friday

Every year the Black Friday online circulars hit the Web and lots of sites round up every tech deal under the sun. That's great, but it's always hard to tell the real deals from all the crap that's being advertised to lure you into the stores. The truth is that a lot of the so-called superbargains are already available online from stores like Amazon and others.

However, a few items do stand out. Alas, many of these are "doorbusters" that are available in very limited quantities and only the people who arrive long before the … Read more

If you're looking for a Black Friday break on the brand-new Nintendo Wii U or just-released games such as Halo 4 and Call of Duty Black Ops 2, you might be out of luck. But, just about everything else in the world of console gaming is, well, fair game.

It's hard to imagine that anyone who wants an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Nintendo Wii doesn't have one already. But just in case you need one or more to fill out your hardware collection or are looking for a gift, there are some deals to be had. … Read more

Apple plans to hold a sale at its retail stores and online Friday in step with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which marks the official beginning of the holiday shopping season.

A special message noting the sale was spotted on Apple's Australian site, where it's already Tuesday, by Macrumors.

Details on which products will be discounted and by how much were not included, however that list typically leaks out in the days ahead of the sale. Last year's sale brought discounts anywhere from $41 to $61 on Apple's iPad 2, and $101 on Apple's … Read more

Samsung still doesn't have much of a name when it comes to cameras, but it's managed to compete with other manufacturers with one feature: Wi-Fi.

For that reason, people shopping this holiday season for a camera for someone who is addicted to shooting and sharing should check out these Black Friday deals.

Anything that's branded as a Smart camera will have Samsung's built-in 802.11n wireless, which can be used to connect to your Wi-Fi network for automatic backups to a Windows computer or Microsoft SkyDrive, viewing photos and movie clips on DLNA-equipped devices, or sending … Read more

Black Friday is rapidly approaching and we all know that means people are going to be hitting the stores both online and at brick-and-mortar locations to grab gifts for friends and family. But if you want to find the best deals, you're going to need a little help, and I have just the right apps for the job on iOS devices.

Whether you plan to brave the crowds on Black Friday or stay home and shop online, these apps will get you the best deals and hopefully make your gift shopping a little easier.

Editors' note: For Android shopping … Read more

The holidays are fully under way, which means that shopping is at top of mind for many. In years past, this might have meant thumbing through the weekly circulars and braving the inevitable shopping mall stampedes, but these days, online retailers and deal-hunting mobile apps are changing the game.

For Android users, here are three of our favorite shopping apps, all of which can help you get a heads up on the best deals, not only online, but also in your area. Try them out for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Editors' note: … Read more

This year, cold and flu season conveniently coincided with the November 13 launch day for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. A poll from IGN showed that one in four respondents planned to skip work or school to indulge in the new first-person shooter o its first day out.

A new option to live-stream Call of Duty gameplay on YouTube meant that work and school-skippers had to be a little more careful about hiding themselves in case their bosses were browsing YouTube Live and found them gunning down foes rather than crunching spreadsheets. … Read more

Today is a sobering one for many Droid Razr owners like me. We're officially walking around with smartphones that are almost worthless, at least from the perspective of one major retailer.

Best Buy is letting go of the basic 16GB Droid Razr 4G LTE phone for free with a new Verizon contract for today only. I paid $199 for mine with the same strings attached about eight months ago.

If you're the kind of person who can live without the latest version of Android (the Razr comes with Gingerbread, but you should receive the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade … Read more

As Black Friday expands into a week-long marathon of deals (followed by the now-requisite Cyber Monday), a new laptop, desktop, or tablet may be high up on your shopping list. And with Windows 8 launching dozens of new computer models, that's just one more reason to upgrade. Perusing the major retailers for PC deals, I found a few noteworthy ones, as well as a few you should be warned away from.

There are decent discounts on some mainstream full-power laptops, as well as on newer touch-screen Windows 8 systems. Tablet deals were less common, largely restricted to no-name brands. … Read more