The largest TVs are selling for low-budget prices, recent ads show. Amazon was selling a Sony 2020 X750H 75-inch 4K for $998 with free scheduled delivery in a Friday Deal of the Day. Sony was also a Deal of the Day at Best Buy Friday: Its 65-inch XBR65X900F 4K LED Android TV was discounted $300 to $899. The company sold 1.5 million TVs in Q1 ended June 30, 25% fewer than in the prior-year quarter, it said in August (see 2008040014). An LG 70-inch 70UN7070PUA 4K TV smart LED TV was knocked down $50 to $649 at Best Buy; an 82-incher in the UN8500 series dropped $550 to $1,449. Samsung cut $500 from the 82-inch UN82RU8000FXZA4K TV, bringing it to $1,499 at Best Buy. That led former CEDIA integrator Russ Herschelmann to post on Facebook: “Wow. $1500 for an almost 7 foot diagonal 4K flat screen HDTV. I remember when the first 40" plasmas were $40,000.00.”
Amazon hasn’t publicly committed to a date for Prime Day, but that didn’t stop its vendor partners from advertising specials for the sales event that’s widely reported to be Oct. 13. Smart home company Sense emailed Wednesday that its Monitor and Solar products will be discounted $60 “for Amazon Prime Day only on Oct. 13” with the code PRIME60. The Verge reported an official announcement will be made Sunday. An Amazon spokesperson says (see 2009220061) details will come about the event that was delayed from July due to COVID-19.
LG teamed with Evil Geniuses on a four-part web series about the world of professional gamers, said the vendor Wednesday. The Inside the Mind series premiers Thursday at noon EDT and will drop new episodes every Thursday on the Evil Geniuses YouTube channel, featuring players such as Tarik, Arteezy, HelloKittyRicki and FearItSelf. Inside the Mind will go into how pro gamers act, strategize and think. It will also highlight LG’s UltraGear gaming monitors with 1-millisecond response time, 144 Hz frame rate and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility. As a companion to the series, Evil Geniuses pros will face opponents on a weekly livestreamed, interactive, two-hour broadcast on Twitch, LG said.
Verizon Media is introducing a free “Watch Together” feature enabling NFL fans to video chat on their phones while watching live games in the Yahoo Sports app, said the carrier. Yahoo Sports is launching an augmented reality enhancement, “Yahoo Sports PlayAR,” that will allow fans to view “graphical replays of key plays across all games in near real-time.” It will layer NFL “proprietary tracking data” on screen with “enhanced games stats for players."
Vizio customers can access the Apple TV app on their SmartCast TVs to watch Apple TV+ and other content, said the vendor Tuesday. An Apple TV+ subscription costs $4.99 monthly, but eligible U.S. SmartCast customers can sign up through Oct. 16 to get it free for three months, Vizio said. The offer is valid for new Apple TV+ subscribers who own 2016 or later SmartCast TVs enabled with SmartCast Home.
Vizio is sponsoring a weekly sweepstakes with Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics for the Marvel’s Avengers videogame. Each week through Dec. 31, consumers can enter for a chance to win a TV, sound bar and digital copy of the game.
Spotify is trying to upsell customers to its Premium service with a free Google Net Mini. Its Premium Family, Duo and Student plans have “limited eligibility.” The offer runs through Sept. 30 or while supplies last; codes expire Oct. 31.
LG is putting its own spin on the “fear of missing out (FOMO)” acronym, rebranding it “fear of missing OLED” in a promotion running through Monday. It’s offering the 77CXPUA1 77-inch OLED TV for $3,799, down from the original $4,999 price. The company is running various deals across its CE product lines on its e-commerce site and via authorized dealers, it said.
T-Mobile is offering service switchers a free iPhone 11 or 11 Pro, or up to $1,000 off an iPhone Pro Max -- via bill credits -- with an eligible in-store trade-in and qualifying plan. It’s offering existing customers a buy-one-get-one offer on the 11 or 11 Pro, or up to $1,000 of an iPhone Pro Max, via bill credit, when they add a voice line to a qualifying line, said the carrier Friday. It didn't give an end date for the limited-time offer. The company didn't respond to questions.
Best Buy advertised a $99 smart TV in a Monday email blast, but the least expensive smart TVs we could find at Best Buy's online store were shown at $109. That price point was for a white-labeled Insignia 24-inch HD Fire TV and a Westinghouse 32-inch HD Roku TV. A Toshiba 32-inch HD Fire TV was selling for $139. All three models were discounted by $40.