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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Twitch has overhauled its mature content policies, switching from a general toggle to specific categories describing what viewers can expect. The new Content Classification Labels are mature-rated games, sexual themes, significant profanity or vulgarity, gambling, violent and graphic depictions and, lastly, drugs, intoxication or excessive tobacco use.

The ratings apply to both the game and you. For example, if you're playing a mature-rated game, Twitch will automatically label it as such. But, if you're playing an E-rated game and excessively swearing, you will need to mark your stream as having significant profanity or vulgarity. In general, it's pretty obvious when to use a label based on their names, but Twitch's Content Classification Guidelines break down when to use each one in incredible detail (from pose examples to categorizing swear words). The rules around what's not allowed on streams have stayed the same. 

You can access Content Classification Labels in the Stream Manager's "Edit Stream Info" section below the language control. A pull-down menu will show the six options with a short description following each. All you need to do is click whichever applies to your current stream and, if it changes, add or remove them as you go. 

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Keep in mind that whatever labels remain checked when you end a stream will be automatically applied to your next one unless you unclick them. You can report users to Twitch (and vice versa) for not including required labels, and if Twitch agrees, they will issue a warning.

While these new Content Classification Labels are already available to use, Twitch is giving everyone an adjustment period of sorts. You can still get warnings, but Twitch will only start tallying them after July 20. At that point, "repeated warnings" will likely still not get you suspended with Twitch, instead opting to lock certain classifications onto your account for a set amount of days or weeks.

TikTok has enjoyed a significant advantage over Instagram Reels in that anyone can download a TikTok video and post it to another social media network — something that helps draw new users to the platform. Now, Instagram has finally gained that ability, according to a post by CEO Adam Mosseri (using the new broadcast channels feature) spotted by TechCrunch. 

The feature is only available to US users on mobile for now, and only for public and not private accounts. At the same time, users with public accounts can choose a setting that blocks users from downloading their Reels. To use the feature, you tap on the "Share" icon for a given Reel and select "Download."

Engadget

An image posted by Mosseri (top) appears to show that downloaded Reels will be watermarked with the Instagram logo and name of the account, much as TikTok does. YouTube also started adding watermarks to Shorts videos created on desktop, likely also as a way to bring attention to its short video feature. 

Instagram now appears to be taking the same tack, likely also seeing it as a way to ensure people see Reels on other social media networks. It's not going out of its way to accommodate videos from rival platforms, though. The Meta-owned company allows TikTok and other videos to be uploaded, but its algorithms stopped promoting any watermarked videos from rivals back in 2021. 

While most subreddits that went dark to oppose the website's API changes are now live and active again, some moderators aren't done protesting the changes on the platform. As The Verge reports, several popular subreddits that historically prohibited porn have started allowing users to post NSFW or Not Safe For Work content. These communities include r/interestingasfuck, r/TIHI (Thanks, I Hate It), r/mildlyinteresting and r/videos. 

In r/TIHI's case, for instance, a stickied post says the subreddit is removing a rule that forbids extreme NSFW content and will now welcome them, as long as they're legal under US law. A similar post on r/interestingasfuck lists a smaller and less restrictive set of new rules, including labeling whether a post is NSFW or not and prohibiting sexual content with minors. By allowing their subreddits to be filled with posts deemed not safe for work, the moderators have made sure that Reddit can't monetize them. NSFW subreddits haven't been eligible for ad targeting in years, and the website doesn't allow ads for adult-oriented products, as well. 

Reddit's response to the situation has been swift — administrators have reportedly removed whole moderating teams for communities that have labeled themselves NSFW. If you take a look at the r/interestingasfuck and r/TIHI subreddits, you'll see that their moderator boxes are empty, save for a note that says "This subreddit is unmoderated. Visit r/redditrequest to request it." Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told The Verge: "Moderators incorrectly marking a community as NSFW is a violation of both our Content Policy and Moderator Code of Conduct."

The other subreddits mentioned now have a full moderating team and no longer have explicit posts. It's unclear whether the mods themselves decided to go back to regular programming or whether they were forced to do so. Several r/mildlyinteresting moderators told the publication that while it's true they were locked out of their subreddits by a Reddit admin, they were reinstated by a different administrator. Said admin reversed the seven-day suspension they got, as well.

All these events stemmed from Reddit's decision to start charging access to its API. Reddit was originally targeting companies scraping the website for content used to train Large Language Models for generative AI, but its decision also affects thousands of third-party clients and apps that tie into the platform, including ones with moderation tools. Thousands of communities protested the move by setting their subreddits private and making them inaccessible. 

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, however, was unmoved by the protest and told the NPR: "It's a small group that's very upset, and there's no way around that. We made a business decision that upset them." He also told NBC News that he plans to allow ordinary users to vote moderators out more easily based on their decisions. A company representative echoed that sentiment in a post on the website and added: "If a moderator team unanimously decides to stop moderating, we will invite new, active moderators to keep these spaces open and accessible to users"

Amazon has officially announced the dates for its next annual shopping event. Prime Day 2023 will be on July 11th and 12th this year — the event will begin at 12AM PT/3AM ET on Tuesday, July 11th, and conclude at the end of the day on Wednesday, July 12th. As it has been for the past few years, Prime Day will be a two-day event during which Prime members can snag deals on everything from electronics to fashion to Amazon's own devices.

The past couple of years saw Prime Day in different seasons, mostly due to COVID-19 repercussions. In 2020, Amazon had to delay Prime Day until October, and it rebounded a bit in 2021 by having Prime Day in June. Last year, Amazon fully returned to its roots by having its main shopping event in July, although it did add a second Prime Day in October in the lead-up to the holiday shopping season.

Aside from drumming up a large number of sales in a short period of time, Prime Day has always been a way for Amazon to increase the numbers of subscribers it has for its subscription service. Prime Day isn’t necessarily a perk of Prime like access to Prime Video content or free two-day shipping are, but it certainly helps that most deals you’ll find on Amazon during the two-day event are exclusively available to Prime members. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the cost of Prime has increased quite a bit since its launch in 2005, and even within the past few years. An annual membership will set you back $139 right now, $20 more than its previous price.

If you do plan on putting that Prime membership to use next month, you can turn to Engadget to find the tech deals worth your month during the two-day event. Unsurprisingly, Amazon Prime Day is one of the best times of the year to get Amazon devices, since most of them will likely be down to all-time-low prices. But we also expect to see worthwhile sales on headphones, robot vacuums, laptops, SSDs and much more. You can also follow Engadget Deals on Twitter for the latest news during Prime Day, and sign up for the new Engadget Deals newsletter to get the best deals delivered right to your inbox.

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.

It looks like Fake Drake won’t be taking home a Grammy. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said this week that although the organization will consider music with limited AI-generated voices or instrumentation for award recognition, it will only honor songs written and performed “mostly by a human.”

“At this point, we are going to allow AI music and content to be submitted, but the Grammys will only be allowed to go to human creators who have contributed creatively in the appropriate categories,” Mason said in an interview with Grammy.com. “If there’s an AI voice singing the song or AI instrumentation, we’ll consider it. But in a songwriting-based category, it has to have been written mostly by a human. Same goes for performance categories – only a human performer can be considered for a Grammy. If AI did the songwriting or created the music, that’s a different consideration. But the Grammy will go to human creators at this point.”

The CEO’s comments mean the fake Drake / The Weeknd song “Heart on My Sleeve,” which went viral earlier this year before getting wiped from streaming platforms over copyright takedowns, wouldn’t be eligible. Another AI-generated scammer sold fake Frank Ocean tracks in April for a reported CAD 13,000 ($9,722 in US dollars), while Spotify has been busy purging tens of thousands of AI-made songs from its library.

On the other hand, it raises questions about artists like Holly Herndon, who used an AI version of her voice for a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” (The AI-generated performance would suggest not, but would the fact that it’s her own voice make a difference?) Or, for that matter, there’s the upcoming “final” Beatles track that Paul McCartney says will use AI to isolate a garbled recording of John Lennon’s voice. And would Taryn Southern, who (also transparently) used AI to co-produce her 2018 debut album, be eligible? We reached out to the Recording Academy for clarification about these examples and will update this article if they respond.

Awards or not, Mason acknowledged that AI would upend the music industry. “AI is going to absolutely, unequivocally have a hand in shaping the future of our industry,” Mason said. “So, we have to start planning around that and thinking about what that means for us. How can we adapt to accommodate? How can we set guardrails and standards? There are a lot of things that need to be addressed around AI as it relates to our industry.” The CEO added that the Recording Academy recently held a summit “with industry leaders, tech entrepreneurs, streaming platforms, and people from the artist community” to discuss AI’s future. “We talked about the subject and discussed how the Recording Academy can be helpful: how we can play a role and the future of AI in music.”

A US Senate committee is investigating Amazon’s warehouse safety practices. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy today, initiating the probe. Sanders urged Jassy to address health and safety issues at the company’s warehouses and requested additional information about its response to various safety issues. In a statement to Engadget, Amazon said, “We’ve reviewed the letter and strongly disagree with Senator Sanders’ assertions,” while adding that it has extended an invitation for the Senator to tour one of its facilities.

Sanders’ nearly 2,400-word letter takes the retailer to task for reported injuries and unsafe practices at its warehouses. “The company’s quest for profits at all costs has led to unsafe physical environments, intense pressure to work at unsustainable rates, and inadequate medical attention for tens of thousands of Amazon workers every year,” Sanders wrote. “At every turn — from warehouse design and workstation setup, to pace of work requirements, to medical care for injuries and subsequent pressure to return to work — Amazon makes decisions that actively harm workers in the name of its bottom line.”

The letter contrasts Amazon’s history of warehouse injuries and safety complaints with its $1.3 trillion market value, founder Jeff Bezos’ net worth of nearly $150 billion and Jassy’s $289 million in compensation over the last two years. It cites figures from the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of North American labor unions, that paint the company’s patterns as “uniquely dangerous.” “In 2022 alone, Amazon warehouse workers suffered nearly 39,000 injuries, 95 percent of which were so serious that they required workers to either lose time at work or switch to modified duty,” Sanders wrote. “Amazon’s rate of serious injuries at its warehouses, at 6.6 injuries per 100 workers, was more than double the rate at non-Amazon warehouses. And despite constituting only a little more than a third of the warehouse workers in the country, Amazon workers suffered more serious injuries than all of the other warehouse workers in the United States combined.”

In an email to Engadget, Amazon disputed SOC’s data. “There will always be ways for our critics to splice data to suit their narrative, but the fact is, we’ve made progress and our numbers clearly show it. Since 2019, we’ve reduced our rate of recordable injuries across our global network by more than 23%, and we’ve reduced our Lost Time Incident Rate by 53%. This is easily verifiable by examining the data we report to OSHA.” In addition, the company highlighted a report detailing its “meaningful and measurable progress,” while pointing us to a blog post regarding its efforts to help combat the effects of summer heat.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sanders’ letter asks Jassy to explain why Amazon’s injury rates are “significantly higher than the warehouse industry average” despite regulators repeatedly identifying measures Amazon could take to improve safety. It also asks the company to address why Amazon’s claims of robotics improving safety don’t align with data that says its robotic facilities have 28 percent higher injury rates than non-robotic ones. Finally, it asks for communications about a connection between workers’ pace of work and the prevalence of injuries.

In addition to his letter, the Senator created a website for current and former Amazon workers to submit stories about their experiences with the company. Sanders asked Jassy to respond by July 5th.

This is far from the first complaint about Amazon’s safety practices. A company warehouse collapsed in December 2021, spurring Congressional action that described Amazon’s response as “disappointing” and part of a “wholly inadequate safety culture.” In response to the collapse, Amazon tweaked its severe-weather strategy but refused to build storm shelters at its warehouses. In addition, federal prosecutors and the US Department of Labor announced an investigation last year over the company’s workplace conditions — a move that included OSHA inspections. In April, the SOC said Amazon was responsible for 53 percent of all severe warehouse injuries in the US despite employing around one-third of the country’s warehouse workers.

“When faced with worker injuries, Amazon provides minimal medical care while hiding those injuries from regulators and workers’ compensation programs,” said Sanders. “This system forces workers to endure immeasurable long-term pain and disabilities while Amazon makes incredible profits from their labor. That cannot be allowed to continue.”

Roblox has traditionally been most popular among kids and pre-teens, despite it claiming to be a “platform for all ages.” Now, in a departure from its family-friendly reputation, the company says it will allow creators to make content specifically for users 17 and older. This isn’t an insignificant portion of Roblox’s user base either – the platform said in its press release Tuesday that in 2022, 38 percent of its daily active users were over 17.

In particular, Roblox says that creators will be able to “feature more mature themes and storylines in TV shows and stand-up comedy.” According to the company, this may include violence, blood, crude humor, romantic themes and alcohol. Players may see “unplayable” gambling content as well, though it is not immediately clear what that would entail. We have asked Robox to clarify.

To access this content you’ll need to verify your age by uploading a photo of your driver’s license or ID along with a selfie to verify that you are who you say you are. Roblox says that this system will provide “greater confidence in people’s age and identity,” and that more age verification methods may be added in the future.

Eligible creators can start making these experiences starting today. These experiences will start rolling out to “eligible” users in the coming weeks. Roblox says that its goal is to provide a safe and engaging experience for people ages 17 or older. The company isn’t being specific on what qualifies as an “eligible” creator or user. We’ve reached out to Roblox for comment and will update this story if we’ve heard back.

Roblox has traditionally marketed itself to younger audiences. For example, earlier this year, the company partnered with Razer to release kid-specific Roblox Edition gaming gear. But with a little over a third of that user base being over the age of 17, it makes sense that the company wants to provide more content geared toward adults.

Apple is widening its Self Service Repair program to cover its more recent devices, and it's reducing some of the hassles in the process. As of June 21st, you can get the parts, tools and manuals needed to fix the iPhone 14 range as well as the M2-based versions of the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. You can also fix the TrueDepth camera and top speaker on iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models in the US, UK and seven European countries. M1-based desktops like the iMac are also included, Apple says.

Crucially, you won't have to call Apple to finish your repairs. The System Configuration tool, which verifies and authenticates fixes with official parts, now works simply by putting a device into Diagnostics mode and following instructions. While staff will still be on hand if needed, they're now strictly optional. The tool is vital for a fully functional device as it not only calibrates parts, but ties biometrics (such as Face ID and Touch ID) to the Secure Enclave.

The program effectively gives users many of the repair resources previously limited to Apple technicians. You can buy necessary components and either buy or rent necessary tools. While it's potentially expensive, it may be more viable than conventional support if you're comfortable with fixing electronics and don't want to send your hardware to someone else. This may be particularly helpful if you don't live close to an Apple-certified repair shop.

As before, Self Service Repair isn't an entirely altruistic gesture. The company is facing increasing pressure from national and state governments that are passing Right to Repair laws and regulations. The European Union wants to mandate replaceable batteries, for instance. Apple's program potentially heads off legal trouble alongside efforts that include easier-to-repair devices.

Apple isn't alone. Samsung, Google and others have similar initiatives either in-house or through alliances with do-it-yourself companies like iFixit. Although self-repair isn't practical for many people, the option is now relatively commonplace.

Spotify has really let its desktop app go in recent years, throwing most of its resources at the mobile apps and certain vaccine-hating podcasters. However, the desktop side of things just received a major overhaul in what the company is calling “one of the biggest revamps yet” to bring the standalone app and web app up to speed with more popular smartphone-based cousins. After all, Spotify was originally a browser-based experience even before it made its way to fancy phones.

The main content area remains unchanged, with the same access to browsing and recommended songs and podcasts, but the left-side of the app window now features the recently-launched “Your Library” feature, which the company started testing a few months back. This gives you immediate access to saved music and podcast collections, helping to save time when switching between playlists. You can now collapse the library for a compact view, which is always nice. 

There’s also a new “Now Playing” view on the right side of the screen that displays the current content you are listening to, complete with biographical information on the artist. Additionally, this field gives you access to purchase merchandise directly from the artist and take a peak at any upcoming tour dates. Some podcasts will also automatically populate a transcript via this field as you listen.

The “Friend Activity” feed moved to make room for the new stuff, but you can move it back. Just look for the “friends” icon next to your profile picture at the top-right corner of the main content area and drag and drop to bring the feed back to its former glory. You can also completely remove both the "Friends Activity" and "Now Playing" windows for a streamlined look. 

All of these changes come with an eye-catching splash of paint to make everything look and feel like the smartphone versions of the app. The update rolls out today to all desktop users worldwide. This is a big day for the streaming service, as it just announced that comedian Trevor Noah signed a deal for a weekly talk show and rumors continue to swirl regarding a forthcoming hi-fi audio tier.