you have two versions.

It also carries vlogger-centric features seen on other ZV models, including Product Showcase and Auto Depth of Field. As before, the latter automatically defocuses the background by instantly opening the aperture as much as possible. Product Showcase, meanwhile, ignores eye detection and quickly shifts focus to any foreground object brought in front of the camera. Finally, Breathing Compensation uses a slight digital zoom to maintain constant framing when changing focus.

Video Quality

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As mentioned, 4K 30p and 60p video is slightly softer than Sony’s 30-megapixel A7 IV due to the lower resolution. On the plus side, the absence of pixel binning means no there’s no aliasing or other ugly artifacts that can ruin a shot.

The other positive aspect is far less rolling shutter than the A7 IV at the full sensor width. That means you can make quick pans or film fast-moving subjects without worrying about skewed video.

Apart from sharpness, image quality is superb. It delivers nearly 15 stops of dynamic range in C-Log3 mode, up there with the best mirrorless cameras. That allows for plenty of detail in dark shadows and bright highlights, even on sunny or dark days. S-Log3 mode, meanwhile, gives editors room to tweak video. Sony’s colors are accurate, though skin tones can lack the warmth I’ve seen on Canon models.

The ZV-E1 can’t be beat in low light. It has dual native ISOs at 640 and a whopping 12800. That allows for low-noise video all that way up to ISO 25,600, and manageable levels even at 51,200 – letting you shoot by moonlight or candlelight. In fact, Sony’s FX3 cinema camera with the same sensor was recently used to shoot a feature film called The Creator, specifically because it’s so good in low light.

Photography

Since it doesn’t have an EVF or mechanical shutter, I wouldn’t recommend the ZV-E1 for photography alone. That said, like the A7S III, it’s more than competent in a pinch.

The AF works just as well with photography, and has the same features and tracking modes. So you can count on this camera to grab sharp photos, even when shooting bursts at up to the maximum 10 fps or in low light. It’s actually a pretty good street photography or travel camera, as it’s small, silent and discreet. And with so little skew, I rarely missed the mechanical shutter.

Photo quality is outstanding, particularly in very low light. RAW images can easily be tweaked, even at high ISOs, and colors are accurate. The biggest drawback is again the lack of sharpness. That means there’s not a lot of room to crop into photos later, so you’ll want to get your framing right when you take the shot.

Wrap-up

Steve Dent for Engadget

With all that it can do, Sony’s ZV-E1 is the best vlogging camera on the market and its rivals aren’t even really close. It delivers everything creators need like 4K 120p video, high dynamic range, unbeatable low-light capability, great ergonomics, the best AF on the market and a boatload of useful AI features. The main drawback is a lack of sharpness — but that’s only really noticeable if you’re pixel peeping.

The ZV-E1 costs $2,200, so its rivals include the $2,200 Panasonic S5 IIx, the $2,500 Canon EOS R6 II and Sony’s own $2,500 A7 IV. All of those cameras have sharper 4K video and electronic viewfinders, so they’re better hybrid cameras for both photography and video

The ZV-E1 beats them in nearly every other way, though, while breaking new ground with its innovative AI features. If you’re a content creator looking for a full-frame camera in that price range, I’d highly recommend the ZV-E1.

Prime Video users will soon see ads on shows and movies unless they pay an extra $3 per month on top of their regular Prime subscription, Amazon has announced. "Starting in early 2024, Prime Video shows and movies will include limited advertisements," the company wrote, noting that pricing for the ad-free tier will be announced for additional countries "at a later date."

The news represents a significant change to Prime Video, which hadn't previously served ads next to movie and TV content as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The streaming service is currently included for free with a Prime or $9 per month if purchased separately, offering third-party content (movies, TV series, etc.) and Amazon Original content produced by Amazon Studios. That includes series like The Boys and The Citadel, along with movies including Air, Manchester by the Sea and The Big Sick. 

It didn't say how many ads you'll have to watch, though Variety suggests "limited advertisements" could mean around four minutes per hour. "We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers," the company said. "Ads in Prime Video content will be introduced in the US, UK, Germany, and Canada in early 2024, followed by France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia later in the year. No action is required for Prime members. We’re not making changes in 2024 to the current price of Prime membership."

The news follows a report early this summer that Amazon was planning some kind of ad-supported Prime Video tier. Now, it turns out that's just the regular subscription, with the new tier effectively an add-on.

Amazon justified the decision, saying it will allow it to "continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time." It also cited the "vast selection of movies and series, including Amazon Originals and live sports, along with critically acclaimed series like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel". The company recently spent millions to acquire rights to NFL Thursday Night Football and acquired MGM Studios in 2021 for $8.5 billion. 

Amazon has already dallied with ads, as it currently shows them next to live sports streaming on Prime. Amazon also offers the FreeVee ad-supported site with over 100 Prime Video original series, available on its Fire TV stick, on other devices and as an app. 

Ad-free Prime Video certainly made Amazon's $139 per year ($15 per month) Prime membership compelling. With that now watered down, and Amazon also introducing new fees for same-day deliveries, it will be interesting to see if there's any impact on subscriber numbers. 

Jaguar is joining Mercedes, Polestar and other automakers in adopting Tesla's NACS chargers for vehicles sold in North America starting in 2025. The company signed an agreement with Tesla to gain access to its 12,000+ Superchargers for its "current and future customers" using the standard.

"The next generation luxury electric Jaguars, launching in 2025, will incorporate the NACS connector without the need for an adapter in the USA, Canada and Mexico," it said in a press release, adding that it will adopt the standard for "vehicles and home chargers, and source and supply adapters from Tesla for I-PACE drivers once available." Jaguar noted that its in-house battery and power electronics technology will optimize charging rates on both Tesla's current V3 (250 kW) and upcoming V4 (350 kW) Superchargers. 

Jaguar has been quiet of late around its EV plans, but announced back in 2021 that it would become an all-electric brand by 2025, with its Land Rover division rolling out six new EVs in 2024 — all as part of a sweeping "Reimagine" strategy. The company will use a pure electric architecture for its Jaguar lineup, replacing gas and hybrid vehicles like the XE, XF, E-Pace and F-Pace with all-electric versions. Land Rover, meanwhile, will introduce two separate platforms for all-electric and hybrid vehicles. 

Many, if not most, major automakers have now signed up to use Tesla's Supercharger network, including Fisker, Ford, GM, Honda, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Polestar, Rivian and Volvo. A number are reported to be in talks, including VW, Stellantis and Hyundai. In addition, other networks are adopting NACs, including ChargePoint and Electrify America. And recently, Tesla received $160 million in funding to expand its Supercharger network in year. 

All of that shows the wisdom in Tesla's gambit over ten years ago to make Superchargers a strong selling point for its EVs. Now, the network is becoming a key feature for other manufacturers as well — to the likely benefit of Tesla. 

Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard looked close to being dead not long ago, but it just took a big step toward clearing its last major obstacle. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that Microsoft's revised agreement "substantially addresses previous concerns and opens the door to the deal being cleared." The agreement is still in consultation, but final approval now looks highly likely. 

"The CMA considers that the restructured deal makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year," the regulator wrote. "In particular, the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft will prevent this important content — including games such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft — from coming under the control of Microsoft in relation to cloud gaming."

The UK regulator initially blocked the merger over fears it would hand Microsoft a 60 to 70 percent share of the cloud gaming market, making it a monopoly player. That in turn would give it "incentive to withhold games from competitors and substantially weaken competition in this important growing market." 

In response, Microsoft announced last month that it would sell Activision Blizzard streaming rights to Ubisoft in an attempt to win UK approval. It said that if the merger goes through, it would transfer "cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment... in perpetuity." Ubisoft said in a separate release that the titles would be available across a range of services. 

The revised deal "substantially addresses most concerns," the CMA wrote, but it still wants to ensure that provisions in the sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft can't be "circumvented, terminated or not enforced." It added that Microsoft has offered remedies to ensure that those rights are enforceable, and those should resolve any residual concerns. 

Microsoft managed to turn the deal around after taking a lot of blows from regulators. Late last year, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block the merger, but was later rebuffed by a federal court. The UK's CMA rejected the deal a few months later, but Microsoft appealed the decision and was later given more time to submit an amended deal. It made a major concession with the sale of streaming rights to Ubisoft — and that seems like it may have done the trick. We should know soon, as the CMA's consultation on Microsoft's proposed remedies closes on October 6. 

With the big switch to USB-C on the iPhone 15, Apple also made the same change to its latest AirPods Pro wireless ANC headphones, with a USB-C charging case. They only just came out over a week ago, but you can already grab them on sale for $200 at Amazon — a very solid 20 percent discount. 

The switch to a USB-C charging case for the AirPods Pro was telegraphed well in advance thanks to various leaks, and we even saw a homemade version from the same guy who adapted an older iPhone to USB-C. The update should (eventually) eliminate a lot of cable clutter, and you can even charge the earbuds directly from an iPhone 15. 

Along with the new port, Apple also upgraded both the case and earbuds weatherproofing, boosting the rating from IPX4 to IP54 with dust protection. The new model carries the same H2 chip as the Vision Pro headset, so it will support low-latency lossless audio in that device when it launches next year. That did create some controversy, though, as the previous AirPods Pro with a Lightning charging case won't work with Vision Pro. 

Otherwise, they're much the same as the previous 2nd-generation version. Compared to the first-gen AirPods Pro, they offer better audio quality and active noise cancellation (ANC) performance. They have the most natural-sounding transparency mode of any we've tested, meaning you can hear yourself so well you don't need to shout, and at times, it sounds like you aren't even wearing them. Conveniences like hands-free access to Siri, seamless switching between iCloud-connected devices and the added volume control also come in handy.

If you already have the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro it's probably not worth getting these. But if you're in the market for a new pair, $50 off is a stellar deal for such a new product — but the sale probably won't last long. 

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With its latest Instax camera, Fujifilm has separated the camera from the printer. The Instax Pal is a tiny palm-sized 4.9-megapixel (MP) camera that takes digital photos, then lets you print them to the bundled Instax Mini Link 2 printer with a variety of effects via the new Instax Pal app. Designed for users 13 and up, the idea is to "capture life's spontaneous moments for photo printing," the company says. 

The camera is automatic, but aperture and shutter settings cover a wide range of shooting conditions, from interior to exterior. It's equipped with a wide angle lens and flash, and lets you shoot in a variety of ways. You can capture images by pushing the large shutter button on the back, or trigger it remotely using the Pal app. It supports interval shooting to capture scenes with 3, 6, 11 or 21 continuous images at three-second intervals. 

Fujifilm

There's a detachable ring for use as a finger strap, simple viewfinder (lol) or a camera stand for remote shooting. Other features include a speaker for audio prompts, a USB-C port for charging, a microSD card slot (the internal memory can hold 50 images) and even a screw mount for a tripod. 

Via Bluetooth, the Instax Pal app gives you a view through the camera's lens for composing images and triggering the shutter. Images are then automatically copied to the app. You can adjust the exposure by +/- 2 EV and choose two between two quality settings, Rich mode (vivid, with more detail) and Natural mode. When you're ready to print, there's a bundle of effects that includes sepia, cool, vivid and soft, along with controls for brightness, contrast, rotate, crop, text, stickers, emojis and more. 

Fujifilm

Printing from the app is possible, but unfortunately requires a second Fujifilm app for the printer. It lets you print Instax Mini pictures (2.13 x 3.4 inches) in about 15 seconds, with a 1.5-minute development time. Quality is about the same as you'd get with an Instax Mini camera like the SQ40, since the process is the same — the only difference is that the Pal's camera is separated from the printer. The advantage to the second app is that you can also print photos from your smartphone's camera reel. 

Photos can also be sent to friends via the Pal app, or posted to social media — all fitting for a camera marketed to teens. The only challenge is that it isn't cheap. The Instax Pal bundle arrives in late October (along with the app) for $200, while the new Soft Lavender Instax film designed for the bundle is $15.75 for a 10 pack (regular Instax film is about $13 for a ten pack). If you only need physical photos, other Instax Mini models are far cheaper at less than $100 — but the Pal does support both physical and digital photos, while giving you a smartphone printer to boot.