There's no better time of year for the video game industry than the holidays. Most of the biggest releases hit store shelves in November while all the games from years past go on sale. It's a great time to be a gamer, which is why we thought it would be appropriate to share some of GameStop's best pre-Black Friday deals.
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Apple Pay is poised to make a huge impact on Black Friday shopping
Walmart may not like it but Apple Pay looks like it's about to have a big impact on 2014's Black Friday shopping season. A new survey conducted by Stratos, the makers of the Bluetooth Connected Card Platform, estimates that 30% of American smartphone owners plan to use either Apple Pay or Google Wallet to buy things this holiday shopping season. What's more, 17% of smartphone users surveyed said having the option to buy things with Apple Pay or Google Wallet would cause them to spend more money than they normally would.
Posted in 2014 at 10:45PM, November 14
Confirmed: Windows 10 coming to all Lumias running Windows Phone 8
Microsoft on its Lumia Twitter account confirmed that all current Windows Phone 8 devices, including Nokia Lumia and Microsoft Lumia will be upgraded to Windows 10 in the future.
Posted in 2014 at 09:35PM, November 14
There’s a scientific explanation for why you can’t log off of Facebook
If you're reading this article on a computer, there's a pretty good chance that you have Facebook pulled up on another tab. If not, you probably just closed it. There's something about Facebook that keeps us coming back for more, no matter how crowded and frustrating our news feeds have become. So why can't we break away?
Posted in 2014 at 08:45PM, November 14
First Look at the New Beats Solo2 Wireless Headphones
The Beats Solo2 Wireless headphones share the same design as the Solo2 headphones that Beats introduced back in May, with Beats' signature large cups emblazoned with the Beats logo. Aside from some small print on the box, there's no Apple branding or Apple references on the Solo2 Wireless headphones.
Reviews of the original Solo2 headphones suggested Beats had toned down the bass with the new design, offering better acoustics, and Liang says that the Solo2 Wireless headphones sound identical to the existing Solo2 headphones.
Solo2 Wireless has an exciting/energetic sound signature that's suitable for a wide variety of music genres (even Classical). No more muffled midrange and flabby bass of the old SoloHD by Monster. Audiophiles will certainly appreciate the much improved sound signature. No one can honestly say that the new Solo2 Wireless sound bad. These are good!
According to Liang, the Solo2 Wireless headphones paired easily to his MacBook Pro, taking only seconds to setup, but unfortunately it appears that Beats has opted to use the SBC Bluetooth codec rather than aptX, which is believed to offer superior sound quality.
Beats plans to begin selling its Solo2 Wireless headphones later this month for $300, a $100 premium over the standard Solo2 headphones. The Solo2 Wireless headphones are available in black, white, and blue, with Verizon exclusively offering a red option through the end of the year. Beats has also released new "Royal Edition" color options for the standard Solo2 headphones, making them available in Stone Grey, Hunter Green, Imperial Violet, Blush Rose, and Sapphire Blue.
Posted in 2014 at 08:02PM, November 14
Check out the massive amount of data Netflix video streaming uses each month
Netflix users streamed some 6.5 billion hours of video during the first quarter of the year, CordCuttersNews has learned, which amounts to over 19,500,000 terabytes (TB) during the period, or around 6,500,000TB every month. The publication says that at this rate, Netflix will use 78,000,000TB in 2014, at an average HD quality.
Posted in 2014 at 07:30PM, November 14
Buyer's Guide: Deals on 'Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel', iPad Mini 2, Retina MacBook Pro, and More [Mac Blog]
With the discount, MacRumors readers can get Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel for Mac for $44.99, instead of $59.99. Clicking the following link will put the game directly in your GameAgent cart at the discounted price. The discount will be available for 24 hours.
MacRumors readers who are also GameAgent members can also get the recently released DLC Handsome Jack Pack for 20 percent off through GameAgent.com.
As for Macs and iPads, there are a limited number of deals this week, but retailers are continuing to offer older iPad Air and iPad mini 2 models at decent discounts. There have also been some recent price drops on remaining stock of the 2013 Retina MacBook Pros, and we have a selection of discounts on Apple accessories as well. As we head into Black Friday and the holiday season, expect to see some deeper discounts on Apple products.
2014 Retina iMac
The 27-inch 3.5GHz/8GB/1TB iMac with 5K Retina display is available from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and MacMall for $2,449, which is a discount of $50 off Apple's regular price.
These sites also have the Retina iMac in stock, while Apple's site lists shipping estimates of two to three weeks for the machine.
2014 Mac mini
The 2014 1.4GHz/4GB/500GB Mac mini is available for $449 from Amazon and B&H Photo, a $50 discount off of Apple's price.
2014 Retina MacBook Pro
We're seeing the lowest prices we've seen so far on a few models of the 2014 Retina MacBook Pro, including a couple of 13-inch models and one 15-inch model.
- 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/128GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,199.99 ($100 off)
- 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1,349.99 ($150 off)
- 15-inch 2.2GHz16GB RAM/256GB storage (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1,799.99 ($200 off)
2013 Retina MacBook Pro
- 13-inch 2.4GHz/8GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $1,249.99 ($249 off)
- 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/512GB (Best Buy) - $1,359.99 ($419 off)
- 15-inch 2.0GHz/8GB/256GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,599 ($400 off)
- 15-inch 2.3GHz/16GB/512GB (Best Buy) - $1,999.99 ($599 off)
2013 iPad Air
- iPad Air WiFi-only Silver 64GB - $494.99 ($204 off)
- iPad Air WiFi-only Space Gray 64GB - $494.99 ($204 off)
- iPad Air Cellular Silver 64GB (AT&T) - $597.99 ($231 off)
- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) - $566.99 ($262 off)
- iPad Air Cellular Silver 64GB (Verizon) - $597.99 ($231 off)
- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) - $566.99 ($262 off)
2013 iPad mini 2
- iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Silver 64GB - $395.99 ($203 off)
- iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Space Gray 64GB - $395.99 ($203 off)
- iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Silver 128GB - $494.99 ($204 off)
- iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Space Gray 128GB - $494.99 ($204 off)
- iPad mini 2 Cellular AT&T Silver 64GB - $476.99 ($252 off)
- iPad mini 2 Cellular AT&T Space Gray 64GB - $502.99 ($226 off)
- iPad mini 2 Cellular AT&T Space Gray 128GB - $629.99 ($200 off)
- iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Silver 64GB - $476.99 ($252 off)
- iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Space Gray 64GB - $502.99 ($226 off)
- iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Silver 128GB - $629.99 ($200 off)
- iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Space Gray 128GB - $597.99 ($231 off)
Apple Accessories
The Scosche Dynamic Range Earphones with Remote are available for $18.99 from Groupon, a discount of $61. The discontinued Beats by Dre Solo HD Drenched Headphones are available for $129.99 from Groupon, a discount of $69. The Beats Mixr on-ear headphones are available for $149 at Best Buy, a discount of $100, and Best Buy also has the Beats Powerbeats clip-on earbuds for $70, a discount of $70.
The Mota Extended-Battery Case for the iPhone 6 is available for $39.99 from Groupon$39.99 from StackSocial, a discount of $20. Moneywell for Mac is available for $24.99 from StackSocial, a discount of $25.
For the next few weeks, Target will be offering 10 percent off all of the items on a child's wish list. Parents need to download the Target Wish List app and have kids create a wish list of products that will then be available at a 10 percent discount. Apple products are excluded, but Apple accessories such as cases are included.
Make sure to check out our deals posts each week for the latest products that are available at low prices, and keep an eye on our Black Friday roundup , which will be updated on a regular basis with all of the discounts we find on popular Apple products.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.
Posted in 2014 at 07:20PM, November 14
Grocery Store Chains Winn-Dixie and BI-LO Begin Accepting Apple Pay
According to a tipster who spoke to MacRumors, Apple Pay will officially be supported at Winn-Dixie beginning on Monday, November 17, but multiple reports on Twitter suggest that both Winn-Dixie and its sister store BI-LO have already begun processing Apple Pay payments.
Winn-Dixie is is a major grocery store chain that operates in the southeastern United States, with more than 500 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Similarly, BI-LO, a grocery store chain owned by the same parent company, consists of more than 800 stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The two grocery store chains will join Meijer, Wegmans, and Whole Foods, becoming the fourth and fifth grocery stores to accept Apple Pay. Unlike Staples, which also recently began accepting Apple Pay, BI-LO and Winn-Dixie were not listed under Apple's "Coming later this year" banner, making their adoption of Apple Pay somewhat of a surprise. Winn-Dixie did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the addition of Apple Pay in its stores.
With the addition of Winn-Dixie and BI-LO, Apple Pay now has 36 retail partners, including major retailers like Macy's, Disney, Foot Locker, Petco, Walgreens, and Toys R Us. Apple Pay is also unofficially accepted in many stores that support contactless payments.
Because Apple Pay is still in the early stages of rolling out, there's little data available on its popularity in retail stores, but Whole Foods processed 150,000 transactions in the 17 days following Apple Pay's October 20 debut, which equated to approximately one percent of all Whole Foods transactions.
Posted in 2014 at 07:05PM, November 14
How to enable Android 5.0′s most important new feature: Battery saver
Google's latest and greatest mobile software is finally upon us, and there is plenty to love about Android 5.0. The most obvious change is the new look of the user interface in Lollipop, which Google calls Material Design. Characterized by a great use of shadows and bright, bold colors, Material Design propels Android's interface into the future and makes it a real pleasure to use.
But there are plenty of other changes that impact the user experience, and the most important one may be Google's new battery saver mode.
Posted in 2014 at 06:40PM, November 14
U.S. Customers Favoring iPhone 6 Over 6 Plus by 3:1 as 91% of Buyers Opt for Latest Models
The survey data, shared in a research note published today by UBS analyst Steven Milunovich, indicates that 91 percent of iPhone owners bought either an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus in the first four weeks of launch, rising from 86 percent in the first two weeks. Uptake of the new models also compares favorably to last year's iPhone launch, which saw 84 percent of customers in the first thirty days opting for the iPhone 5s and 5c.
Most of the increase in share for the new models since the initial launch period has come from the iPhone 6, which saw an increase of six percentage points to 68 percent, while the iPhone 6 Plus remains at around 23-24 percent of purchases, despite both facing high demand during their initial launch.
The 3:1 ratio favoring the iPhone 6 over 6 Plus has come down slightly from early adoption rate data, but as highlighted by Apple's Greg Joswiak last month, the true balance of customer interest won't be known until production constraints, which more heavily affect the iPhone 6 Plus, are resolved. The balance will also vary significantly by country, with customers in Asian countries tending to prefer larger screens than those in other countries.
The study by CIRP also measured future intentions on purchasing the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Of those asked, over 40 percent were planning to buy an iPhone 6 within the next year. Nineteen percent of Samsung users surveyed also plan to switch over to Apple for their next phone purchases, with over half of those intended purchases favoring the iPhone 6 Plus.
While that marks a significant potential share gain for Apple, recent data has so far shown lower than expected shares of Android customers switching over to the iPhone 6. A more realistic picture will, however, come later as the surge of iPhone early adopters wanes.
When the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launched in September, they sold over ten million units in their launch weekend, including 4 million first-day pre-orders. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also outpaced last year's nine million units of the iPhone 5s and 5c shipped in their opening weekend, but that figure is widely viewed as somewhat inflated by ample stocks of iPhone 5c units shipping into inventory channels.
Posted in 2014 at 05:52PM, November 14
GameStop gets a jump on Black Friday with some fantastic early deals