Like it or not, the holiday shopping season is nearly upon us. Amazon has decided that it doesn't want to miss out on those precious holiday dollars, and because of that, it's going to open up free two-day shipping to anyone who buys something through its store. Normally, free two-day shipping is something only Prime subscribers get, and a Prime subscription can cost a fair amount of money.
Today we're having a peek at the latest Google Play holiday sale on media - movies and audiobooks, mostly. These include audiobook deals and Google Play Movie discounts from October 24th until November 1st - the whole Halloween Week! Yesterday was the official Halloween 3 day, aka Silver Shamrock's "8 more days til Halloween," but right now's the time to get digital price-cuts on movies and books.
Today we're taking a peek at a short list of some strange or otherwise offbeat gifts. These gifts can be given at any time of the year, really, and they're not necessarily aimed at any one sort of person. Today's gift list is all about approaching the person who has everything - but would still appreciate something they've never seen before. These are a few of the things I've found most awesome (and odd) in the past few weeks and months).
Starting in November, Amazon will sell live Christmas trees measuring about 7ft tall with free shipping for Prime customers. The company plans to offer multiple tree varieties, including Douglas fir, Norfolk Island pine, and Fraser fir, giving customers in the United States a way to get a live tree without renting a truck or driving to a farm. The company will also offer a decorative wreath and plant.
This morning two devices, the second of which is this Honor 7X, were revealed in a lovely new shade of red. The Honor 7X comes with the same software inside as well as the same color as its standard edition. This is a limited edition of the device, which means there'll be less of them in the world than the standard model, but we do not know to which degree this difference truly is.
Earlier this year, Microsoft launched its own alternative to Sony's PlayStation Now subscription, and it's called Xbox Game Pass. With Xbox Game Pass, subscribers get access to more than 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games, which are streamed over the Internet in the same way that Netflix streams movies. Xbox's streaming game subscription is usually $10/month, but a promotion currently has it priced at $1/month.
Many "buy one, get one" smartphone deals require buyers to activate both phones on an expensive service plan, pay for both upfront, and then get a refund for one device via a small monthly credit spread out over 18 or more months. That's not necessarily a bad deal, but it is restrictive. T-Mobile is bucking the trend, though, by offering new customers an entirely free Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8 to give away to someone else as a gift.
Google's Santa Village has returned, marking the first of December and the slow countdown to Christmas. As in previous years, Google's festive offering brings Santa and other Christmas-themed content, a countdown timer, plus changes for 2017. Most notable among those changes is an elf selfie tool, enabling kids (and adults!) to take an elf selfie ("elfies") at famous landmarks around the world.
Gamer gifts for gamers that already have all the games they want - what else could they possibly need? This week we're having a peek at a number of gifts for girls and boys, women and men, any and all people of the gamer persuasion. The only requirement for this list is that you have a general idea of what your gift-getter like to play, be it living room gaming console games, PC games, or the sort of head games that drive you wild - from there, we've got you covered.
Over the past several weeks I've been using the FlexSafe portable safe whenever my family heads to the beach. The FlexSafe is a tiny three-digit code-locking pack for valuable items, made to keep items safe whilst traveling. The FlexSafe is designed in a way that lends itself well to attaching to a bar - or a chair arm - or any one of a wide variety of larger items. It's made to lock down.
The Internet loves pondering hypothetical battles between large and small creatures both real and imagined, and in that spirit comes this new computer simulated battle: it pits an army of 4,000 Santa Claus soldiers against an 11,000-penguin army. The Santas are equipped with large candy canes, seemingly making it an unfair fight against the unarmed penguins, but one should never underestimate creatures with built-in tuxedos.
The Pokemon GO Christmas event is upon us, and Niantic is making some last-minute decisions on what to do. In Pokemon GO over the past several months, the developers at Niantic have been bringing special events to the game during holidays. These have included Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas, too. Some believe that the Santa Hat Pikachu is the only treat we have in store - we're inclined to disagree.