Citing the "dog days of summer," LG lopped $500 and $2,000 off the price of its 55- and 65-inch EG9600 curved OLED TVs for this week only, the company said Wednesday in an email. The 65-inch model is now $6,999 and the 55-inch version is $5,499, said LG. This follows a temporary price cut last week on the 55-inch 55EC9300 OLED TV, bringing it to $2,299 through last Saturday (see 1507010045). The 55EX9300 was up to $2,499 at Best Buy Wednesday.
Denon’s AVR-S700W 7.2-channel network AV receiver, a 2014 model, was an Amazon Deal of the Day Tuesday. The 165-watt-per-channel receiver -- with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi audio streaming, Ultra HD 4K video pass-through and six HDMI inputs -- was marked down to $299 from $499.
AT&T Wireless announced a pair of two-day promotions Monday, ending the next day. Customers can receive a $200 bill credit when they buy a smartphone on the carrier’s Next plan and activate a new line. Also, customers buying a new iPhone 6 -- and who switch to AT&T or add a new line -- can get a 16 GB iPad mini 2 for $149, along with a $200 bill credit, it said. The iPad requires a two-year cellular contract, it said.
Samsung will screen exclusive content from Jurassic World on its SUHD TVs at U.S. retail stores until the Steven Spielberg film debuts Friday under a “global marketing partnership” with Universal Pictures, the companies said in a Wednesday announcement. Partnering with the studio gives “us a unique opportunity to show our innovative technology and create an integrated marketing campaign tied to one of the biggest movies of the year,” Samsung said.
Ultimate Ears’ UE Boom Crystal edition was discounted by 25 percent to $149 as an Amazon Deal of the Day Tuesday. The tube-shaped UE Boom, a 360-degree Bluetooth speaker, comes in various skins that the company calls water and stain resistant. Two Boom speakers can be paired wirelessly to create stereo, it said.
Online retailer Solid Signal is running a “Buy One, Get One Free” promotion on a DirecTV remote that “works through walls and floors.” The remote regularly sells for $9.99, but a two-pack is specially priced at $8.99, “while supplies last,” said an ad the e-tailer emailed us Friday. The remote is ideal for hiding a receiver in a closet or cabinet and still being able to change channels, it said. It’s also great for receivers that “feed” two TVs, “so you can control the receiver from another room,” it said. It also won't hurt having a "back-up" remote on hand, because "just like [light-emitting diodes] LEDs, remote emitters weaken and wear out over time," it said.
Adorama’s “Sunday Family Funday” tech street fair will return June 14 for a fifth straight year, the New York retailer said in a Tuesday announcement. The event will close Adorama’s home block of 18th Street between 6th and 7th avenues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for games, food, prizes, raffles and technology vendor stands, it said. More than 25,000 visitors participated in the street fair last year, it said. In addition to celebrity appearances by New York sports figures, Adorama also will offer “exclusive” discounts during the event on cameras and accessories, lighting, laptop computers, TVs, audio gear, scopes and optics, printers and office equipment, it said.
Barnes & Noble teamed with Amtrak, HarperCollins and magazine publishers on an Amtrak Train Days promotion that was to begin Saturday and run through November. It coincides with Amtrak’s touring event that includes an exhibit train stopping at select stops nationwide, said Barnes & Noble in a Thursday news release. The book and magazine publishers selected a collection of free e-books and e-magazines that Amtrak passengers can read while traveling by train, said Barnes & Noble. The promotion isn't exclusive to Amtrak passengers, we found by inputting three codes from a desktop PC and downloading titles to the Nook app on an iPad. Passengers traveling on Amtrak during Amtrak Train Days can access the free content by downloading the free Nook app on a smartphone or tablet to get an access code redeemable from the Nook store, said Barnes & Noble.
T-Mobile unveiled an initiative Tuesday specifically targeting Verizon customers, trying to get them to switch to T-Mobile. The self-proclaimed “Un-carrier” launched the “Never Settle Trial” offer for Verizon subscribers. Verizon customers get to port their number to a new T-Mobile smartphone “and hold on to their old Verizon phone, just in case,” said a news release. “After the trial, if they love the service and want to join the millions switching to the Un-carrier, T-Mobile will pay off any of Verizon’s Early Termination Fees up to $650 or outstanding device payments when they trade in their phone and get a new one with T-Mobile’s wildly popular Simple Choice plan.” If it doesn’t work out, a customer just has to return the T-Mobile phone within 14 days and T-Mobile will pay any fees for starting back up at Verizon, the carrier said. Verizon had no immediate comment.
Qualcomm unleashed its first corporate image campaign Monday hoping to make IoT technology relevant and to "humanize" it to mainstream consumers, according to a report in Adweek. A 1:16 YouTube video montage shows a child with a smartphone with a female voiceover that asks, “When will everything work together?” The ad points out the threats and benefits of technology. While a distracted adult male driver is fiddling with the touch screen on his car's navigation unit, his autonomous car screeches to a halt when onboard sensors track a runner jogging on a crosswalk in front of the vehicle. “When we connected the phone to the Internet, the phone became smart,” the voice says, showing a smartphone taking the heart rate of a child in bed. The video montage shows a drone flying through a disaster scene, with the suggestion it will provide aid, and that’s followed by a charging table with resonant wireless charging such as the Qualcomm-backed Rezence system. “When we connect billions more things, life will be even smarter,” the voice tells us. The commercial ends with the Qualcomm tagline, “Why Wait,” with “#whywait to join the discussion.”