Amazon's Fire tablets are some of the best devices available if you want a basic slab with which to check email, watch videos and browse the web without spending too much money. Whereas you'd have to spend a couple of hundred dollars to get most of the top picks in our best tablets guide, some Fire tablets can often be had for around $100. And when a day like Prime Day comes around, you can get these devices for even less — we usually see some of the lowest prices of the year during Amazon's two-day shopping event, and this year is no different. Here are the best deals on Fire tablets you can get for Amazon Prime Day 2023.

Amazon Fire 7

Amazon's Fire 7 tablet is on sale for $40 for Prime Day. It's the cheapest device in the Fire tablet lineup, and it's really only a viable option if you have a strict budget to adhere to since other Fire tablets provide much stronger performance. The Fire 7 provides a 7-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, up to 32GB of storage and up to 10 hours of battery life.

Amazon Fire HD 8

The Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet has dropped to $55 for Prime Day. It's a solid step-up from the Fire 7 if you're willing to spend slightly more. You'll get an 8-inch HD touchscreen, a hexa-core processor, a 5MP rear-facing camera in addition to the selfie cam and a battery that should last up to 13 hours on a single charge.

Amazon Fire HD 10

The Fire HD 10 tablet has dropped to $75 for Prime Day. One of the more powerful slabs in Amazon's lineup, the HD 10 provides a 10.1-inch FHD touchscreen, an octa-core processor, up to 64GB of internal storage and a 12-hour battery life.

Amazon Fire Max 11

Amazon's recently released Fire Max 11 tablet is on sale for $150 for Prime Day. It's the best discount we've seen since Amazon's most powerful tablet launched in May. The slab has an 11-inch 2000 x 1200 touchscreen, an octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, up to 128GB of built-in storage and up to 14 hours of battery life. It can also work with a detachable keyboard and stylus, so you could use it like a 2-in-1 laptop.

Amazon Fire 7 Kids

Amazon's Fire 7 Kids tablet has dropped to $55 for this shopping event. It's a full-featured Fire 7 tablet, but it comes with a kid-proof case, a two-year warranty and a one year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The latter gives your child access to age-appropriate books, movies, shows and other content that they can easily access from the tablet.

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids

If you're willing to spend a bit more for a larger screen, the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids tablet is on sale for $75 right now. It comes with the extra parental controls, a kid-friendly case, a two-year warranty and one year of Amazon Kids+ that all of the company's child-focused slabs do, and it has an HD touchscreen and up to 13 hours of battery life.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids

The Fire HD 10 Kids tablet is on sale for $120 for Prime Day. It sports a 10-inch FHD touchscreen and a 12-hour battery life, plus it has the parental controls, kid-friendly case, two-year warranty and one year of Amazon Kids+ that you'd expect to receive in a child-focused tablet like this.

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Pro

Amazon's Fire HD 8 Kids Pro tablet has dropped to $75 for Prime Day. This is very similar to the standard Kids slab, but it has a slightly more modern case and access to a wider range of content, both of which will be better for older kids. Parents still have some control over what their children can consume on the HD 8 Kids Pro, and you still get one year of Amazon Kids+ when you buy one.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro

The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet has been discounted to $120 for Prime Day. This could be a good starter tablet for a pre-teen since it's the fastest Kids tablet that Amazon offers, but parents can still have control over what their child uses it for. It comes with a case, a two-year warranty and one year of Amazon Kids+.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

Sony blocked Roblox from PlayStation consoles because it was worried about inappropriate content reaching children. The revelation comes from a 2022 document, first reported byAxios, uncovered in the FTC’s Microsoft trial. However, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan said at the time that the company’s stance was softening, leaving the door open to an eventual PlayStation port for the viral user-generated platform.

Ryan explained the decision to withhold Roblox to investors early last year. “Historically, because of the large number of children that play on the PlayStation, we have been very careful with regards to opening them up to anything that could potentially exploit them,” he said at the time. But he struck an optimistic tone for investors eager to see Roblox on Sony consoles. “Over the last couple of years, however, we have reviewed those policies and relaxed a little on this. We have been conservative for too long, and now we are currently engaging with people at Roblox. We hope that the situation will change.”

Despite making the comments over a year ago, Roblox still isn’t on PlayStation consoles. The beloved title, which lets users create, share and play user-created content, is available for Xbox, iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. Nintendo hasn’t commented on Roblox’s lack of availability for Switch, but the console maker has also historically erred on the side of caution in keeping inappropriate content away from kids.

Roblox introduced a content rating system in 2021 to help parents better control the user-created games their children play. More than half of the platform’s daily users are under 13. Although it forbids content displaying sexual activity, illegal substances and swearing, occasional rule-breaking content can slip past moderation in user-created titles. In addition, Roblox is working to hang onto its users as they grow, now allowing content for players 17 and older. It says the 17 to 24 age range is its fastest-growing segment.

Meta has added new tools to its Family Center that will allow parents to see and control how their teenage kids are using Messenger. They'll now be able to view how much time their kid spends on the app, along with their privacy and safety settings. Parents and guardians will be able to see who can message their child and who can see their stories. In addition, they can get notifications for changes to their teen's contact list and for any changes their kid makes to their privacy and safety settings. If their child reports a user to Meta, parents can also get notified if their teen chooses to share the information with them. 

The social networking giant said these are but the first batch of parental supervision tools coming to Family Center, and that it plans to add more over the next year. While they're only rolling out for users in the US, UK and Canada at the moment, Meta intends to expand their availability to other regions around the world in the coming months. Take note that Facebook has had parental controls for Messenger Kids for years, and these tools are for the main Messenger app, meant for parents with teens 13 to 18 years old. 

Facebook/Meta

Aside from these new parental tools, Meta will now show teens a notification when they've already spent 20 minutes on Facebook to urge them to set daily time limits. For Instagram, it's exploring a new nudge feature that will ask teens to close the app if they've been scrolling Reels at night. Meta has also expanded its parental controls for Instagram to show parents how many friends their teen has in common with accounts they follow and are followed by. Plus, teens will get a new notification after they've blocked someone, encouraging them to add their parents to supervise their account. 

Instagram/Meta

The company has a few safety updates that aren't teen-focused, as well. It's rolling out Quiet Mode, which mutes all notifications and changes a user's profile status, on Instagram around the world over the coming weeks. It's also currently testing a couple of new features meant to protect Instagram users from unwanted DMs. Users must now send an invite to connect to someone who doesn't follow them before being able to send a message. Further, they can only send one invite at a time and can't send more until the recipient accepts it. These message request invites are text only, prohibiting users from being able to send photos, videos or voice messages to other users they're not connected to. 

Instagram

Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2023 will begin on July 11th, but you don't have to wait until then to get a good deal. The company has started to roll out a few early Prime Day deals before the two-day shopping event officially commences, including, as expected, several discounts on its own devices and services. We've rounded up the best early access Prime Day deals we can find below. Remember that you'll need to subscribe to Prime to take advantage of many (but not all) of the offers, and that there's always a chance that prices drop lower during the event itself. For those with no interest in Prime, we've also included a few of the best tech deals from this week that aren't explicitly tied to the event. We'll stay on the lookout as Prime Day gets nearer and update this roundup with new offers as they arise.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids

Prime members can get Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite Kids for $90. That's $70 off the 6.8-inch e-reader's normal going rate and a new all-time low. While this device is marketed for children, its hardware is identical to the standard Paperwhite, with the same lightweight and waterproof design, 300 ppi display and 10-week battery life. It has the same extensive e-book library, too. With the Kids model, though, you get a case, an extended warranty (two years instead of one) and a year of Amazon's Kids+ service. We gave the pricier Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition a review score of 97 back in 2021; the Kids edition lacks that variant's ad-free lock screen (when you aren't in Kids mode, at least), upgraded front light, wireless charging and 32GB of storage, but the two are otherwise similar.

Amazon Fire HD Kids tablets

If you want to buy your little one a tablet, Amazon has also discounted its entire lineup of Fire Kids slates for Prime members. The Fire HD 8 Kids and Kids Pro are each down to $75, while the Fire HD 10 Kids and Kids Pro are available for $120 apiece. Those are all-time lows for each respective tablet. 

All of these devices will feel sluggish next to an iPad, and Amazon's app selection is more limited than Apple's. If you just need a cheap screen for a young kid to read comics and watch TV shows, though, they should do the job. The Fire HD 10 is the better option of the two: Its processor is a bit faster, and its 10.1-inch 1080p display is both larger and sharper. But both tablets come with strong parental controls, protective cases, built-in kickstands, two-year warranties, and a year's subscription to Amazon Kids+. The Kids tablets have big rubbery cases built to withstand the abuse of a toddler, while the Kids Pro editions have slimmer hard-plastic cases designed for slightly older children. 

Amazon Echo Dot Kids

Staying on the kid-friendly Amazon device train, the latest Amazon Echo Dot Kids is on sale for $28. That's another all-time low and about $25 below the smart speaker's typical street price. Again, the offer is only available to Prime members. The Echo Dot Kids has the same impressive hardware as the standard model, which we consider the best small smart speaker for most people. The main difference is its cutesy design: One model looks like a dragon, the other looks like an owl. Like the Kids devices above, it also comes with a two-year warranty and a year of Amazon Kids+. In this case, the latter supplies kid-friendly podcasts, playlists and audiobooks along with more education-focused Alexa skills. The quality of that content can be hit or miss, but it's all age-appropriate.

Amazon Echo Show 5 Kids (3rd gen)

If you subscribe to Prime, you can get two Echo Show 5 Kids smart displays for $100 by adding them both to your cart and using the code SHOW5KIDS at checkout. The recently refreshed smart display normally goes for $100, so this offer gives you two for the price of one. Like most other Amazon Kids devices, the Echo Show 5 Kids takes the same hardware as the "normal" variant and adds a more playful design, a longer warranty and easier access to kid-friendly content. The 5.5-inch device isn't as powerful as the larger Echo Show 8 for streaming or making video calls, but it makes for a nice smart alarm clock or bedside display if you regularly use Alexa. Of note, the device also comes with a physical camera shutter and mic mute button for when the kids aren't playing around.

Amazon Echo Pop + Ring Video Doorbell

A bundle that pairs Amazon's Echo Pop speaker with a wired Ring Video Doorbell is down to $40 for Prime members. The Pop is more or less a cheaper version of the Echo Dot with a unidirectional design and less powerful audio quality, but it goes for $40 on its own, so this deal effectively nets you a video doorbell for no extra cost. The Ring doorbell here is decidedly entry-level, too, as it lacks local storage, won't work with existing chimes and requires a subscription to store and view recordings. Like other Ring devices, it also comes with its share of privacy concerns. But if you just want the basics for as little as possible, it captures 1080p video and is generally easy to setup and use.

If you don't care about the Echo Pop, the doorbell alone is available for $35, which is about $20 off its street price. A bundle with the doorbell and the Ring Chime, meanwhile, is down to $50, which is roughly $25 less than usual. Both of those offers are also exclusive to Prime members.

Amazon Kindle Unlimited 3-month membership

If you're a Prime member who has never subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, you can get a three-month trial to Amazon's e-book service for no extra cost. Normally, the subscription goes for $12 a month after a 30-day free trial. Just note that the membership will be set to auto-renew by default. As a refresher, Kindle Unlimited makes a selection of e-books, audiobooks and digital magazines accessible on-demand. It doesn't include every e-book in the Kindle library, but it may still be worthwhile if you're a particularly avid reader. If nothing else, this deal makes it easier to figure out if it's worth paying for. 

Audible Premium Plus 3-month membership

Similar to that Kindle Unlimited offer, Prime members who are new to Audible Premium Plus can get three months of the audiobook service for free. This membership usually costs $14.95 a month after a 30-day free trial, so you're saving about $30. Premium Plus is Audible's upper tier: Like the less expensive Audible Plus, it provides an assortment of audiobooks, podcasts and other audio content you can access on-demand. The main difference is that it also includes a monthly credit that you can use to buy any book in the Audible store permanently. As with Kindle Unlimited, Premium Plus will be most worth it if you burn through audiobooks and podcasts quickly, but this extended trial is a comfier way to see if it's useful. Again, be aware that the subscription will be set to auto-renew by default.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is $10 off at Amazon and Walmart, bringing the hit Switch game down to a more traditional price of $60. As our review notes, Tears of the Kingdom doesn't stray too far from Breath of the Wild, but it enriches its landmark predecessor's ideas with a full-size underworld, fantastical sky islands and malleable crafting mechanics. Most importantly, it gets the core promise of a Zelda game right: that sense of being and adventuring in another world.

There are a few other video game deals of note. For the Switch, Metroid Dread, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses are each down to $42, the remake of the classic RPG Live A Live is down to $35 and the Portal Companion Collection is on sale for $10. Over on PC, the open-world racer Forza Horizon 5 is down to $30, while Prime members can claim a couple of underrated older gems, the space FPS Prey and the 2D Metroidvania SteamWorld Dig 2, for no added cost.

Samsung Pro Plus microSD card

The 128GB version of Samsung's latest Pro Plus microSD card is down to a new low of $13. That's $6 off its MSRP. If you need more space, the 512GB model is within a few cents of its best price at $43.52. The Pro Plus is the top pick in our guide to the best microSD cards, as it finished at or near the top of all of our sequential and random speed tests. It also comes with a 10-year warranty.

Samsung 980 Pro SSD with Heatsink

The variant of Samsung's 980 Pro with an integrated heatsink is available for $63 with an on-page coupon. We've seen this SSD steadily drop in price over the course of the year, but this deals marks a new all-time low. You can get the 2TB version for $126 with a coupon as well, which is another new low. The 980 Pro is not the newest SSD Samsung makes, but this heatsink-equipped model meets Sony's requirements for expanding the storage of a PlayStation 5, and we recommend it in our guide to the best SSDs for the console. If you aren't buying for a PS5 specifically, the non-heatsink model is available for a few dollars less, though a speedy PCIe 4.0 drive like this may be overkill for some.

Apple iPad (9th gen)

The 64GB model of Apple's 9th-gen iPad is down to $250 at Amazon, matching the lowest price we've tracked. You should see the full discount at checkout. Apple normally sells the device for $329, though we've seen it retail closer to $275 in recent months. This is the budget pick in our iPad buying guide: It lacks the accessory support, thinner bezels and laminated display of the iPad Air, but it's by far the most affordable route into iPadOS, and it remains fast and comfortable enough for casual reading, streaming and gaming. It's also the only current iPad with a headphone jack.

Apple MacBook Air M1

Apple's M1 MacBook Air is back on sale for $800, which is a deal we've seen multiple times before but ties the laptop's all-time low. Like the 9th-gen iPad, the M1 MacBook Air is on the older side these days; if you can afford the newest Air with an updated design, better webcam and faster M2 chip, it's worth doing so. But if you just want a competent MacBook to do light work and web browsing for as little cash as possible, the M1 Air remains a solid value at this price. Its keyboard, trackpad and battery life are still excellent, and the M1 chip is still fast enough for the essentials. Just make sure you stick to lighter workloads, though, as this model only has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. 

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch

For those with more demanding needs, a configuration of the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is down to $2,199 at Amazon and B&H. That's the best price we've seen for this config, which features a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU. Apple normally sells this model for $2,499, though we've seen it go for less on Amazon in recent months. We gave the latest MacBook Pro a score of 92 early this year; our review applied to the higher-end M2 Max model, but this version still has a premium design and capable performance for most power users. The downsides are that it's expensive and not upgradeable, but if you must have high-end laptop for serious photo and video editing, this discount offers at least a little extra relief to your bank account.

Xbox Series X + bonus controller bundle

Microsoft had a big showing at this month's Summer Game Fest, so if you planned on picking up an Xbox Series X before Starfield and Forza Motorsport arrive, note that Verizon is selling the $500 console with a second controller for no extra cost. That isn't anything crazy, but spare Xbox controllers normally go for $50 or so, and discounts of any kind for the Series X have been few and far between. In fact, Microsoft said this week that it's raising the price of the console in much of the world on August 1. The $300 Xbox Series S is still a strong value for those who don't care about top-of-the-line hardware, but if you need a disc drive and more consistent performance, the Series X is your best bet.

Samsung QN90B 55-inch 4K TV

The 55-inch version of Samsung's QN90B, a recommendation from our gaming TV buying guide, has dropped to $998. That's a new all-time low. Most reviews say this TV delivers enough brightness for well-lit rooms, with smooth motion performance and richer contrast than most non-OLED TVs thanks to its Mini LED backlighting. It also has four full HDMI 2.1 ports and can play up to 120 Hz in 4K. It still can't match the contrast, response time or viewing angles of a good OLED TV, but it should be better equipped for rooms plagued by glare. Like most Samsung TVs, however, it doesn't support Dolby Vision HDR. Samsung has replaced this 2022 model with the new QN90C, but the 55-inch version of that set currently costs $600 more, so the QN90B remains the better value for the time being. 

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is down to $229 for a 40mm model and $259 for a 44mm model. Neither deal represents an all-time low, but both are within $10 of their best prices to date. We gave the Galaxy Watch 5 a score of 85 last year, and it's currently the "best for Android users" pick in our smartwatch buying guide. While its battery life could be better, its design is durable and attractive, its OS is easy to navigate and its health tracking is relatively comprehensive. Samsung is expected to announce a Galaxy Watch 6 in the coming weeks, however, so it may be worth waiting to see how that model stacks up if you don't need a new smartwatch right this instant.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know, and hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals.

If you think your kids should have a smart display of their very own, this might be a good time to grab two of them from Amazon. In advance of Prime Day, you can get two Echo Show 5 Kids for the price of one. The displays came out in 2023 and typically go for $100 each. By using the code SHOW5KIDS at checkout, you'll get two for a total of $99.98. You can also press the "Redeem" button on the product page and the discount will automatically show up. 

We covered the standard version of the Echo Show 5 in our smart display guide. We said it would work well on a nightstand as a display-enabled alarm clock, given that the 5-inch screen is on the smaller side. That diminutive size might work well for kids. The kid version of the display has a space-themed exterior and includes a number of software differences that makes it more kid-friendly, particularly with the offered parental controls. 

Like other Alexa-enabled devices, kids can use their Echo Show to control connected smart home devices, like smart bulbs or plugs in their room. Kids can also ask Alexa questions and get audio and visual answers or play music from Spotify, Amazon Music or Apple Music just by asking. Unlike a regular smart display, however, this one is designed to give kid-friendly responses and filter out explicit lyrics. The connected parent dashboard gives you control over time limits and which contacts can be called, while letting you see what your kids are up to by reviewing their activity. If you, understandably, don't feel comfortable sticking a live camera in your kids' rooms, the physical camera shutter on the device can be shut off whenever they're not actively video calling grandma.   

Recently, Amazon and Disney partnered up to bring character voices such as Olaf from Frozen or C3PO from Star Wars to Echo devices. Saying, "hey, Disney" can do things like having Mickey read the weather or launching interactive trivia games. The feature comes with an Amazon Kids+ subscription, which also grants access to kid-focused shows, movies, audiobooks, games and ebooks that kids can access from their display. A year of the subscription comes with the purchase of the kid's Echo Show, after that it's $8 per month or $5 monthly if you're a Prime member.

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You can get your kid a new e-reader or tablet at a discount from Amazon right now if you're looking to stoke their love of reading or just simply want to get them a new toy. The 8GB Kindle Paperwhite Kids is currently on sale for $90, which is 44 percent off its list price of $160. That's a new all-time low for the e-reader that only sold for as low as $100 in the past. Paperwhite for Kids is simply just the ordinary version of the e-reader that comes bundled with a cover, a screen protector and a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+. The company's subscription service for children gives them access to thousands of child-friendly books, including the complete Harry Potter series.

If you want a multi-purpose device instead, Amazon's Fire tablets for kids are also on sale for up to 50 percent off. You can get the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Pro tablet for only $75 instead of $150 and the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Tablet for $55 instead of $110. The 8-inch Pro tablet comes with 32 GB of internal storage, while the latter comes with 16GB. All the Fire tablets ship with sturdy covers, and all of them come bundled with a year-long subscription to the Amazon Kids+ service, where children could find age-appropriate apps, videos, books and games. They also have parental controls you can use to filter content based on your kid's age.

Finally, you can also pick up an Echo Dot with a cool dragon or owl design for $28. That's also the lowest we've seen the smart speaker go for on the website, where it usually sells for $60. Alexa will automatically switch to kid-friendly responses on this speaker, though your children could choose to customize the assistant so that it speaks in pretend dragon or owl voices. The device also comes with a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+, giving your children access to age-appropriate Audible books, interactive games and educational Alexa skills. All the devices on sale ship with a two-year worry-free guarantee — simply put, if it breaks within two years, Amazon will replace it. 

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In the three years since Black Mirror's previous (and somewhat disappointing) season, we've lived through a global pandemic, watched a US president trigger a mob attack on the Capitol, and AI has gone mainstream. We’re barreling towards the future faster than ever, but loneliness remains a key issue in modern life. What better time for Charlie Brooker to bring back his feel-bad series for another season?

In 2019, I argued that Brooker was running out of things to say with the show, despite his deft ability to predict our tech-infused dystopia with Black Mirror's first few seasons. Something was lost with his transition to Netflix, which led to bigger budgets and more notable stars, but less of the sharp insight that made the show so memorable. (At least we got “San Junipero,” though.) Thankfully, a few years away from the project seems to have helped. Season six of Black Mirror, which hit Netflix on June 15th, is the series at its best: Shocking, incisive and often hilarious. It also finds new life by looking back into the past frequently, as well as exploring horror more directly than before.

Minor spoilers ahead of Black Mirror season six.

"Joan is Awful" is the perfect way to kick off the new season – it's the most stereotypical Black Mirror setup. A disaffected big tech HR worker is surprised to find a show on Streamberry (an obvious Netflix stand-in) that recounts her daily life. That includes the cringeworthy layoff of a colleague (and supposed friend), and a therapist appointment where she reveals she's dissatisfied with her fiance.

It's a relatable Millennial malaise setup, the sort of thing Charlie Brooker captured so well early on in the series. Joan, played by Schitt's Creek star Annie Murphy, says she doesn't feel like a main character in her own life, so she coasts through everything on autopilot, almost always taking the easiest and less confrontational option. You'd think that it would be illegal for a network to just recount her life for all of its subscribers — turns out, she should have read the Terms of Service more closely.

I won't spoil where, exactly, that episode goes, or the familiar faces you end up seeing. But as the twists revealed themselves and it reached its inevitable bonkers conclusion, I couldn't help but smile. It was like Charlie Brooker shouting at me through the screen, "Black Mirror is back, baby!"

Netflix

What's truly surprising, though, is that this season of the series also feels refreshing in the ways it veers away from what we expect. "Loch Henry" is a fascinating exploration of our obsession with true crime dramas, and the impact they can have on the people affected by those stories. But aside from the presence of Streamberry as a service thirsty for true crime narratives, the story is more cultural than technology criticism.

Sure, we have more tools than ever to make true crime documentaries – there's a drone being used to make sweeping aerial shots, and the digital cameras are perfectly suited to shooting in dimly lit basements – but the desire to tell and consume these stories is purely human. And when it comes to macabre drama we can't help ourselves.

Black Mirror also gains some fresh perspective by exploring the past — or at least, timelines without smartphones and ubiquitous fast cellular internet. “Beyond the Sea” is an elegant yet brutal story set in 1969, focusing on two astronauts on a deep space mission who also wirelessly control mechanical bodies back on Earth. The episode is less interested in how any of that tech works — just accept the mystery, folks — and more about how it affects those astronauts, their families and society as a whole.

It's not too surprising when deranged hippie cultists appear, believing that mechanoid people are an affront to humanity. Both astronauts, played by Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) and former heartthrob Josh Hartnett, are also trapped by the societal norms of the '60s. They may be world-class astronauts, but they're also men who can't share their feelings properly, who hit their kids to "keep them in line," and who have rigid expectations from the women in their lives. Beyond the Sea may not fully earn its tragic conclusion, but the journey is certainly powerful.

I was surprised to see how much Black Mirror leans into pure horror this season: “Demon 79” is a direct callback to '70s horror films, from its explosive score to its overall aesthetic. The story revolves around an immigrant shoe sales clerk who inadvertently summons a demon, and is tasked with murdering three people to prevent the apocalypse. There isn't a sliver of tech involved — perhaps that’s why the opening credits refer to it as a "Red Mirror" episode. But it's still a fun horror romp, with plenty of subtext around the South Asian experience in '70s London (thanks to co-writer Bisha K. Ali, who also served as the showrunner for Ms. Marvel).

“Mazey Day” also brings Black Mirror into fresh territory, but you're better off discovering how for yourself. I can reveal that its story of a young paparazzi photographer (Zazie Beetz) is a refreshing glimpse of the mid-2000's, filled with then cutting edge tech (the square iPod Shuffle! Dashboard GPS!), but also plenty of old school touches. You still needed big paper map books in that era, because GPS wasn't always reliable. And even though high speed internet was widely available, it wasn't unusual to find people still relying on dial-up in 2005.

It’s impossible for Black Mirror to feel as fresh as it did over a decade ago. Since then, the downsides of Big Tech have become impossible to ignore. But at least now, especially with some extra time to craft these episodes, it seems like Charlie Brooker has found something new to say with the show.

Meta is expanding the audience for Quest headsets by inviting preteens into the fold. The Facebook owner is lowering the age for Quest 2 and 3 accounts from 13 to 10 later this year by introducing parent-controlled accounts. Kids will need their parents' approval to set up accounts, download apps and block access to already-present software. Those adults can set time limits.

The company says it's implementing strict privacy controls. Meta will provide "age-appropriate" app store experiences like recommendations if parents volunteer their child's age. It won't serve ads to kids, however, and parents will have the choice of whether or not data is used to refine the experience. These younger users' Meta Horizon profiles are private by default and will require approval for follows and active status updates. Horizon Worlds will still require that users are 13 and older.

Meta portrays this as a boon for education. This could give kids virtual science lessons and a raft of educational games, the company says. Most educational titles on the store are rated for ages 10 and older, so there shouldn't be a shortage of material.

Whether or not there's a trouble-free launch is another matter. Meta's policies theoretically comply with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), which bars collecting personal data from kids under 13 without parental consent. The New York Timessources claim Meta is already discussing its plans with regulators. However, there are concerns about safety. VR apps, particularly social ones, are sometimes prone to creeps, harassment and similar abuse. Meta can't necessarily shield young users against what happens inside third-party apps.

There's also the question of whether or not it's healthy for children to use VR headsets in the first place. As Duke University optometrist Dr. Nathan Cheung explains to ZDNet, these wearables can introduce eye and neck strain that may be particularly problematic for kids with smaller bodies and developing eyes. There's also a lack of definitive research on how VR can affect depth perception and focusing. The technology isn't definitively dangerous for kids, but it's not guaranteed to be safe, either.

Google has a long history of building in easter eggs into its search engine, whether that’s minigames or animations when searching specific keywords. The company is continuing the fun with a built-in minigame when you search for "Katamari" (via Kotaku), a game series that originally launched on the PlayStation 2. The minigame lets you roll everything on the page into a virtual ball. To start, you click on the Katamari ball icon on the right side of your screen. You play the game by using your keyboard’s arrow keys if on a desktop or laptop or with your finger if on a mobile device.

The easter egg is likely referencing the recent remaster of We Love Katamari earlier this month. The game, which was originally released on PlayStation 2 in 2005, got a remaster titled: We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie. The title was made available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and on Steam.

The Katamari series is developed by Bandai Namco and revolves around a series of puzzle-action games where you play as the Prince of All Cosmos. In the surreal series, you’re tasked with rolling up a ball of random things such as cats, cars and more – those balls replace the stars in the sky that were destroyed by your father, The King of the Cosmos.

Thankfully, Google’s version is a little less stress-inducing. There’s no goal or time limit per-se, you just roll a Katamari ball till your heart’s content (or if you have nothing left to catch). I spent more time than I’m willing to admit "testing" the game on my computer and it runs pretty well in my experience. Mobile, on the other hand, is a bit rough. The game seems to have a decent amount of input lag which makes the experience less than desirable. But as a little easter egg, Katamari fans should still get a laugh out of this.

The Instant Pot has been one of the most important kitchen gadgets of the past decade, but that hasn't prevented financial turmoil at its parent company. Instant Brands has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US citing worldwide "macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges" that include higher interest rates and tighter credit. While the company says it endured the pandemic and the ensuing supply chain problems, these latest problems proved to be too much.

Instant Brands still expects to put products on shelves, including Instant Pot as well as sibling brands like Corelle, CorningWare and Pyrex. It also received a promise of $132.5 million in financing to pay creditors while it works through the bankruptcy process. The court still has to approve the financing.

The Instant Pot range first launched in 2010 with a simple strategy: it combined a pressure cooker with many other functions (such as sauté and a steamer) in one device. It's particularly appealing if you want a quick meal that doesn't involve a microwave. Despite a lack of advertising, it developed a cult-like fan base and became synonymous with modern kitchens. That translated to surging demand — the lineup dominated Amazon's Prime Day sales for years starting in 2016.

This isn't the end for Instant Brands. As with other companies' Chapter 11 filings, it's a chance for the firm to get its financial affairs in order and (ideally) ensure its long-term health. However, this is a reminder that success in tech doesn't last forever, even for kitchen hardware.