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9to5Toys Lunch Break: New Moto X 2014 $299, 7-inch Galaxy Tab 4 $105, 10,400mAh power bank $10, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

No-contract Moto X 2014 $299 after automatic $50 rebate with 30-day risk-free trial

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 SM-T230 7″ White 8 GB: $105 shipped (Reg. $150) | eBay

$10 Lumsing Father’s Day deals: 10,400mAh power bank (Reg. $20), Bluetooth speaker w/NFC (Reg. $16), USB chargers, more

Timbuk2 30% off sitewide: Command Messenger Bag 2015 $97 (Reg. $149), much more

Keep your Wi-Fi and iPhone running during a power outage w/ APC’s Back-UPS Connect for $48 shipped (Orig. $80)

 

Belkin is set to take on Philips Hue with its new WeMo smart home LED bundles

Quick Review: Kano’s Raspberry Pi 2 computer kit shines as a learning tool for kids and DIYers alike

More new gear from today:

Seagate 8TB Backup Plus USB 3 Desktop Drive: $250 shipped (6TB: $200, 5TB: $134)

Samsung’s T1 Portable SSDs are smaller than a business card, now on sale: 250GB $98, 500GB $198, 1TB $398

More deals still alive:

Charge up to four USB devices at once w/ this RAVPower Desktop Charger for $9 Prime shipped (Reg. $16), more

New products & more:

Parrot details new drones with upgraded specs for land, water and air

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Facebook Moments app makes it easier to exchange photos with friends

Facebook has today unveiled a new app called Moments from its Creative Labs division that makes it easier to exchange pictures amongst friends who were together at an event or place, all documenting it through their own photos. Here’s how Facebook describes the problem they’re solving:

It’s hard to get the photos your friends have taken of you, and everyone always insists on taking that same group shot with multiple phones to ensure they get a copy. Even if you do end up getting some of your friends’ photos, it’s difficult to keep them all organized in one place on your phone.

Through the use of location and facial-recognition data (both areas where Facebook has invested heavily), Moments groups photos together and then asks if you’d like to share them with the people it has recognized, and vice-versa. It’s very reminiscent of the now-defunct Color, although that app was more real-time and ephemeral (Moments allows you to collect and sync photos with friends after an event is over), and wasn’t integrated closely with Facebook’s 1 billion plus user base.

https://vimeo.com/130380325

It’s available now in the iOS App Store and on Google Play, so you’ll be able to share with your friends even if they’re on a different platform.

Razer seemingly confirmed to have acquired Ouya, the Android-based console maker

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A new report today supposedly confirms that Ouya, the company behind the Android-based gaming console, has been bought by Razer, a San Diego-based company best known for its hardware and accessories aimed at serious gamers. We first learned that Ouya was looking to sell the company in late April when a report claimed the company was struggling to manage its debt after less than stellar hardware reviews for its product.
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Motorola India launches ‘My Moto Logo’ contest, a chance to win a bespoke Moto X

No, it wasn’t Moto Maker launching in India – it is another way to potentially get your hands on your own custom-designed Moto X, though.

Yesterday we saw Motorola India’s Twitter account teasing something special to come on June 15th, implying that customers would be able to do some designing themselves with captions like “Artistry is as artistry does. Fancy doing something to show off your arty side? Find out how on the 15th of June.” And while it was easy to assume that these tweets were referencing a launch of the company’s phone customization service Moto Maker, available in several countries allowing customers to customize every aspect of their Moto X from the trim color to onboard storage size, they sadly were not.

Instead what Motorola India announced is My Moto Logo, a contest in which individuals can create their own illustration of the iconic Motorola “Batwing” M logo, with the six best ones being made into real-life bespoke Moto X’s.
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HTC ‘strongly denies’ rumors of possible ASUS acquisition

Following a report on Friday morning from Reuters, rumors began flying about a potential ASUS acquisition of struggling HTC. The original report was clear, with ASUS Chief Financial Officer David Chang quoted as saying that “the chances of an actual takeover are not big…” This morning, however, HTC has come out to say matter-of-factly that it “will not consider the acquisition.”

We strongly deny the news. We didn’t contact Asusteck[sic] and will not consider the acquisition. As an international brand, HTC will continue to design world-class innovative smart devices through its pursuit of brilliance brand promise.

HTC has been struggling over the last few years, and the problems have been amplified as of late following the company’s launch of its lackluster HTC One M9 smartphone. HTC CEO Cher Wang came out to apologize publicly for the company’s poor performance earlier this year, and it slashed its performance guidance for the April-June quarter following a 20% drop in its stock early last week.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG Watch Urbane $300, LG G2 32GB (unlocked) $190, Moto E (unlocked) $50, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

LG Watch Urbane Android Wear watch: $300 shipped (Reg. $350) | Amazon

LG G2 5.2-inch 32GB for AT&T off-contract: $190 shipped (Reg. $475) | eBay

First generation Moto E (unlocked): $50 shipped (Reg. $120)

Charge up to four USB devices at once w/ this RAVPower Desktop Charger for $9 Prime shipped (Reg. $16), more

Father’s Day: Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, more up to 50% off, DEWALT tools & gift cards from 20% off, more

More new gear from today:

Daily Deals: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-inch SATA III Internal SSD $90, more

More deals still alive:

 

Sony MDR-7506 Professional Folding Headphones $70 shipped (Reg. $100)

New products & more:

Oculus finally unveils the retail version of its Rift VR headset

These Multisport Biometric Headphones are a fitness tracker and Bluetooth headset

Samsung submits trademark application for ‘S6 Note’, possibly merging Note and Galaxy S lines

Earlier today we reported on continuing rumors that Samsung is working on a larger-screened version of its Galaxy S6 Edge. The device is set to be released before the next Note model, expected to be unveiled at IFA in September, and was up until just recently referred to as “Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.” Now, however, it’s been discovered that Samsung has filed for a trademark on the name “S6 Note.” The Galaxy S line is separate from the Note line of phablets, which is why this is interesting. We’re unsure whether or not this name is related to the rumored S6 Edge Plus.

It’s worth pointing out that large multinational corporations like Samsung obtain trademarks and patents very frequently that they never end up using at all— so you should probably take this trademark application with only a little more than a grain of salt. Under the Galaxy S line you already have the S6 Active and the S6 Edge, so the logical conclusion is that if Samsung really is developing an S6 Edge with the screen-size of the Note 5, and these two lines get ever closer to parity, it may make sense to just make the Note line a subset of the Galaxy S line as well. It’s just a theory, though.

We’ll see how this pans out later this year.

Rumored Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will reportedly have a 5.7-inch dual-curved display

We’ve been following rumors claiming that Samsung is planning on launching a phablet-sized Galaxy S6 Edge—starting with a report from Italian blog HDBlog and then images leaked by YouTuber MKBHD—and today the story continues with new information from SamMobile.

The Samsung-focused blog is reporting on new information from “insiders” that the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will sport a 5.7-inch display, not unlike the Note 4, and run Android 5.1.1 out of the box. Initial rumors pointed to a 5.5-inch display, but that information has seemingly since changed.
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Soak testing of Android Lollipop for Moto X (1st gen) has begun

Today was a bit of a downer for owners of the Motorola DROID Turbo, who learned that contrary to earlier information, there is in fact no set rollout date for the phone’s update to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. That being said, we did learn that Lollipop is rolling out to the budget-end Moto E on Verizon, and now we’ve got word that testing of Lollipop has begun for the 1st-generation Moto X. If testing goes well and no major problems are identified, rollout should begin in about a week. Owners of the phone have been waiting quite some time for this big update.

David Schuster, a product manager at Motorola who’s quite reliable when it comes to information on Android software deployments, posted the following to his Google+ account this afternoon:

Hey guys, quick update here for Moto X (1st Gen). We have started full soak testing again in the U.S. on the 5.1 Lollipop upgrade for our retail channels. If the data looks good, we’ll move to full deployment in about a week.

In addition, we also initiated a full soak test for Brazil retail and Rogers in Canada yesterday for Moto X (1st Gen).

Please ensure that you have accepted any updates from the Play Store for Motorola Update Services (to version 4 or higher). You will need this to get the upgrade notification.

Motorola earlier in May began TestDrive – a program through which it tests early software with a tiny amount of select device owners who’ve agreed to participate – for the Moto X Lollipop update, and acknowledge frustration with the slow rollout, attributing it to “the lack of support from some of our partners.” We have to believe he was probably referring to carrier partners. But now it looks like things are moving along nicely.

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G Pad tablet $65, Chromecast free movie rentals, Transcend flash storage, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

LG G Pad 16GB Wi-Fi 7-inch Quad-Core Android Tablet (refurb): $65 shipped (Reg. $150)

Chromecast free movie rental offer includes American Sniper, Interstellar, and more hits

Amazon Gold Box: Transcend Micro/SD Cards, USB sticks & SSDs: $18 for 64GB, $288 for 1TB SSD

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 SM-T230 7″ White 8 GB: $120 shipped (Reg. $150) | eBay

LG is offering buy one get one free on its attractive leather covers for LG G4 | LG

Father’s Day: Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, more up to 50% off, DEWALT tools & gift cards from 20% off, more

More new gear from today:

Daily Deals: Samsung 40″ 4K Smart TV $550, Toshiba 1TB External HDD $50, more

More deals still alive:

Pay what you want Mobile-First Developer’s Bundle ($1,740 value, currently $6)

New products & more:

Sony’s new RX100 IV prosumer digital camera is loaded with features

Holus uses 3D holograms to bring images from phones and tablets to life

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HTC shows off limited-edition One M9 ‘Ink’ handsets in collaboration with Jourdan Dunn

Desperate times call for desperate measures. HTC announced back in April that because “brand image is more important than volume,” the company was naming supermodel Jourdan Dunn as its new global ambassador and would be working in partnership with her to release a set of limited edition One M9s. The phones would have a custom body art-inspired engraving made in partnership with celebrity ink designer Cally-Jo Pothecary (yes, three levels of partnership here), but all we got to see at the time was the sketch above which would be used in the limited collection. Today the company has shown off what the device actually looks like with this engraving on it, in both gold and metallic silver:

HTC at the time insinuated in its press release that multiple different sketches would be used, but today’s blog post seems to indicate that this is the only limited edition engraving that will come out of this collaboration. This wouldn’t be too surprising to us, with the company slashing its performance outlook practically by the day, consistently making new promises of which we’re still waiting to see how they’ll play out.

HTC has a website up where you can learn more and register your interest in purchasing one of these, but if we’re being honest you probably don’t need to rush to get in on this. No word on pricing or when these handsets will actually be available.

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Sony Xperia M4 Aqua available in USA through Amazon, $349 unlocked

Sony’s mid-range, IP68-certified dust and water resistant smartphone has started showing up on store shelves in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, but those of us in the US have been mostly in the dark – until today, however.

The phone is being sold on Amazon through a reseller, but fulfilled by Amazon, for $349 unlocked in black with 8GB of onboard storage (no microSD card included). The LTE bands this phone can connect to are supported on all the major US carriers, so bringing it to your favorite shouldn’t be a problem.

You might want to get a microSD card to go along with it, however, as the M4 Aqua out of the box only has 1.26GB of free storage. The phone is otherwise packing a solid punch for the price with a 5.0″ 720 x 1280 pixel-resolution screen, a 1GHz octa-core Snapdragon 610 processor, 13MP rear shooter, and 2GB of RAM.

Google being sued over video compression technology used in H.264 and VP8 standards

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No, we’re not talking about Pied Piper here: Google is being sued by Max Sound Corporation over patented technology which allows for “far more economically efficient transport of digital content due to greatly optimized data capacity.”

The District Court of Mannheim in Germany has scheduled a December 8th hearing for the video streaming patent case against Google and YouTube, which was filed this past December. The whole case will be heard that day and a decision is expected to be brought down a few weeks later.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Galaxy Tab 4 (7-inch) $120, BOGO LG G4 leather covers, Lexar 128GB microSD $73, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 SM-T230 7″ White 8 GB: $120 shipped (Reg. $150) | eBay

LG is offering buy one get one free on its attractive leather covers for LG G4 | LG

Lexar High-Performance MicroSDXC (Up to 95MB/s Read) w/USB 3.0 Reader Flash Memory Card $72.99 (Orig. $159.99)

Daily Deals: Onkyo 5.2-Ch Network A/V Receiver $185, Lexar High-Performance MicroSDXC $73, more

Crucial M500 960GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive: $290 + $4 shipping (Reg. $340+)

Pay what you want Mobile-First Developer’s Bundle ($1,740 value, currently $6)

Father’s Day: Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, more up to 50% off, DEWALT tools & gift cards from 20% off, more

More new gear from today:

Sony Bluetooth speakers: SRSX3 in white $80 (Reg. $128), SRSX5 in black $95 (Reg. $150)

Games/Apps: Captain Toad Treasure Tracker $33 Prime shipped, Slayin for iOS goes FREE, more freebies

More deals still alive:

Apple begins selling iPad mini 3 on its refurbished online store

New products & more:

June Oven has better specs than MacBook & was designed by former Apple engineers

Huawei Watch said to be delayed until September or October

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Speaking to Chinese media, He Gang, the head of Huawei’s mobile division, has said that the launch of the company’s first smartwatch, called Huawei Watch, has been delayed until at least September or October, pushing its launch to the latter half of the year. The Huawei Watch was unveiled back at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with the company having said at the time that they were planning for a launch sometime “around the middle of the year.”

The delay can largely be attributed to “incompatibility issues with Android Wear,” according to the reports. In other words, Google Play services being unavailable in China due to strains between the Mountain View company and the People’s Republic of China has meant that Huawei has to build its own smartwatch services to match those built and offered by Google.
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G Watch $50, Huawei SnapTo (unlocked) $130, Learn to make apps for $6, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

LG G Watch Android Wear smartwatch refurb: $50 shipped (Reg. $200) | eBay

Huawei SnapTo 4G LTE 8GB flash (unlocked): $130 shipped (Reg. $180) | Best Buy

Pay what you want Mobile-First Developer’s Bundle ($1,740 value, currently $6)

Father’s Day: Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, more up to 50% off, DEWALT tools & gift cards from 20% off, more

Review: Mohu Channels tries to bring your TV services together, Leaf antenna goes on sale

More new gear from today:

Brother Wireless Multifunction Laser Printers from $85 shipped

 Headphones: Harman SOHOi on-ears $150, Sennheiser HD439 over-ears $40, JBL S500 over-ears $68more

More deals still alive:

Canon refurbished cameras w/ 1-yr warranty: T5i DSLR w/ 18-55mm Lens Kit $450, PowerShot SX510 HS $130, more

New products & more:

Gibson’s new Trainer Bluetooth headphones designed by Usain Bolt are available for pre-order today

OnePlus contests will decide which three people will get to see the OnePlus 2 first

We’ve heard very little about the much-anticipated OnePlus 2 since September of last year when OnePlus confirmed it was working on the device and targeting a Q2 or Q3 2015 launch. We expected the company to unveil it late last month when they tweeted a plan to “shake up the industry” on June 1st, but that turned out to be teasing flash sales and a consequential permanent price drop of the OnePlus One. Today, however, OnePlus is actually teasing the OnePlus 2 in the form of two contests.
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9to5Toys Last Call: Galaxy Note 3 (unlocked) $255, Chromebooks $30 off, Father’s Day deals, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 32GB (unlocked): $255 shipped (Reg. $500)

Save up to $30 on select Chromebooks from the Google Store

Father’s Day: Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, more up to 50% off, DEWALT tools & gift cards from 20% off, more

Gibson’s new Trainer Bluetooth headphones designed by Usain Bolt are available for pre-order today

Review: Mohu Channels tries to bring your TV services together, Leaf antenna goes on sale

More new gear from today:

Canon refurbished cameras w/ 1-yr warranty: T5i DSLR w/ 18-55mm Lens Kit $450, PowerShot SX510 HS $130, more

More deals still alive:

Fitbit Charge Wireless Activity and Sleep Wristband for $100 (Reg. $130)

New products & more:

Bose updates its best-sounding Soundlink Mini II portable Bluetooth speaker

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OnePlus One price permanently dropped to $249, or $349 with Dropbox Pro subscription for limited time

OnePlus has sold only somewhere over a million units of its OnePlus One (very small compared to the big OEMs), and went as far as to call its recent flash sales of the phone as something that would “shake up the industry,”  but the company isn’t stopping there. Based on taking a “hard look at the numbers to make sure we were maintaining our commitment to our users,” OnePlus has decided to make the $249 starting price of the One permanent (sorry to everyone who waiting anxiously at their computers to get the deal last week). It also has a new partner in another promotion…

Starting June 10th – and for a limited time, they say – the company will be offering the 64GB OnePlus One with a 1-year subscription to Dropbox Pro, the cloud storage service, for $349. The deal is valid in the US, EU, and Canada. We wouldn’t be too surprised to see this deal lasts longer, though, as Dropbox continues its ugly battle against Google, Microsoft, and others to be the future storage center of people’s millions of files as they move from device to device.

While the OnePlus One is a solid buy for anyone in the market for a gimmick-free, what-you-see-is-what-you-get Android phone sold at cost, we still expect to see a OnePlus 2 soon, with the last word from OnePlus that it would go on sale “sometime in 2015.” Bloomberg pegged the August through September timeframe as when we should see it, and we recently reported on seeing a mysterious device from OnePlus show up in Geekbench test results. Just something to keep in mind.

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Samsung Galaxy S6 Active officially announced by AT&T, sports massive 3,500mAh battery (Update: available June 12)

We’ve had quite a few leaks of the device already, and now AT&T has officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active on its website. We’re still waiting for the customary blog post to go up with information on pricing and availability, though, so we’ll update this post when those details goes live.

Update: The press release has just gone out with everything we really want to know about the Galaxy S6 Active. In terms of details we didn’t know about, the phone runs 5.0.2 Lollipop, comes with an Exynos 7420 64-bit octa-core processor, 32GB of internal storage, and the 5.1″ QHD Super AMOLED display has a pixel density of 577 ppi. The S6 Active will be available starting June 12th, as always, as an AT&T exclusive and will be available on the same day both online and in retail stores. Installment pricing with be as such: $0 down on AT&T Next for $23.17 with 30 device payments on Next 24, $28.96 per month at 24 payments on Next 18, or $34.75 per month at 20 payments on Next 12.

“With the Galaxy S6 active, we’re delivering consumers with high durability coupled with the powerful performance of Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone,” said Tim Baxter, President & COO & Mobile Division GM of Samsung Electronics America. “The result is a smartphone that brings ruggedized capabilities and water resistance coupled with the camera, battery and design features that empower our consumers and business users to do more.”

The promotional page for the S6 Active confirms just about every detail we already knew about the rugged device save for battery size – the S6 Active indeed does have a 3,500mAh onboard battery (contrary to belief it might stay at 2,800mAh), as well as Quick Charge and Ultra Power Saving functionality, that together should stretch out use off a cable by quite some time.

The Galaxy S6 Active has an IP68 rating and is certified to meet military standards for water and dust resistance, shock, vibration, extreme temperatures, humidity, and high altitude. It comes in Blue Camo, White Camo, or Gray and as expected has a 5.1″ QHD Super AMOLED display and 16MP rear and 5MP front-facing cameras.

The company has a promotional video for the phone up on its YouTube account:

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AT&T hints at an imminent Galaxy S6 Active launch

We’re quickly nearing the point when we’ve covered more leaks of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active – a ruggedized variant of the flagship Galaxy S6 – than we can count on two hands, so it only makes sense to keep the coverage coming. Today’s bit of news isn’t a leak, however, but rather a tweet from AT&T hinting at an imminent launch of the device.


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HTC’s sales slump continues, performance guidance slashed for April-June quarter

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HTC hasn’t been having the best run lately and that continues today. After promising this past Wednesday at an investor meeting to reinvigorate its line through a new product in October and “improved design and innovation,” the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has posted bleak earnings results for the month of May with revenue of NT$10.79 billion (US$347 million), down 50% over the same month last year and down 11% from April’s revenue of NT$13.5 billion (US$440 million). Revenue for April was down itself 33% from the month prior and 38% from April 2014.


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: 22,400mAh power bank $29, 480GB Pro SSD $200, Galaxy Tab Pro $200, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

EC Technology 22,400mAh Ultra High Capacity Power Bank $29 Prime shipped (Reg. $39)

SanDisk Extreme Pro 480GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive $200 shipped (Reg. $230+), more

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4″ 16GB Black tablet: $200 shipped (Reg. $300) | Best Buy

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked) GSM: $580 shipped (Reg. $800) | eBay

Motorola Nexus 6 from $499 shipped for 32 GB and $549 shipped for 64 GB (Reg. $649, $699) | Amazon

Get $50 in Google Play credit when you buy a Nexus 9 from $399 | Google Store

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB (unlocked): $400 shipped (Reg. $700) | eBay

Bose updates its best-sounding Soundlink Mini II portable Bluetooth speaker with (almost) everything we asked for

More new gear from today:

Amazon Gold Box – up to 68% off iconic actors/directors collections: Clint Eastwood 22-Disc Blu-ray set $47, more

More deals still alive:

Klipsch Quintet 5-Channel Home Theater System: $160 shipped (orig. $550)

New products & more:

Microdia plans a microSD card with 512GB of storage space, release in July