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Prime Day 2021: best gaming deals for PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Switch
There are usually good gaming deals happening all the time, but Prime Day is especially good to gamers. Amazon is currently hosting some amazing deals on PlayStation 5 games, as well as headsets, headphones, phone clips, keyboards, mice, controllers, and other popular accessories. Other retailers are hosting attractive sales, too, as evident in our roundup of the best anti-Prime Day deals.
While we can’t expect to see price cuts on next-gen consoles like the PS5 or the Xbox Series X — or even availability, for that matter — there might be some surprise game or accessory deals you weren’t expecting. We’ve gathered the best gaming deals below, and we’ll be updating them throughout Prime Day alongside our main post, which highlights the best Prime Day deals happening now.
The best game deals for Prime Day
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition is $50 at Amazon (usually $70), the best price we’ve seen on Insomniac’s second outing with the popular superhero.
- The Nioh Collection is $50 at Amazon (typically $70), matching the lowest price we’ve seen on the remastered, 4K collection.
- Returnal is $50 at Amazon (normally $70), the lowest price we’ve seen on what is arguably the best PS5 exclusive thus far.
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure is $30 at Amazon (usually $60), the steepest discount we’ve seen yet on the charming platforming title.
- Demon’s Souls is $50 at Amazon (normally $70), matching the best price we’ve seen on the challenging launch title for the PS5.
Gaming mouse deals
The best gaming laptop deals for Prime Day
- Razer Blade 15 Base (Intel Core i7-10750H, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, FHD, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is $1,000 at Amazon (usually $1,500), a 33% discount and the best price we’ve seen on the laptop.
- Acer’s Predator Triton 500 (Intel Core i7-10750H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super, 16G RAM, 512GB storage, 300Hz) is $1,300 at Amazon (normally $1,800), the biggest price drop we’ve seen yet.
The best gaming headset deals for Prime Day
- SteelSeries’s Arctic 1 Gaming Headset is $35 at Amazon (usually $50), matching the lowest price we’ve seen yet on the budget-based, multi-platform gaming headset.
- Razer’s BlackShark V2 Gaming Headset is $80 at Amazon (normally $100), matching the lowest price we’ve seen on the multi-platform gaming headset.
- Razer’s Kaira Pro Wireless Gaming Headset is $120 at Amazon (usually $150), the lowest price we’ve seen on Razer’s feature-rich headset for the latest Xbox consoles.
- HyperX’s Cloud II Gaming Headset is $80 at Amazon (usually $100), matching the lowest price we’ve seen this year.
- HyperX’s Cloud Stinger Gaming Headset is $35 at Amazon (normally $50), falling just short of the lowest price drop we’ve ever seen on the multi-platform headset.
- HyperX’s Cloud Alpha S Gaming Headset is $100 at Amazon (typically $130), nearly matching the lowest price we’ve seen on the wired, PC-compatible headset.
- HyperX’s Cloud Flight Gaming Headset for the PS4, PS5, and PC is $100 at Amazon (usually $140), matching the lowest price we’ve seen recently.
- Razer’s Kraken Ultimate Gaming Headset is $70 at Amazon (typically $130), just shy of the lowest price we’ve seen on USB headset.
- SteelSeries’ Arctis 5 Gaming Headset is $70 at Amazon (usually $100), matching the lowest price we’ve seen on the flagship headset.
The best gaming keyboard deals for Prime Day
The best gaming monitor deals for Prime Day
Miscellaneous gaming deals for Prime Day
Leaked memo confirms OnePlus will become an Oppo sub-brand
Last week OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said in a forum post that the company will “further integrate” with Oppo, but didn’t elaborate on how that’d work in practise. Now, leaker Evan Blass has obtained a document that serves as a talking points memo for use by OnePlus PR, and it explains the integration in plainer terms.
“With the integration, OnePlus becomes a brand within Oppo, however will continue to function as an independent entity,” reads the most pertinent answer. The memo also says that Lau’s role as chief product officer at Oppo will make him responsible for the product strategies of both Oppo and OnePlus.
This isn’t particularly surprising. Here’s what I wrote last week following Lau’s post:
Reading between the lines, it sounds like OnePlus will essentially be treated like a label of Oppo’s, maintaining a separate consumer-facing operation but with business activities merging in areas beyond product development.
The memo confirms that this is essentially what’s going to happen, removing any need to read between the lines. “With the merging of both the firms, we will have more resources at hand to create even better products,” it says. “It will also allow us to be more efficient in our operations.” OnePlus and Oppo had already merged their R&D departments around the turn of the year, so the further integration is more to do with streamlining day-to-day business operations.
OnePlus customers shouldn’t necessarily expect too much to change — the shared ownership and supply chain meant that there have been similarities between Oppo and OnePlus phones for as long as OnePlus has existed. But now that OnePlus is acknowledging the relationship out loud instead of acting like it’s a scrappy startup, all eyes will be on the company’s next round of flagship phones.
ISS astronauts complete six-hour spacewalk to install solar panels | Space
French and American astronauts have completed a six-hour spacewalk as they installed new solar panels to boost power supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), Nasa said.
“It is a huge team effort each time and couldn’t be happier to return with @astro_kimbrough,” Frenchman Thomas Pesquet tweeted on Sunday, referring to his American colleague Shane Kimbrough. Pesquet is with the European Space Agency, Kimbrough with Nasa.
The two men, who arrived on the space station in late April, activated the internal batteries in their space suits at 11.42 GMT, then opened the hatch to the ISS airlock.
They then continued the work of positioning, attaching and deploying six new-generation solar panels, referred to as iROSA, for Roll-Out Solar Array.
The solar wing unrolled like a red carpet once the final set of bolts was released, relying solely on pent-up energy. The slow but steady extension took 10 minutes, with station cameras providing live TV views. “It is beautiful,” Pesquet called out.
“Well done, both of you,” Mission Control replied once the operation was complete. “That was great to see.”
As the six and a half hour spacewalk concluded, Kimbrough, who has three children, wished “Happy Father’s Day” to all the flight controller dads. “Thanks for working with us on a Sunday.”
The new solar wing – with five more to come – will give the ageing station a much needed electrical boost, as demand for experiments and space tourists grows.
The 19-metre (60 foot) panels were delivered to the station early this month by an uncrewed SpaceX flight. The astronauts are slated to complete the installation of a second solar panel array on Friday.
The panels will power both daily operations and the research and science projects carried out on the ISS and are expected to have a 15-year lifespan.
A first spacewalk on Wednesday ran into several snags, notably problems with Kimbrough’s spacesuit. He temporarily lost data on his spacesuit display unit, and then suffered a brief spike in the suit’s pressure reading.
Sunday’s outing was the fourth time the two astronauts had ventured into space together. In addition to Wednesday’s spacewalk, they did so twice on a 2017 mission, attached by tethers to the space station as it orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 400 kilometres (250 miles).
In all, there have been 240 ISS spacewalks as astronauts carry out the work of assembling and maintaining, as well as upgrading, the station.
Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report
Best Prime Day TV Deals 2021: Sony 75-Inch 4K TV For $600 Off; Fire TVs Starting At $100
Amazon Prime Day arrives this week, running June 21-22, and it’s one of the best opportunities outside of Black Friday to pick up a new TV for less. Whether you’re looking for a budget option or a high-end gaming TV, you’ll have some great Prime Day TV deals to choose from, both at Amazon and competing stores like Best Buy, the latter of which is running flash sales every day through Tuesday.
For Prime Day 2021, Amazon is discounting a wide range of Fire TVs from Toshiba and Insignia, starting at just $100 for a 24-inch HD smart TV up to a 65-inch smart 4K TV for $450. These are great options for streaming-focused households or for sticking in a bedroom, gym, or anywhere else you need an extra screen. Prime Day Fire TV deals also include markdowns on a Fire TV 4K Essentials bundle ($56) and the Fire TV gaming bundle ($74), which includes the Luna Controller.
4K TVs from brands like LG and Sony are discounted as well, from the Sony X950H 75-inch 4K Smart TV for $2,000 to the LG 65-inch CX OLED 4K TV, our top pick for gaming, for $1,850. Check out the best Prime Day TV deals available now below–we’ll continue updating this story as more great discounts appear online. And if you’re looking to upgrade your home theater room further, check out the best Prime Day soundbar deals.
$380 (was $490) | Sunday flash deal
Exclusively at Best Buy today only, you can snag a Hisense 60-inch 4K TV for $110 off. Well-rated with an average 4.6 out of 5 stars, the Hisense A6G Series TV supports Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10, auto low-latency mode for smooth, lag-free gameplay, and DTS Virtual:X for immersive audio. It also has the Android TV interface for streaming from services like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Disney+.
If you’re just looking for a no-fuss 4K set and love the Amazon Fire TV interface, then the two combine in Insignia’s 65-inch TV that includes Amazon’s streaming box inside. That means no fussing with new apps or an unfamiliar OS, just the same streaming collection and navigation that you might already be used to. Even if having Fire TV doesn’t matter to you, you’ll still benefit from the crispness of the 4K panel and the large screen size. This could be a main TV in your home, and it costs less than 500 bucks right now.
More Insignia Prime Day deals:
Insignia is one of the brands Amazon is heavily pushing during Prime Day with cheap HD and 4K TV deals.
A 2021 Toshiba 55-inch 4K TV is discounted among Prime Day’s TV deals–the C350 Series TV features Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10, DTS Virtual:X surround sound, and, of course, has Fire TV built-in so you can surf multiple streaming services with one device that does it all.
More Toshiba Prime Day deals:
Like Insignia, Amazon is pushing Toshiba TV deals hard during Prime Day. They all come with Fire TV and offer an affordable range of 720p to 4K displays.
LG has carved out a space in the market exclusively for its OLED TVs, and for good reason. The CX might be 2020’s consumer model, but it’s still one of the best 4K TVs you can buy today for any content, and especially if you’re looking for a premium experience for movies and games. With its support for Dolby Vision, incredible contrast and color reproduction, and inclusion of four HDMI 2.1 ports, it’s a good investment for the future, too. And even before Prime Day, you can grab it for a great price.
Sony’s X950H offers a stellar picture as well as some great tech that makes it easy to recommend. The X950H has Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision as well as a fast 120Hz refresh rate and crisp 4K resolution with HDR. While its lack of HDMI 2.1 is a bummer, it’s still a wonderful TV for gaming and watching movies/TV thanks to its fast and efficient X1 processor. It comes with Google assistant built-in, too. The 75-inch model is on sale for $2,000 at Amazon, down from $2,500.
While the CX is balanced for price and performance, LG does offer a tier higher with its GX line, which is at its lowest price at Amazon right now. This deal on the 77-inch is vastly more expensive, but you get the same features–incredible HDR support, HDMI 2.1, and more–with a much bigger display that also comes with a handy wall mount. That allows you to place it flush with a wall, making it look like a piece of art when it displays one of its many dynamic wallpapers. If aesthetics are as important as image quality, then it doesn’t get much better than this.
Another great pick from Sony is the X80J, which launched earlier this year. You lose out on HDMI 2.1 support at this price, but you still get a suitably large 65-inch display with HDR support (including Dolby Vision) and low-latency game modes for all your consoles. The TV is equipped with Google TV, the latest streaming suite from the company that has started replacing Android TV. Its ADS panel is like a typical IPS one, which means you can depend on great color reproduction and even better viewing angles.
Check it out
Warzone Players Found A Door That Instantly Kills Anyone Who Touches It
Last week, the new update for Call of Duty Warzone launched. It was the start of Season 4, bringing new content to the popular battle royale shooter. It also seems to have added a killer door that will instantly end the life of anyone who gets too close.
The dangerous door in question can be found in a salt mining facility, in a large building. At first glance, the door looks boring and safe. But if you get too close to it the door will drop your ass faster than a sniper rifle.
Players are sharing video clips of this deadly door. Most players theorize this is a bug, which seems like a logical explanation to me. Others have also suggested that this bug and the deadly door might be connected to the red doors that have begun popping up in Warzone since the last major update.
These red doors act as a sort of fast travel system, letting players get around the large Warzone map a bit quicker. What makes things tricky is these doors don’t always spawn in the same location and can lead to various pots, making it hard to predict what will happen once you go through. However, none of these red doors are supposed to kill you the moment you touch them.
So maybe this is supposed to be a red door spawn, but something has gone horribly wrong behind the scenes, somewhere deep in the code of Warzone. That wouldn’t surprise me. After all, Call of Duty Warzone is a huge game.
G/O Media may get a commission
Earlier this year, Call of Duty Warzone players were using overpowered trucks to kill multiple players and win matches. This led to a cargo truck meta for some time. Now a boring door is killing people the moment they touch it.
And here I thought Warzone was a game about dodging bullets and using guns, not dodging killer doors and trucks.
(H/T: ComicBook.com)
Read More: Warzone Feels More Like Call of Duty Than Blackout Ever Did
Tech workers worked from road during Covid, may not return
Courtesy of Kartik Vasan and Smriti Bhadauria
When Erica Horn received a work email in May 2020 saying her company would be fully remote for the next year, she knew right away it was time to live out her long-held dream of living out of a van.
“Nothing else made more sense than van life once that reality became true,” said Horn, who lived in Oakland before moving into her van. “I had no reason, nothing, tying me to that specific location or that amount of rent.”
Horn is not alone. Many workers with jobs that let them work remotely during the pandemic left behind their sedentary housing situations and moved full-time into vans. These remote workers drive from location to location in their homes, working from internet hotspots in their vans and spending their free time in nature and exploring new places.
As vaccines roll out and states start to open up, some workers are returning to their offices. But many workers who’ve adopted the van life don’t want to give it up.
“It’s become a lifestyle,” said Smriti Bhadauria, who lives in her van with her husband Kartik Vasan and their dog Everest. Bhadauria and Vasan have been traveling in their 1977 Dodge B200 Tradesman since leaving Toronto in August 2020.
“We’re extremely happy in this life and the freedom it gives,” Bhadauria said. “There’s no deadline in sight.”
Like overseas backpacking, van life appeals to those with a love for travel or the outdoors who have the privilege to work remotely and the budget to spend thousands of dollars buying and setting up their vans. They can shift the money from rent and car payments toward a lifestyle of endless travel.
“I’ve always been somebody who loves to travel, but I’m definitely a homebody at the same time,” said Cailey Dillon, who works remotely in customer service for Outdoorsy, a van and RV rental company. “I really like that with the van life you can always be traveling but your home is always with you.”
Courtesy of Kenzo Fong Hing
For some, working out of a van is less about travel and more of an alternative to leasing an office.
Kenzo Fong, CEO of tech start-up Rock, began working out of his van in May 2020 after his children began doing their schoolwork at home during the pandemic. Fong still lives in his San Francisco home, but during the days, he gets into his van and picks a new location in the city. Fong spends his day working out of the desk he’s set up in his van, and takes walking breaks to enjoy the variety of locations and gather his thoughts.
Fong prefers this to having an hour-long commute each way from San Francisco to Mountain View, California, as he did for his previous job at Google.
“I just can’t imagine myself doing that again because there’s so much flexibility working from anywhere,” said Fong, whose company builds software for remote workers.
Courtesy of Kartik Vasan and Smriti Bhadauria
‘Internet is the most important thing’
Buying and setting up a van can be a quick process. But people who really get into it can spend months or years getting set up.
Fong, for example, bought an already-converted van and financed it, and pays a couple hundred dollars each month.
“Way less than getting office space in San Francisco,” he said.
In contrast, Horn spent months working on her van with her dad and a contractor, setting up the van to the specifications that she wanted. By the end of the project, she had spent about $60,000 — $25,000 for a used van and another approximate $35,000 on the build.
Van life vehicles need a few basics: A place to sleep, a desk or table space, kitchen equipment and some sort of bathroom setup.
But perhaps most important is the computer and internet equipment. Some van lifers only need a laptop. Others have more elaborate set ups complete with multiple monitors. But most carry at least two hot spots from different network providers so they can catch signal from at least one of the services as they hit new locations.
“Internet is the most important thing,” said Fong, who has a hotspot for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. “I basically have all the major carriers in case I need it.”
These internet requirements sometimes require innovative solutions. Horn recounts finding a great campsite in Sedona, Arizona, but not finding a good signal. So every morning she drove 30 minutes to a nearby town and parked in front of a Staples store where she could finally get a strong connection.
“It’s not always glamorous,” Horn said with a laugh.
Working a nine-to-five job can also be a nuisance for van life workers. For full-timers like Horn, a typical work schedule means they might be parked somewhere gorgeous without being able to enjoy it until the weekend.
This is why many in the van lifestyle are freelance workers, said Jess Shishler, the founder of Sekr, an app that helps people who live in vans can find campsites or wi-fi locations.
“A nine-to-five is hard but doable,” said Shisler, who also lives in a van. “The type of remote careers that allow you more flexibility of your schedule are easier to do in this lifestyle.”
Bhadauria and Vasan, for example, do project-based work.
Vasan works in information technology while Bhadauria has a digital marketing job. The two spend the early hours of their days outdoors and then get straight to work. In the afternoon, they’ll take a break from work and explore their area or drive to their next location. No matter what, they prioritize catching the sunset every evening. Ironically, much of their actual work gets done on Saturday and Sunday.
“We almost never do activities on the weekends because it’s usually crowded, so weekends end up being work days for us,” Vasan said.
Downsides include dirt and loneliness
There’s also a lot of work that goes into living out of a van.
Dillon said she was surprised at how dirty her van gets. She spent the first four months of 2021 living on the road, and she is now home in Platte City, Missouri, working and preparing to purchase an upgraded van so she can return to her travels sometime this summer. While living in her van, she would clean and clean, but the van would get dirty again as soon as the wind blew. Eventually, Dillon said, you just learn to live a little bit dirtier.
Another big challenge is dealing with the loneliness that comes with living on the road. Dillon said she felt very lonely during her first three weeks on the road, and it wasn’t until she got her dog Koda that she began to overcome that loneliness.
“I like to be a loner, but it does sometimes get a little too lonely,” she said. “Getting my dog really helped a lot with that loneliness.”
Horn said she spends parts of her days doing van chores, such as cleaning and putting away her bed each day to make space so she can live and work. She also has to empty the van’s grey water tank and portable toilet and refill her fresh water and propane.
“Most of the moments are not those epic sleeping in the most amazing place and waking up to the most amazing view, it’s very little of that in the grand majority, especially if you’re working,” Horn said. “However, those moments make it worth it.”
Bhadauria, who travels with her husband and their dog, Everest, says she doesn’t get lonely, but there are times when she misses the friends that come with living in one location. For example, Bhadauria said, she would have wanted to throw a big party for her husband’s 30th birthday, which happened during their time on the road.
“Things like that you miss, when you want a big gathering or a sense of community,” Bhadauria said.
Although she and Vasan love life on the road and plan to continue it for the foreseeable future, they understand the lifestyle is not sustainable indefinitely.
“With everything you get to a point where things start feeling boring or there’s a burn out at some point,” Bhadauria said. “If we get to that stage, we’ll be happy to go back to a home base somewhere.”
Despite the challenges of life on the road, those who spoke with CNBC said they plan to continue their nomadic lifestyle until their companies stop allowing remote work or until they get burnt out. Horn said she originally planned to live on the road for at least a year, but that’s now changed.
“At six months, I still feel like I’m just learning this, just getting the hang of it and just getting started,” she said. “I could actually see myself doing it for closer to two years, and who knows, maybe longer.”
iOS 15 hidden features — 11 changes that make your iPhone better
iOS 15 is a big update, and we’ve got the unending list of best iOS 15 features to prove it. The upcoming iPhone software update commanded considerable stage time at Apple’s WWDC 2021 event, and you can find a lot of documentation about the changes coming to the iPhone on Apple’s website.
Given all that’s happening with iOS 15, it’s understandable that some features might have escaped your attention. And while not every change is as significant as SharePlay for FaceTime, retooled notifications, or an overhauled Safari browser, they still figure to make iOS 15 a better overall experience.
iOS 15’s public beta hasn’t landed yet, but the developer beta is out, which has given some people a chance to dig deeper into iOS 15. We’ve taken their findings and compared it to Apple’s feature list to come up with a list of significant enhancements and improvements that likely didn’t catch your eye at first.
Here are some less heralded iOS 15 features you should be aware in advance of the public beta’s arrival in July and the full release of iOS 15 this fall.
iOS 15: Siri can share things
Every iOS update grants new powers to Siri, and this time, Apple seems to have come up with an impressive update for its digital assistant — at least on paper. We’ve already talked about how Siri’s getting faster, thanks to on-device speech processing (at least if you’ve got an iPhone XR or later), but a Siri improvement that’s gotten lost in the shuffle is its ability to share photos, web pages, news articles and other things.
Say you’re looking at a photo. Ask iOS 14’s Siri to share that with a contact, and you’ll get an apology about how that’s beyond the digital assistant’s current capabilities. But iOS 15’s Siri can share that image without a problem, even recognizing which contact you meant.
And in iOS 15, if you ask Siri to share something on your iPhone screen that it can’t, the assistant will offer to take a screenshot and send that instead.
iOS 15: Apple ID Recovery
Apple came up with the idea of an Apple ID back when it started selling songs through iTunes and needed a way to make enforce digital rights management so that only you (and a few authorized guests) could play iTunes purchases. Since then, Apple ID has grown to encompass every Apple service, and should you ever lose access to your password or account, you are — to use a precise technical term — hosed.
iOS 15 addresses that by letting you designate trusted friends and family as your Account Recovery Contact. That way, should you lose access to your Apple ID, you can tap one of those contacts to help simplify the recovery process.
In a related move, Apple is also letting you designate Legacy Contacts for your Apple ID. Those contacts will be able to access your Apple account should you pass into the next life, making your subscriptions to Apple News and Apple Fitness the least of your concerns.
iOS 15: Improved 5G performance
This will only be of interest to anyone with an iPhone 12 model — or the iPhone 13 devices that come out in the fall since they’ll be 5G-ready, too — but Apple says its enhancing some system functions and built-in apps to connect to 5G networks faster. The end result should be improved iCloud backup times, better streaming from Apple TV and Apple Music (and potentially third-party apps), snappy iCloud Photo syncing and quick downloads of Apple News Plus articles for offline reading.
iOS 15: Accessibility improvements
Changes to accessibility are often the most overlooked in an iOS update, and that’s a shame as those accessibility tweaks often make iPhones easier to use for everyone.
iOS 15 boasts a number of accessibility enhancements, but my favorite thus far is the ability to customize display and text size settings on an app-by-app basis. The feature does what it says on the label — you can enlarge the text in one app, while leaving it the same in others. Another improvement that’s sure to come in handy for users with impaired vision will be the ability to move you finger over a photo to determine a person’s position relative to other objects in that image.
iOS 15: Find My locates devices — even when they’re turned off
It’s not an especially news that Apple’s Find My app can track down the location of any Apple devices when they connect to a network — that’s one of the app’s primary reasons for existing. But that trick only used to work with apps that were powered up.
iOS 15 expands Find My’s location powers by including devices that have been turned off in its searches. (Presumably, this means you’ll get the last known location of the device, but we’ll figure out exactly what Apple has in mind once the iOS 15 public beta arrives.) According to Apple, the expanded feature means you’ll be able to track down devices even if they’ve run out of battery or a thief has shut them down.
Additionally, Find My will be able to locate devices even after they’ve been erased — another feature meant to thwart the resale of stolen Apple devices. To that end, the Hello screen of such devices will show that the device is locked and locatable.
iOS 15: FaceTime mute alerts
Apple has spent so much time talking up the changes to FaceTime — which include spatial audio and a new grid view on top of the aforementioned SharePlay feature — some less flashy but sill useful enhancements have been pushed to the sidelines. For instance, Apple’s video chat app will now feature a mute alert to let you know if you’re trying to talking and no one can hear you. You’ll have the option to tap that alert, simplifying the unmute process.
Yes, this is a feature other video chat apps offer — not a morning meeting goes by when Google Meet tells me that I’m muted when I do so much as to clear my throat. But it’s still a necessary addition to FaceTime, and the fact that the alert is tappable should make the entire feature easier to manage.
iOS 15: Wallet now archives passes
The Wallet app on my iOS 14-powered iPhone currently includes an invite to an event I attended six months ago, and previously, I’ve had tickets for expired airplane round trips, train rides and baseball games cluttering up my digital wallet until I manually deleted them.
That’s changing in iOS 15, as Wallet will now automatically move expired boarding passes and event tickets to a separate list. The change means that the cards, tickets and passes that are relevant to you right now are front and center, and that the clutter disappears. And if you’re the sort that likes to hang on to digital tickets as a keepsake, they’re still available in another part of Wallet for you to look back fondly upon.
iOS 15: Spotlight searches from the lock screen
I find the Spotlight tool a quick and easy method for tracking down apps and other things stored on my iPhone, and it’s going to be even more useful in iOS 15 now that Spotlight can search for photos. But accessing searches means unlocking your phone and swiping down from the home screen — an extra step when all you want to do is search for something vital.
iOS 15 eliminates the need to unlock your phone. Swipe down — even on the lock screen — and the Spotlight search bar appears, accompanied by the usual array of suggested apps. From there, you can search for anything on your iPhone. And, on the off chance that you don’t use Face ID to unlock your device or your iPhone is in someone else’s hands, Spotlight searches from the lock screen are restricted to the web, so that your messages, apps and photos remain for your eyes only.
iOS 15: Camera improvements
Apple hasn’t spent much time talking up camera improvements in iOS 15 — a curious omission given how important camera features have become in distinguishing the best phones. But there are improvements in iOS 15 to talk about, even in advance of the inevitable camera enhancements coming via the iPhone 13 models in the fall.
Your panorama shots in iOS 15 should look better, as Apple says it’s improving geometric distortion and doing a better job at capturing moving subjects — at least if you’ve got one of the four iPhone 12 models. (Presumably, this feature will work with the iPhones coming in the fall as well.) There should be less image noise and banding in your panoramas as well.
When you’re capturing a QuickTake video in iOS 15, you’ll be able to swipe up or down to control zooming. This is another one of those features that requires an iPhone powered by an A12 Bionic chip or later, though.
iOS 15: Translate’s new face-to-face view
iOS 14 introduced a Translate app to the iPhone, and one of its best features was a conversation mode that displayed two translated languages side-by-side, so that you could actually converse with someone, even if you were speaking different languages. That feature returns in iOS 15, with another viewing option that should make such conversations feel even more natural.
Translate limited you to a landscape view in iOS 14 as seen in the screenshot above, but iOS 15 adds a face-to-face mode. The portion of the screen facing you displays your English statements and the translations from 10 other languages; the other half of the screen flips that around and displays it so that the other person can more easily see what you’re saying.
iOS 15: Use temporary iCloud storage for iPhone setups
Here’s a feature that will only come in handy when you set up a new iPhone, but you’ll certainly appreciate it, if your available iCloud storage is at a premium. iOS 15 will let you use iCloud backup to move data to a new iPhone or iPad, setting aside as much temporary storage as you need to make a temporary backup.
The extra storage is free of charge, and lasts for up to three weeks.
iOS 15 outlook
We’ve barely scratched the surface of overlooked iOS 15 changes, which include an easier way of saving photos in Messages, interactive Memories in the Photos app, and the ability to skip over silences in iOS 15’s Voice Memos app. And that’s just the features we know about — as we spend more time with the iOS 15 beta, look for more previously hidden enhancements and improvements to emerge.
Best pre-Prime Day smartwatch deals on Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch Active 2
Amazon Prime Day 2021 doesn’t officially start for a couple of days, but the deals for some electronics have already begun. Those looking for a new smartwatch should have a few good options for deep discounts at Amazon or at rival sales from Walmart, Best Buy and Target.
Here are some of the best deals we’ve found on smartwatches, including Apple Watch and Fitbit wearables. In the days ahead, these prices could drop even more — or rise — but we’ll keep collecting the best deals we find in this category here.
Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET
Deep discounts on Apple’s latest smartwatch can be found at Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart with all four major retailers dropping the normally $399 smartwatch down to $320 for the GPS-only 40mm aluminum version.
Those looking for the larger 44mm size should also be able to find $70 or more savings, with other discounts available for cellular and stainless steel styles.
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Apple’s more affordable Watch isn’t seeing the same deep discount as the Series 6, but there are some deals to be found. Amazon is offering the Watch SE 40mm for $269, a $10 savings from the usual $279 price.
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The Galaxy Watch Active 2 is about 2 years old, but when Samsung added the long-awaited electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) and an update that delivered many of the same health features as the more expensive Galaxy Watch 3, we awarded it an Editors’ Choice as a good all around option for someone looking for a smartwatch compatible with Android and iOS. Though $175 isn’t an all-time low price, it’s far lower than usual at B&H; it’s nominally the same $199 as everywhere else, but a coupon applied when you add the gadget to your cart drops the price.
Expired smartwatch deals
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Fitbit’s Versa 2 is a couple of years old and may lack some of the newer features found on the Versa 3 and Sense, such as a built-in GPS and the ability to take calls from your wrist, it is still a solid smartwatch. For pre-Prime Day it is down to $130, a $50 discount from its usual $180 price.
Georgia May Jagger, 29, shows off her father Mick’s famous pout during Malibu photo shoot
We would recognise those lips anywhere! Georgia May Jagger, 29, shows off her father Mick’s famous pout during Malibu photo shoot
Georgia May Jagger looked every inch an English rose as she showed off her father’s famous pout during a Malibu photoshoot.
With a shock of red lipstick to match a decorative flower, the 29-year-old oozed glamour in the Californian sun.
Georgia, third child of Rolling Stones frontman Mick and Jerry Hall, relocated to New York two years ago.
Georgia May Jagger looked every inch an English rose as she showed off her father’s famous pout during a Malibu photoshoot
Georgia, third child of Rolling Stones frontman Mick and Jerry Hall, relocated to New York two years ago
She decamped to LA over the summer with restaurateur boyfriend Louis Levy and revealed she had found a silver lining to lockdown.
‘I’ve found not getting on a plane every few days for work to be really beneficial,’ she said.
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