Deals of the Week Thursday

Hi Guys!

Let’s have a nice little look-see at what kind of deals we dug up for you this week.

* This isn’t such a big tech deal, but Sam’s Club do sell tech, and it’s a good deal, so we thought we’d throw it in on top! Groupon is offering 1-Year Sam’s Club Plus Membership + $20 Sam’s Club Gift Card + $22.94 Fresh Food Value Coupon (New Customers Only) for only $45. Get on it!

*Get your mitts on some Sony Over-the-Ear Bluetooth and Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black or Blue; MDR-ZX770BN/B) for just $149.99 with free in-store pickup from Best Buy. 

* Grab a 13 inch MacBook Pro early 2015 model 128 GB for $1099.99 – down to $989 with the Best Buy Movers Coupon from Best Buy. 

* 70-80% Off Spigen Cases for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+ at Amazon.  Search Spigen and then use Coupon Code SPSPIG70 or SPSPIG80 to bring the prices down to as low as $3.20!

*Get 50% off some Apple products in-store at Radioshack! See -Magic mouse 34.99, Apple wireless keyboard 34.99, Magic trackpad 34.99, Regular keyboard 29.99. Check here to see if your local Radioshack has these items still in stock.

*Look at this sweeet deal! Get $100 off any iPad Air 2 or iPad Mini 3 at Staples in-store with coupon code 68428. Expires April 25, 2015 ( Find coupon here down the bottom right of the page, and check out the other coupons there while you’re at it!)

*Through Amazon, trade in select PlayStation 3 and Xbox consoles and bundles to get: Up to $140 trade-in value for the Xbox 360 or PS3 consoles and bundles and up to $275 trade-in value for Xbox One consoles and bundles. Get an $80 bonus discount applicable towards the purchase of select PlayStation 4 bundles from Amazon. Combined with the trade-in value that is a total of $150-$350 toward a PlayStation 4.

*Get a super rad Hello Kitty Kids’ Snap n’ Share 2.1-Megapixel Digital Camera for just $9.97 from Walmart. Did we say super rad yet?

* Get 10% off site-wide at TechRabbit via coupon code “TRLAUNCH10”.

*Finally, get iColorama S – Photo Editor and Brush Painter for iOS for FREE from the App Store for a limited time.

1, 2, 3, Dealhunters…..GO!

Wanna have lunch with Tim Cook?

Are you looking for a good cause to support as well as the opportunity to chow down on some nosh with Apple CEO Tim Cook?

This is for you! Making it a regular annual thing, Cook is auctioning off his lunch-time company as well as 2 VIP passes to an Apple keynote event through a company called CharityBuzz . The lunch can be for 1 or 2 people and will last about an hour. You won’t have to buy the food – but getting there is up to your good charitable self.

Join me for lunch (and a keynote!) and help a great cause. @RFKHumanRights is working toward a more just world. https://t.co/QxaKne4itb

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 15, 2015

Going by the past 2 years it might be a bit of an expensive lunch, with a coffee meeting in 2013 selling for $610,000 and a lunch meeting in 2014 that sold for $330,001.

But here’s why you do it (other than Timmy Cook) -proceeds from the auction will benefit the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, a charity that aims to achieve a “just and peaceful world by partnering with human rights leaders, teaching social justice and advancing corporate responsibility.”

You can bid on the auction here, and it ends on May 6th, 2015. The current bid is $165,000.

Good luck!!

Social Media study: which one is winning with teens?

So, do you Facebook? Instagram? Tweet? Snapchat? Telephone? Write letters?

Well, kudos for you if it’s the last one, it’s almost a lost art, but today we’re talking more social than artistic media and the popularity contest that is after the trendsetting teenager vote.

Piper Jaffray recently conducted a survey of how important various social media companies are in teenagers lives.

Facebook is not doing so well with the kids these days, but Instagram? They’re on fleek. (Did we use that right?)

The company surveyed an (admittedly rather small) sample of 6200 teenagers with the average age of 16. 25% of the respondents worked part time. This was all part of the “Taking stock with Teens survey” which is conducted twice a year focusing on teen spending and brand preference, and which is used by high up executives to know what’s cool and what’s not, and by investors to know what’s worthwhile investing in- and what’s not (anymore).

Piper Jaffray / Via piperjaffray.com

Even though Facebook looks like it’s slumping – it’s not all bad news for the OG. According to another study released last week by the Pew Research center, among people aged 13-17, 71% use Facebook, 52% use Instagram and 41% use Snapchat.

Deals of the Week Friday!

Hi!!

Here’s some deals comin’ at your FACE~

* Got an Android lover in your life? Get them a Motorola Moto 360 Smart Watch for Android Devices with Leather Strap for just $179 PLUS Free Shipping from Amazon.

*Get a EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Refurbished lens for just $530.78  with free Shipping AND a 1 Yr Canon USA warranty. Normally this lens used would go for $600, but this is refurbished direct from canon and comes with a 1 year warranty. Check it out!

*Get a $25 Prepaid Visa or $20 Amazon/iTunes card for test driving a Subaru! Go here to see where it’s available near you. Select new inventory in the header tab, choose Forester in the left side bar under MODELS (possibly Outback if Forester doesn’t work). Its a pop up ad so disable your blocker if you have it on.

*Grab a $75 eBay Gift Card for just $72 with free Shipping from Ebay ( duh.)

* Get a RCA LED 55″ 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV (55G55R120Q) for just $459.99 from Walmart, saving $240 big ones. Free shipping or in-store pickup.

* Got some fresh jams to listen to? Check out the Monoprice Premium Bluetooth Over-the-Ear Headphones with Microphone in Black. Use coupon code “DN5OFF” to get them for $19.98.  They can be paired with your phone as a hands-free device and feature a 30-foot range and automatic pause function. Deal ends April 20. From iTech Deals.

*Snap Happy? Get an Olympus PEN E-PL5 16.1-Megapixel Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera, model no. V205041WU000, bundled with the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R Lens in White for $279 with free shipping. From BuyDig.

*Sears offers the GE Power PRO Series X450 16-Megapixel Digital Camera in Black, model no. X450-BK, for $49.98. $6.50 shipping fee, or free to pick up instore. From Sears. Hella good deal yo!

* T-Mobile offers two lines on its Simple Choice Plan, which includes unlimited talk and text, bundled with Unlimited 4G LTE Data and a Rhapsody unRadio Subscription for $100 per month. (Select two lines and the unlimited data options for each line; price shows during checkout. Additional lines can be added for $40 each.)

Note: Existing customers can get this deal by changing their plan to the “Simple Choice Unlimited 4G LTE Family Plan”. (Sign in to your account and click “Plan” and then “Change Plan”.) All lines on your plan must have unlimited 4G LTE to get the promotional price. Check it out! 

* Get your paws on an Apple iPad Mini 2nd Gen 32GB Retina Display Dual-Core 4G GSM Unlocked + WiFi – Refurbished for $250 with free Shipping from eBay.

Happy Weekend everyone!!!

ResearchKit given to developers

Apple excited many when they announced ‘ResearchKit’ at their recent special media event, and now the crowd-sourced medical research software has been made available for developers and medical researchers around the world.

The software allows users to send their medical data to researchers, giving them for the first time a massive amount of important data to analyze in their efforts to eradicate disease and improve health on a grand scale. Since it was announced, 60,000 people have sent their data to research facilities such as Stanford and UCLA for the 5 medical apps that were in ResearchKit from the get go: asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

ResearchKit apps use iPhone sensors such as the accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone and GPS to track a user’s activity levels, motor impairments, memory and more. The research apps, available on the App Store in the United States, are compatible with the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and fifth-generation iPod touch.

ResearchKit is now, as of yesterday, open source, which means anyone can design apps and conduct studies using the software and available data. Apple have created a blog on ResearchKit on Github, that will provide researchers and engineers all over the world with a simple forum for sharing tips on how to take advantage of the ResearchKit framework.

From the sauce, Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations:

 
“We are delighted and encouraged by the response to ResearchKit from the medical and research community and the participants contributing to medical research. Studies that historically attracted a few hundred participants are now attracting participants in the tens of thousands. Medical researchers all over the world are actively exploring how ResearchKit can help them study even more diseases, and we believe the impact on global understanding of health and wellness will be profound.”

Apple has said that they will be introducing the open source medical framework in other countries soon.

Wanna turn your iPhone into a gameboy? So retro, so rad.

Wanna know something really cool? Yeah? Listen up.

April Fools day was recently, yeah? A day when companies try and trick people and no-one ever gets tricked because it’s April Fools Day, Stupid. This last April Fools day however was a little different for one company called Hyperkin.

They decided that they would partake in a big trick for the day, telling people on Reddit that they were planning on creating a way that you could transform your phone into a Gameboy.

Say Whaaaat?

Yup. So, people were super psyched, because it was a rather subtle trick, and it sounded really really awesome. Soon after, Hyperkin owned up to the duplicity and everyone went home and cried.

BUT THEN Hyperkin decided to actually make the product! Because people were so psyched about it! Talk about power of the people! The product, called ‘Smartboy’ is officially in development for iPhone 6, with android to follow.. From the sauce:

“We wanted to create a retro device that can be easily adapted into any modern gamer’s arsenal of devices.” says Chris Gallizzi, Hyperkin’s product developer.

You’ll be able to insert your iPhone into the Smart boy, giving you physical controls like an 8-way D pad and four buttons designed to mimic the A, B, select, and start buttons found on the original Game Boy. The Smart Boy will also work with original Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges, which will slot into the back of the device.

Did someone say ‘OH MAN THATS SO SWEET I LOVE GAMEBOY AND I LOVE MY PHONE WHAT AN EPIC ROMANCE’ ?

Our Apple Watch try-on experience!

The Apple Watch phenomenon has begun! We headed out this morning to capture some of the madness:

It wasn’t so much madness, actually. The retail store opened at 10:00AM this morning and we were one of about 40 people who entered the store- not all of whom were there to look at the Apple Watch… unless they were pretending and just sneaking looks. In fact, there seemed to be more employees than customers throughout the time we were there.

We had a try-on appointment, which was taken by a very nice, rather nervous Apple store employee who didn’t seem super trained on the functionality or pricing of the watch, which was unexpected, but alright, as he had a cheat sheet right there on an iPad next to the Apple Watch.

This particular store had the Apple Watch edition models in the glass display case, but none available to try on.

We tried on the Apple Watch Sport and the Stainless Steel Apple Watch with the Milanese loop band and the leather band.  The Apple store employee was only allowed to bring two watches out of his little drawer at the try-on table at a time.

Both watches we tried on were dead which wasn’t great, but we were able to play with the functionality on the Apple watch attached to the Try-on desk, and at another display section later on after the try-on appointment was over.

Our appointment lasted the full 15 minutes, and we were definitely not rushed, which was nice. The Apple Watch sport felt nice on the wrist, although we were particularly taken with the Milanese band. For those of you who may be confused -and we heard a few questions like this this morning – there is no difference in functionality between any of the watch models, instead the difference is in the metal that the watch face is made out of, and the ability to have different bands.

The larger 42mm was more pleasant to look at and use, although the 38mm size was fine, especially for a finer wrist.  The functionality of the Apple watch, limited as it was to being on a stand in the Apple Store and not connected to an iPhone, seemed pretty impressive. Very intuitive, the crown feature was great and easy to use, and we feel like it could become very much a part of your life once you started wearing it and using it everyday.

The watch has no internet browser, no keyboard function (to reply to messages and emails you can speak into the watch or choose a simple prepared answer such as ‘yes’ etc.) The watch does have Siri, you can look at your photos, scroll through emails and messages,log your exercise, check your calendar, and maps seems to work great.

The extra options in messages such as sending your friends a drawing, a tap or tap sequence or your heartbeat were all really pretty rad, but it remains to be seen how gimicky it might seem after a while, and how much it would be used.

Here are the Apple Watch Sport models in the display case –

And some of the stainless steel Apple Watches-

Amongst the customers in-store this morning, there definitely seemed to be the idea that the Apple Watch Stainless Steel models and the Apple Watch edition models were pretty overpriced, which we would agree with.

It is a pretty fun toy, and it will probably become super prevalent and successful, but getting in this early on the super expensive models (especially with the expensive bands, which will likely have cheaper copies made by other companies soon enough) might not be recommended.

It also relies very heavily on it’s link to the iPhone (although it does have limited use without it). One of iPhone Antidote’s friends really wants an Apple Watch, but she doesn’t carry a phone with her half the time. Conundrum. Who can say First world problem?

All that being said: the Stainless Steel 42mm with the Milanese band? Ummm… Our birthday is on July 1st. Just saying. Oh, and hot tip? Don’t lose your grip on the Apple Watch if and when you go to a try-on appointment. We did a pretty comical 30 second slow motion juggling act with the Stainless Steel model and the Apple guy was kinda losing his sh*t. Hilarious, but not recommended.

Have you checked out the Apple Watches today? Get a try-on appointment? Was it similar to ours? Did you drop it and run? Let us know!

Last minute things you need to know about the Apple Watch

With less than 6 hours to go until pre-orders for the Apple Watch begin, and shortly before you can try one on for yourself, here’s the last minute things you should know.

If you haven’t already, head on over to Apple’s website and check out both the available video guides and the detailed info on all models, bands and sizes to make sure you’re aware of what you’ll be dealing with whether you’re pre-ordering or planning to fight the crowds and try one on in-store.

Here’s the deal straight from the sauce on how you can experience the Apple Watch yourself before you buy:

“Customers interested in learning more about Apple Watch can visit their local Apple Store for a personalized session with a Specialist to try on, fit and size their band, and explore the amazing features of Apple Watch. Customers who want to try on an Apple Watch are encouraged to make an appointment by going to www.apple.com.”

So: encouraged. Which means you probably should if you don’t want to fight the crowds, but it doesn’t sound like it’s particularly necessary. If you’re Apple store is quiet on a certain day and a certain time, you should probably waltz on in and try one of those bad boys on!

If you’re interested in trying on an Apple Watch Edition, you’ll need to go to one of the select few stores that will carry the fancy pants watch. These are:

United States —

New York City: Fifth Avenue, SoHo, Upper West Side

Boston: Boylston Street

Chicago: North Michigan Avenue, Lincoln Park

Philadelphia: Walnut Street

Washington DC: Georgetown

Atlanta: Lenox Square

Miami: Lincoln Road

Virginia: Tyson’s Corner Center

Newark, Delaware: Christiana Mall

Bay Area: San Francisco, Stanford

Los Angeles: The Grove, Third St. (Santa Monica), South Coast (Costa Mesa)

Las Vegas: Fashion Show

Houston: Highland Village

Dallas: Northpark Center

Seattle: Bellevue Square

Canada —

Toronto: Eaton Centre

Montreal: Sainte-Catherine

More may appear over the course of the next few weeks, so keep an eye out. To check Apple Watch Edition availability in your local area, navigate to Apple’s Find Locations website, click on Sales, use your current GPS-based location or enter another one, select Watch Edition from the list of all products, and click on the Go button. A map will then display nearby Apple Store locations that will be carrying the Edition.

There is expected to be a rather large amount of interest in the Apple Watch (D’uh), creating a quite lopsided supply-demand scenario that although might make some unhappy short term, will serve Apple’s interests in the end. You want what Jim next door was somehow able to get – that kind of thing.

From Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores:

“We are excited to welcome customers tomorrow and introduce them to Apple Watch, our most personal device yet. Based on the tremendous interest from people visiting our stores, as well as the number of customers who have gone to the Apple Online Store to mark their favorite Apple Watch ahead of availability, we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch,”

Remember: the launch of pre-orders is at 12:01 AM Pacific Standard Time. In  less than 6 hours. You can try to use both the online Apple Store, and the Apple Store App to secure your pre-order. The Apple website will be going down at 9PM PST to prepare for the launch.

Retail stores are undergoing an overnight remodel to prepare for the Apple Watch phenomenon.

In Australia, Apple Stores have been open since 4PM PST (9AM local time) and people have been let into the stores to view the Apple Watch glass display units. Check it out on Instagram and the live streaming app Periscope. Australians get to have all the fun! Just because they’re in the future fancy pants Australians with their cool deadly animals and awesome accents…

We’ll let you know if and when there is any more news about the Apple Watch!

Here’s exactly when you can pre-order an Apple Watch

We’ve known for a while now that pre-orders for the Apple Watch will begin on April 10th, and now we know when on April 10th. As usual with their penchant for dramatics, Apple have made it so that those wishing to be first in line to pre-order their most personal product yet will need to be ready with their finger over their curser at 12:01 AM Pacific Time on Friday the 10th.

For those of us who are easily confused, that’s just after Midnight on Thursday the 9th. 

Sorry East coasters, this means you’re looking at a very late night/early morning, with pre-orders starting for you guys at 3:01 AM. Ouch.

The pre-orders will be going live at the same time in all of the first wave countries, meaning you have quite a lot of competition for those first Apple Watches, with U.K customers being wide eyed and well awake at their pre-order time of 8:01 AM local time, and Australians being able to pre-order at 5:01 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time.

The Apple online store will be going down at 9 PM on Thursday to prepare for the onslaught, and remember- you can also use the Apple Store App, which might  help you bypass some of the expected congestion where everyone who wants an Apple Watch is fighting you for one.

If you are able to pre-order a shiny Apple Watch, then you can look forward to getting it delivered or picking it up beginning April 24th.

If you’re not sure about this whole Apple Watch thing, you should make a try-on appointment at your local Apple Store to look at your options to see if you really want to drop a minimum of $349 on one of these bad boys. There hasn’t been any clarification yet as to when you can make your try-on appointment, but we’re going to guess that it will be either at the same time as pre-orders start (12:01AM PST) or at the beginning of business on Friday, 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM.

We’ll keep you up to date on everything we know when we know it!

Check out these Apple Watch guided tours!

Less than 3 days until the Apple watch is… kind of… released upon us!  If you’re wondering if this most personal of Apple devices is for you, you should probably check out the new video tours that Apple have just put out. 

Right now you can sit and watch pretty pictures about the Apple Watch itself, messages, faces and the digital touch function, and there are more videos forthcoming regarding Siri, phone calls, maps and a bunch of other applications. These should be released over the next 3 days.

Just because we like you, here are the first two videos! To watch the others as they get released, head on over to Apple’s guided tour page. 

The Apple watch will begin pre-orders at 12:01 AM PST on April 10th, with the actual release and start of deliveries beginning on the 24th of April. In-store try-on appointments will also begin April 10th.