Bowers & Wilkins is shaving $350 off 800 Series Diamond (starting at $6,000 a pair) or 700 Series speaker (starting at $1,500 a pair) sets when customers buy a Formation Audio streaming media player ($699). The in-store-only promotion runs through March 1.

Samsung is taking preorders for the Galaxy Book S, the first product in its Galaxy Computing line. The 13-inch touch-screen PC will be available Feb. 13 starting at $999 at Microsoft stores, Samsung.com and Verizon; Feb. 14 at Sprint, said the company. Consumers who preorder through Feb. 12 on Samsung.com will receive a $100 credit toward a Samsung PC, tablet and select accessories. Battery life is given as up to 25 hours of video playback. Built-in LTE makes the computer always connected, even when outside a Wi-Fi network, Samsung said. Weight is 2.1 pounds. When integrated with a Samsung smartphone, users can see calls and messages coming in on the PC screen.

TV deals keep rolling in in the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. A Vizio 50-inch V505-G9 4K smart TV is selling for $299 at B&H Photo, $289 at Best Buy and $289 at Dell with a $100 store gift card tossed in. LG announced a limited-time big game promotion, knocking $300 off the 55-inch OLED55B9 to $1,299 and $700 off the 65-inch OLED65B9 to $1,799. Prices are good through Sunday. Customers buying a 2019 LG TV before Feb. 9 are eligible for a free year of Disney Plus.

T-Mobile customers will have a three-day jump on buying tickets for Live Nation’s 2020 Country Megaticket beginning Tuesday for most venues and Jan. 28 for others, said the carrier Friday. To get tickets early, customers have to open the T-Mobile Tuesdays app between Tuesday and Thursday, save the offer and then hit redeem to be directed to the Megaticket site for schedules. Customers can get up to four megatickets per account, it said.

Google's plan to end third-party tracking cookies on its Chrome browser within about two years (see report, Feb. 15, and here) drew concerns from advertisers Thursday. "It would threaten to substantially disrupt much of the infrastructure of today's Internet without providing any viable alternative," wrote Executive Vice Presidents Dan Jaffe of the Association of National Advertisers and Dick O'Brien from the American Association of Advertising Agencies. They're "deeply disappointed that Google would unilaterally declare such a major change." Their groups will "work with stakeholders and policymakers to ensure that there are effective and competitive alternatives available" and "collaborate with Google in this effort," the officials wrote. They asked the platform to "quickly commit to not imposing this moratorium on third party cookies until effective and meaningful alternatives are available." The company referred us to Tuesday's blog post. It's "pretty explicit that the needs of advertisers and publishers (as well as users) will be addressed," emailed a Google representative Thursday.

B&H Photo is holding its Mega Deal Zone event through Tuesday, pushing out inventory of consumer electronics, computers and photo gear. The deals include the offer of a 15-inch MacBook Pro, reduced to $2,649 from $4,499, and $250 off an Acer 15-inch Aspire 5 series notebook to $349. Other deals include $1,200 off a Canon EOS C100 camera body to $1,299 and $35 off Sennheiser CX 2.00I earphones to $20.

Target pushed Apple discounts in a Tuesday email to customers, using previous-generation products to extend deals further into the holiday shopping season. First-gen AirPods continued at their Cyber Monday pricing, $30 off to $169 for the original AirPods with wireless charging case, and $15 off the entry model with wired charging at $144. Best Buy was selling the true wireless headphones at $199 with wireless charging case and $144 for wired; the devices held their MSRPs at Apple.com. The new flagship AirPods Pro weren't discounted, selling for $249 MSRP at all three e-commerce sites. Entry-level Series 3 Apple watches were $20 off at Target to $179 and $209 for 38mm and 42mm versions, $279 for a cellular version. Best Buy Series 3 Apple Watch prices were $199 for a 38mm model, $229 for a 42mm. B&H Photo showed a 40mm Series 5 Apple Watch in limited supply Tuesday at $15 off to $384.

Sonos’ busy 2019 holiday promotional season continued Monday, with the company promising in an email to customers free guaranteed delivery in time for the holidays for products purchased by 2 p.m. Its sale prices, including $30 off a Sonos One and One SL, and $100 off the Sub, were still in effect. Chief Financial Officer Brittany Bagley attributed the aggressive holiday sale pricing on an investor call last week to the need to be “relevant” on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (see 1912100036). Free shipping extends through Dec. 29, said the website.

Vizio launched Vizio Ads, a new business unit based in New York that will deliver advertising across the TV maker's SmartCast platform. Ads will be available within the recently updated launch and discovery sections of SmartCast, Vizio said, along with partner streaming apps and the company's WatchFree service. In October, Vizio announced a software update for SmartCast TVs dating back to 2016, saying the refresh would speed up boot and load times for apps (see 1910230018). "As viewing behaviors shift and the marketplace for connected TV advertising explodes, brands need to find new ways to reach audiences on the biggest screen in the house," said Mike O'Donnell, senior vice president-Vizio platform business. Direct-to-TV advertising can help brands find new, “more relevant” ways to engage with viewers and to ensure their over-the-top “ad budget is actually making it to the screen of a TV," he said. Vizio Ads hopes to capitalize on the trend "as one of the few connected TV companies with the device penetration, consumer opt-in and infrastructure to deliver meaningful scale." Vizio didn’t respond to questions on consumers' ability to opt out of ads. Vizio Ads is working with its subsidiary, TV data company Inscape, which provides "near real-time" viewing information to media companies and analytics firms. In a 2017 agreement with the FTC, Vizio paid $2.2 million to settle allegations it fashioned smart TVs to spy on TV owners' viewing habits (see 1702060042), then worked with the commission “to establish clear guidelines for obtaining explicit consumer consent,” it said. It later adopted explicit viewing data disclosures, which it called "consumer-friendly." The connected TV advertising market is expected to exceed $7 billion in 2019, Vizio said. It named O'Donnell to run the business (see personals section).

TVs, highly discounted on Cyber Monday, had continued price-cutting through the week, we found Friday. Shopper website Brad’s Deals steered consumers to Walmart for a 60-inch LG 60UM6950DUB 4K smart TV selling for $398 with free shipping, $101 off the price shown at LG.com. Target pushed TVs in an email to customers Thursday, including the Samsung 55-inch UN55RU7100FXZA smart 4K model at $50 off to $449, matching the Best Buy price. A Samsung 6900 series smart 55-incher was knocked down $50 at Target and Best Buy to $329 vs. $378 at Walmart. Target also pushed TCL Roku TVs, starting at $179 for a 40-inch HD model marked down $80 to $179. Vizio TVs at Target led with a 32-inch HD model for $139 ($30 off). A large-screen deal at Walmart Friday featured the $549 70-inch JVC Roku TV, holding its Black Friday price. Adobe Analytics reported in a Cyber Monday recap that TVs had the steepest discounts in the electronics category at 19 percent (see 1912030026). Vizio sold more than half a million smart TVs from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, with 4K UHD TV sales up 80 percent over the year-ago stretch, said the vendor Thursday. The company was aggressive with pricing heading into the holiday season, with Walmart deals of $498 and $848 for 65-inch and 75-inch TVs (see 1910240058).