Amazon has brought the 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 back down to $299 for the weekend, offering $100 off its regular price. The sale also includes discounts on larger 46mm models and premium titanium styles.

Weekend Apple Watch shoppers have plenty of reasons to take a look at Amazon, where Apple Watch Series 11 models are $100 off across multiple configurations. The standout offer drops the 42mm GPS model to $299, within $20 of the lowest price on record.

The sale extends beyond the entry-level model, with discounts on larger 46mm versions as well as premium titanium configurations. Whether you’re looking for GPS or GPS + Cellular connectivity, the models below are $70 to $130 off while supplies last.

42mm Apple Watch Series 11 deals

• 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS (Aluminum Case, Sport Band): $299 ($100 off)
• 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + Cellular (Aluminum Case, Sport Band): $399 ($100 off)
• 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + Cellular (Titanium Case, Sport Band): $629 ($70 off)
• 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + Cellular (Titanium Case, Milanese Loop): $649 ($100 off)

46mm Apple Watch Series 11 deals

• 46mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS (Aluminum Case, Sport Band): $329 ($100 off)
• 46mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + Cellular (Aluminum Case, Sport Band): $399 ($130 off)
• 46mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + Cellular (Titanium Case, Milanese Loop Band): $729 ($70 off)

Our Apple Watch Price Guide offers a comprehensive breakdown of the deals across retailers and styles.

DJI just released the AP100 Parachute, and the system essentially mounts to the rear of the Matrice 400 enterprise drone and gives operators a reliable option when flight does not go as planned. Enterprise teams use the Matrice 400 for inspection, surveying, and public safety work. Those jobs sometimes take the aircraft over cities or stretch beyond visual range. A sudden power loss or link drop can turn a heavy drone into a fast-falling object. The AP100 changes that outcome by turning an uncontrolled fall into a slower, more predictable descent.

The AP100 module weighs little over 935 grams and comes with its own power supply. Dual capacitors provide a dependable source of power for up to an hour. That manner, the parachute can continue to monitor the situation and deploy even if the main aircraft batteries fail. To eliminate the possibility of a single point of failure, the module is totally isolated from the drone’s power system. The unit has an IP55 designation for dust and water protection and can operate in temperatures ranging from -20 to 50 degrees Celsius, which is exactly the same as the Matrice 400.

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Inside the module, there is an independent flight computer, an IMU, and some other sensors, all of which constantly cross-check each other. The algorithms compare the data received from the parachute and drone in real time. This arrangement was meant to avoid false alarms while still detecting true problems, such as a sudden tilt or speed shift. Pilots can check their health status using the Health Management System in the DJI Pilot 2 app. The system does daily self-checks on the gas generator and communication links, and if anything is out of whack, it sends an alert.

When the parachute eventually deploys, it follows a very methodical pattern. When the system decides it’s ready to fire, an independent Flight Termination System cuts power to the motors in under 600 milliseconds. That turns off the rotors before the parachute emerges from the container, preventing the canopy from becoming entangled with spinning blades. The parachute then deploys at altitudes more than 30 meters, and the descent rate remains modest, at less than 5 meters per second. At lower altitudes, the parachute still deploys, however you may not have enough time for full inflation and slowing before hitting the ground; however, the system will not deploy at all unless the aircraft is airborne.

Operators have a few options for getting the parachute to deploy. The Pilot 2 app includes a simple slider that allows you to do it manually whenever you want. In some countries, the system will also appear immediately if the drone violates a geofencing boundary you’ve defined within the app or if the sensors detect something visibly wrong. If you manage a fleet of drones, you can even give orders remotely using FlightHub 2 as long as you have a live connection via a cellular dongle. Near your home point, the system adds a few extra precautions to prevent things from getting messy on the ground and disables parachute deployment if the drone is in cleaning or standby mode.

Once the parachute is deployed, the module just continues to move. It will sound an ear-piercing siren and flash some extremely bright lights for around an hour. This warns people nearby and assists recovery personnel in identifying the aircraft later, after which the entire incident is over because deploying a single-use gadget necessitates the purchase of a new one. If the module remains packed and performs well, DJI expects it to last about three years before needing to be retired.

from the fix-your-own-shit dept

To be clear, the FTC under Donald Trump and new boss Andrew Ferguson has been a dangerous embarrassment. Whether it’s the firing of both Democratic Commissioners, the politically motivated investigations, the extremist attacks on trans people, the agency’s useless attacks on porn, or its efforts to undermine free speech, the Trump FTC has largely been a hot and painful mess that looks nothing like the “extension of Lina Khan’s antitrust legacy” promised by Republicans last election season.

That said: stopped clocks and all that.

The agency appears to have actually done something useful in striking a new settlement with agricultural giant John Deere to address the company’s longstanding “right to repair” abuses. According to an FTC announcement, the settlement to the joint lawsuit brought by the FTC and five states requires that the FTC spend at least ten years trying to make repairing its tractors easier:

“The FTC’s settlement requires Deere—for the next 10 years and under the supervision of the FTC and plaintiff states—to provide farmers and independent repair providers with the same equipment repair resources, including applicable software capabilities, that it currently provides to authorized Deere dealers.”

As is often the case, whether this actually sees any meaningful enforcement will remain an open question. But right to repair advocates like U.S. PIRG’s Nathan Proctor say the settlement is a meaningful one, and a step up to the agreement John Deere made when recently settling a different right to repair class action lawsuit for $99 million.

“The agreement between Deere and the FTC is much better than the deal secured in a similar class action lawsuit,” Proctor said. “For example, it protects independent mechanics from anti-competitive practices in the repair marketplace.”

As we’ve covered for years, John Deere went out of its way to acquire smaller, independent repair centers to force users to use more expensive John Deere dealership repairs. Then it went out of its way to make tools, manuals, and parts as difficult as possible to get. In short they worked tirelessly, for years, to create a monopoly on repair — dramatically driving up costs for consumers.

John Deere’s behaviors had one positive net benefit: they directly sparked a nationwide and bipartisan right to repair reform movement that sparked Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington to pass state level right to repair laws. All 50 states have considered such laws, and several (like Maine and Ohio) have gotten close in recent years.

More recently, John Deere had been striking meaningless “memorandums of understanding” with key trade groups, pinky swearing to stop their bad behavior if the groups agreed to not support state or federal right to repair legislation. Several such groups backed off their criticism, only to have John Deere continue its monopolistic behavior, the FTC’s original complaint noted.

It’s worth reiterating that since passage not a single state has actually enforced the laws despise no shortage of offenders, so a lot of work needs to be done on the enforcement front. And again, a settlement with the FTC is also only as good as enforcement; not exactly the Trump administration or U.S. government’s strong suit when it comes to standing up to consolidated corporate power.

Filed Under: antitrust, ftc, hardware, independent repair, monopoly, right to repair, tractors

Companies: john deere

This season of Love Island USA has been feeding fans plenty of bombshells, challenges, couplings (and recouplings) at Casa Amor with its dating-show twists. The initial cast lineup included the brother of a Season 7 participant, the daughter of a former NBA player and a Paralympic athlete. You can marathon all the current episodes of the season now with Peacock Premium.

In addition to Love Island USA’s returning host, Ariana Madix, Ciara Miller and Tefi Pessoa co-host the talk show Aftersun on Saturdays. But the addictive summer reality show is getting ready to wrap this latest run, and here’s how you can watch how things end up with the Season 8 Islanders in Fiji. 

When to watch the Love Island USA Season 8 finale

Love Island USA Season 8 initially premiered on Peacock on June 2 at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT). New episodes hit Peacock Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, all at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT). Wednesday is the show’s day off; Saturday is dedicated to Aftersun, the official aftershow that recaps the previous week’s events.

The finale will hit on Sunday, with four couples vying to win — so be sure to catch it and see if your favorites are crowned. 

Peacock’s subscriptions include Premium, Premium Plus and Select. The $8-per-month Select tier provides seasons of NBC and Bravo titles such as The Office and The Real Housewives, but it doesn’t offer original Peacock shows such as Love Island USA. You’ll need Premium, which costs $11 per month, or Premium Plus, which runs $17 per month, to binge the popular summer reality show.

You may be able to save money on Peacock by paying annually. You can also subscribe to a bundle of Peacock and Apple TV (formerly Apple TV Plus) if you want both of those services. Premium is the ad-supported tier, while Premium Plus is ad-free with some exceptions, such as commercials on live sports and a few shows and movies.

From the gloom of Soylent Green’s desperate future to the boiling point of Falling Down’s crumbling present, two more Warner catalog gems have received high-fidelity 4K restorations from Arrow Films.

Soylent Green

In the unimaginably distant year of 2022, everything is in short supply: living space, jobs, clean water, and, most notably here, food. The title of the movie refers to a miraculous edible substance made from plankton, one of the last hopes for overgrown humankind to avoid starvation. Into this bleak urban landscape struts Charlton Heston, deep in the sci-fi phase of his career (see also Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man), here as cynical cop Thorn. Corruption is rampant, but when a big shot with important connections is murdered and the official story doesn’t add up, Thorn follows the clues down a dangerous path to a shocking discovery.

There’s an epic sci-fi actioner yearning to break free from this low-budget, workmanlike production. Heston’s commanding presence elevates the material, as do strong supporting performances from his researcher and roommate, Edward G. Robinson, and the too-pretty-for-words love interest, Leigh Taylor-Young. Some of the movie’s predictions of Earth’s unfortunate fate are close to the mark, while others are thankfully exaggerated (NYC’s population tops 40,000,000!), and it all adds up to an entertaining bit of early ’70s paranoia that makes us wonder what we dodged and what’s to come.

Along with Falling Down, below, Soylent Green is one of a pair of Warner catalog titles receiving a 4K, 16-bit scan and restoration by Arrow Films. Early scenes reveal extraordinary precision in the pattern on Edward G.’s shirt, as well as in his wrinkles and liver spots. Little details can pop nicely, such as the eight-ohm rating on Thorn’s headphones in a late scene. The fairly mundane shooting locations are made far more interesting by the outstandingly lifelike matte paintings by Matthew Yuricich. Grain is restrained but present, although some misty exteriors are surprisingly noisy.

The sole audio option is lossless mono, restored to a clarity rivaling that of its 1973 debut. The movie is dialogue-heavy and always clear, a particular boon to Ms. Taylor-Young’s dulcet tones. Beyond that, there’s the sharp clang of a crowbar on cement and the imposing clank of a steam shovel sent to round up unruly citizens, but not much to show off our speakers.

Both titles arrive as single 100GB discs in simple slipcases with comprehensive little booklets. Soylent Green brings together a wealth of archival bonus content, starting with an audio commentary from Leigh and director Richard Fleischer, the latter also featured in an extensive onstage interview. Mr. Heston’s own retrospective interview is audio-only, presented with the movie playing onscreen. There are also a vintage promotional film and a tribute to Edward G. Robinson. New for this edition is a second audio commentary from a pair of experts.

Soylent Green – Movie Details

• Media Format: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (July 28, 2026)
• Studio: Arrow Video
• Theatrical Release Year: 1973
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• HDR Formats: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• Audio Format: Linear PCM 1.0
• Length: 97 minutes
• MPAA Rating: PG
• Director: Richard Fleischer
• Starring: Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Edward G. Robinson, Chuck Connors, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy

Falling Down

Anyone wanting to reevaluate the canon of filmmaker Joel Schumacher and see beyond what he did to Batman should begin with Falling Down. A dark comedy that’s long on social commentary, it captures one pivotal day in the life of a working man at his breaking point. It’s not just in response to the typical indignities of early ’90s life in Los Angeles; it’s about a world he feels has betrayed him. Yes, he’s as mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore, but this deeply flawed, not always likable individual—played to volatile, unhinged perfection by Michael Douglas—does much more than bark. Sure, he goes a little too far with the violence and racist rhetoric during his quest through some of the city’s worst neighborhoods, but some of his frustrations are strangely relatable.

A hit with audiences, Falling Down has remained a cultural talking point, neatly capturing its era and courageously addressing the nasty thoughts lurking in many viewers’ minds. The one big sin the script commits is making too many of the cops overt jerks, repeatedly dismissing the correct hunches of the one good detective, played by Robert Duvall, on the case. It’s an unfortunate trope, likely added to beef up Duvall’s role.

The late Mr. Schumacher had a knack for incorporating ugly scenery that was shot beautifully, and many scenes are manipulated with a pleasant but unnaturally warm glow, a look maintained by the color grading supervised and approved by cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak. The image also has appreciable texture, not just in the usual places but in the decrepit concrete and the graffiti scribbled on a phone booth. A persistent, distracting vertical scratch did pop up in a couple of shots, having slipped past the restoration team.

The disc defaults to lossless 2.0, but I actually preferred the alternate DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 because the sometimes manic sounds of this crazy day are essential to the story, and the surrounds definitely do their part. Random annoyances pile up, ratcheting up the emotional pressure, but atmospheric wind chimes also lighten a quieter moment, and the music tightens its grip again during tense beats. There’s no dedicated LFE, but there is still ample impact when needed.

The above-average archival cast-and-crew commentary, featuring star Michael Douglas, director Joel Schumacher, and several others, is joined by a 2009 on-camera interview with Douglas. New for this disc is a trio of featurettes introducing us to the filming locations, then and now; composer James Newton Howard; and screenwriter Ebbe Roe Smith.

Come to think of it, I suppose you could end your Schumacher film festival with Falling Down instead, just so long as Tigerland and Phone Booth are also on the bill somewhere.

Falling Down – Movie Details

• Media Format: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (July 28, 2026)
• Studio: Arrow Video
• Theatrical Release Year: 1993
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• HDR Formats: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• Audio Formats: Linear PCM 2.0, DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0
• Length: 113 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R
• Director: Joel Schumacher
• STARRING: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin, Tuesday Weld, Frederic Forrest

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy

Related Reviews:

It takes years to tape out a chip and bring it to market, with overall industry seismic shifts taking much less time. Nothing will demonstrate that better than the rumored six-month gap between the M6 processor debut and the AI-focused M7.

Apple’s chip lines have gradually become more AI-centric, and that will be the same in the future too. However, rather than sticking to an established release format, Apple’s intending to skip ahead to the bits it wants the public to use.

In Sunday’s “Power On” newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman revives a late June report that the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips won’t exist. Instead, it is putting the work into the development of AI-first chips for the M7 generation.

The fall cycle will include the usual base chip release, consisting of the M6. But there won’t be an M6 Pro, M6 Max, or even an M6 Ultra following months later.

Apple’s intended schedule is to instead bring the base M7 chip line a mere six months after the M6. That would make it a release in the first half of 2027.

The M7 Pro and M7 Max are thought to arrive at the end of 2027. That will then be followed by the M7 Ultra sometime in 2028.

Skipping to the good part

Gurman doesn’t really explain why Apple is moving to get M6 out of the way in favor of the M7 generation on Sunday. However, he did a better job doing so in June.

The M6 will improve the memory bandwidth from 153 gigabytes per second in the M5 to a massive 200 gigabytes per second. That will be by introducing a new memory architecture, as well as boosting the Neural Engine and using 12 GPU cores instead of ten.

While memory bandwidth is important, the M7 generation will have a much bigger focus on AI processing. This should help the prospective users of the M7 Pro, M7 Max, and M7 Ultra, who will have more complex workflows and could benefit from AI.

Even in the M7, memory bandwidth will also be increased, going up to around 240 gigabytes per second in the base chip.

The massive improvements in the M7 range are deemed by Apple to be sufficient enough to skip most of a chip generation.

Server Strategy

The usually massive performance of the Ultra chip is also at play here. To Gurman, the upgrades in the M7 Ultra allegedly bring the chip close in performance to dedicated AI accelerators, including Nvidia’s Blackwell.

That includes support for as much as 1.5 terabytes of memory. This may not necessarily be an amount presented to consumers or enterprise customers considering the current memory pricing crisis, but it could still be useful for servers.

Gurman proposes that the M7 Ultra could be the basis for Apple’s AI server strategy. While Apple is soon to introduce servers based on the M5 Ultra, engineers are said to be working on a new server chip built around the M7 Ultra.

That chip could see the light of day by 2029.

Old machines often end up sidelined once faster hardware arrives. Yet plenty of people still own working 386-era laptops and desktops that boot just fine. GentleOS steps in as a project built specifically for those systems. It delivers a graphical desktop experience without demanding modern resources or complex setup.

Luke 8086, the developer, worked on this operating system as a hobby. The goal is to provide hobbyists with a clean platform on which to work with vintage x86 hardware or run interactive graphical programs as near to the metal as possible. There is no online browser or app store, as the focus is on what the machine can accomplish directly in front of you. GentleOS/32, which targets 32-bit PCs starting with the i386 processor, was the first of two versions created. Depending on the boot image, you’ll need 2 to 4 MB of RAM, a mouse, and a VGA screen with a resolution of at least 640 by 480 and 16 colors, or higher VESA modes with 256 colors. Then there’s GentleOS/16, a more stripped-down version for actual 16-bit hardware such as 8086 or 80186 CPUs. That one uses less than 192 KB of RAM and rudimentary CGA graphics at 320 by 200 resolution in four colors.

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Both versions use the same design, with everything compiled down to a single binary that runs directly on the hardware, similar to microcontroller firmware rather than a standard operating system. The code is written in basic C with a little amount of assembly, allowing developers to easily follow the logic without becoming bogged down in layers of abstraction.

This approach lacks some of the capabilities that you would expect to see in newer systems. There is no virtual memory, no separate user and kernel zones, and no preemptive multitasking. Many modern systems provide file storage and networking capabilities, but this is not the case here. The entire system runs in memory and is single-threaded, with the main event loop managing graphics and dispatching actions to built-in programs.

Nonetheless, the finished design appears familiar, with a retro-style desktop with movable windows, an icon sidebar for quick access, and a simple color scheme. You get a retro clock with massive, segmented digits that update in real time, Klondike solitaire for some classic card game fun, a color palette tool for some quick creative work, and a about box to see what’s going on behind the scenes. The same concept is also used in programs for calendar functions, basic mathematics, art, and certain light games.

• SanDisk’s BiCS10 chip reaches 29Gb per square millimetre in density
• Bit density improved 59% compared to the previous BiCS8 generation
• Interface speeds now hit 4.8Gb/s, a 33% increase

SanDisk has confirmed it is now sampling BiCS10, its 10th-generation 3D NAND flash chip, built jointly with longtime manufacturing partner Kioxia.

The 1Tb TLC chip packs 332 memory layers into a die that reaches an area bit density above 29Gb per square millimetre, which the company calls industry-leading.

personal tech

Brussels says Meta failed to properly assess or mitigate risks posed by infinite scroll, autoplay, and more

Meta may have breached the European Union’s Digital Services Act by designing Facebook and Instagram to keep users glued to their screens, with Brussels saying that features such as infinite scroll and autoplay should be switched off by default.

The European Commission on Friday published preliminary findings accusing the social media giant of failing to properly assess or mitigate the risks posed by what it describes as the addictive design of its platforms. The investigation centers on infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the highly personalized recommendation systems that determine what users see next.

The Commission argues that Meta underestimated the effect those features can have on users, particularly children and vulnerable adults. Its preliminary findings say recommendation algorithms, autoplay, and infinite scrolling encourage people to keep consuming content, nudging them into what the Commission calls “autopilot mode” and fostering unhealthy habits and compulsive use.

The Commission also says Meta ignored evidence showing how long minors spend on Facebook and Instagram at night, and failed to account for how products such as Reels and Stories could encourage excessive use.

Brussels was equally unimpressed with Meta’s attempts to fix the problem. It found the company’s time management tools, including those enabled by default for teenagers, “can be easily dismissed and do not lead to a meaningful reduction and control of the usage of the service.”

It also questioned the effectiveness of Meta’s parental controls, arguing they require too much technical knowledge and effort from parents to work as intended.

The Commission ultimately wants Meta to redesign both platforms, including disabling autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introducing effective screen-time breaks, and making its recommendation systems less focused on maximizing engagement.

“Protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms,” said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy at the Commission. “The Digital Services Act provides a clear framework to hold platforms accountable for the addictive design and effects of their services.”

The findings are preliminary, and Meta will now have the opportunity to respond before the Commission reaches a final decision. If Brussels ultimately concludes that the company breached the DSA, it can impose fines of up to 6 percent of Meta’s worldwide annual turnover, which comes in at approximately $12 billion.

The case adds to a growing push to rein in social media’s impact on younger users. Earlier this year, outgoing prime minister Kier Starmer said the UK government was considering new measures “that will give us the ability to crack down on the addictive elements of social media, stop the auto-play, the never-ending scrolling, that keeps are [sic] children hooked on their screens for hours, and stop kids getting around age limits.”

Meta did not immediately respond to The Register’s request for comment. ®