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Now that we know Amazon Prime Day will be coming up soon on July 8-11, it’s time to start thinking about what you may want to snag at a discount during the sale. If you pay the $139 annual fee for Prime, sale events like these are a great time to stock up on essentials and cross things off your wishlist while you can save some money. Most discounts will be exclusively available to Prime subscribers, but there are always a few that anyone shopping on Amazon can grab. Similarly, there are always early deals in the days and weeks leading up to Prime Day, and this year is no different. Here, we’ve collected the best Prime Day deals you can shop for right now and we’ll keep updating this post as we get close to Prime Day proper.

Prime Day deals: Early deals to shop now

Prime Day deals under $50

Audible Premium Plus (three months) for $3 ($42 off): New subscribers can get three months of Audible for only $3, which represents a $42 discount. The Premium Plus tier gives you one book credit per month to use on any audiobook the service has, and you can stream any of the included titles for free on top of that. Audible also has members-only sales and discounts that you'll be able to take advantage of, too. The deal runs through July 31.

Anker 313 wireless charging stand for $14 (29 percent off): One of our top picks for the best wireless chargers, Anker's 313 stand keeps things simple but effective. Just plop your phone down on its wide stand to get up to 10W of fast-charging power. It supports both portrait and landscape orientation for your phone, and it'll work with cases up to 5mm thick.

Samsung SmartTag 2 for $18.50 (38 percent off): Samsung users looking to keep track of their stuff need look no further than the SmartTag 2. One of our top picks for the best Bluetooth trackers, this accessory easily attaches to keys, bags and other items and uses Samsung's large finding network to show you their last known location.

Anker 633 10K magnetic battery pack for $43 (28 percent off, Prime exclusive): This 10K battery pack attaches magnetically to the backs of iPhones, making it easy to recharge while on the go. It also has a built-in kickstand for easy video watching or FaceTime calling while powering up.

Soundcore Space A40 wireless earbuds for $45 (44 percent off): The Space A40 are some of the best budget wireless earbuds you can get right now, thanks to excellent ANC performance for their price, a pleasant sound profile, a comfortable fit and multi-device connectivity. They also have a solid eight-hour battery life, plus an extra 40 with their charging case.

Prime Day Apple deals

Apple AirPods 4 for $99 at Amazon ($30 off): Apple’s wireless earbuds don't have the best sound quality or battery life, and this entry-level model lacks wireless charging, Find My tracking and onboard volume controls. But it still gets you tons of Apple-friendly features — from fast pairing with iCloud devices to spatial audio to hands-free Siri — and its lightweight design should fit most ears better than previous AirPods.

Apple iPad (A16) for $299 at Amazon ($50 off): The latest base model iPad comes with a faster A16 chip, 2GB more RAM and 128GB of storage as standard. It earned a score of 84 in our review — if you only need an iPad for roaming the internet, watching shows and doing some lighter productivity tasks, it's a good starter tablet.

Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M4) for $829 ($170 off): The latest MacBook Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and it earned a score of 92 in our review. It's another spec bump, but that's not a bad thing — the design remains exceptionally thin, light and well-built, with long battery life and a top-notch keyboard and trackpad. Now it's a bit faster. (Though we'd still love more ports and a refresh rate higher than 60Hz.)

Apple Mac Mini M4 for $469 ($130 off): If you prefer desktops, the upgraded M4 Mac mini is one that won’t take up too much space, but will provide a ton of power at the same time. Not only does it come with an M4 chipset, but it also includes 16GB of RAM in the base model, plus front-facing USB-C and headphone ports for easier access.

Apple Watch Series 10 for $329 ($70 off): We consider Apple’s flagship wearable to be the best smartwatch you can buy, period. It's a mostly iterative update, with faster charging, a slightly slimmer design and a marginally larger display than the prior Series 9. That said, it's still a comprehensive fitness tracker, and no other smartwatch can integrate as neatly with iPhones and other Apple devices.

Prime Day tech deals

Ring Doorbell Battery + Indoor Cam 2 for $70 (50 percent off): If you're looking to build out a security system in your home, this bundle is a good place to start, giving you a video doorbell and an indoor security camera. You'll be able to see both live feeds in the Ring app, and they can send you motion alerts and let you speak to people on the other end of the camera when you're not at home.

Anker MagGo 3-in-1 charging station for $82 (25 percent off): A top pick in our guide to the best multi-device wireless chargers, this Anker power station can charge a phone, pair of earbuds and smartwatch all at once. It's primarily built for Apple devices, with a built-in Apple Watch charger and a neat space for AirPods. It's a solid option for frequent travelers thanks to the fact that it folds up to roughly the size of a deck of cards when not in use.

Cosori 9-in-1 air fryer for $100 (17 percent off): This is one of our favorite air fryers thanks to its spacious cooking basket, multiple cooking functions and consistent performance. It doesn't take up too much space on a countertop, and its rounded-square design gives you more space in the cooking basket to spread food out for an even better crisp.

Blink Outdoor 4 security cameras (five-camera system) for $160 (60 percent off): Get enough security cameras to outfit most of your home with this bundle. The Outdoor 4 cams are some of our favorites; you can use them indoors or outdoors, they supports 1080p video, motion alerts, local video storage when you employ a thumb drive with the Sync Module 2 that comes with the pack and they're totally wireless, running on two AA batteries each.

Levoit Core 400S air purifier for $185 ($35 off): Our top pick for the best air purifier, Levoit's Core 400S reliably improved air quality in our testing, plus it has easy to use onboard controls and replaceable filters that are not too expensive. We also found it to not be offensively loud, even on its highest setting.

Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 for $200 ($50 off): The latest Powerbeats Pro earbuds have a comfier design and powerful bass performance that's sure to keep you hyped during a workout. These are Apple's first wireless earbuds with built-in heart rate monitoring, too, but that will likely only appeal to those who intend on using these buds primarily while working out.

GoPro Hero 13 Black action camera for $329 ($100 off): Our favorite action camera for most people, the Hero 13 Black now works with a family of module lenses, making it even more versatile than models that came before it, plus it has a larger battery that supports longer capture times. On top of that, it has good digital stabilization, a full-color screen and excellent image quality.

Eufy E20 3-in-1 robot vacuum for $380 (42 percent off): One of Eufy's latest machines and a top pick of ours for the best robot vacuums, the E20 can putter around your home automatically, sucking up dirt and debris in its path. But then it can quickly transform into a cordless or handheld vacuum, allowing you to clean hard-to-reach spots manually.

Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones + $30 Amazon gift card for $448 ($30 off): Sony's newest pair of premium cans just came out not too long ago, and they promptly took the top spot in our best wireless headphones guide. The company managed to improve sound quality and ANC this time around, plus they have an even comfier design and loads of extra features like multi-device connectivity, Speak-to-Chat and more.

What is Prime Day?

Prime Day is Amazon's members-only shopping event, which means you’ll have to be a Prime subscriber on Prime Day to take advantage of most of the savings. Amazon still offers a 30-day free trial to new Prime subscribers, so you can start your free trial closer to July and participate in the event.

When is Prime Day 2025?

Amazon Prime Day 2025 will be back this year on July 8 through July 11.

How often is Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day typically comes around annually in July. In the last few years, Amazon has also had its "Big Deal Days" in October, which is effectively a second Prime Day and the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

How does Prime Day work?

Prime subscribers can go to Amazon's site on Prime Day to see all of the exclusive deals they have access to. Prime subscribers do not have to do anything additional to get Prime Day sales: the discounts you see on product pages will show up in your cart automatically. If you're not a Prime subscriber and you go to Amazon to shop on Prime Day, you'll likely see tons of items on sale but only "with Prime;" those discounts will not be available to those who are not active Prime subscribers.

Is Prime Day only for Prime members?

Technically yes, but even if you do not pay for a Prime membership, you should still check out Amazon on Prime Day. While most Prime Day deals will be exclusively available to subscribers, there are always a handful of sales available to all shoppers. Amazon distinguishes between them very clearly: you'll see "Prime exclusive" on product pages near the deal pricing on the discounts that are only available to paying members.

Separately, it’s very likely that other retailers like Walmart, Target and Best Buy will have their own competing Prime Day sales during that time frame, too. So if you're not keen on shopping at Amazon at all, it's worth checking out other retailers during the week of Prime Day to see if they are matching Prime Day deal prices.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-prime-day-2025-the-best-early-deals-available-now-dates-and-everything-else-you-need-to-know-120028680.html?src=rss

You could be forgiven for thinking the vacuum cleaner market isn't particularly innovative. That's not the case though: in just over a year of testing and writing about vacuums I've seen vacuums with lasers, vacuums that are powered by AI, and vacuums that can tell you exactly what they're sucking up as they do so. And that's ignoring the more hum-drum but still impressive improvements to suction and battery life.In all my testing, there's one feature that impressed me most... and it's even more notable because to start with, I was not sold on the idea at all: auto-emptying docks.These are essentially a base that the vacuum slots into. Like any dock, it charges the vacuum up and provides somewhere for it to live when you're not using it, but it goes one step further than that by also emptying the onboard dust cup.Pop the vacuum onto its perch and all the dust and debris accumulated on the previous cleaning session will whoosh out, via a closed system, into a larger bin in the base. You can see it in action in the video clip below.I first saw one of these bases in action last year at a Shark press event. Auto-empty docks are an option on both the Shark PowerDetect Cordless and Detect Pro Cordless, and the Shark representative explained to me that this was going to be a big focus for the brand going forward. I was not sold at the time. Who would want one of these bulky docks in their home? And how hard is it to empty a cordless vacuum yourself, anyway?(Image credit: Future)A few months later I was sent a Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra, which has an auto-empty dock as standard. As I set about testing it, I was struck by just how easy the emptying process was. Literally nothing was required of me – I simply put the vacuum into its dock and it did everything for me.But what really drove home the benefits was when I started doing testing to compare the Samsung Bespoke and Dyson Gen5detect, which lacks a self-empty base. Suddenly, even with Dyson's ultra-smooth engineering, manually emptying a dust cup felt like something from the dark ages. There was dust getting down the side of the bin liner, and more floating in clouds around me. I had to stick my fingers in and dislodge a clump of hair.It occurred to me at this point that the self-empty system would be great for allergy-sufferers. Everything is being sucked out via a closed system, so there's no opportunity for dust and allergens to escape back into the air. You then only need to empty the dock dustbin once in a blue moon.(Image credit: Future)Another benefit is that it means the manufacturer can get away with shrinking the onboard bin. That, in turn makes the vacuum lighter and more streamlined – both useful traits for a cordless stick vacuum.The self-empty approach is very common amongst today's best robot vacuums. These have even smaller onboard bins, and are designed to be hands-off solutions, so it makes a ton of sense to offer self-emptying functionality there.Shark is very much embracing the auto-empty dock approach with its manual cordless vacuums already. Provided you have space for the dock, I think they're a solid investment, and something we'll be seeing a lot more of in the future.You might also like...Are Dyson vacuums worth the premium price? After testing most of the leading brands, here's my takeI tried to set up my first lawnbot – these are the 3 biggest mistakes I made, so you can avoid themHow long should a vacuum cleaner last?

Windows 365 Reserve is a new web-based Cloud PC backup for your physical laptopUsers get to access the service for 10 days in any yearPricing unconfirmed, preview upcomingMicrosoft has unveiled a new service designed to provide temporary, pre-configured Cloud PCs to customers when a primary physical device is out of order – be it lost, broken or delayed.Windows 365 Reserve gives users instant access to Cloud PCs from any device via the Windows App or browser, and they come ready to go, loaded with Microsoft 365 apps, corporate settings and the relevant security policies.Managed through Microsoft Intune (like physical PCs), Windows 365 Reserve is designed for temporary use only, with a 10-day annual usage allowance (that can be split up or used all at once).Windows 365 ReserveMicrosoft says the new service is designed to ensure business continuity during events like device theft, loss, delivery days or system outages. With the temporary access, workers can continue as normal or admins can choose to test new configurations away from their own, primary device.The company describes Windows 365 Reserve as a "modern, secured and scalable offering designed for any type of worker across the entire organization to stay uninterrupted and productive, without the hassle or cost of managing cumbersome loaner PCs, temporary backup PC solutions or legacy VDI access."Microsoft Modern Work VP Stefan Kinnestrand said 76% of customers have reported having been impacted by incidents of device theft in the last two years, citing third-party research.No pricing details have been confirmed yet, and it's unclear whether the service will operate on a subscription-based model. Windows 365 Reserve is available in preview "soon," with an online application process for customers to gain early access.At the same time, Kinnestrand lifted the wraps off other minor improvements to Windows 365 while introducing a 20% discount for first-time customers.You might also likeThese are the best virtual desktop servicesUpgrade to the best business laptops or best mobile workstationsMicrosoft 365 launches an on-premise edition that wants to solve productivity issues for good

Sam Altman has appeared in the first episode of OpenAI’s brand new podcast, called simply the OpenAI Podcast, which is available to watch now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.The podcast is hosted by Andrew Mayne and in the first episode, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joins the host to talk about the future of AI: from GPT-5 and AGI to Project Stargate, new research workflows, and AI-powered parenting.While Altman's thoughts on AGI are always worth paying attention to, it was his advice on AI-powered parenting that caught my ear this time.You have to wonder if Altman’s PR advisors have taken the day off, because after being asked the softball question, “You’ve recently become a new parent, how is ChatGPT helping you with that?”, Altman somehow draws us into a nightmare scenario of a generation of AI-reared kids who have lost the ability to communicate with regular humans in favor of their parasocial relationships with ChatGPT.“My kids will never be smarter than AI.”, says Altman in a matter-of-fact way. “But also they will grow up vastly more capable than we were when we grew up. They will be able to do things that we cannot imagine and they’ll be really good at using AI. And obviously, I think about that a lot, but I think much more about what they will have that we didn’t…. I don’t think my kids will ever be bothered by the fact that they’re not smarter than AI. “That all sounds great, but then later in the conversation he says: “Again, I suspect this is not all going to be good, there will be problems and people will develop these problematic, or somewhat problematic, parasocial relationships.“In case you’re wondering what "parasocial relationships" are, they develop when we start to consider media personalities or famous people as friends, despite having no real interactions with them; the way we all think we know George Clooney because he’s that friendly doctor from ER, or from his movies or the Nespresso advert, when, in fact, we have never met him, and most likely never will.Mitigating the downsidesAltman is characterizing a child’s interactions with ChatGPT in the same way, but interestingly he doesn’t offer any solutions for a generation weaned on ChatGPT Advanced Voice mode rather than human interaction. Instead he sees it as a problem for society to figure out.“The upsides will be tremendous and society in general is good at figuring out how to mitigate the downsides”, Altman assures the viewer.Now I’ll admit to being of a more cynical bent, but this does seem awfully like he’s washing his hands of a problem that OpenAI is creating. Any potential problems that a generation of kids brought up interacting with ChatGPT are going to experience are, apparently, not OpenAI’s concern.In fact, earlier when the podcast host brought up the example story of a parent using ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode to talk to their child about Thomas the Tank Engine, instead of doing it themselves, because they are bored of talking about it endlessly, Altman simply nods and says ,“Kids love Voice Mode in ChatGPT”.Indeed they do Sam, but is it wise to let your child loose on ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode without supervision? As a parent myself (although of much older children now) I’m uncomfortable with hearing of young kids being given what sounds like unsupervised access to ChatGPT.AI comes with all sorts of warnings for a reason. It can make mistakes, it can give bad advice, and it can hallucinate things that aren’t true. Not to mention that “ChatGPT is not meant for children under 13” according to OpenAI’s own guidelines, and I can’t imagine there are many kids older than 13 who are interested in talking about Thomas the Tank Engine!I have no problem using ChatGPT with my kids, but when ChatGPT was available they were both older than 13. If I was using it with younger children I’d always make sure that they weren’t using it on their own.I'm not suggesting that Altman is in any way a bad parent, and I appreciate his enthusiasm for AI, but I think he should leave the parenting advice to the experts for now.You might also likeGoogle Gemini’s super-fast Flash-Lite 2.5 model is out now - here’s why you should switch today5 ChatGPT Plus features that I use all the time and now I can’t live withoutYouTube Shorts is getting a huge free Veo 3 upgrade that might just make me leave TikTok and CapCuts behind

Noise-cancelling headphones are a must-have for anyone who travels often and wants to drown out airplane noise, commuters who want some peace and quiet amongst the crowds and anyone else looking to dull the daily chaos of life. Sony's 1000X line has had our favorite noise-cancelling headphones for a long time, and it remains the same now with the latest edition to that family. Sony released the WH-1000XM6 edition of its wireless noise canceling headphones in May, and really the only downside about them is their new, higher price tag.

But if you're on the market for a new pair of cans right now, Amazon will throw you a bone if you opt for the XM6. Right now, you can get the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones plus a free $30 Amazon gift card for $448. While you're not saving much on the price of the headphones (a whopping $2), you're getting a $30 gift card for free on top of it, which you can use towards anything else you want to buy on Amazon.

Sony released the WH-1000XM6 headphones three years after their predecessor, but the new model quickly proved to be worth the wait. We gave the M6s a 94 in our review thanks to features like improved sound and better active noise cancelation. One of the best things about this model compared to the M5s is the return to a folding design — I love my M5s but it's very annoying that they don't shrink at all. The M6s are also very comfy and have a wider headband for easy wear. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-a-free-30-amazon-gift-card-when-you-buy-the-sony-wh-1000xm6-headphones-144511226.html?src=rss

Steam is upgrading its in-game frame rate counter to be a full overlayThis will provide a lot more details on what's going on under the hood with any given game, and your CPU and GPU's status tooThat includes whether frame generation is being used, exposing situations where it's been stealthily enabled, hidden in the backgroundValve is beefing up Steam's built-in frame rate counter - which displays the frames per second (FPS) in the game you're playing - to provide a lot more info, including whether frame generation is being employed.Frame generation is the tech used to boost FPS by adding in AI-generated extra frames - often called 'fake frames' by those who are less keen on the feature - as seen in Nvidia's DLSS, AMD's FSR, and Intel's XeSS.Notebookcheck.net spotted that Valve has released a new beta of the Steam app where the basic in-game FPS counter has become a full in-game overlay performance monitor. Remember, this is still in beta, so you won't see it on your Steam client yet, not unless you're a beta tester.In addition to a real-time FPS readout, the new overlay provides detailed information on both CPU and GPU performance, including utilization levels, clock speeds, and temperatures, as well as the amount of video RAM being used by the currently running game (system RAM monitoring is also included).Along with this, Valve has added the ability to display whether DLSS or FSR is active, and whether those technologies are currently using frame generation, as mentioned at the outset.To begin with, the full feature set will be for Windows PCs only. However, other platforms (SteamOS) will get most of those capabilities, and whatever isn't in the initial release should be provided for other operating systems at a later date. In a similar vein, some info will only be displayed for PCs with certain pieces of hardware.Here's a full explanation of the new overlay as crafted by Valve, which goes into some detail, but let's clear up a couple of points next, including why detecting frame generation could be very useful, in light of a recent controversy in the world of PC games.Analysis: Frame blame game(Image credit: Studio Wildcard)Okay, first of all, what about if you don't want this heap of new info? When you switch on the overlay, are you just going to get annoyed at all the extra 'garbage' (as far as you might be concerned) cluttering up the screen now?The good news is that you can dispense with the full readout, and adjust the overlay down to a bare minimum if you want - so it shows only the FPS counter (just as things are now). So don't fret on that score, plus there'll be customization options like adjusting how see-through the overlay is, and where it's placed.Moving on to frame generation: why is having that displayed a big deal? Well, this is interesting timing actually, as there's been a lot of controversy that's surfaced this week about a game that switches on frame generation without letting the gamer know.This is ARK: Survival Ascended, which has AMD's (FSR) frame generation on by default, something that reportedly happened a while back (when players observed a major boost to FPS after a patch - which would, of course, happen with frame gen, that's what it does). The thing is, this wasn't announced in the patch; it was a stealth move in the background, and moreover, there isn't even an option for frame generation in the graphics settings.In other words, there's no way to know it's enabled, or indeed to turn it off in ARK (it's only possible to disable using a console command).So, you might be playing a game, thinking that the frame rate feels a bit unsettled and jerky, despite a high FPS reading, and that's because frame generation is on when you didn't even know it. I should note: jerkiness isn't inherent to frame generation tech, far from it, but in some scenarios, and especially when you're trying to inflate a lower frame rate - say, 30 FPS - a feeling of choppiness can be a side-effect. This is why 'fake frames' can be called out in a negative way, as I mentioned before.At any rate, in the case of ARK: Survival Ascended, if you popped the new Steam overlay on, you'd immediately see that it has frame generation active. Furthermore, the new overlay will also highlight incidents of micro-stutter where the frame rate plunges temporarily to very low levels, causing jerkiness. (Which can be one of the downsides of using frame generation, again in certain scenarios - don't write frame generation off due to any of this, by the way, it can be very useful indeed).As you might have gathered by now, contemporary graphics technologies and understanding frame rates is a complicated business with a lot of nuances. But at least you'll be armed with more knowledge of what's going on with the extra details that Steam's new in-game overlay furnishes you with, assuming you want to get to grips with it all. And if you don't, just turn it off and have the bare frame rate on-screen.On a final note, as you may be aware, you can already get this kind of functionality with third-party tools (such as Rivatuner, known as RTSS), but Valve bringing this in for Steam is convenient in terms of having it integrated right there, no extra installation required.You might also likeNvidia could have a new take on its fastest GPU that will reportedly pack a 'surprise' – but I wouldn't get your hopes upRumored Nvidia RTX 5080 Super specs disappoint some gamers, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with this GPUNvidia RTX 5080 vs RTX 5070 Ti: Should you spend a little more?

Everything old is new again. Netflix just inked a deal to air live television broadcasts in France, turning the streaming giant into, well, regular TV. The platform will host five traditional broadcast channels from French TV behemoth TF1. Subscribers in the region will have access to live programming and on-demand content.

The partnership officially begins next summer. The channels underneath TF1's umbrella air everything from reality shows like The Voice to live sports, including the French national football team’s matches.

The deal brings a whole lot of content to Netflix, as TF1 has a massive back catalog. This includes popular local dramas like Brocéliande and reality shows like Koh-Lanta. Greg Peters, co-chief executive of Netflix, told Financial Times that TF1 is a “producer of great, premium content." This move could help the platform with customer retention in the region.

TF1 gets access to a large pool of potential viewers, as Netflix's subscriber base in France passed 10 million in 2022. That's around 13 percent of the country's total population.

This isn't the first time the two companies have teamed up. TF1 and Netflix have collaborated on scripted shows like Les Combattantes and Tout le bleu du ciel. This is likely due to a mandate in France that requires streaming services to reinvest in local content. It's also not the first time Netflix has experimented with live TV in the region. The platform tested a live TV channel called Direct back in 2020.

This is fascinating because Netflix began as an alternative to live TV and now it's becoming live TV. You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/netflix-signs-deal-to-host-live-tv-channels-in-france-153852590.html?src=rss

Multiple references to Lossless were found in the desktop app's latest codeBetter than CD quality at "up to 24-bit/44.1kHz"No official announcement has been made just yetSometimes promises take a while to be delivered, such as Elon Musk's promises of full self-driving (FSD) in Tesla cars. And in all honesty, I'd filed Spotify Hi-Fi, Spotify Supremium or Spotify Music Pro alongside that, missions to Mars and the Hyperloop as exciting things announced and then never delivered. But it looks like I'm about to be proved wrong on that count.Newly unearthed code suggests that Spotify's lossless tier is imminent, or at least it's close enough to imminent for it to be baked into the latest Spotify desktop app.Could Spotify Hi-Fi arrive in the same way that Tesla's 2018 mission to Mars... didn't?Spotify lossless audio: what we know so farAccording to tech expert Chris Messina, there are multiple references to "Lossless" with a capital L in the latest code for the Spotify desktop app.The references largely refer to promotional messages inside the app – "The best way to listen in Lossless is with Spotify Connect" – and alerts such as "we're sorry, this track isn't in Lossless yet" or "Looks like your internet connection is having a hard time supporting Lossless right now."One message indicates the quality the service streams at, promising the "best sound quality on Spotify for music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz.”A similar message was found by Reddit user bendotlc, who said they found the message “Say hello to the best sound quality on Spotify. Listen to high-fidelity music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz" and that the feature was already in the app but currently disabled. Techcrunch has confirmed that that claim appears to be true.Also notable is the message "The best way to listen in Lossless is Spotify Connect," because Apple's AirPlay 2 wireless streaming doesn't support higher-res codecs, so iPhone users might be able to become more acquainted with Spotify's own wireless option.Spotify has neither confirmed nor denied anything, but it looks like all the pieces are falling into place; earlier this year Spotify signed new deals with the biggest record labels that seem to help prepare for the higher-quality tier's launch. It's expected to include not just higher-quality streaming but also music remixing and AI features too.You might also likeMore details of Spotify's new Music Pro plan have leaked – including the priceSpotify has brought more handy upgrades to its interface - here are 4 you might have missed Why we'll all pay Spotify extra for a hi-res audio plan

Researchers compared pre-GPT era spam, with the ones that came afterMost spam messages today are AI-generatedBEC emails require more precisionThe majority of spam emails being sent out today are being written by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), new research has claimed.A report from Barracuda has argued cybercriminals are not using AI to change their attack tactics, but rather to refine them and make them more difficult to spot.The study compared emails sent before the emergence of ChatGPT (pre-November 2022), to the ones sent after, and noticed a significant change - namely criminals are mostly using GenAI in spam.Increasing credibilityBy April 2025, 51% of spam emails were generated by an AI, rather than a human, they determined.“The majority of the emails currently sitting in the average junk/spam folder are likely to have been written by a large language model (LLM),” they explainedOn the other hand, criminals don't seem to be that eager to use AI in Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks. As per the researchers, these types of attack involve precision and typically target a senior person in an organization. As a result, by April 2025, just 14% of BEC attacks were generated by an AI.As one might expect, AI-generated messages are better written. They have a higher level of formality, fewer grammar errors, and greater linguistic sophistication. Therefore, they appear more credible and professional to the victims, increasing the likelihood of them falling prey.It also means that cyberattackers whose native language is not English will have an easier time targeting businesses in English-speaking countries. Finally, crooks seem to be using AI to A/B test different spam variants, trying to determine which wording variations perform better in real-life environments.The best way to defend against AI-generated spam messages is with AI-powered email security solutions. In the pre-GPT era, one could spot phishing and spam by simply proofreading the email - these messages were usually filled with spelling and grammar errors, while the language was crude and out-of-character most of the time.Since AI eliminated these red flags, an advanced email security solution, equipped with multilayered, AI/ML-enabled detection, is “crucial”, the researchers concluded.You might also likeWhy am I suddenly getting so many spam emails?Take a look at our guide to the best authenticator appWe've rounded up the best password managers