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Prime Day is approaching as quickly as lunchtime hunger pangs and, as ever, there are some early deals to be had. One of the tastiest we’ve seen so far is a significant discount on Apple’s AirPods Max. The over-ear headphones have dropped to $399. They’ve been hovering at around $449 for quite some time (after debuting at $549) and now they have dropped to a new record low price.

The AirPods Max have been around since 2020 (and are perhaps overdue for a USB-C flavored upgrade), but they’re still a great option for those looking for over-ear headphones — especially if you’re already heavily entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. We gave them a score of 84 in our review, with the audio quality, active noise cancellation (ANC) performance and battery life proving to be positives.

You can control the AirPods Max with an Apple Watch-style rotating crown and there’s a separate button for switching between ANC and transparency modes. You’ll need to use a Lightning cable to charge the headset, which will quickly pair to your iPhone and other devices that are signed into the same iCloud account. 

Unfortunately, AirPods Max do not support lossless audio from Apple Music due to a Bluetooth limitation, though spatial audio does work. It’s also worth bearing in mind that there’s likely a new AirPods Max model coming relatively soon, perhaps by the end of the year.

Elsewhere, Apple’s AirPods Pro are also on sale. You can snap up a pair for $169, which is 32 percent off the regular price of $249. That’s not a bad deal at all if you prefer an in-ear format for your audio needs. AirPods Pro also have some features that the AirPods Max lack, including an adaptive mode that brings together ANC and transparency.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/early-prime-day-deals-see-apples-airpods-max-drop-to-a-new-record-low-150058492.html?src=rss 

David Ellison, the new chief executive of Paramount, has big plans for the media giant and wants to turn it into a “media and technology” company, according to the Financial Times. Ellison is taking over as Paramount’s boss after his production studio, Skydance Media, agreed to acquire the company behind massive films and franchises like The Godfather, Top Gun, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Skydance served as its financial partner in several projects that include Top Gun: Maverick. According to Reuters, Skydance is paying $2.4 billion to buy National Amusements, the firm that holds a controlling stake in Paramount.

As the Times notes, Paramount struggled financially after investing billions of dollars in its streaming service. Paramount+, however, has yet to turn a profit despite the company’s efforts and even though it launched a plan with ads in order to get more people to sign up. Earlier this year, the media giant laid off 800 employees, including Paramount+ workers. But Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, intends to continue investing and working on the streaming service.

He’s planning to rebuild Paramount+’s technology and use modern infrastructure to improve its recommendation algorithm that helps users find new shows. In addition, he’s planning to work with his father’s company to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Jeff Shell, who’s going to become the combined company’s president, told the Times that Paramount+ is going to team up with other streaming services and enter bundling agreements. The goal is to cut costs and to get customers to keep paying for access. Shell said they’ve already had calls from “different potential partners” and they’re going to consider agreements that will get the service “more scale” and will get them to break even more quickly.

The merger is expected to be finalized next year, after which the new Paramount will be valued at $28 billion. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/paramount-and-skydance-will-merge-to-create-new-tech-media-giant-140052942.html?src=rss 

Now is a good time to invest in a tracker if you’re sick of losing everything from your wallet to your keys — don’t worry, this is a safe space to admit it as I am too. Amazon Prime Day early sales are upon us, including a new all-time low price on Apple’s AirTag 4-pack. The set is down to $75 from $99 — a 24 percent discount. 

Apple’s AirTags can pair with your iPhone or iPad and appear in the Find My app. The devices are about an inch and a quarter in length and width, with a battery that lasts about a year at a time. The device is also water and dust resistant, so you don’t have to worry about it getting too gross if it’s on your dog’s collar, for instance. 

Plus, newer iPhone models utilize ultra-wideband technology to give you detailed instructions when locating one. Unfortunately, you’ll still need to get a holder if you want to attach an AirTag anywhere, but we have you covered with our guide to the best Apple AirTag accessories for 2024. 

If you only need one or two AirTags, head over to the sale on individual ones. Right now, you can pick up one AirTag for $24, down from $29 — a 17 percent discount. This deal is also a record-low price, with you technically able to get three for less than the four-pack (though for another $3, it might be worth getting an extra one). 

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/early-prime-day-deals-include-a-four-pack-of-airtags-for-a-record-low-of-75-143919897.html?src=rss 

Spotify is bridging the gap between podcasters and their listeners by launching a comment section for podcasts, which will start showing up on episodes today. Listeners can find the service’s new comment section by scrolling past the play controls or navigating to the episode page once they’re done listening. At launch, all posts will be private by default, and creators will have full control over what comments will show up on their page. They have the power to publish and unpublish any response they want. If they have no time to do that, they can enable comments for specific episodes only or opt out of the feature altogether. 

The service is making it possible for all creators to oversee comments by giving them access to the updated Spotify for Podcasters app, whether or not they’re hosted by the company. Creators that aren’t hosted on the Spotify for Podcasters platform just have to claim their show through the app first. In addition to being able to control what responses get published on their page, creators will also receive notifications for new comments and for reaching show milestones. They’ll get access to analytics and insights on their audience, as well. 

Spotify says listeners who engage with its interactive features, such as its Q&As and polls, are (on average) four times more likely to return to a show within 30 days. Those users also spend twice as many hours per month listening to podcasts than those who don’t engage with Spotify’s interactive features. The company intends to make its platform even more interactive and has more plans for fall this year. It also vows to continue improving its comments experience based on the feedback it gets from both podcasters and listeners. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-is-launching-a-comment-section-for-podcasts-130034091.html?src=rss 

If you’re in the market for some new tech then Amazon’s early Prime Day deals have you covered. The latest deal worth shopping is a 32 percent discount on the second-generation Apple AirPods Pro. The Prime Day sale brings them down to $169 from $249 — a new all-time low price. These earbuds are our choice of best wireless earbuds for iPhone users. 

The second-gen AirPods Pro came out in 2022 and are still Apple’s newest in the series. We gave them an 88 in our review thanks to an H2 chip that produces solid noise cancellation and an excellent transparency mode. You can also swipe for volume control and access Personalized Spatial Audio. Plus, Apple shrunk the ear tip, added a built-in speaker to the case and switched out the lightning port for a USB-C one. 

If you’re looking for something a bit cheaper, check out the deal on Apple’s third-gen AirPods. They’ve dropped to a new all-time low of $129 from $169 — $11 cheaper than the sale we saw yesterday. For one-fourth off their sticker price, you get AirPods that are comfortable, offer excellent audio quality and are IPX4 sweat and water resistant. Plus, they have six hours of continual battery life and 30 hours total with the case. 

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/early-prime-day-deals-discount-the-airpods-pro-to-a-new-low-of-169-130559143.html?src=rss