💸 Last day: claim $50 Samsung credit, ❎ Xbox Game Pass price hike, 🔈 new Amazon Echo, 👹 Shrek 5, 💬 Spotify comments
10 tech stories in the quickest format possible
Today’s 10-story newsletter continues below the Samsung discount ⤵️
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⏲️ 1. Last day: $50 Samsung instant credit with email sign-up expiring soon
💵 Today is the last day to get the $50 Samsung instant credit
✉️ It simply asks you to sign up via email (no commitment to buy)
🚀 Samsung will launch the Galaxy Ring, Fold 6, Flip 6, watches & buds
🎁 It’s also giving away $5,000 in a sweepstakes to one lucky winner
Tomorrow morning, we’ll see new Samsung devices, including the Galaxy Ring and the sequel to the Galaxy Z Fold 5, my current go-to Android phone. The Fold 6 and Flip 6 were leaked, as were the Watch 7, Watch 7 Ultra, Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro.
This $50 Samsung Store instant credit can be applied to the new devices or their accessories when the launch event kicks off at 9am ET. But fair warning, the sign-up form for the $50 credit vanishes (as does your chance to get the offer).
📝 Rules: there’s never a commitment to buy with these. You’re basically using your email to get a notification that new devices are available. If you don’t want to use the $50 Samsung credit (or give it to a friend who forgot to sign up in time), you don’t have to – better safe than sorry, though. I get this question a lot.
🧠 Pro tip: Half of the people I polled forgot the Samsung sweepstakes part. Entering requires checking off this easy-to-miss box. If you made it this far down my email, well, you have a better shot than those people!
🔜 As always, I’ll review new devices when I get my hands on them, so stick close to your email and watch for bonus content for paid subscribers of The Shortcut.
📈 2. Microsoft to increase Xbox Game Pass prices in September
💰 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will cost $19.99 per month (up from $16.99/mo)
🥳 For now, my Xbox Game Pass discount code remains in stock
🙅♂️ “Stacking” multiple Game Passes will go from a 3-year to a 13mo limit
💻 The standalone PC Game Pass will cost $11.99 (was $9.99)
🆕 New Game Pass Standard tier to launch w/o Day-One game releases
📆 Microsoft’s price hikes take effect on September 12
🤔 Why? Xbox’s “Netflix of gaming” will include Call of Duty Black Ops 6 on day one – that Activision takeover was always going to cost you.
It had to happen. I have actually been warning for months that it would happen: Xbox Game Pass will increase in price to $19.99/mo (up from $16.99/mo).
There had to be a trade-off for Microsoft buying Activision for a nice $69 billion. You didn’t think they were really giving you Call of Duty Black Ops 6 on Game Pass for “free” on day one, did you? The $70 “free” game will cost you, like it or not.
Luckily, my Xbox Game Pass Ultimate discount code I’ve been spotlighting still works (for now) – and the new 13-month limit on stacking multiple Game Passes – won’t take effect until September 12. Microsoft started adding stacking restrictions in other countries in April, so it was only a matter of time for US consumers.
🧠 Pro tip: I’ll be stacking 3 years’ worth of Xbox tonight before the limit on stacking transitions to 13 months. The last time there was a price hike on Game Pass, the discounts sold out and returned at a higher price.
A textbook case of you snooze, you lose!
🔈 3. Amazon announces new Echo Spot ahead of Prime Day 2024
🆕 The new Amazon Echo Spot is available now for $79.99
👏 It features a compact display and improved audio quality
🙅♂️ Some users will be happy that there’s no camera on this device
🏡 It’s compatible with your smart home and features Alexa integration
💰 Prime members can get it for $49.99 until July 17
👹 4. Shrek 5 is coming in July 2026, 16 years after the last movie
👹 Shrek 5 will release in theaters on July 2026, says Dreamworks
🍿 Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz will all return
📆 The last movie, Shrek: Forever After (aka Shrek 4), was in 2010
Here’s the official Shrek 5 movie poster teaser:
📸 5. Insta360 Flow is a pocket-sized stabilizer iPhone gimbal with AI tracking
📸 Insta360 Flow is a compact iPhone gimbal that can fit into a large pocket
🤖 It uses AI, similar to Apple’s Front Row, to keep you in the shot
🦵 The base of the gimbal splits apart to form tripod legs
💰 It costs $149, rivaling the $159 DJI Osmo Mobile 6
The Insta360 Flow is available now for $149, which is slightly less expensive than the chief rival, the $159 DJI Osmo Mobile 6 launch price.
Other recent pocket-sized camera stabilizing options can be seen in our DJI Pocket 3 review and our GoPro Hero 12 review. We’ll add an Insta360 Flow review to The Shortcut as soon we get our hands on one. For now, here it is in someone’s pocket:
🎮 6. Mobapad M6 HD review: the best Nintendo Switch controller you can buy
🏆 Review Score: 5 out of 5
🏅 Editor’s Choice Award
Pros:
✅ Retains the same features as the official Nintendo Switch Joy-Con
✅ Clicky microswitch buttons are a pleasure to use
✅ Incredibly comfortable to hold for long periods
✅ Includes Hall Effect sensors to prevent stick drift
✅ Can be used wirelessly for split Joy-Con play
✅ There’s no give or flex when connected to the Switch system
✅ The controllers feel premium without any quality compromises
Cons:
❌ You can’t remap every input to the back buttons
💬 7. Spotify will finally allow users to leave comments on Podcasts
💬 Spotify will roll out a comments section for podcasts
👍 Creators will have to enable the feature and approve comments
⏯️ This is another way in which Spotify is acting like YouTube
🎵 Beyond music, Spotify is trying to justify its 2023 & 2024 price hikes
🕵️ 8. Google will make its dark web monitor free later this month
🕵️ Google’s “Dark Web Report” will be accessible for free in “late July”
💰 Previously, the monitoring service required a Google One membership
🔍 It’ll appear in the “Results about you” section of myactivity.google.com
🔔 It’ll send you notifications if your personal contact info is on the dark web
😬 This includes your name, address, phone number and email
🧠 I’ll remind you when this goes live sans a Google One membership
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10. Remember, Walmart’s Anti-Prime Day deals are still this week
➡️ The Shortcut to all deals
Get 50% off the Walmart+
Buy it for $49 for an entire year (was $98 and will go up again)
Your American Express Platinum card gets you Walmart+ free (monthly)
The American Express Platinum card offers a $155 statement credit on Walmart+ ($12.95/mo) if you pay for Walmart+ monthly). The card costs $695 annually, so it’s only worth it if you’re going to use other benefits, too.
Gaming deals
PlayStation deals
Nintendo deals
Super Mario Party + Red & Blue Joy-Con bundle $69 (was $100)
Nintendo Switch Lite: Animal Crossing Edition $159 (was $200)
Literally one Xbox deals
Top-selling games right now
➡️ 🎮 All gaming deals
LEGO & toy deals
➡️ 🧱 All LEGO deals
➡️ 🧸 All Toy deals
TV deals
Samsung TVs
TCL TVs
Hisense’s 100-inch TV deal
Everyone else
➡️ 📺 All TV deals
Audio deals
The AirPods trio that’s always on sale 2x a year
Over-the-ear-headphones
Computing deals
#1 best-seller: 15.6” Portable IPS Laptop Monitor $74.89 (was $100)
HP Victus 15.6 inch FHD IPS 144Hz gaming laptop $599 (was $980)
Logitech G713 Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard w/ RGB $99 (was $170)
WD Black 4TB hard drive for PS5, Xbox, PC, Mac $108 (was $140)
➡️ 💻 All computing deals
Monitor deals
➡️ 🖥️ All monitor deals
Smartwatch deals
➡️ ⌚ All Smartwatch deals
Home & Kitchen deals
➡️ 🏡 All Home deals
➡️🍽️ All Kitchen deals
🔒 Bonus: $100 PlayStation & Xbox gift card deals, 50% off Xbox Game Pass
We’re expanding our discount codes for paid subscribers as a pack-in. It’s sort of like CD-ROM pack-ins for subscribers of 90s magazines.
😬 Can’t afford it? Totally fine. I’m opening up more ways to be a paid subscriber for people who can’t spare the $5/mo ($4.16/mo) to keep us going. Support us in other ways by referring your friends & family to The Shortcut. Help us grow!
🟦 $100 PlayStation giftcard for $85
🟩 $50 Xbox Gift Card for $41
🟩 $100 Xbox Gift Card for $84
❎ Xbox Game Pass discount 50% off $26 (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51 and soon to be $60 for 3 months)
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