Apple Teases One-Day Black Friday Shopping Event
Apple tonight updated its website with a brand new page teasing a one-day Black Friday shopping event. Apple didn’t offer Black Friday deals last year, opting to allow third-party retailers like Best Buy and Target to offer deals instead.
Friday can’t come soon enough.
Our one-day shopping event will be here before you know it. Come back this Friday to check off everyone on your list.
Last year, Apple SVP of Retail Angela Ahrendts said the company was backing away from Black Friday promotions because “being good to your employees will always be good for your business.”
On its Black Friday website, Apple says that its one-day shopping event will include free shipping on in-stock items ordered by 5 PM. You’ll also be able to take part in the event with the Apple Store app and in-store. Those interested in visiting an Apple retail store on Black Friday will need to check their local Apple store’s extended holiday hours because there will not be uniform opening and closing times.
Apple has also provided easy links to four holiday gift collections curated by the company, including “Apple gifts,” “Music gifts,” “Photography gifts” and “Games & Toys.”
It’s unclear what kind of Black Friday promotion the company will use this year. In the past, Apple has offered gift cards worth variable amounts with the purchase of Apple products. For instance, purchasing a Mac would yield a $100 gift card. However, in its European stores Apple has also opted for more traditional discounts.
Related Roundup: Black Friday
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Study: most students can’t spot fake news
If you thought fake online news was a problem for impressionable adults, it’s even worse for the younger crowd. A Stanford study of 7,804 middle school, high school and college students has found that most of them couldn’t identify fake news on their own. Their susceptibility varied with age, but even a large number of the older students fell prey to bogus reports. Over two thirds of middle school kids didn’t see why they shouldn’t trust a bank executive’s post claiming that young adults need financial help, while nearly 40 percent of high schoolers didn’t question the link between an unsourced photo and the claims attached to it.
Why did many of the students misjudge the authenticity of a story? They were fixated on the appearance of legitimacy, rather than the quality of information. A large photo or a lot of detail was enough to make a Twitter post seem credible, even if the actual content was incomplete or wrong. There are plenty of adults who respond this way, we’d add, but students are more vulnerable than most.
As the Wall Street Journal explains, part of the solution is simply better education: teach students to verify sources, question motivations and otherwise think critically. That’s happening in some schools. However, the data also illustrates the responsibilities that internet companies and parents share in keeping a lid on fake news. Facebook and Google can help by taking down these stories or depriving their creators of ad money, but parents also need to talk about accuracy and prevent younger kids from accessing sites with significant accuracy problems.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Trump subs in a YouTube address for a press conference
President-elect Donald Trump has made his first address regarding the state of his transition to President of the United States, via a YouTube video. While he presumably reads directly from a teleprompter, Trump lays out his plans for cyber security, among others: “I will ask the Department of Defense as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect America’s vital infrastructure from cyberattacks as well as all other form of attacks.” No other information about the plan was given beyond that.
Trump has yet to give a formal press conference since his acceptance speech. Instead of being subject to fact-checking questions from the press, he opted for an under-three-minute, direct-to-audience, pre-recorded YouTube video. He used a similar tactic when responding to the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video that surfaced in October.
It’s worth noting that while the Obama administration released weekly videos such as this, he also held a formal press conference laying out his transition team’s plans on November 7th, 2008 — three days after election day. Trump’s hopefully could still happen, but given his relationship with the media and his disregard for facts, him saying he’d provide “more updates in the coming days” doesn’t sound like it’ll be anytime soon.
Source: Transition 2017 (YouTube)
Samsung Plans to Launch ‘Jet Black’ Version of Galaxy S7 in Early December
Samsung plans to launch a glossy black version of its nine-month-old Galaxy S7 smartphone early next month, according to The Korea Herald.
The report claims the new color will help Samsung compete with the popular Jet Black and Matte Black variants of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The new color could also fuel additional Galaxy S7 sales to help fill the void left by the permanently discontinued Galaxy Note 7 following battery safety concerns.
If the report proves accurate, it would not be the first time Samsung has followed in the footsteps of Apple in terms of smartphone colors. Earlier this year, it released a “pink gold” version of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge after Apple launched the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in Rose Gold last year.
Samsung’s existing Black Onyx variant of the Galaxy S7 already has a somewhat glossy finish, so the new color would presumably be even slicker.
Tags: Samsung, Galaxy S7
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Huawei’s holiday sale will save you money on phones, tablets and wearables
Save big on great products from Huawei at the places where you’ll already be shopping.
Huawei is offering some great deals on the Honor 8, Huawei Fit, Huawei Watch, MediaPad M3 and the MateBook + through popular resellers for their holiday sale. The sales start today and run until December 2. Here is what you can get, where you can get it and how long the deal will last.
Save $200 on a Huawei MateBook+ with keyboard and $300 on a MateBook+ bundle at the Microsoft Store. The bundle includes the MateBook+, keyboard, pen and dock. This deal runs until December 2.
See at Microsoft
Snag a 32GB Honor 8 for $299.99 or a 64GB Honor 8 for $399 at Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg or B&H. These deals run from November 25 through 28.
Chat about this, as well as a separate $1 Flash sale on the Honor 8 in the forums.
See at Amazon
See at Best Buy
See at Newegg
See at B&H
The MediaPad M3 is $249 at Amazon between November 25 and November 28.
See at Amazon
The Huawei Fit is $99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg until November 28.
See at Amazon
See at Best Buy
See at Newegg
Save $200 on select styles of the Huawei Watch at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Google Store, Newegg and Target until December 2.
See at Amazon
See at Best Buy
See at B&H
See at Google
See at Newegg
Honor 8
- Honor 8 review
- Honor 8 specs
- 5 things to know about the Honor 8 in Europe
- All the Honor 8 news
- Join the discussion in the forums
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Grab a Google Home for $99 for a limited time starting Nov 23
Now this how you drive adoption of a new smart home product.
Google is starting Black Friday a little early, and on Wednesday (November 23) you’ll be able to snag a Google Home for just $99 at the Google Store, Best Buy, Target and Walmart.
Gift giving season is almost here. And on 11/23, #BlackFriday stats early. #GoogleHome https://t.co/XihAfWhDn4 pic.twitter.com/mF6gDiZ7RW
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) November 21, 2016
It’s easy to set up, fun to play with and you can make your Hue lamps do stuff by talking to it. Now you can save $30, too.
See at Best Buy
See at Target
See at Walmart
See at Google
Amazon’s Alexa adds Allrecipes skill to help you cook over 60,000 recipes
Anyone who owns an Amazon Echo knows it’s perfect for the kitchen.
Don’t know how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon? Ask Alexa. Want to set a timer? Ask Alexa. The speaker’s voice assistant lets you get done tasks hands-free, and so it makes sense that recipe site Allrecipe would launch a new skill you can download from the Alexa app on your phone to get access to over 60,000 recipes. You can search for recipes based on ingredients or name.
- Amazon Echo vs Amazon Tap vs Echo Dot: What’s the difference?
Once you find a recipe, you can ask Alexa for directions on how to cook the meal, and she’ll guide you step by step. We’re not sure how useful audio instructions are, as we imagine reading through instructions would probably be more helpful, and you’d of course have to hope that Allrecipes served up a well-rated meal you could trust. Still, this is how Allrecipes imagines the skill will work:
To enable the Allrecipes skill, open the Alexa app, tap the Skills option in the menu, and search for Allrecipes. Then, tap Enable. From there, link your Allrecipes account through a social network or by logging in with your account credentials, and that’s it.
Apple might no longer make Wi-Fi routers or Time Capsules
Apple has reportedly ditched its wireless router biz.
According to Bloomberg, the Cupertino, CA-based company is trying to focus on consumer products that generate more revenue, so it’s shutting down the wireless router team responsible for the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time Capsule, which cost $99, $199, and $299, respectively. Engineers on the team have been moved to other development groups, like Apple TV.
Wireless routers make up a small portion of Apple’s revenue. They’re lumped into the “other products” category in financial statements. This entire category only makes up about 5 per cent of Apple’s sales. Although the company still sells its three wireless routers, including the Time Capsule, which doubles as a backup storage, it hasn’t updated any of the products in at least three years.
Since then, companies like Eero, Netgear, Google, and others have begun manufacturing router systems that are not only more affordable but also provide mesh-like, better home coverage. Bloomberg didn’t mention these competitors and whether they’ve whittled down Apple’s share of the market, but it is worth noting that Apple is rumoured to be working on a speaker with built-in Siri.
- Google Wi-Fi: How does the mesh router work?
It would make sense for Apple to focus development efforts and move engineers to that upcoming product for the connected home, especially if it doesn’t see a profitable future in home routers any more, but that’s just speculation.
Streamza Torrenting adds a layer of security to your downloads (31 per cent off)
Torrenting is great for downloading mounds of files, but it’s not exactly safe.
From having your IP address compromised to getting infected with a virus, the dangers associated with torrenting make it a risky endeavor–unless you have Streamza Torrenting protecting you. Now, you can score a lifetime license and 100GB of monthly downloads for only £39.35 ($49 USD).
Streamza allows you to torrent large files securely without compromising on speed. You can download up to 100GB of files each month and hide your IP address while you download them. That way, you can stay up to date with your favorite media without risking your digital well-being.
You can browse through a massive, continually-updated integrated library for any content you want and access your downloads anywhere with Streamza’s included Cloud storage. Now, you can download the files you want without cluttering up your hard drive. Additionally, you can connect with other Streamza users to see what downloads are popular.
With cybercrime growing by the day, you can’t be too careful when you’re online. That’s why Streamza is a solid pick for anyone looking to cover their bases in the digital world. With complete torrenting freedom and top-tier security, you can stay on top of your favorite shows, movies, and more without exposing yourself to attack.
For a limited time, Pocket-lint readers can sign up for Streamza Torrenting for a special discount. Now, you can get a lifetime license and 100GB of monthly data all for only £39.35 ($49 USD).
One day sale: We’re dropping the price even lower on 1 TB of lifetime data storage with Zoolz Complete Cloud Storage (99 per cent off)
You’re not really sure how it happens, but you’re constantly running out of storage on your computer.
Why waste time trying to figure out what to do with your files, when you can score lifetime encryption of 1TB of data from Zools Complete Cloud Storage for far less than a year’s worth of cloud storage elsewhere?
This cloud storage plan is typically £2887($3600 USD), and yes, the sale price of £31 ($39 USD) is already enticing. But for 24 hours only, you’ll be able to get it for just £23 ($29 USD) with no additional costs, ever.
Moving your files to the cloud will obviously free up space, but it’s also a great way to keep your them safer than you could on your own drive. With Zoolz, your data will be protected by military-grade 256-AES encryption before leaving your machine, and then stored over multiple facilities and devices. The trusted Amazon AWS infrastructure will further quell your nerves about letting go of your precious photos, videos, and documents.
Zoolz offers many of the usual features, such as auto backup and scheduling, thumbnail file images, bandwidth throttling, icon overlay, file retention, and a smooth-sailing UI with Smart Selection for quick and easy file picking. The bonus is the split storage setup that lets you pull up files you’ll use regularly and securely put away less-often-accessed data. Anything in your 500GB Instant Vault will be available, well, instantly. The 500GB of long-term Cold Storage is a bit less on-demand but still accessible in 3-5 hours.
Compatible with Mac OS X and Windows (and with view-only options for iOS and Android), this lifetime cloud storage deal is already impressive. Add in the fact that this special limited-time offer for Pocket-lint readers on a massively discounted Zoolz license (99 per cent off) is good for download on two computers, and you’ll have trouble finding a reason to pass it up.
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