Amazon’s Echo Show displays are up to 53 percent off right now

Amazon’s Echo Show smart displays with Alexa voice control are already a good value next to the competition, but a bunch of deals are making them even cheaper. The Show 5 is the best one, on sale right now for just $40, or 53 percent off the regular price. And if you want a larger screen, you can find great deals on the Show 8 and Show 15 — including a free Show 5 with the latter. 

Buy Echo Show smart displays at Amazon

The Echo Show 5 scored a very solid 85 score in our Engadget review, as it’s small size is ideal if don’t have a ton of space on your desk, nightstand or countertop. It has a 5.5-inch, 960 x 480 resolution display that shows things like weather forecasts, calendar events, photos and more. 

The 2MP camera can be used to video chat with friends and family, but it can also be used as a makeshift security camera of sorts. And if you prefer you’re concerned about privacy, the Show 5 has a built-in camera shutter and mic mute button. It was already a good deal at $85, but at $40, it’s a no-brainer. And if you’re thinking of getting that model for a youngster, the Echo Show 5 Kids with parental controls is also on sale for $50, or 47 percent off the regular $95 price.

Amazon's Echo Show displays are up to 53 percent off right now
Engadget

If it’s a larger screen you’re after, the Echo Show 8 also scored high in our review, thanks to the elegant minimalist design, vibrant 1,280 x 800 resolution display and handy video calling functionality. The digital pan-and-zoom face-tracking feature follows you while you move around to keep you in frame, and works with every video calling app out there. It also offers stereo speakers, making it one of the best-sounding smart displays available. You can pick one up for $80, just above the lowest price we’ve seen.

With a big 15-inch screen, the Echo Show 15 is the big daddy of Amazon’s smart display products. You can of course use it to control compatible smart home devices and link it to Echo speakers for richer audio. Family members can have their own profiles, using voice ID and face-recognition to access personalized content like reminders, appointments and music. The only downside is that it doesn’t come with a stand as it’s meant to be wall mounted. Still, you can grab one for $250 (an $85 discount), and Amazon is throwing in a free Echo 5 to boot. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

New Fitbit devices will need to be linked to a Google account next year

Starting next year, you’ll only be able to activate newly released Fitbit models using a Google account. It doesn’t come as a surprise for Google’s services to become more intertwined with Fitbit’s fitness devices after the tech giant acquired the latter for $2.1 billion in 2021. But now, we have a timeline for when Fitbit accounts will no longer be essential. As spotted by 9to5Google, Fitbit has revealed in its help page that it will launch support for Google accounts in 2023. Signing up for Fitbit and activating new devices will require the use of a Google account after that.

In addition, the brand will completely end support for Fitbit accounts sometime in early 2025, after which a Google account will be required to use its fitness devices and smartwatches. Fitbit promises that it will be transparent and will notify you of the exact date through notifications in its app, by email and in help articles. To ensure a smooth transition, it will enable the option to move your current Fitbit device to a Google account as soon as support arrives next year. You’ll also have the opportunity to make changes to your Fitbit data when making the move. If you do link a device to a Google account, you’ll be able to manage your Fitbit data both from the brand’s app and from your Google settings. 

Fitbit says its parent company made binding commitments not to use your health and wellness data for ads and will keep that information separate from what it does send to advertisers. The tech giant had insisted from the time it announced the acquisition that it will not be using Fitbit data for ad targeting. In 2020, it formally made the commitment to the European Commission to ward off an antitrust probe. 

Apple updates iOS 16 to fix shaky iPhone 14 Pro camera and copy-paste issues

Apple released its latest iPhone lineup and mobile platforms earlier this month, and a couple of annoying bugs quickly made themselves known to users. The good news is that the tech giant has quickly whipped up patches to fix the issues and has now released them as part of the iOS 16.0.2 update. One of the problems the update solves is the iPhone 14 Pro’s compatibility troubles with third-party apps that use its camera, such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. 

Users found that when they fire up those apps and use the device’s rear cam, the camera view shakes on screen and the phone emanates grinding and rattling noises. In its patch notes, Apple said the update fixes an issue wherein the “[c]amera may vibrate and cause blurry photos when shooting with some third-party apps on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.” The company didn’t elaborate on the cause behind it, but it’s possible that the apps weren’t meshing well with the device’s optical image stabilization system, causing the rattling noises. 

Another troublesome problem the update fixes is the persistent appearance of permission prompts when trying to copy and paste content between apps. Apple senior manager Ron Huang previously admitted that it was “absolutely not expected behavior” and said the company was dealing with it. iOS 16.0.2 will get rid of other bugs, as well, including one that causes the device’s display to go black during setup and another that renders the touch input on some iPhone X, iPhone XR and iPhone 11 displays to be unresponsive after they’re serviced. 

夏末臨別冷氣，4 款不同類型風扇推介

最近幾天走到街上，終於感受得到一絲涼意，也代表著離今年告別冷氣的時間又近了一步。而在暑寒交接期間，以風扇來替代冷氣是一個很好的選擇。這次就為大家挑選了四個不同種類的風扇，讓大家可以選購最適合自己的一款來從夏末過渡至冬天。…