Amazon is having a second sale this fall exclusively for Prime members as it did last year, and though we knew it was happening in October, we didn't yet have an exact date. Now, Amazon has announced that the sale will happen on October 11 and 12, and even gave it a new name: Prime Big Deal Days. 

As ever, Prime Day gives members access to thousands of deals, so many folks wait for the sale to get the best possible deals on pricey products like laptops, phones, memory cards, cameras and more. Knowing that, Amazon uses the event as a way to boost sales and, more importantly, Prime subscriber numbers. At the same time, some select deals are available to non-Prime members as well. 

Amazon detailed a few early deals on Amazon devices and more. You can save up to 65 per cent on a three-pack of eero Pro Mesh Wi-Fi, select Fire TV devices, Kindles and more. Amazon is promising a $15 credit to Prime members who download its Photos app and upload their first photo, between now and October 7. You'll also find deals on Prime Video, a longer free trial of Amazon Music and more. 

Last year's October Prime Day saw a plethora of deals on devices ranging from Sony's WH-1000XM5 ANC headphones to the MacBook Air to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 to Roomba 694 robot vacuum. You might not see quite as many deals as on the main Prime Day (held this year on July 11 and 12), but I was glad I waited to purchase items like memory cards and storage. It's also a good way to grab some Christmas presents cheap and avoid the rush. 

Besides electronics, the sale is likely to cover clothes, shoes, household items, appliances. If you're looking for some savings, it's best to get ready by making lists and bookmarking a price tracker. For more on how to prepare for Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, check out our post on the subject. 

Amazon is having a second sale this fall exclusively for Prime members as it did last year, and though we knew it was happening in October, we didn't yet have an exact date. Now, Amazon has announced that the sale will happen on October 10 and 11, and even gave it a new name: Prime Big Deal Days. 

As ever, Prime Day gives members access to thousands of deals, so many folks wait for the sale to get the best possible deals on pricey products like laptops, phones, memory cards, cameras and more. Knowing that, Amazon uses the event as a way to boost sales and, more importantly, Prime subscriber numbers. At the same time, some select deals are available to non-Prime members as well. 

Amazon detailed a few early deals on Amazon devices and more. You can save up to 65 per cent on a three-pack of eero Pro Mesh Wi-Fi, select Fire TV devices, Kindles and more. Amazon is promising a $15 credit to Prime members who download its Photos app and upload their first photo, between now and October 7. You'll also find deals on Prime Video, a longer free trial of Amazon Music and more. 

Last year's October Prime Day saw a plethora of deals on devices ranging from Sony's WH-1000XM5 ANC headphones to the MacBook Air to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 to Roomba 694 robot vacuum. It's also a good way to grab some Christmas presents cheap and avoid the rush. 

Besides electronics, the sale is likely to cover clothes, shoes, household items, appliances. If you're looking for some savings, it's best to get ready by making lists and bookmarking a price tracker. For more on how to prepare for Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, check out our post on the subject. 

Last week, Unity dropped a bomb on developers with a new runtime fee on its game engine that would be charged each time a title is installed — summed up by one developer as an "abysmally catastrophic decision." Now, the company appears to be backtracking, promising changes to the policy that will be revealed shortly.

"We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused," the company said in a post on X. "We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback."

News of the fee structure created furor in the developer community, which quickly closed ranks against Unity. "We have never made a public statement before. That is how badly you f—-ed up," wroteSlay the Spire dev Meta Crit. "There is no way Unity talked to a single developer before launching this," added Rami Ismail. In protest, many developers switched off Unity ads, and others were considering a class action lawsuit. 

Unity announced the changes following a difficult couple of years that saw an Apple privacy change cut off much of its ad revenue. Last year, the company's stock price plunged and it initiated layoffs that impacted 8 percent of its staff, or 600 employees. It has also had a controversy around CEO John Riccitiello after he called game makers who don't consider monetization "f—ing idiots." 

Following the initial uproar, Unity attempted to clarify its policies, saying it would only charge for initial installs, charities would be exempt and demos wouldn't count. Owners of subscription services would be required to pay the fee, not developers. 

However, some developers who committed to Unity and its previous pricing structure have said they are still effectively screwed. "Put years and years of work into my pipeline. I did so under a simple per-seat license I am happy to pay. Now while I am close to release they spring something new on me. Not a price increase [but] a fundamental change in how we do business together. I have no options, cannot go back, can only bend and [pay up]," wroteThe Falconer dev Tomas Sala. 

It remains to be seen if Unity's changes will placate developers. "Just be honest, upfront, reliable. We need stability," wrote one developer in response to the company's post.

X has launched government ID verification for paid X Premium subscribers, after clues emerged in August that the feature was coming, TechCrunch has reported. The service, which appears to be optional, has launched in "numerous countries" including the US, but is not available for now in the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA), and the United Kingdom. 

In a new help center page, X said the verification is for "safety and security purposes" and to "prevent impersonation." It may also be used to screen age appropriate content in the future. Meanwhile, users will receive benefits like prioritized support, along with a visible label that shows your identity has been verified (though only if someone clicks on the blue checkmark). Down the road, X plans to expedite Premium reviews for users who verify with ID. 

The social network partnered with Au10tix, an Israeli-based company specializing in identity verification. X requires you to check a consent form allowing "X and Au10tix [to use] images of my ID and my selfie, including extracted biometric data, to confirm my identity and for X's related safety and security purposes, including preventing impersonation." Au10tix may store such data for up to 30 days. 

After Elon Musk purchased X (then Twitter), he announced that the verification program would be revamped and badges only given to paid users. The new program experienced problems from the get-go, though, thanks to issues like rampant impersonation and checkmarks being assign to scammers and bots. The program was later modified to give verification marks to large organizations and users with millions of followers. 

X doesn't conduct ID checks itself, apart from safeguards for verified organizations. Meanwhile, Au10tix advertises "8-second verification without even partial human involvement" and "first-of-a-kind tech detecting synthetic fraud patterns globally." The company says it has previously worked with companies like Google, PayPal and Uber.

Last month X changed its policy adding the ability to capture certain user information, but it has a checkered history in terms of privacy. The FTC recently said that Elon Musk "may have jeopardized data privacy and security" at X and has reportedly been investigating the company and Musk since March.

The US Senate Armed Services Committee is investigating Elon Musk's decision to not extend Starlink satellite internet coverage to enable a Ukraine attack on Russian warship near Crimea, Bloomberg has reported. "The committee is aggressively probing this issue from every angle," said chairman Jack Reed in a statement, adding that the incident exposed "serious national-security liability issues." The panel is still gathering information, and has not yet launched a formal investigation. 

The Ukraine Starlink incident was revealed in an Elon Musk biography by Walter Isaacson, via a disputed excerpt stating that Musk deactivated Starlink access close to the Crimean coast to prevent a Ukrainian attack on the fleet. 

However, Musk said that Starlink was not active in those areas because of US sanctions on Russia, so SpaceX had nothing to disable. In a recent podcast, he said would have extended Starlink to Crimea if President Biden had ordered him to do so — but he didn't receive any such order.

Rather, Musk said he denied Ukraine's request to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol. "If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation," Musk wrote on X. (The disputed excerpt will be changed in future copies of the book.)

Nevertheless, senators questioned why the decision was made by Musk, rather than government officials. "Neither Elon Musk, nor any private citizen, can have the last word when it comes to US national security," Reed said. At the time of Ukraine's request, SpaceX received no US payments for its Ukraine Starlink operations, but it now has Pentagon funding. 

The probe was announced just ahead of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to the US and meeting with President Biden, set for next week. On top of Starlink, SpaceX is a major US contractor, launching spy satellites for the Defense Department . 

Blackmagic Design has unveiled the Cinema Camera 6K, its debut model with the L-Mount alliance and first full-frame camera. It comes with an all-new 24.6-megapixel sensor (6,048 x 4,032), shoots up to 6K and has dual native ISO for "incredible low-light performance," the company said. Instead of using Canon's EF mount as it has in the past, it will work with L-mount lenses from Panasonic, Leica, Sigma and other partners in the L-mount alliance. As with other Blackmagic Design cameras, it's designed for cinema shooting so it lacks basic features like continuous autofocus and built-in stabilization. 

"With the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, we wanted to create the most portable camera possible for high end, large format cinematography," said CEO Grant Petty. "That’s why we took the Pocket Cinema Camera platform but completely re-engineered the electronics inside around a full frame sensor and L-Mount."

Blackmagic Design

The new sensor offers a number of advantages for film shooters, namely shallower depth of field and better performance in low light. To that end, the company is promising 13 stops of dynamic range and dual ISO performance up to 25,600. With the L-mount, it's also Blackmagic Design's first mirrorless style mount, with a relatively short flange distance that makes it slimmer than past models. The disadvantage to that, though, is that there's no room for the built-in ND filter found on past models.

The Cinema Camera 6K can shoot in all standard resolutions and frame rates up to DCI 4K and 6K, and stills at up to 24.6 megapixels. 6K open gate (3:2) is available at up to 36fps, or 60fps at 6,048 x 2,520 (2.4:1) and 60fps at 4,096 x 2,160 (4K DCI). "Customers can even work in true anamorphic 6:5 at much higher resolutions than other cameras using anamorphic lenses in 4.8K 24fps at 4,838 x 4,032," the company said. The maximum 120fps frame rate is available in HD.

Blackmagic Design

It comes with a very bright 1,500 nit 5-inch tilting (but not fully articulating) HDR touchscreen that makes it possible to check HDR video straight from the camera, even in bright conditions. Blackmagic offers the usual shooting aids like histogram, focus peaking, levels, frame guides and more. You can also apply your own 3D LUTs for monitoring. It has the Blackmagic's touch interface that's intuitive and pleasant to use.

Video is recorded in the 12-bit Blackmagic RAW (BRAW) or H.264 proxy formats, either to CFexpress B or an SSD via the USB-C port. Other features include a wide range of audio ports, including a locking XLR port, an HDMI output, NP-F570 batteries (along with a locking DC power connector) and an optional BMPCC Pro Grip. The Cinema Camera 6K is now on sale for $2,595 — making it the lowest-price full-frame cinema-specific camera out there. 

Blackmagic Design

Along with the Cinema Camera 6K, Blackmagic Design debuted the Blackmagic Camera iPhone app that gives users cinema-like camera controls and looks. "Customers can adjust settings such as frame rate, shutter angle, white balance and ISO all in a single tap. Or record directly to Blackmagic Cloud in industry standard 10-bit Apple ProRes files up to 4K," the company wrote. It also works with Blackmagic Cloud, letting creators collaborate with other users. It's now available on the App Store as a free download. 

The European Union (EU) is providing €352 million ($378 million) in funding to support green transport infrastructure, and Tesla will get a large chunk of that money. The company's Polish and Italian divisions will receive a total of €148.72 million ($159.64 million) to install or upgrade 7,198 Superchargers across 22 countries, according to the EU's list of projects. 

"The project aims at deploying 6,458 recharging points (250 kW) for LDV in 613 locations in 16 countries (AT, BE, BG, DE, ES, FI, FR, IE, IT, LV, LT, LU, NL, RO, SK, SE) along the Core and Comprehensive Network. The project foresees both the deployment of new recharging stations and the replacement of existing outdated recharging points not satisfying the requirement of the call in terms of recharging capacity and open-accessibility," the Tesla Italy project description reads. It states the same for Poland's Tesla division, while adding an additional six nations (CZ, EL, HR, HU, PL, SI). 

Proposals for the project had an April 13, 2023 deadline, and the EU just announced the successful bids. It appears to cover a large chunk of Europe, but there are no details on a breakdown of new stations or upgrades yet. Much of the funding could go toward updates to Tesla's Supercharger V4, which offers a power output of 350 kW — up from the last model's 250 kW. 

Tesla recently celebrated its 10,000th individual Supercharger connector in the EU, and counts 875 stations in total. The following is a breakdown for the top countries: Germany (143), France (123), the UK (100), Norway (95), Sweden (65), Italy (59), Spain (50), the Netherlands (39), Austria (27) and Switzerland (27).

It's a large percentage of funding for one company, but the EU's decision seems logical. Other car companies including Ford, GM, Volvo and Mercedes have said they'll switch to Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) port, and struck deals with the company to use its Superchargers — meaning a lot of drivers will be able to access Tesla's network. Early in 2021, Tesla opened up its network to all EV users at select Superchargers in the Netherlands, France and Norway. 

The EU greenlit 26 projects in total, with most dedicated to EV charging points but several relating to hydrogen refueling stations for heavy duty and other types of vehicles. "Our investment of €352 million will translate into approximately 12,000 charging points, 18 hydrogen refueling stations, and the electrification of ports and airports, including the port of Rotterdam and 37 Spanish airports," said European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean.

Caesars Entertainment reportedly paid "tens of millions of dollars" to hackers who threatened to release company data, Bloomberg has reported. The attack was reportedly perpetrated by a group called Scattered Spider (aka UNC 3944), a group skilled at using social engineering to bypass corporate network security. It's the second notable attack of a Las Vegas casino group, following a hack that caused a cyber outage at MGM Resorts. 

Members of the hacking group are reportedly located in the US and UK and are as young as 19 years old. They began targeting Caesars as early as August 27th, and obtained access to an outside vendor before entering the company's network, according to the report. Caesars is expected to disclose the attack "imminently" in a regulatory filing. 

Scattered Spider has reportedly been activate since May of 2022, and has largely attacked telecom and business outsourcing organizations, according to Trellix. The group is known to impersonate IT personnel and uses social engineering to persuade company officials to rum remote monitoring and other tools. From there, they exploit vulnerabilities and use tools like "Stonestop" to evade security software. Security Week describes them as a "financially-motivated threat actor." 

The group has been implicated in the MGM Resorts cyber outage as well, though another ransomware group called ALPHV/BlackCat also took credit. ALPHV also claims to have used social engineering to get inside, saying it took just a ten minute conversation to gain access. MGM has reportedly declined to pay the demanded ransom.

Fujifilm has taken the wraps off the GFX100 II medium format camera, a successor to the original GFX100 launched back in 2019. It carries the same 102-megapixel resolution of the original model, but has a new sensor and processor that delivers faster shooting speeds, improved autofocus, full-sensor 4K (and even 8K) video and a lot more. At the same time, it's more like the GFX100S in terms of size and price.

Where the GFX100 was gigantic in size due to the built-in battery grip, the GFX100 II has separated those two things, so the camera body alone is considerably smaller (the grip is sold separately for $500). It has a new 9.44 million-dot electronic viewfinder (EVF), the highest in the industry, that's removable as before. That allows the use of an optional $569 tilt adapter that makes low-angle shooting easier. The rear touch display tilts up, down and a bit to the side, but doesn't flip out (sorry, rich vloggers).

Fujifilm

With the latest X-Processor borrowed from the X-H2S and X-H2 cameras, the GFX100 II can shoot at 8fps (up from 5fps before), pretty darn fast for a medium format (43.8 x 32.9mm) sensor camera. It now comes with subject-detection autofocus with face/eye detection, and can also track animals, birds, vehicles and other fast-moving subjects like insects and drones — both for photos and video.

The body looks more like the X-H2/X-H2S than other X-series cameras, with just a single mode dial and a large LCD display on top. It offers 5-axis in-body stabilization with up to 8-stops of shake reduction. In terms of storage, it supports dual cards with one CFexpress Type B and one SD UHS-II slot — and you can also capture video to an external SSD via the USB-C port. Other features include headphone/mic ports, a full-sized HDMI port and an ethernet port. It even supports timecode jamming for video via the Atomos AirGlu BT.

Fujifilm

If you want to shoot video with a nearly 70mm-sized frame, the GFX100 II can do that impressively well also. It supports 4K at up to 60p using the full width of the sensor, and even keeps rolling shutter to a reasonable level — likely via line skipping or pixel binning. There's even an 8K mode, albeit with a 1.53 times crop, that reads the sensor pixel-for-pixel with some upscaling. On top of 8K, UHD and 4K DCI modes, it can shoot anamorphic video at up to 4.8K. 

It can record Apple ProRes vide in three formats (422 HQ, 422 and 422 LT), along with H.264 and ProRes 422 proxy files. The higher-quality codecs require CFexpress Type B or USB SSD capture. 

Fujifilm clearly thinks that pros will use the GFX100 II for video, as it offers waveform and vectorscope overlays to help nail exposure. It has front and rear tally lamps, the ability to use fractional shutter speeds to avoid flicker and an optional fan accessory that allows for unlimited 4K/60p recording times. And as mentioned, it supports timecode sync and jamming, so it can work in a multi-camera shooting environment. On top of all that, it supports up to four channels of audio.

Along with the camera, Fujifilm introduced a new $2,300 55mm f/1.7R WR lens (44mm equivalent in full-frame terms), along with two tilt-shift 30mm and 110mm lenses for architectural an artistic shooting ($4,000 and $3,500 respectively). The GFX100 II launches in "early fall 2023 for $7,500, compared to $6,000 for the GFX100S and $10,000 for the GFX 100. 

Panasonic has unveiled the Lumix G9 II, its first Micro Four Thirds camera with hybrid phase-detect autofocus. A successor to the 20-megapixel photo-centric G9 released way back in 2017, it comes with a new 25.2-megapixel (MP) sensor, and offers features like 60 fps burst speeds, 5.7K and 4K 60p ProRes video, USB-C SSD recording and 8 stops of optical image stabilization. It instantly becomes Panasonic's best Micro Four Thirds camera and should appeal to users ranging from wildlife photographers to content creators. 

The key feature is the new 25.2-megapixel dual native ISO sensor. It carries the same resolution as the GH6, but adds hybrid phase-detect (PDAF) autofocus with 779 points that's married to Panasonic's AI subject tracking. The new system allows not only for faster tracking, but better AF in backlit conditions, low illumination and other tricky conditions. It recognizes not just faces and eyes, but also human bodies, and can track animal eyes, cars and motorcycles. 

Panasonic is promising blackout-free burst speeds of 60 fps with continuous AF and the electronic shutter, or 10 fps in mechanical mode. At the same time, the buffer takes three seconds to fill, meaning you can grab around 160 RAW+JPG images before shooting slows. It's also got a pre-burst shooting function (0.5-, 1- or 1.5-second settings), meaning photographers won't miss a decisive moment if they're a bit late on the shutter.

Panasonic

Panasonic also borrowed the "Dynamic Range Boost" function from the GH6. It's essentially an HDR photo mode that combines low and high ISO images to produce a composite with both low noise and high saturation. The G9 II also has Panasonic's handheld high-res mode that combines multiple images to create a 100MP JPEG photo with extra detail. It uses the camera's IBIS mechanism to keep the camera steady, meaning no tripod is required.

As for the IBIS, it's also borrowed from the GH6 and delivers 8 stops of compensation, or 7.5 stops in 5-axis Dual IS 2 mode (used for longer telephoto lenses). As with other recent models, the G9 II also offers Active IS for shooting on the move, and Enhance IS to correct larger shake when running or walking. 

The G9 II has a weather-resistant design, a new 8-direction joystick and supports an all-new optional $350 camera grip (also compatible with the S5 II/S5 IIx). The 1,840K dot LCD display fully articulates for vloggers and self-shooters, of course, and it comes with a decent 3,680K dot OLED. Other features include microphone/headphone ports and a full-sized HDMI port.

Panasonic

Panasonic downplayed it a bit, but the G9 II is now the company's most powerful Micro Four Thirds mirrorless model for video, thanks largely to the PDAF. It can shoot 4:2:0 10-bit 17:9 5.7K video at up to 60 fps, or 10-bit 4K at up to 120p. It also offers 4:3 open gate (5.8K) and 4:3 anamorphic shooting (4.4K). Plus, it supports regular MP4 formats (including I-frame) and Apple ProRes — not bad for a camera aimed at photographers.

You can shoot V-Log/V-Gamut video with 13+ stops of dynamic range, while applying your own LUTs in real time to see how graded footage will look. Panasonic also has a few new creative looks including Leica Monochrome "for deep black-white contrasts." 

Other handy video features include a red rec frame indicator, a frame marker and AWB (auto white balance) lock. You can capture video not just to the dual UHS-II SD cards (relay, backup and allocation recording), but also to an SSD via the USB-C Gen 3.2 port. It also supports external ProRes recording via HDMI. The major drawback compared to the GH6 is the lack of a fan and a dedicated cooling design — so it may shut off during long recordings at high frame rates in hot conditions. 

Panasonic

The Panasonic G9 II arrives to the US in early November for $1,900. That's $200 more than the original G9 at launch, but a bit less than OM System's OM-1 Micro Four Thirds camera. Along with the G9-II, Panasonic introduced the new $1,600 Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 II Power OIS lens (200-800mm 35mm equivalent), ideal for wildlife and macro photography. It also unveiled the $1,150 Leica DG 35-100mm f/2.8 (70-200 35mm equivalent).