Google Pixel 3 XL (64GB, unlocked) for $200

If you are looking for a budget pure Android phone that gets Android 12 but will not get any future OS updates, and you are not tempted by the boiling hot hype machine of the Google Pixel 6 ($600+ for the regular, $900+ for the PRO), then you may be interested in this limited time sale at B&H Photo, it is the new condition carrier-unlocked (T-Mobile Unlocked phone, works with CDMA and GSM) Google Pixel 3 XL (64GB, Just Black) on sale for $200 with free US shipping.

Note that the Pixel 3 will stop getting updates after October 2021 (as of the time of writing = NOW) per the Google help page. All Pixel phones before the Pixel 6 get three years of guaranteed OS and security updates. Starting with the Pixel 6, the security updates increase to five years. The OS updates remain at three years.

PS: for those not familiar with the Pixel line, keep in mind that there’s no microSD card and the non-a models do not have a headphone jack.

Pre-order the all new Pixel 6 phones for $599 or $899 [PRO] with FREE Pixel Buds

Google has just revealed their new Pixel 6 flagship phones and they priced them at old-school flagship prices. The actual flagship is the Pixel 6 PRO model going for $899 and for a limited time you can get free Google Pixel Buds at the B&H Photo pre-order page. The Google Store page is currently getting hammered as the hype machine is building steam for the phone.

Meanwhile the standard Pixel 6 (B&H Photo) is pre-orderable for $599 with the free Google Pixel Buds.

The above prices are for the 128GB models. The 256GB models go for $100 more on either options. As of the time of writing B&H only offers the 128GB models.

With the Pixel 6 models, Google is offering a minimum of five years of security updates.

The PRO flagship has an insane 12GB RAM, which cannot be found on most Windows computers LOL.

Google said during the live-stream that October 28 is the official release date…

More details on these and unboxings can be found on your favorite tech and smartphone websites and YouTubes and TikToks 🙂

UPDATE: meanwhile at the official Google USA store the Pixel 6 PRO models in the Unlocked option are already sold-out, while some of the options remain in the “Google FI” option. I did not check the Verizon option… The Pixel 6 standard model is not sold out because the HYPE MACHINE is roaring mainly for the PRO model.

Pre-order the new 6.8-inch Kindle Paperwhite starting at $140 (w/Ads, 8GB) OR Signature Edition for $190 (no Ads, 32GB, wireless charging, auto-adjusting light sensors)

Hooray-hooray e-reader fans! As rumor-leaked, Amazon has finally decided to increase the screen-size of the Paperwhite Kindle e-reader!

The new waterproof 6.8-inch Kindle Paperwhite e-reader is available for pre-ordering with an October 27 (2021) release date estimate. This is also known as the 11th generation Kindle.

The price of the 8GB base-model Paperwhite with Sponsored Ads is $140, and Without Ads is $160.

Unlike the past, this time around Amazon is adding more features and a different name to the 32GB model. IT is the Paperwhite Signature Edition and it goes for $190 (without Ads option only). So that’s only $30 more than the without-Ads base-model Paperwhite and you get three more benefits see paragraph below:

In addition to 32GB instead of 8GB, the Signature edition offers wireless charging AND auto-adjusting light sensors. These three features are NOT available on the 8GB base model. So 32GB is no longer just for manga and long complicated ebooks and PDFs and large libraries of ebooks/docs 🙂

Amazon also offers bundles with various accessories (cork case, fabric case, leather case) that include a wireless charging dock (for the 32GB Signature edition – NICE!). Needless to say these cost more but not a lot more. For example, the Leather bundle is only $230 (so it’s +$40 for the Leather accessories bundle)…

You can see most of the available bundles at the Kindle Bundle Best Sellers list…

For a limited time, the two adult Paperwhite models come with a 4-month FREE Kindle Unlimited subscription. A great way to read a LOT of ebooks (especially if you like to binge-read). Just post a couple of alerts in your calendar to cancel if you don’t want it to auto-renew. Or if you forget, pester the customer service to undo it 🙂

There’s also a Kids edition that is based on the base 8GB Paperwhite for $160 that includes enough freebies that some adults may choose to buy it? (free access to select Kindle Kids ebooks, 2-year worry-free guarantee). Three color options, one is black, the other two are kidz-stylez 😉

The now previous generation 8GB 6-inch Paperwhite (with Ads) has dropped to $80. I doubt the new 6.8″ Paperwhite is gonna get anywhere this close in price, somebody has to pay for the R&D that went into the new 6.8″ display and e-reader innards and wireless charging and such 😉

There’s also a 20% off Trade-In promotion. You get 20% off on this new purchase, PLUS a gift card for the value of your old Kindle. The system finds the Kindles linked to your account and automatically makes offers on them. For example, I got a $5 gift card ofer for one of the prehistoric Kindle with Keyboard devices. So the benefit is not the $5 I would get on the value of the old Kindle, but the 20% off discount I would get on the purchase price of the all new device!

PS: if you have any old unused Kindles hanging around, and want to get the 20% Trade-In discount, you may want to revitalize them (charge, link to your account, etc), to become eligible for the 20% off trade-in discount. Having said that, I don’t know if their system has any measures in place to prevent making upgrade offers on newly-registered devices. Unfortunately I don’t have any extra unregistered Kindles lying around to test it.

PS2: please feel free to send me the new 6.8″ Paperwhite Signature edition if you don’t want it 😉

Kindle Paperwhite down to $80 (or $70 certified refurbished)

Reading is FUN-da-MENTAL! And if you like to use e-ink e-book-readers for your reading, Amazon has a limited time promotion on their Kindle Paperwhite (8GB storage, waterproof, Ad Supported) going for $80. Or you can buy the “Without Ads” for $100. These are available in four different color schemes even!

Since this is an e-ink device, and not a phone/tablet, the ads are not annoying. You can start with the “Ad Supported” version and if you find you can’t stomach even the lite ads, you can pay Amazon a one time $20 fee to have them removed from a particular device. I personally found some interesting books to read through the ads but everyone’s tolerance to advertising is different.

If you want to save another $10, they have the certified refurbished option for $70. These sold on the Amazon website come with the same 1-year Amazon warranty as the new condition models. Note however that those sold at Woot as used/refurbished, only come with a 90-day warranty.

The one time I bought a certified refurbished Kindle I couldn’t tell the difference between a new and a refurbished. Another time they sent me a warranty-replacement of an early generation Paperwhite, again, I couldn’t tell the difference between new and refurbished.

If you want to sort out the different models, here’s a handy tablet at Wikipedia. The one on sale is the latest Paperwhite model, the Paperwhite 4, launched in November 2018… After that came two newer models in 2019, a new “basic Kindle” and a new “flagship Oasis”…

Shipping Friday: Apple Tags for $29 (or 4pk for $99)

If you are part of the Apple ecosystem and want to tag your “frequently lost” or “frequently hard to find” items, we have good news for you! The Apple Tags are going to begin shipping on Friday April 30 in 2021!

You can buy a single tag for $29 at B&H Photo and at Amazon itself and at Adorama

If you want more of these, Apple is selling them as 4-packs for $99, that’s like paying $24.75 per tag. You can get the 4-packs at Adorama and at Amazon itself and at B&H Photo

BUT WAIT, there’s more! Apple is also making AirTag Loops in multiple colors for easier and more color-cordinated attachment. Each one goes for $29 to $39 depending on color (there’s even a PRODUCT RED). You can get these at B&H Photo and at Adorama and also by Amazon itself

PS: if you don’t want/need the official Apple Loops, as expected, various third-parties, MFi or not, have a variety of them, eg at NewEgg’s

13.3″ MacBook M1 Air for $899 {w/AppleCare+ for $1128}

The newly announced “Spring Loaded” Apple gear (M1 iMac, M1 iPad PRO) are going on pre-order at the end of the month, but if you must needs have M1 now, B&H Photo has a M1 MacBook Air on sale until Monday 4/26/21 at 11:59pm ET (or earlier if sold out) as follows:

+ 13.3″ MacBook Air (late 2020, three color options) for $899
+ 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 13.3″ 2560×1600 Retina IPS, 7-core, 16-neurals

+ and if you …care about Apple Care, you can get it bundled with AppleCare+ Protection for $1128, that’s a +$229 on the laptop alone

$30 to $50 e-GiftCards with pre-orders of new OnePlus Nord smartphones ($180 and $300)

The tech world works in mysterious ways. While the most recent OnePlus flagship series was not greeted as a liberator, OnePlus had a surprise hit with their Nord affordable line. And they have revealed two new models in the Nord line at Diet CES 2021…

For a limited time, if you pre-order them during this window, B&H Photo will include a $30 or $50 (depending on model) B&H Photo e-gift card. The offer is good while you see it mentioned at the B&H product page, look for something like this: “Includes Free: 1 item ($30.00 value)”

The Nord N100 (64GB) goes for $180 with the $30 B&H e-gift card included automatically by B&H. This phone has 4G LTE (no 5G, so you won’t regrow a tail), with 4GB RAM, SnapDrogon 460 with Adreno 610, 6.52″ (1600×720, 90Hz, IPS-type LCD, Gorilla 3) screen, USB-C, headphone jack, microSD slot, Wifi 5, Bluetooth 5, fingerprint, etc.

If you want higher specs, the 5G Nord N10 (128GB) goes for $300 with a $50 B&H e-gift card included automatically by B&H while this promotion is running. This has 6GB of RAM, SnapDrogon 690 with Adreno 619L, 6.49″ (2400×1080, 90Hz, 405ppi, Gorilla 3, IPS-type LCD) screen, USB-C, headphone jack, microSD, Wifi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, etc…

NOTE: I don’t see NFC in the B&H specs of either at their aforelinked product pages, so this is something you may want to further look into if you want to use it for contactless payments and such… Under Q&A, for the Nord N10, a B&H staff member answered a customer-question saying this has NFC… But to be certain, be sure to google around multiple places, including the usually-reliable “phone arenas” and such…

Up to 40% off at the Best Buy Outlet

If you are a fan of the Best Buy way, they are currently having an “up to 40% off” sale on the Best Buy Outlet store, a mix of clearance and open-box items, and refurbished items, some of which come with their 6-month Geek-Nerd whatever-they-call-their-service warranty ~ check the listing details of individual products to determine that…

UPDATE: good until Saturday 10am ET, the Adorama dailies feature two items:

+ Manfrotto PIXI Evo 2 Section mini Tripod for $35

+ Gitup Git2 1080p Full HD Gyro Video Wi-Fi Action Camera, 60 fps, 170 Degree View Angle, 98′ Housing Waterproof, Pro Packaging for $65

Ends Tue PM: Apple M1 instant savings ($50 to $100 off, select options)

The M1 benchmarks and reviews and the sad state of Intel have made the current and future Apple M-series silicon computers a true non-hype breakthrough in the world of computing. Already there’s a 1140+ backer Patreon project by “marcan” to port Linux to the M1. Imagine Linux running on such a platform!

The M1X even-crazier performance rumors have cooled off some of the crazy demand for the first generation M1 computers, which mayhaps explain some of the surprise instant savings promotions…

Speaking of which, select M1 computers have an instant savings promotion running until Tuesday 12/22/20 at 11:59pm eastern at B&H Photo as follows:

+ 13.3″ MacBook PRO (Retina, 8GB, 256GB, Space Gray) for $1199
+ silver remains at $1299 starting price

+ Mac Mini (8GB, 256GB) for $639
+ a $60 off instant savings

+ Mac Mini (8GB, 512GB) for $849
+ a $50 off instant savings

+ as usual, keep in mind, shipment of high-demand items can be unpredictable and that’s before we consider the impact of COVIDalia

15% off select certified refurbished eBay items (248 options)

Good until 12/18/20 at 11:59pm pacific time, coupon code PURCHASECR15 gets you 15% off select participating certified refurbished products at the eBay website. As of the time of writing 248 items are participating in the coupon promotion… This is a “tech etc” type of an offer, I did not find any camera gear participating…

Black Friday only: NewEgg’s 24 hour e-newsletter offers

If you like your eggs new [HA!], NewEgg has launched a 24-hour Black Friday e-newsletter promotion. For items that have promo codes, it requires the “enter your email address” song and dance. Too many items to list here individually, so this is a DIY YMMV egg-y adventure…

NewEgg 24 hour Thursday BF Ultimate sale

Fans of the NewEgg way of doing things, they have launched their 24 hour Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) Ultimate BF sale with 98 pages of offers, with each page having 36 offers. These are slightly too many for me to digest before they expire, even if I do nothing else 🙂 So it is a YMMV DIY adventure 🙂

They have one page with digital cameras [they are probably all international models ~ double check if interested] and they have two pages of camera accessories (memory cards, Neewers, etc)…

Thursday: Huion Graphics Tablets (10 options, $28 to $560)

Wacom is the most famous but not the only one making graphics tablets. Hiding among the Thursday Amazon USA Gold Box deals du jour is a sale on ten Huion Graphics Tablets with prices ranging from $28 to $560, with six of the options being under $60.

In other deal du jour action, there’s this Keurig K-Cafe Special Edition Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee, Latte and Cappuccino Maker going for $190 in nickel or $170 in charcoal. It averages 4.7 out of 5 based on 10,700+ customer reviews as of the time of writing…

NewEgg Black Friday is here!

If you are fond of the way of the NewEgg, their Black Friday is here with another round of techie products on offer. As of the time of writing they have 91 pages of offers over there. Slightly too many for my Celeron-brain multi-tasking to go through and summarize on the fly, so this is a YMMV DIY adventure 🙂

B&H Tech Round-Up: 2TB Samsung SSD, 12TB MyBook, 12.9″ iPad PRO

And now some techie B&H Photo action! Expiring tonight (Thursday 11:59pm ET) is the new condition 12TB WD MyBook Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive for $212 with free US shipping. That’s under $20 per TB. “My Book” are powered desktop HDDs. Needless to say, you need a backup of that 12TB, it’s scary to leave so many eggs in a single basket without additional backup 🙂 Probably don’t back it up on floppy disks or CD-Rs though 🙂

Speaking of storage, the new trend is SSD storage instead of spinning hard disks, and if you’re into that, the 2TB Samsung T5 portable SSD is on sale for $230, while the 1TB goes for $130. As of the time of writing these average 4.8 out of 5 based on 830+ ratings over there.

Next up, iPads! One way to lower your “Apple Tax” is to go with the previous generation model. If you follow that philosophy, B&H Photo is offering the new condition 12.9″ iPad PRO (previous generation) with 64GB on-board and Wifi and 4G LTE (Verizon unlocked, can be used with T-Mo and Big T) for $799 with free US shipping…

For more action, check the on-going B&H Black Friday deals

B&H launches their Apple Black Friday deals!

Apple fans, unite and take over! B&H Photo has launched their Apple Black Friday deals for the season. New offers are also being added, so this is not a static list.

Products include the whole array of non-iPhone Apples, from Mac Minis, MacBooks (includes PRO and AIR), iMacs, Mac PRO [the big desktops], iPad of course (PRO, Air and “regular”, and Mini too), Apple TV streaming boxes, iWatches, and Airpods.

The Apple Silicon M1 laptops are available for pre-ordering but they are obviously not on sale. With benchmarks like that, sales may arrive in the next decade 😉

15% off certified refurbished with eBay coupon [ends Tue PM]

Good until Tuesday 11/24/20 at 11:59pm pacific time, coupon code PICKCRTECH15 gets you 15% off select certified refurbished technology items on eBay. A total of 72 options are available as of the time of writing…

NewEgg launches Black Friday Sales Event

Those of you reading the “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series may be familiar with the phrase “it’s always Black Friday under the sea”, and NewEgg applies a similar philosophy, it’s always Black Friday in November as they have launched their 2020 “BF Event Sale”. They have their usual assortment of tech-y and computer-y items…

Pre-order the new Apple Silicon M1 computers (ship next week)

And they are finally here! The all new Apple Silicon Mac computers. And they revealed a trio of them yesterday. No more profit-leakage to Intel. Apple keeps it all, and that’s why the prices are kept reasonable despite the big performance gains that were made in the Apple presentation…

The new M1 chip has 8 cores (four fast, four efficient), (up to) 8 GPU cores, 16 Neural cores, up to 16GB RAM, up to 2TB storage, better battery life, better security and on and on and on…

During this transition period, Apple is launching “Universal” apps, a name that didn’t go so well for Windows. Universal apps will have the binary code for both the Apple M1 apps and Intel apps in a single executable to make it easier for end-users. Non-M1 apps will use Apple’s Rosetta II emulator, which Apple claims can run faster than the original Intel Apples.

Of photography interest, Lightroom’s universal app is coming next month, while Photoshop’s universal binary is expected in 2021…

Speaking of apps, these M1 Macs can also run iOS (iPhone and iPad) apps out of the box since they are using similar underlying infrastructure…

And these are now available for pre-ordering in various configurations at B&H Photo with shipment expected to happen next week, which is when the new Mac OS “Big Sur” is expected to rollout…

+ Apple MacMinis starting at $699

+ Apple MacBook Airs starting at $999 ($899 for education)

+ 13.3″ MacBook PRO starting at $1299 ($1199 for education)

If you have 50 minutes to spare, you can watch the whole socially-distanced Apple presentation recorded at “The UFO” in Cupertino::California:

Not everyone is on the hype train though, Linus of “Linus Tech Tips” has a handful of objections…

34-inch Crystal PRO 1500R curved ultra-wide monitor for $250

And now an early “Black Friday” deal of the computer monitor kind from Monoprice. They are offering their new condition 34-inch Crystal PRO 1500R curved ultra-wide monitor for $250 with free US shipping for a limited time and up to five per customer at the sale price.

As of the time of writing this averages 4.3 out of 5 based on 13 customer reviews. It has 2560×1080, 21:9, AMD FreeSync, 75Hz (100Hz overclocked), height-adjustable stand, HDMI, DisplayPort and DVI inputs, Samsung’s VA panel technology, 75×75 VESA, 1-year PixelPerfect warranty, RGB 95%, NTSC 72%, DCI-P3 75%, Adobe® RGB 74%, etc…

Meanwhile at the Tuesday Best Buy dailies they have the Case Logic Viso Camera Backpack (Large) going for $100, and twenty house-brand computer accessories on sale ~ among other things…

New iPad Air (4th generation, 2020) down to $559

The starting price of the new iPad Air (4th generation, 2020 model, 10.9″, Wifi-only, 64GB on-board) is $599 but for a limited time B&H Photo is offering the green color scheme for $559. This is not a leafy dark green, more of a soothing pastel pistachio-ice-cream green.

Interesting to note how the “storage steps” have gone with Apple. With this model, there are two steps, 64GB and 256GB and the difference is +$150 because now Apple considers the jump from 64GB to 128GB a “half stop” ($50), while the jump from 128GB to 256GB remains a “full stop” ($100).

The cellular option (4G LTE) is the usual +$130…

With Google and manufacturers ignoring Android tablets (Chromebooks are the new tablets seems to be good enough for Google these days) even Apple haters had and have been turning to iPads 🙂

Pre-order Cricket Wireless Locked iPhone 12 and PRO with Amazon Billing and $100 drip-drop GC

If you are a big fan of both Cricket Wireless and Amazon, and you want the new iPhone 12*, and do not object to a CARRIER LOCKED phone, then keep on reading…

Cricket Wireless through Amazon is offering pre-orders of the new iPhone 12 regular for $829 (64GB), or $879 (128GB) or $979 (256GB) in many different colors including (PRODUCT RED).

They are also offering for pre-order the new iPhone 12 PRO for $999 (128GB) or $1099 (256GB) or $1299 (512GB) also in different colors but no (PRODUCT RED).

Now as I said this is CARRIER LOCKED (to Cricket Wireless) and you have to use $55/month Cricket “Unlimited” talk and data plan (Mexico and Canada included, with 15GB hotspot, Video streaming at SD quality, 4G LTE, no 5G).

This offer has a couple of twists:

  • your monthly payment to Cricket Wireless happens automatically through Amazon. Every month Amazon charges your credit/debit card and behind the scenes they pay Cricket Wireless on your behalf. No additional taxes on the $55 amount since it is a store value card (per the Amazon FAQs over there)
  • every month you remain on the plan you automatically earn a $4.17 Amazon Gift Card balance. If you stay for 24 months, it becomes a drip-drop total of $100 (24 x $4.17). $100 is the maximum you can earn in Amazon gift card balance through this promotion. On month #25 and later you earn nada gift card balance!
  • this is not a contract, you can terminate at any time, but this phone is locked to Cricket
  • there are FAQs and more details on this plan and terms and conditions further down the Amazon product page over there
  • I haven’t done this type of an offer before, so I don’t know how it works in practice

Pre-order the all new OnePlus 8T for $749 with FREEbie

It’s raining new smartphones left and right these days, and one such is the expected now-a-days “T version” of the current OnePlus model. So if all the options out there the OnePlus 8T is the one you want, it is now available for pre-ordering at B&H Photo for $749 with free US shipping and during this promotional pre-ordering period you will also receive for FREE (automatically by B&H) the OnePlus Truly Wireless Earbuds. The 8T is available in two color options…

As a quick refresher, this uses the SnapDragon 865, 12GB RAM, four back cameras, one front camera, 6.5″ IPS touchscreen (20:9 2400 x 1080, HDR10+, 1100 nits, 120Hz, Gorilla Glass 3), dual SIM, 256GB UFS 3.1 on-board storage, North America variant with 5G, unlocked, Wifi 6 (aka 802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1. However, no microSD, no headphone jack!

PSA: Chromebooks Getting Extended End Of Life deadline

Google is very “data creepy” (but it has plenty of competition from Facebook, Instagram, Ad Networks, Governments, etc). However, one of the good things it did the last few years is the launch of Chromebooks, easy to use and easy to maintain laptops and more recently moonlighting as Android kinda-tablets.

And while Google avoided the Android pitfall and Google was responsible for the OS updates, it placed OS update expiration dates on Chromebooks. Not on an individual Chromebook but on the platform. Let’s say your Chromebook is using the Celery 123U half-core processor. The Celery 123U launched in May 2015. You bought your Chromebook brand new in box from a retailer in May 2020. The OS updates expiration countdown does not start from May 2020 but May 2015. So even though you just bought a NIB laptop from an authorized retailer, the OS updates were already close to expiration.

After getting e-yelled at by many and mayhaps losing some big corporate and educational orders over this, Google increase the OS updates expiration date (“AUE” in Google speak) multiple times.

And now they have increased it once again per Android Central, so be sure to visit the official Google Support Auto Update Expiration Date page to check whether your current Chromebook(s) have been given a new lease on life. One of mine jumped from 2021 to 2023!

BUT that’s not all. Some of you frequent Chromebook users may have noticed something irritating the last few weeks. Instead of having one set of settings like it used to, the Chromebook now has separate ChromeOS and Chrome Browser settings. This was irritating and confusing. Why were they doing that?

Well the answer to that is related to AUE. Google’s Project LaCros will be splitting the Chrome browser from the ChromeOS, allowing older Chromebooks who no longer get the OS updates to be able to receive Chrome browser updates like a “normal” computer.

This also opens up an interesting question and food for thought for anti-monopoly hawks. Will Chromebooks also be opened up to other web browsers now that OS and the Browser will separate? Details at the OS News at 11 🙂

Woot Gar(b)age: GoPRO HERO8, Contixo Drones, Sony Stamina Plus, Etc

Woot has launched Garage Sale #60, and this installment, running until 10/24/20 at 11:59pm central [or earlier if they sell out ~ and they do sellout sometimes] has some potentially interesting items under the Electronics Garage inluding:

  • GoPro HERO8 Camera 2019 Special Bundle for $320
  • Contixo F18 2K Drone with UHD Camera FPV Live Video for $150 with 1-year warranty
  • also Contixo F22 for $127, and F24 for $216
  • 72-packs of Sony single-use Stamina Plus AA or AAA batteries for $20 per 72-pack
  • 12pk of Sony Stamina Plus single-use 9V for $19, and 24pk of C for $24 and 24pk of D for $34
  • Google Pixel 3 XL for $330
  • various international Samsung Galaxy phones (Note 20+, S20, S10+, N10 Lite, etc)

NewEgg Memorial Day Sale

NewEgg is having their own Memorial Day sale in their customary “newsletter style” format. A few of the offers require a promo code to be used. The promo code is shown next to the item, you don’t have to hunt and peck for it… This is a technology focused sale…

12.9″ iPad PRO (2018, 256GB, Wifi-only) for $899

If you are not tempted by the 2020 iPad PROs, for a limited time, B&H Photo is having a special offer on the new condition 12.9-inch iPad PRO (2018) (256GB, Wifi-only, Space Age Gray) for $899 with free US shipping… You also get a free 1-year subscription to Apple TV+ (as with most new i-device purchases)…

4X Google Play Points [ends Sun PM]

If you have been eyeing any camera and photography related for-pay Google Play apps, or any other for-pay Google Play apps, if you are participating in the free to join (and you can join immediately) Google Play Points rewards program, purchases made until Sunday night 5/24/20 earn you 4X rewards points instead of the usual 1X points. There’s no coupon code to enter. If you are participating in the rewards program you will earn the extra points automagically…

Pixel 3a drops to $279, 3a XL drops to $319

Rumors of the upcoming Pixel 4a smartphone are swirling across the universe, but if you don’t want to wait, B&H Photo is having a sale on the current generation, the Pixel 3a. The standard 3a model goes for $279 in various colors, while the larger Pixel 3a XL goes for $319…

Picking a phone these days is hard if you are not predisposed to particular brands or features (eg S-Pen). Let’s not forget the Pocophone F2 PRO is coming too starting at $500!

Pocophone F2 PRO smartphone (6/128GB version, pop-up selfie camera) for $500

If you hate notches or Selfie cameras, or you are very pro-privacy and don’t want the smartphone’s selfie camera to take unauthorized pictures, you may be interested in the brand new Xiaomi Pocophone F2 PRO smartphone. The selfie camera is a pop-up camera, nestled inside the body. It pops out in order to take a picture. And because of this, there’s no notch/holepunch or whatever that thing is called, the thing that ruins the serene surface of the front of the phone 🙂

The 6GB RAM with 128GB storage (no microSD, but it has a 3.5mm headphone jack) version of the phone is already available for purchase for $500 in various colors at Gear Best which also has the 35-minute launch video, YouTube-embedded below for your phone-entertainment…

This has the Snapdragon 865 processor, Sony IMX686 1/1.7″ pixel-binning 64mp sensor on the main camera (of the five), UFS 3.1, liquid cooling technology, 4700 mAh battery, etc, etc, …

The 8GB with 256GB which has LPDDR5 (instead of LPDDR 4X) goes for $100 more…