Tag Archives: Banking & Budgeting

The Echo Dot drops to a record low of $23 in an Amazon Black Friday deal

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Amazon is selling the diminutive Echo Dot smart speaker for just $23 as part of an early Black Friday deal. That’s a record low price for the gadget and represents a savings of more than 50 percent, as it typically costs $50. This deal is for the latest and greatest Echo Dot, and not a model from several generations ago.

The sale applies to various colorways, like gray, blue and black. The Echo Dot may be small in stature, but there’s a reason it made our list of the best smart speakers in 2023. This thing is actually pretty useful. The sound quality won’t blow you away when compared to its larger siblings, but the speaker gets plenty loud. It also features a temperature sensor and built-in Eero capabilities.

The globe-shape is pleasing, the colors are on point and set-up is simple, thanks to the affiliated Echo app. We liked this smart speaker at $50, so we certainly like it at $23. If you’ve been wanting to experiment with Alexa but were waiting for a good deal, this is it. If you buy this speaker, make sure to ask Alexa to sing the song about cats. Trust me.

Amazon’s sale extends beyond the company’s tiniest smart speaker. You can also nab the standard full-sized Echo speaker for $55, which represents a savings of $45. Additionally, the Echo Dot with Clock is on sale for $35 instead of $60. As the name suggests, this is the above Echo Dot, but with an LED clock. If you don’t want to spring for this version, you can always just ask Alexa to tell you the time.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-echo-dot-drops-to-a-record-low-of-23-in-an-amazon-black-friday-deal-174541440.html?src=rss

The Meta Quest 2 VR headset drops to an all-time low of $250 during Amazon’s early Black Friday sale

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If you've been waiting for a reason to finally grab a headset to watch 360-degree videos on YouTube or have an exceptionally immersive experience with first-person shooter games, Amazon’s early Black Friday sale on the Meta Quest 2 VR headset might be your gateway into the world of VR. The Quest 2 with 128GB of storage is getting a $50 price cut in a Black Friday pre-sale, bringing it to $250. This record low price, which normally sells for $300, is worth considering, especially since Engadget hailed it as one of the best VR headsets your money can buy.

Despite being an older model, we still consider the Meta Quest 2 the best budget VR headset, and for good reason. Most competitors, including its successor, start at around $500 and can go for as much as $1000. The Quest 2’s screen resolution of 1832x1920 per eye, when coupled with a 90Hz refresh rate, makes activities like gaming a more pleasurable experience. And because the Quest 2 operates using Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2 processor and packs 6GB of RAM, the device can dabble with more demanding games. If you are already a console user, things like Xbox Cloud gaming pair quite nicely.

The Quest 2 Active bundle, which includes the 128GB headset and accessories for VR workouts, is also on sale on Amazon for $319. But if you want to go big and invest in the 256GB version of the Quest 2, Amazon’s deal on that model will make the device $300, knocking off $50 bucks from its $350 starting point.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-meta-quest-2-vr-headset-drops-to-an-all-time-low-of-250-during-amazons-early-black-friday-sale-181828211.html?src=rss

A Blink Outdoor 4 bundle is 61 percent off for Amazon Prime members in an early Black Friday deal

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Black Friday is just a couple of weeks away, but you don’t need to bide your time to check out some significant discounts on an array of devices. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can snag a bundle of Blink cameras for $140, which is 61 percent off the regular price of $360. It includes two Outdoor 4 cameras, one Wired Floodlight Camera, one Mini Pan-Tilt Camera and one Sync Module 2.

It’s a deal worth considering if you’re looking to set up a home security system without breaking the bank. The discount is available for three days.

The bundle will effectively give you a full indoor and outdoor camera system. You’ll also get three mounting kits, four AA batteries, two USB cables and two power adapters. You could always add more Blink devices to your set up if you feel the need to. It's worth bearing in mind that Blink devices only work with Alexa, so they may not be suitable if you're, for instance, already heavily invested in Google's smart home ecosystem.

In our guide to the best smart home devices, we highlighted the new Blink Outdoor 4 as our favorite wireless security camera. It can be placed indoors and it'll run for up to two years before you need to replace the AA batteries. The Blink Outdoor 4 has support for night vision, motion detection and two-way audio (via the Blink app and devices like Echo Show). It's weather resistant too.

The bundle comes with a 30-day trial of the Blink Subscription Plan, which you'll need if you prefer to store clips in the cloud. Alternatively, you can save clips locally on the included Blink Sync Module 2 or a USB flash drive (which you'll need to buy separately).

You'll receive an alert when the cameras detect movement. If you have the Blink Subscription Plan, you'll also be alerted when the Outdoor 4 and Wired Floodlight Camera detect a person using their computer vision features.

Meanwhile, the Outdoor 4 and Wired Floodlight Camera both support customizable privacy zones. This feature enables you to select areas that the cameras don't record at all. You might want to use this to avoid viewing your neighbor's door or yard. Alternatively, if you use the Outdoor 4 indoors, you may wish to block out the area between your bathroom and bedroom for post-shower privacy.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-blink-outdoor-4-bundle-is-61-percent-off-for-amazon-prime-members-in-an-early-black-friday-deal-161520398.html?src=rss

A Blink Outdoor 4 bundle is 61 percent off for Amazon Prime members in an early Black Friday deal

Posted on by

Black Friday is just a couple of weeks away, but you don’t need to bide your time to check out some significant discounts on an array of devices. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can snag a bundle of Blink cameras for $140, which is 61 percent off the regular price of $360. It includes two Outdoor 4 cameras, one Wired Floodlight Camera, one Mini Pan-Tilt Camera and one Sync Module 2.

It’s a deal worth considering if you’re looking to set up a home security system without breaking the bank. The discount is available for three days.

The bundle will effectively give you a full indoor and outdoor camera system. You’ll also get three mounting kits, four AA batteries, two USB cables and two power adapters. You could always add more Blink devices to your set up if you feel the need to. It's worth bearing in mind that Blink devices only work with Alexa, so they may not be suitable if you're, for instance, already heavily invested in Google's smart home ecosystem.

In our guide to the best smart home devices, we highlighted the new Blink Outdoor 4 as our favorite wireless security camera. It can be placed indoors and it'll run for up to two years before you need to replace the AA batteries. The Blink Outdoor 4 has support for night vision, motion detection and two-way audio (via the Blink app and devices like Echo Show). It's weather resistant too.

The bundle comes with a 30-day trial of the Blink Subscription Plan, which you'll need if you prefer to store clips in the cloud. Alternatively, you can save clips locally on the included Blink Sync Module 2 or a USB flash drive (which you'll need to buy separately).

You'll receive an alert when the cameras detect movement. If you have the Blink Subscription Plan, you'll also be alerted when the Outdoor 4 and Wired Floodlight Camera detect a person using their computer vision features.

Meanwhile, the Outdoor 4 and Wired Floodlight Camera both support customizable privacy zones. This feature enables you to select areas that the cameras don't record at all. You might want to use this to avoid viewing your neighbor's door or yard. Alternatively, if you use the Outdoor 4 indoors, you may wish to block out the area between your bathroom and bedroom for post-shower privacy.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-blink-outdoor-4-bundle-is-61-percent-off-for-amazon-prime-members-in-an-early-black-friday-deal-161520398.html?src=rss

Google creates a brand new hub for shopping deals

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The holiday season might be the most wonderful time of the year, but it's arguably also the most expensive. Ahead of the mad dash to find the best presents for the lowest prices, Google is attempting to undo some of that financial load with the launch of its new deals hub. Now, if you type in "shop deals" on Google, the search engine will bring you to a page filled with markdowns on categories like electronics and apparel. 

If you're looking for a specific type of item, you can Google something like "shop headphone deals" and see promotions for that product. Displayed items should come from a range of sources, including big box stores, luxury brands, and local shops. Google will also show items based on what you've browsed for in the past while signed into your account. Plus, if you've looked at a certain shirt or a watch, for instance, it might appear in your "resume browsing" card alongside any current promotions on it.

Google is also coming for extensions like Honey and Capital One Shopping, with a new discount tag icon right in the Chrome address bar. Click on the button, and, just like with the others, you'll get a list of coupon codes for the site you're currently shopping on. 

Plus, Google is providing more tracking information to monitor whether a price is above average — or has recently dropped. Participating sites will have a "shopping insights" label in the address bar that you can click on to view an item's 90-day price history. This chart could give you an idea of whether the item goes on sale frequently or if its sticker price has dropped recently. You can also click the bell icon on Search for mobile to receive push and email notifications when a product goes on sale. Bookmark the item instead if you're shopping on Chrome from your computer. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-creates-a-brand-new-hub-for-shopping-deals-120042109.html?src=rss