gift

Amazon adds group gift cards to Facebook

Amazon just made it a little easier to send birthday gift cards to Facebook friends.

The Seattle-based online retail giant on Tuesday launched Amazon Birthday Gift, which allows customers to send friends electronic gift cards on their birthdays. Customers can invite mutual friends to contribute, so the gift can grow.

You start the process ahead of the friend's birthday by going to Amazon's site. After logging into your Amazon and Facebook accounts and connecting the two -- which allows Amazon to collect information about you and your friends -- you'll be shown a list of your friends … Read more

Vouchr makes it easy to brighten up a friend's day

There are times you want to treat a friend to a scoop of ice cream, but quickly getting a gift card into his possession isn't always possible. And you don't always know if your gift was actually used, since there's no alert mechanism to notify you when a gift card has been redeemed.

A free iOS app, called Vouchr, will allow you to create a gift certificate (of sorts) and let any of your Facebook friends claim it when they visit a location you've specified. Originally launched in a small beta just in Canada, it's … Read more

Wrapp hits 15 million digital gift cards, raises $15 million

Wrapp, the company that lets Facebook friends send digital gift cards to one another, has picked up $15 million from investors in the mobile manufacturing and mobile payments industries.

The money is going toward the development of the app's latest feature: brand pages. Users can now follow a brand for special deals for themselves.

"The whole idea with Wrapp is to build a win-win relationship between consumers and retailers," CEO Hjalmar Winbladh told CNET. Wrapp will start to add other features as well, he said.

The company is truly mobile first, according to Winbladh. Wrapp users access … Read more

Review: GiftedMotion helps you record, play, and export basic GIF animations

Aimed at those who are not animation professionals, GiftedMotion for Mac tries to offer an efficient yet easy-to-use tool for creating short GIF animations. It worked fairly well, with one notable exception; but for a tool geared toward the newbie, it could use some additional user guidance.

The free application downloads as a jar file and no installation is needed to run the program. The program's main interface lacked advanced graphics and appeared dated, but it did have buttons for its main features such as opening picture files to include, as well as ones for playing, pausing, and exporting … Read more

App makers piggyback on iTunes 50 billion app giveaway

Apple's got about 429 million more app downloads to go before it tops 50 billion, and two companies are putting money down if their apps are the 50 billionth.

Addappt, a social address book service that launched last June and was created by former Microsoft and LinkedIn employees, says it will give the person who wins Apple's 50 billion app download giveaway a $10,000 Apple store gift card if the app they downloaded was -- you guessed it -- Addappt.

That prize would be on top of the $10,000 App Store gift card Apple says it … Read more

Last-minute Mother's Day deal: Roku + Hulu Plus for $79.99

Here's the good news: Roku and Hulu have teamed up for another sweet deal.

The "special offer for Mother's Day" includes a Roku HD box, a six-month Hulu Plus subscription, a 6-foot HDMI cable, and shipping, all for $79.99 (plus sales tax where applicable -- though I'm not sure why).

Here's the bad news: Unless you spend an extra $14.99 to upgrade to 2-day shipping, there's no guarantee the bundle will arrive by Sunday (meaning this Sunday, May 12, in case you haven't checked your calendar lately). The free-ground-shipping option … Read more

Impossible-to-kill plant and other Mother's Day gifts

The trouble with holidays that fall on a different day every year is they sneak up on you. At least that's how I rationalize my lack of preparation. So consider yourself warned, fellow slackers. Mother's Day is May 12 this year, and on behalf of moms everywhere, I suggest you start planning.

First, let's get something straight. I appreciate the standard, go-to gifts as much as the next mom, but nothing screams "I bought this 5 minutes ago" than flowers or a box of chocolates. Don't phone it in, people! Mother's Day may … Read more

Best Buy selling $100 iTunes gift card for $80

Best Buy has kicked off another one of its iTunes gift card promotions.

The retailer is selling the $100 iTunes gift card for $80. As always, you can buy the card directly at one of Best Buy's outlets. Or you can order it online to pick it up at your local store or have it delivered directly to your home.

The sale applies only to the $100 gift card. All other iTunes gift cards from Best Buy remain at their usual price.

How long will the offer last? That seems to be a bit of a mystery.

The offer … Read more

Google Play gift cards make their way to the U.K.

Google Play gift cards have officially launched in the U.K.

The search giant today announced that the cards have gone on sale in the U.K. in denominations of 10 pounds ($15), 25 pounds, and 50 pounds. The cards are being rolled out across Tesco and Morrisons locations around the country and should be available at all of their branches in the coming weeks.

Google launched its gift cards in the U.S. last year. Those cards, which are available at a wide array of retail locations, including Target and GameStop, come in denominations of $10, $25, and $50. … Read more