Everything on sale or free (even the 🥑guac) in today's email
Plus in-depth PSVR 2, new Samsung phone color, PS5 and Xbox software upgrades, first GTA 6 details and a lot of tech news
Top deal: Free $200 Samsung credit ends in 10 days and more below
Your friendly neighborhood Swider-Man here in NYC 🕸️,
I didn’t win the $1.3 billion lottery either, so I’m still testing out new tech (below) and highlighting everything on sale or free. 🥑Chipotle Guac is 𝟭¢ today, 🎧Audible is $0 for 3 months ending tonight, 📱 you can claim a free $200 Samsung credit (10 more days) and 🎮 3 PlayStation Plus free games (ending tomorrow).
Deal sources
🔥 Audible is $0 for 3 months – extended until tonight
🌯 Chipotle
🆓 Free or 1¢
🥑 Chipotle Guac for 1¢: The Guac isn’t really “extra” when it’s 1¢, right? A friend alerted me to this deal that celebrates National Avocado Day
🟦 $200 Samsung credit: ends in 10 days. By signing up, you’re not required to buy the all-but-announced Samsung Galaxy Fold 4, Flip 4 or Watch 5, but if you do, you get up to $200 in Samsung Store credit as a bonus (if you sign up before the end of August 9).
🎧 $0 for Amazon’s Audible: 3-month free trial. Tonight is the last night (extended from last week)
🎮 3 free PS Plus games: ending tomorrow! Get Crash Bandicoot 4 (worth downloading), The Dark Pictures Anthology and Arcadegeddon
🔥➕ PlayStation Plus discount code for $20 off!
✂️ Yes, I’m working on getting PS Plus Extra/Premium discount codes!
🙌 Top deals (that aren’t free but, you know… nice)
🪓 God of War Ragnarok Collector’s Edition: Walmart is in stock finally; sold out almost everywhere else
❌ Sold out: Amazon God of War Ragnarok CE
❌ Sold out: Best Buy God of War Ragnarok CE
👀 Yes, I’ll track Amazon’s God of War Ragnarok Jotnar Edition page. I see all of your emails (which are very helpful to know what you want)
🥷 $40 off Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ
🔥 This deal ends tonight and is the hottest seller in small appliances
💪 Fitness deals
💻 Nothing says ‘Back to School’ like Laptop deals
💻 $300 off HP 17.3” Windows Intel Core i5 laptop
Top-selling laptop right now
💻 $250 off Dell 14” Inspiron 2-in-1 Core i7 laptop
A better Windows laptop but pricier
💻 $420 off HP Envy 17.3” Intel Core i7 laptop (when logged in)
There are a few HP Envy’s on sale today only
🎮 Games on sale
🧙♂️ Lowest $ in 30 days: Clue Harry Potter board game at Amazon
🎭 Pre-order: Bayonetta 3 Trinity Masquerade Edition at Amazon
🏹 $10 of Horizon Forbidden West
➡️ Get this one: Horizon FW PS4 at Best Buy (upgrades free to PS5 edition, so get this one and you’ll save another $10)
⚾ $30 off MLB The Show 22 (either regular or MVP Edition)
🕷️ Spider-Man Miles Morales $20 off (persistent deal)
📰 100% ad-free news
I demoed the Galaxy S22 in Bora Purple – it's just the start of Samsung's surprises
📱 Up to $900 off Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, S22 Plus and S22 deals
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🟪 New color: Samsung Galaxy S22 in Bora Purple is a mid-cycle addition
📆 Launch: August 10, the same day Samsung will announce MORE devices
📱Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
📱Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
⌚Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 – and the Watch 5 Pro
🌈 Joins: Black, White, Green, Pink Gold, Graphite, Cream, Blue, and Violet
💰 Price: $799, but Samsung has A+ trade-in deals + free Buds Live
🤓 Meaning? “Bora” is the Korean word for purple
🙃 So, saying “I got the S22 Bora Purple” = “I got the S22 Purple Purple”
Here's an early look at the PSVR 2 user experience
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
👍 Sony has given us a quick peek at the user experience features of PSVR 2
👀 Headset includes a see-through view; you don’t have to take the headset off
📷 You’ll be able to broadcast yourself while playing if you have a PS5 HD Camera
🛋️ You can customize your play area using the headset’s cameras and PSVR 2 Sense controllers
🎥 You can switch between two modes: VR Mode and Cinematic Mode
🔜 The PSVR 2 launch date will be shared soon
GTA 6 reportedly getting a female protagonist, 2024 release window
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
👩 GTA 6 story may feature a Latina protagonist in a Bonnie & Clyde scenario
🌇 It reportedly returns to Vice City – GTA's vision of Miami – and its suburbs
🌎 Map dials back plan to encompass swaths of North and South America
📆 GTA 6 updates will reportedly add cities and stories over time
New Xbox Series X update speeds up the console significantly
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🆕 A new Xbox Series X update reduces the overall startup time
⌛ The bootup time has gone from around 12 seconds to 7 seconds
🌿 The new update should encourage more people to use Energy Saver mode
PS5 is finally getting 1440p support, along with some fancy new features
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🆕A new PS5 system software beta is now rolling out to invited participants
🥳 The update adds 1440p support, which has been one of the most-requested features
❌ Unfortunately VRR does not work when using 1440p
📁 Gamelists are also new and let you organize games in the ‘Your Collection’ tab of your Game Library
🎧 A new listen and compare setting for stereo and 3D audio has been added
👋 It’ll be easier to access in-progress Activities and interact with your friends
Meta is raising the price of Quest 2 by $100 tomorrow
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🥽 Meta Quest 2 headsets will cost $100 more from August 1
🆓 Every purchase will come with a free copy of Beat Saber
🤔 The price hike will help with “moving the VR industry forward”
⌛ If you want a Meta Quest 2, you’re best off buying one before August
👍 The price hike could bode well for PSVR 2
Play PS5 on your iPhone with this Backbone One PlayStation Edition controller
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🎮 What: A PlayStation-branded iPhone-compatible controller grip
🤝 Vouch: Officially licensed PlayStation Edition adds DualSense buttons
📳 Match game: Decked out PS5 style, but no DualSense haptic feedback
💵Price: $99.99, almost twice as expensive as PS5 DualSense controllers
📵Compatibility: Only for iPhone; there’s a separate Xbox version
Microsoft is finally fixing this frustrating Xbox Series X problem
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🙌 Xbox Series X update tackles one of the console’s most annoying issues
🔎 Soon, it will be easier to know if a game has left Game Pass, whether it requires a disc or a different user to sign in
🧪 New badges are being tested by Xbox Alpha and Alpha Skip Ahead Insiders
Twitter Blue price increase: $4.99 per month but promises new features
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🐦 Cash-strapped blues: Twitter Blue price goes from $2.99 to $4.99/mo
📆 When? This week for new members, October for existing subscribers
✏️ Why? Twitter promises the new price will ‘help build some new features’
📈 Why else? When microblogging has to deal with macroeconomics
🫥 Edit button: the Twitter edit button will be a Twitter Blue Labs