Apple has revealed its upcoming Black Friday deals, and as expected, they include free gift cards with specific device purchases.
However, if you’re looking for a more recently released Apple device, these deals might not be for you. The newest item on the list is the AirPods (3rd Generation).
The deals are as follows, with each device still being its full price, but including an Apple Gift Card:
The Apple AirPods section in its digital flyer says you can get up to $105 in gift cards, but I’d expect that is only for the AirPods Max. I’m guessing that the other models will qualify for closer to $40-$50 back in gift cards.
Apple has revealed its upcoming Black Friday deals, and as expected, they include free gift cards with specific device purchases.
However, if you’re looking for a more recently released Apple device, these deals might not be for you. The newest item on the list is the AirPods (3rd Generation).
The deals are as follows, with each device still being its full price, but including an Apple Gift Card:
The Apple AirPods section in its digital flyer says you can get up to $105 in gift cards, but I’d expect that is only for the AirPods Max. I’m guessing that the other models will qualify for closer to $40-$50 back in gift cards.
Apple’s revamped Podcasts app arrived to significant criticism from users. For a while, it sat on the App Store with a low score — a measly 1.8 stars out of five. At least, that’s what it was about a month ago before Podcasts began its ascension to a more impressive 4.6 stars (and it’s still climbing). However, Apple didn’t change things around by fixing Podcasts — instead, it simply added a prompt to review the app.
App Store watchdog Kosta Eleftheriou first spotted the change, citing data from ‘AppFigures‘ that shows a sudden surge in positive reviews starting in early November. Additionally, the majority of the new reviews include a five-star score.
So, is Apple manipulating the reviews for its own app? Well, no, not exactly. Both Eleftheriou and The Vergepoint out that many of the reviews appear to be about specific podcasts, not about the Podcasts app itself. The Verge digs into the reviews a little more, noting that other podcasting apps don’t have reviews for specific podcasts — or at least, not to the same extent as Apple Podcasts.
Apple did confirm to The Verge that it added a prompt to review Podcasts in iOS 15.1, but the company says it used the standard ‘Rating & Review’ prompt that’s “available to all developers.” Apple does offer review prompts as a standard feature of the App Store (and it’s one users can turn off by heading to Settings > App Store > In-App Ratings & Reviews).
Tons of favorable ratings just started flowing in, even though the app hasn’t been updated for months according to @appfigures: pic.twitter.com/mntls5TJba
Whether Apple used the standard review prompt isn’t really the issue here, however. As The Verge points out, the Podcasts app reviews highlight a larger problem with the star system: it’s hard to tell if a five-star score is legitimate. Plenty of App Store apps game the star score system by buying high ratings or even more scummy practices like blocking an app from launching until users submit a high-score review.
Now, it’s highly unlikely that Apple’s doing anything like that with the Podcasts app, but that doesn’t rule out other things. The Verge pointed out that Apple could use an algorithm to target dedicated users with review prompts or issue a prompt in a way that misleads users into thinking they’re reviewing the podcast. We don’t know what’s going on with the Podcasts prompt — The Verge was unable to get a copy of Podcasts’ review prompt and despite my best efforts, I haven’t gotten one either.
Whatever the underlying reason, it’s worth keeping in mind that Apple managed to boost its Podcasts app to the top of the App Store charts by using review prompts to gather tons of high-score reviews without changing any of the many underlying issues that got the app its original low score.
Riot Games revealed its multi-city tour for the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, which will see the semifinals hosted in Toronto, Ontario.
Often called ‘Worlds,’ Riot’s premier esports event will return to North America for the first time since 2016. However, this time around, Riot will host a multinational Worlds with first-time stops in Mexico and Canada ahead of the finals in San Francisco, California.
The 2022 Worlds event will include play-ins in Mexico City, Mexico, groups and quarterfinals in New York City, the semifinals in Toronto and then the finals in San Francisco.
Riot made the announcement at a press conference at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday ahead of the Golden State Warriors vs. Toronto Raptors NBA game. Both teams’ home arenas — the Chase Center and the Scotiabank Arena — will host the finals and semifinals respectively. The Chase Center will be the 10th unique arena to hold a Worlds final.
The 2021 Worlds Finals took place at Laugardalshöll Sport Center in Reykjavík, Iceland. Before that, Worlds was held at the SAIC Motor Pudong Arena in China (2020), AccorHotels Arena in Paris (2019) and the Incheon Munhak Stadium in Incheon, South Korea (2018).
In the blink of an eye, the holiday season and Christmas festivities will be here, and you’ll wonder where time passed, sulking on the thought that you didn’t get gifts you really wanted for your friends and family.
From carriers to retailers, this time of the year presents a bombardment of deals and promotions, so much so that picking selecting items becomes a little overwhelming. Adding to the is the uncertainty of stock of highly sought-after products, including the latest-gen consoles.
Thankfully, some tools on the internet can help us keep track of stock and prices, ensuring that you always get the best deal possible.
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One of the most reliable tools that can alert you about Amazon stock, product price and price history is CamelCamelCamel. A website and extension that lives on your browser, Camel allows you to select products that you’re interested in buying and sends you an email notification the moment it detects a price decrease/discount on it. In the case of sought-after products, like the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X, Camel will send you an email notification about the product being in stock.
The service isn’t limited to electronics and can be used to track any product on Amazon’s super vast catalogue. Further, Camel is a free tool and can even be used with fewer features without signing up. CamelCamelCamel supports Amazon United States, Canada, Europe, Australia.
To simply check the historical prices of a product on Amazon, head to Amazon, navigate to the product listing, copy its URL and paste it on the top ‘Find Amazon Products’ bar on Camel.
This is also where you can add your email and set a price drop percentage. Whenever the price of the product drops to the set percentage, you’ll get an email notification. I like to set the drop at “Any Price Drop,” so I recieve a notification whenever the price heads south.
In the example below (second screenshot), we can see that the ASUS TUF monitor was available for $349 in late June/early July. Considering the abundance of incoming deals in the coming weeks, the monitor’s price will likely go down to the sub $350 level. So instead of getting it now for $389, I can set a price drop alert and purchase it for a better price.
Head to Amazon, navigate to the product listing, copy its URL and paste it on the top ‘Find Amazon Products’ bar on Camel
I like to set the drop at “Any Price Drop,” so whenever the price heads south, I get a notification
The website’s homepage displays different sections, including ‘Featured Price Drops,’ ‘All Time Low Prices,’ and ‘Latest Price Drops’ which allow you to stay on top of the trends.
You don’t need to create a pricedropper account to track historical pricing; however, you’ll have to sign up if you want to be notified about a discount.
The procedure works similarly to Camel. You locate the product you want to track and copy its URL. Head to the ‘+ New Product’ tab on the top right and paste and paste the URL. To simply check the pricing, click on ‘Search,’ also located on the top right, and enter the product’s name.
In the example below, I can clearly see that the second-gen Google Nest Hub is currently at an all-time low listing and that too at multiple retailers, giving me confidence that the deal I’m getting is the best one.
Following the right Twitter accounts
Twitter is more than just a hate-spewing microblogging platform. If you’re following the right accounts, it can be a place to learn and grow your circle. Some Twitter handles that focus primarily on Canadian retailer stock and product pricing are a must-follow if you’re trying to find the best deals.
These are the most notable Twitter accounts that I and others at MobileSyrup follow, and you should too if you want to stay on top of deal trends:
@Lbabinz — “Video Game deals in Canada 🇨🇦, preorders, news. Nintendo, PS5, Xbox, PC.”
RFD has full-time employees scouring for bargains, coupons, and freebies, plus the thousands of users, who can also add threads about notable promotions they discovered.
Right now, RFD has a special ‘Black Friday’ section with top deals, promotions and flyers from retailers across Canada. Check it out here.
This upcoming Friday is the post-American Thanksgiving shopping holiday, ‘Black Friday.’
As always, this is the ultimate shopping holiday (next to Boxing Day in Canada), where retailers discount a ton of products by significant margins. Tech items like TVs, smartphones, phone plans, audio equipment, video games and more will all be on sale.
MobileSyrup has tons of deal posts up on our site to help you navigate Black Friday, including the ones linked below:
In this week’s Community Question, we want to know, what are you planning to purchase on Black Friday?
I’m probably going to buy a couple of games, including Dark Souls 3, since I can no longer play my disc copy on my PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. I might also grab Marvel’sGuardians of the Galaxy since it’s also on sale, and I might even buy Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 for my mom’s Christmas gift.
Let us know in the comments below what you plan to buy on Black Friday.
Every week, MobileSyrup outlines some of the most notable movies and TV shows that recently hit Canadian streaming platforms.
Our ‘Streaming in Canada’ column typically focuses on new content from Amazon Prime Video Canada, Crave and Netflix Canada, but other services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ will be mentioned when relevant.
We’ll also highlight shows or movies that are made in Canada, involve notable Canadian cast or crew and/or are filmed in Canada.
Amazon Prime Video
The Great (Season 2) [Exclusive Content]
Catherine prepares to give birth to the future of Russia.
The Great is based on Tony McNamara’s play of the same name and stars Elle Fanning (Super 8) and Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road).
Hulu premiere date: November 19th, 2021
Amazon Prime Video Canada premiere date: November 20th, 2021 Genre: Historical comedy-drama Runtime: Ten episodes (around one hour each)
A magician takes a group of five young people around the world, believing that one of them might hold the power to either save or destroy the world.
Based on Robert Jordan’s novel series of the same name, The Wheel of Time was developed by Rafe Judkins (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and stars Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Daniel Henney (Criminal Minds), Madeleine Madden (Tidelands) and Zoë Robins (Power Rangers Ninja Steel).
Amazon Prime Video Canada premiere date: November 19th, 2021 (first three episodes, new episodes every Friday) Genre: Fantasy Runtime: Eight episodes (around one hour each)
Four college roommates at New England’s prestigious Essex College carry out sexually active lifestyles in between classes.
The Sex Lives of College Girls was created by Mindy Kaling (The Office) and Justin Noble (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and stars Pauline Chalamet (The King of Staten Island), Markham, Ontario’s Amrit Kaur (The D Cut), Reneé Rapp (the Mean Girls musical) and Alyah Chanelle Scott (Walk Off).
Crave premiere date: November 18th, 2021 (first two episodes, new episodes every week) Genre: Comedy-drama Runtime: 10 episodes (around 30 minutes to an hour each)
Captain Burnham and the S.S. Discovery crew face a new threat that’s rocked both the Federation and non-Federation worlds.
Star Trek: Discovery was created by Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and Alex Kurtzman (J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies) and stars Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead), Doug Jones (The Shape of Water), Anthony Rapp (Rent) and Mary Wiseman (Longmire).
Crave premiere date: November 18th, 2021 (new episodes weekly) Genre: Sci-fi Runtime: TBA
A standard Crave subscription is priced at $19.99/month, with Starz costing an additional $5.99/month. A mobile-only subscription is also available for $9.99/month.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Crave this month can be found here.
Netflix
Cowboy Bebop [Netflix Original]
A ragtag group of bounty hunters hunts criminals in its spaceship.
Based on Hajime Yatate’s anime of the same name, Cowboy Bebop was developed by André Nemec (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol) and stars John Cho (Harold & Kumar series), Mustafa Shakir (Marvel’s Luke Cage) and Daniella Pineda (Jurassic World series).
Netflix Canada premiere date: November 19th, 2021 Genre: Sci-fi Runtime: Ten episodes (38 to 60 minutes each)
Fast approaching 30, a promising theatre composer balances his personal relationships and career in an effort to create something great.
Based on Rent creator Jonathan Larson’s semi-autographical musical of the same name, Tick, Tick… Boom! was directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) and stars Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Robin de Jesús (In The Heights), Alexandra Shipp (Straight Outta Compton), Winnipeg-born Joshua Henry (Hamilton) and Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical).
Netflix Canada premiere date: November 19th, 2021 Genre: Musical drama Runtime: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Ubisoft launched its Black Friday sales on the Ubisoft Store, discounting games by up to 80 percent. Plus, the company’s offering an additional 20 percent off your cart with the BF20 promo code.
Plus, Ubisoft’s giving away Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory for free until November 25th – you can grab it here.
We’ve picked out some of the highlight offers and included them below:
You can check out all the Black Friday deals at Ubisoft here.
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Best Buy’s official Black Friday sale has officially launched, and so now’s the time to score a major deal on tech gear for your home. Even better, with all the talk about shortages and empty shelves leading up to the holiday season, it’s the perfect time to get your gift shopping done.
To make it easy, we’ve listed the biggest deals on the best products you’ll find throughout the entire sale. Check out the savings below:
MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships and publishes sponsored posts. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though MobileSyrup may earn a commission on purchases made via these links.
