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Black Friday deals: here are the UK's best
Black Friday is upon us, but that doesn't mean that we'll have to wait for deals. UK retailers don't really care whether it's Friday or not, they're busy discounting products in an attempt to part you from your cash. If you've decided not to brave the inclement weather and are staying home to avoid the chaos, we've rounded up some of the best gadget deals available online. As always, if you spot anything that we might have missed, drop us a note in the comments below and we'll add it to our list as soon as possible. Some will be daily deals, so move quickly. They are targeted at Brits mind you, so we're avoiding anything that forces you to pay in dollars, Euros or any other (probably stronger) currency. Gaming and Streaming Amazon Fire TV Stick As expected, Amazon's diminutive streaming dongle has been given a price cut. Amazon is selling it for £25, but you can get one for the slightly lower price of £24.95 at Argos. Amazon Echo Perhaps the most eagerly awaited discounts, the Echo and the Echo Dot are now £120 and £40, respectively. That's a £30 saving on the Echo and a £10 saving on the Dot. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Activision's popular shooter has only been out a little while but Tesco is now offering the game for £29 on both PS4 and Xbox One. Be aware: this doesn't include the remastered Modern Warfare. Google Chromecast Currys is currently selling Google's updated streaming dongle for £18, a saving of £12, and the Chromecast Audio for £15. HTC Vive From 8am on Black Friday (November 25th) right through until 8am on November 29th, HTC is offering £100 off its VR headset. The deal will also apply to its Vive Ready HP Computer Bundle, which will set you back £1,399 instead of the usual £1,499. PlayStation 4 Console deals are what most people are looking for on Black Friday and we're happy to report that there are some good ones to be had. Very is offering the 1TB PS4 with Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Ratchet & Clank and DriveClub for £250. If some of the games don't float your boat, you can swap them for a spare controller or a PlayStation Network subscription. Zavvi has a similar deal, but you'll get Uncharted 4, The Last of Us and DriveClub for £240. Amazon's deal on a 500GB PS4, Uncharted 4 and FIFA 17 for £200 is also very good value. John Lewis is offering the 500GB PS4 Slim and Uncharted 4 for £217.95. Add Titanfall 2 or Battlefield 1 and you'll only pay an extra tenner. For November 23rd only, Tesco has the 500GB PS4 Slim 500GB with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Overwatch for £229. ShopTo also has a great deal on the 500GB PS4 Slim with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare for £190. Titanfall 2 and Gears of War 4 Another couple of games that haven't been out long but have been given a drastic price reduction. HMV is selling Titanfall 2 for just £20 (on both PS4 and Xbox One) and Gears of War 4 for £23, but you can only get them in store. Xbox One Microsoft is teasing a sale on its official site, including products like the Xbox One S, but deals are only available from November 25th onwards. However, there are plenty of other good buys available at other UK retailers. If you just want the a cheap Xbox One S, Zavvi is selling the 4K console with a copy of Minecraft for £220. For £200, Tesco is offering Xbox One 1TB console, Gears of War 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider (you'll need to add them all to your basket to see the discount). If you're after A+ games, GAME is selling Xbox One S with FIFA 17 and Forza Horizon 3 for £250 or the Xbox One with FIFA 17, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and NOW TV for £260. Phones, Tablets and Laptops Amazon Fire As expected, Amazon's going pretty hard this year, with discounts across its whole range of own-brand tablets. The Fire tablet sells for £30 (normally £50), the Fire HD 6 is £60 (normally £100) and there's £5 off both the Fire HD 8 (£85) and the Fire Kids Edition (£95). If you're looking for something bigger, the Fire HD 10 has been reduced to £152. Amazon Kindle If tablets aren't your thing but e-readers are, Amazon is also running a couple of promotions on its Kindles. The standard Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite are on sale for £57 and £80, saving you £3 and £30 respectively. Apple iPhone If Apple's bigger smartphones don't take your fancy, the iPhone SE might be what you're looking for. Argos has reduced the 64GB iPhone SE in all colours from £439 to £379, a saving of £60. BlackBerry Priv BlackBerry phones might soon be a thing of the past but some people still love them. If that someone is you, why not grab the BlackBerry Priv for £288, saving £261 in the process? Chromebook Chromebooks are already pretty cheap but Currys is running a deal on the 11.6-inch Acer CB3-131, which now costs just £140. The retailer also has the 2-in-1 Chromebook R for £200, saving you £50. Honor Between 8am on 25th November to midnight on 28th November, Huawei's budget phone brand is reducing the price of the Honor 8 by £70 to £299.90, the cheapest it's ever been. The Honor 5C has also been given a slight discount, meaning you'll now pay £130 instead of £150. Microsoft Surface Currys is selling Microsoft's impressive Surface Pro 4 with Intel i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and detachable keyboard cover for £699. Microsoft is also hosting its own deals, with prices starting at £599 (which include the keyboard cover and pen), and will give you £10 off your next purchase if you use the code BlackFriday2016 at the checkout. Motorola Lenovo's got a wide selection of discounts on Moto phones, wearables and accessories, starting with the offer of a free Incipio OffGrid Power Pack if you buy a Moto Z. If you buy a Moto Z Play, the free gift is JBL's Soundboost accessory. Both are Moto Mods, which are designed to bolt onto the phone and, in this case, give them better battery life and sound output. There are also discounts across the Moto G4 range. The Moto G4 Plus (normally £229) is now £209 and the standard Moto G4 (normally £169) is £159. Both come with a free back cover and free shipping. The Moto G4 Play is now almost £10 cheaper at £119.98 (with free shipping). There are two deals on the Moto X, but one is time sensitive. On Black Friday (November 25th), waterproof Moto X Force will be reduced by £50 to £429. If the Moto X Style is more your bag, you can save £40 on the £309 phone between now and November 28th. Samsung Galaxy S7 With the Note 7 no longer available, Samsung needs to sell more Galaxy S7 handsets. Carphone Warehouse might be able to help with a £100 reduction on the Galaxy S7 Edge, which is now £530. Gadgets and Wearables Sphero BB-8 Love Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Amazon is selling the Sphero's loveable BB-8 droid for £78. B&O Play When it comes to headphones (or earphones), it can be hard to know which models will deliver high-quality sound at a fair price. Amazon's selling the bestselling B&O Play H3 ANCs for £109, meaning you'll save £90. Fitbit Amazon's slashed the price of the original Fitbit Flex by half, meaning you can get the fitness wristband for £40. GoPro GoPro is on the case, offering a free Handler, free 16GB SD card and free GoPro Gift Bag when you buy a HERO Session for £180. Argos has the GoPro Hero+ for £150, complete with two-year guarantee. Huawei Watch We really liked Huawei's Android Wear watch and can easily recommend it at full price, let alone at £168. Amazon has slashed £71 off the price for Black Friday. Moto 360 The slightly aged Moto 360 is now £20 cheaper at £219 (with free shipping). Nest For Black Friday, Google's Nest is cutting the price of its smart thermostat and indoor security camera. They now cost £219 and £129, respectively. Tado Tado is currently offering 20 percent off its entire smart home line. TVs Black Friday often sees UK retailers clear their TV inventory and this year is no exception. If you've been holding off buying a new 4K set, now might be the time to jump. Currys has taken £420 off the price of the highly-rated 55-inch Samsung EU55KS7000 Smart 4K LED TV, meaning you'll pay just £979. The retailer is also offering £200 off the 60-inch Samung UE60KU6020 4K LED TV, which now costs £799. If you've got the budget, Argos has slashed £1,430 off the 65-inch OLED65B6V 4K OLED TV. For £2869, you'll enjoy deeper blacks, more vibrant colour and it doesn't look that bad either.
Global smartphone sales up by 6.6 percent in 2016
While smartphone sales have slowed in recent years as most markets become saturated, the industry is still managing to post positive figures. Market research firm GfK has released a report today showing phone sales increased 6.6% from 2015 thanks to strong growth in China and incremental improvements elsewhere, which they estimate will add up to 1.4 billion units sold in 2016.
Xbox One S helped Microsoft outsell the PS4 in August
The Xbox One outsold the PlayStation 4 in August, thanks to a boost from Microsoft's latest console, the Xbox One S. A 2TB model of the Xbox One S hit shelves on August 2nd for $400 and sales of the new console are bundled under the broader "Xbox One" banner. The Xbox One S supports HDR, 4K gaming, streaming and Blu-ray, and it's 40 percent smaller than the launch model.
Apple knows that the new iPhones will sell out
Apple has traditionally opened iPhone pre-orders on a Friday and then reported on how many people laid down cash the following Monday. The company issues a press release saying that it's seen unprecedented demand and that the latest device is the biggest selling iPhone ever. But that trend won't continue into 2016 because, guys, it's the iPhone, and it's gonna sell out, no matter what.
For its 50th anniversary, Best Buy unveils 50 deals tonight
Years after the demise of competing chain Circuit City, Best Buy is still the most reliable destination to pick up HDMI cables or try out VR platforms after more niche stores close for the evening. To celebrate half a century in business, the megastore chain is going bigger: 50 deals for specific products go live at 10 p.m. Central Time tonight for 50 hours until midnight on Saturday, with most available online.
Microsoft says this might be the last console generation
Earlier today I sat down with Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's head of Xbox games marketing, to talk about Xbox One, Project Scorpio and the future of console gaming. Here are Greenberg's thoughts on three key topics.
Qualcomm is selling more chips for high-end smartphones
Qualcomm shipped more Snapdragon chips this quarter than even it expected, and for that reason (and others), made more money. It reported sales of 201 million high-end chips, beating its estimates by at least 6 million. As a result, it raked in sales of $6.04 billion, up 3.6 percent from last year. Not coincidentally, Samsung also reported a very good quarter earlier this month, selling 15 million Galaxy S7/S7 Edge models. The company is, of course, back to using Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chips (which it actually builds itself), after it stopped with the Galaxy S6.
Tesla no longer guarantees your electric car's resale value
Tesla introduced its Resale Value Guarantee in 2013, when buying an upscale electric car was a riskier prospect. What if your Model S was worth less than a tried-and-true German sedan? However, the market has clearly grown up since then... and Tesla is changing accordingly. The automaker tells The Verge that it has discontinued the program for any new car bought in the US after July 1st. The move will reduce interest rates "as low as possible" and sweeten leases and loans, a spokesperson says. You're still protected if you bought a car under the guarantee, but any relative latecomers will just have to trust that the used EV market will work in their favor.
Celebrate E3 and new 'Zelda' with this lavish Nintendo sale
E3 2016 is in full swing, and there's already a bevy of titles being shown off that we can't wait to get our hands on, particularly The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the upcoming Pokémon Sun and Moon. Nintendo know this very well, and thus is running a special E3 sale from now through June 21 with up to 40% select digital games.
Sony has sold over 40 million PlayStation 4 consoles
Sony has announced a new milestone in PlayStation 4 sales: 40 million. And it says it plans to sell another 20 million by April next year. Anyone with a basic knowledge of math could've worked out the milestone from the company's annual earning report last month, where it announced it had sold 17.7 million PlayStation 4s over the past year. Add that to 2014's 14.8 million and 2013's 7.5 million and that's -- you guessed it -- 40 million.
HMV is closing the gap with Amazon in the UK
What a difference three years makes. HMV, a company that was teetering on the edge of closure three and a half years ago, has pushed past Tesco to become the UK's second biggest entertainment retailer behind Amazon. The company recorded a 2 percent rise in sales of CDs, DVDs and video games in the three months up to April 10th, giving it a 16.9 percent share of its domestic market versus Tesco's 16.1 percent and Amazon's 22 percent -- its best showing since it re-emerged from administration in January 2013.
Nintendo cuts forecasts as 3DS sales fall short
Nintendo may want to send its crystal ball back for a refurb, because it has once again failed at forecasting. It just announced a downgrade to its 2016 estimates because the new 3DS and 3DS XL portable consoles haven't been selling as well as hoped. The company thought it would move 7.6 million units across the world between April 2015 and March 2016, but it's now revised that figure to 6.6 million. It also lowered its 3DS software sales estimate by 9 million units. With Wii U sales estimates unchanged, that means the company expects 2016 revenue to fall 70 billion yen, or approximately $620 million.
These were some of 2015's best selling games
What games sold the most copies in 2015? Exactly the titles you'd expect: the latest entries in long-running franchises like Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Madden NFL 16 and Fallout 4. It's not surprising -- sequels have the springboard advantage of an existing fanbase -- but disappointing: not a single new IP shows up on the NPD's top 10 best selling games list for last year.
Google drops Nexus 5X and 6P prices by $50 for the holidays
Google announced on Wednesday that it has reduced the price for its flagship Nexus 6P and 5X handsets by $50. That means you can pick up a 6P or a 5X for as little as $450 and $330, respectively (and depending on how much onboard memory you spring for). What's more, the company is offering free overnight shipping throughout the holiday season. The discount promotion runs through December 22nd while free shipping lasts until December 30th. These deals are only available to customers in the US and Japan, mind you. So if you're in the market for one of these phones and don't want to go through your carrier to get it, now is the time to act.
Latest IDC wearable numbers show Xiaomi's continued surge
While there was no change in the top two spots for the Q3 2015 IDC wearable numbers, Xiaomi made a staggering jump. In terms of market share, Fitbit is still in the top spot with a 22 percent market share and 4.7 million units shipped in the quarter. The company's numbers were padded by the fact that a number employers are giving their workers Fitbit devices, including Target's order of 335,000. Apple remains at number two, where it debuted in Q2. Cupertino shipped 3.9 million units, aided by both the release of WatchOS 2 and its gadgets going on sale in more locales.
Sony PlayStation 4 sales speed past 30 million
In just over two years Sony's sold over 30 million PlayStation 4s. That tally was 20.2 million in March, and now ahead of the busy holiday shopping season we have word from the Japanese tech giant that it's sold through more than 30.2 million consoles to some 124 countries and regions globally. That's roughly 1.25 million consoles per month since then, as of November 22nd. Impressive! Of course, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One was the number one-selling console for October, and that Halo 5 was the best selling game last month, but as per usual didn't give out any hard numbers.
Microsoft's Black Friday deals include $299 Xbox One bundles
Microsoft is desperate for the Xbox One to make an impact this holiday season. In addition to a slew of exclusive games, including Halo 5: Guardians, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Forza Motorsport 6, the company is continuing to undercut Sony's PlayStation 4. To mark Black Friday -- specifically November 26th to 30th -- Microsoft is slashing $50 from 12 Xbox One holiday bundles. The cheapest of which will be going for $299 with either a copy of The Lego Movie Videogame or Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. Needless to say, there's never been a better time to jump on board with Microsoft's latest console. Combined with the greatly redesigned dashboard, a customisable "Elite" controller and backwards compatibility, there's little else the company can do at this point to promote sales.
'Halo 5' pushed Xbox One sales past the PS4 in October
No matter how you feel about the single-player experience for Halo 5: Guardians, its place as the Xbox family's standard-bearer is secure. NPD data reveals that its release last month not only topped software sales charts in the US, but also drove Xbox One to a victory over the rival PlayStation 4. There aren't any exact numbers attached, but in a statement Microsoft said Xbox One sales were up 81 percent over the same month last year. In case you didn't already know, the expensive but oh-so-good Elite Controller sold through its supply at most retailers, also providing a lift. The only question now is if the victory will turn into a streak, as Xbox features the new Tomb Raider this week to go with an early launch of Star Wars: Battlefront on EA Access. In other NPD news, the Yoshi's Wooly World on Wii U came in at number 8 in game sales for the month, beating out Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live.
Lenovo blames smartphones for its first loss in six years
Lenovo had a nice run of profits thanks to its PC business, but like many others, it's finding smartphones to be a tougher go. Thanks to charges related to its Motorola acquisition and $300 million worth of unsold phones, the company incurred a hefty $714 million net loss for the first time in six years. PC sales didn't actually help much, with revenue in that division dropping 17 percent over last year (though still less than its rivals). Despite all that, Lenovo said overall sales were actually up over last year to $12.2 billion, and added that the changes it made will save $650 million this year alone.
Asda ditches the Black Friday hell it helped create
Like Father's Day, Britain has accepted another US tradition into its heart: Black Friday. By accepted, we mean coming to terms with fighting off a marauding gang of supermarket bargain hunters to get their hands on a £99 Polaroid TV. This year's shopping event is only a couple of weeks away, but already some big-name retailers are withdrawing their support. Despite helping to introduce the concept in the UK two years ago, BBC News reports that supermarket chain Asda won't be holding Black Friday sales come November 27th.
