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🙌 Walmart’s early Black Friday deals are now live
🤩 There’s an amazing deal on the Samsung Odyssey G5
💰 You can save $320.99 and get the gaming monitor for $229
🤯 That’s a whopping 60% off
Walmart: Samsung Odyssey G5 deal
The Black Friday deals start earlier every year, and Walmart has already gone live with some tempting discounts – including this incredible offer on the 34-inch Samsung Odyssey G5.
You can get this high-end gaming monitor that includes a 165Hz refresh rate, WQHD resolution and an all-encompassing 1000R display for just $229.00. That’s 60% off one of the best gaming monitors around and a saving of $320.99.
🎮 The limited-edition PS5 30th Anniversary console and controller will restock
📆 Sony PlayStation Direct will restock to have it at 12pm ET / 9am PT
🙅♂️ PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Collection isn’t expected to be in stock
🏬 Sam’s Club, Amazon and Walmart could also restock in the coming hours
😬 This may be your last chance to buy Sony’s limited-edition PS5 gear
Read up on how to get everything
The PS5 30th Anniversary restock scheduled for today at at Sony’s PlayStation Direct store may be your last chance to buy the limited-edition console and controller. Just don’t expect the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Collection to be in stock today.
Walmart: PS5 30th Anniversary pre-order
Amazon: PS5 30th Anniversary pre-order
Best Buy: PS5 30th Anniversary pre-order
Sam's Club: PS5 30th Anniversary
PlayStation Direct: PS5 30th Anniversary
Our latest PS5 Pro review update includes a key comparison shot (with more to come) that tells us a lot if you look at the skyscraper in Spider-Man 2. You can clearly see that PS5 Slim’s Performance Mode lacks ray tracing (it’s in favor of a stable frame rate). Its Fidelity Mode has the extra detail, but the action is choppier (and in other PS5 games, it’s so choppy that this mode is unplayable).
✅ 🏆 Best PS5 graphics for PS5 Pro enhanced, 8K and ray-tracing games
✅ 🤝 Combines Fidelity and Performance graphics mode choices
✅ 📈 Game Boost and PSSR upscaling make older games look better
✅ 🗄️ 2TB of storage more than doubles the original PS5
✅ 📐 Smaller design than the original PS5
✅ 🤫 Runs more quietly than the PS4 Pro did (sounds like PS5)
✅ 🐏 More RAM means developers can create better future games
❌ 📺 Only worth it if you have a big-screen TV
❌ 💿 This $700 ‘Pro’ console doesn’t include the $80 optional disc drive
❌ 🗼 This $700 ‘Pro’ console doesn’t add the $30 vertical stand
❌ 🫥 This $700 ‘Pro’ console isn’t compatible with Slim console covers
❌ 💸 Digital PS5 games are ONLY sold by Sony and remain expensive
❌ 👀 Not all games are PS5 Pro enhanced with noticeable differences
📱 Samsung will reportedly launch the Galaxy S25 on January 22
📆 The company usually launches its flagships early in the year, and 2025 won’t be any different
🤳 We expect to see the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and high-end Galaxy S25 Ultra
🤏 The Galaxy S25 Slim might also debut, but it’s not expected to ship until later
Samsung is rumored to launch the Galaxy S25 series on January 22. That’s according to multiple sources, including reliable leaker Max Jambor and FNNews, who notes the Korean time of the event as January 23. The event will occur about a week later than when the Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra were unveiled this year, which was on January 17.
🎮 We won’t be getting an Xbox handheld soon
😢 Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has admitted it’s at least “a few years away”
👏 The news will delight Nintendo as it prepares to launch Switch 2
🆚 However, competition in the handheld space continues to grow
Microsoft’s CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer has confirmed that the company still wants to release an Xbox handheld, but the release date is still a few years out.
In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg, Spencer acknowledged the expectation that Microsoft “would do something” in the handheld space. However, the company is working on prototypes and considering what it might do. Spencer also asked his group to look at the market and develop its vision based on what it learns.
😲 Amazon’s new Fire TV Omni Series sound impressive
👏 They use a Mini LED panel for improved contrast while maintaining impressive peak brightness
🎮 The TVs are also perfect for gamers and film lovers
💰 Prices start from $819.99 for the 55-inch model
Amazon: new Fire TV Omni Mini LED Series
Amazon just announced a new range of Fire TV Omni displays, and they sound like they could be precisely what I’ve been looking for ahead of Black Friday.
The new Fire TV Omni Series features a Mini LED panel for improved contrast, greater brightness, and less blooming. And that’s a must, as the inky blacks that OLED TVs provide have utterly spoilt me.
🥽 Apple Vision Pro will occupy your coffee table with its first tower defense game
🪖 Build bases, deploy troops, and defend against waves of enemies in AR
♟️ It comes from Resolution Games, which made Vision Pro hit Game Room
🤏 Vision Pro’s advanced cameras can pick up on which fingers you pinch
📆 Gears & Goo launches on January 9, 2025, to Apple Arcade subscribers
I got a chance to preview Resolution Games’ third Apple Vision Pro title following its success with Game Room and Demeo, and I have good news for real-time strategy game fans. Gears & Goo is the Apple Vision Pro tower defense game of your dreams and could become one of the best Apple Arcade games when it launches.
🥳 Scalpers are having a hard time making money on the PS5 Pro
🤷♂️ The console is available at almost every retailers
🤣 It’s led to some scalpers having to sell the console for a loss
😊 It’s a nice change from previous PlayStation hardware launches
The PS5 Pro hasn’t succumbed to the same restock issues that have plagued the vast majority of PlayStation hardware launches – and it’s left a lot of scalpers having to re-sell the $699.99 console for a loss.
✅ 🤗 Superb graphics and lighting
✅ 🏹 Fun and engaging combat
✅ 😁 Collecting studs is rewarding
✅ 🥳 Four playable characters
✅ 🤝 Online and offline co-op
✅ 😂 Humorous dialogue
✅ 🗣️ Original voice cast returns
❌ 🤨 The world of Horizon is an odd fit for LEGO
❌ 😴 Level design isn’t the most inspiring
❌ 😮💨 Each character takes on familiar tropes
❌ 🥲 The story is even more forgettable than before
❌ 🤷♂️ It’s a touch too short
🍎 Apple is allegedly its first smart home gadget to control your household
📺 It may be a square-shaped 6-inch display that can be mounted to a wall
🆚 An Apple Home Hub could rival Google Home and Amazon Echo Hub
🧠 Expect Apple Intelligence and new Siri to play a big role in this device
📆 It could debut “as soon as March 2025,” according to today’s report
🗺️ On the roadmap: iPad-like robot arm project and Apple smart camera
The first Apple event of 2025 could see the iPhone company begin to dominate a new product category with a wall-mounted AI display to control your smart home.
Apple has been working on a 6-inch square-shaped display that’s about the size of two iPhones side by side, according to the reporting of Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. With a camera mounted to the top and built-in speakers, the stationary Apple Home Control Hub (as I’m calling it for now) is primed for voice commands and FaceTime.
📱 Google Gemini has its own app for iPhone
🤖 It includes the basic Gemini experience with a text prompt and AI-generated answers
🎙️ You also get Gemini Live so you can talk to it and get more complex answers
🛍️ The app is available for free from the App Store
Google has released the official Gemini app for iPhone quickly after it surfaced in the App Store and was demoed early. The app comes just as Apple is rolling out Apple Intelligence to the iPhone with iOS 18.2 and - soon - iOS 18.2. Gemini has been available in a separate section of the Google app on iOS for some time, but this is the first time it’s getting its own home on your iPhone.
🚋 Google Maps now lets you report transit delays yourself
🚉 This will help keep delay information up to date
🛍️ The app is also getting a new shopping feature
📱 These updates are rolling out now to everyone
Looking out for your fellow commuter is about to get a lot easier. Google has announced it’s rolling out an update to Google Maps that lets you report transit delays yourself, which can help keep arrival times far more up-to-date than the information Google might have when you arrive at your stop. The feature is being released alongside some new shopping features and routing options for larger vehicles.
👏 Nintendo has announced that Switch 2 will be backwards compatible
🙌 The console will be able to play every existing Nintendo Switch game
👍 Nintendo Switch Online will also carry over to the new console
🙏 However, it might be early next year before the Switch 2 is revealed
There’s some good news and potentially bad news for Nintendo fans this week. The good news is that Nintendo confirmed the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible. You’ll be able to play your existing games, and your purchases should carry over to the new console.
The bad news is that a reliable analyst has suggested it’s “very unlikely” Nintendo will reveal its next system until early next year, meaning we’ll have to wait a couple more months before we see what Nintendo’s cooking next.
Nintendo backwards compatibility story
📱 Benchmarks for the Galaxy S25 Ultra have surfaced online
💯 The numbers blow out what the iPhone 16 Pro Max is capable of
👾 The test reveals there will be 12GB of RAM in the S25 Ultra
📆 We expect Samsung to announce the Galaxy S25 in early 2025
Samsung is expected to announce the entire Galaxy S25 lineup in early 2025, and we’re now getting an idea of how powerful it will be.
Benchmarks have leaked online courtesy of Jukanlosreve on X, helping paint the picture of how powerful the Galaxy S25 could be. The Geekbench test was allegedly conducted on a U.S. version of the Galaxy S25 Ultra with the Snapdragon 8 Elite and 12GB of RAM, the same amount that was in the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
🆕 A new feature has been discovered in the iOS 18.2 beta
🔋 Apple could let users see how long it will take before your iPhone reaches full charge
🤷♂️ It’s something that’s been available on Android for quite some time
🤔 It’s unclear whether it will release as part of iOS 18.2 or ship at a later date
Apple could change how charging works on iPhone, allowing you to see how much time it will take for your device to reach full charge. That’s according to 9to5Mac, which discovered a new code in the latest iOS 18.2 beta that references “BatteryIntelligence”.
It could allow users to be notified when their iPhone reaches a certain charge level, and would complement Apple’s existing battery health capabilities that allow you to limit maximum charging to less than 100% to increase long-term battery health.
✅ 🍩 Naturally open earbud design to hear the world around you
✅ 🤏 Smaller size is more comfortable for me and others with small ears
✅ 🔊 Larger 11mm driver and updated processor
✅ 🎧 Wears like any regular pair of wireless earbuds
✅ 🔒 Secure fit with Air Fitting Supporters
✅ ☝️ Expanded touch controls
✅ 🗣️ Added voice and head gesture commands
✅ 🔋 Battery life extended to 8 hours
❌ 🎚️ Improved bass overtakes the rest of the earbuds’ sound profile
❌ 🎶 Sound quality lags behind almost any closed wireless earbuds
❌ 👂 Open earbuds aren’t for those who prefer noise isolation or cancelation
Sony broke the ground with the first pair of open earbuds in 2022 with the original LinkBuds, and now it's back with a smaller LinkBuds Open that’s also somehow fitted with bigger drivers. Their signature donut-shaped driver lets you play your music while hearing the real world through a physical opening. Check our full Sony LinkBuds Open review below.
🤔 Apple has shared why the power button on the Mac Mini M4 is hidden
🤏 It’s mainly because of the Mac Mini’s compact size
🤷♂️ But also because users apparently never use the power button on a Mac
👉 Apple also says the button can be accessed easily, even though it’s underneath
👍 Take-Two’s CEO has said that GTA 6 will run fine on Xbox Series S
🤷♂️ Strauss Zelnick says he’s “not really worried” about the Xbox Series S version
🗣️ Zelnick said “we find a way to support platforms despite different levels of tech”
📆 GTA 6 is still on track to release in late 2025
📱The long-rumored ‘Tesla Phone’ isn’t the roadmap, according to Elon Musk
🙅♂️ All of those YouTube videos claiming it’s “real” have been proven fake
🤔 Musk said Tesla’s in the best position to make a smartphone if it wanted
🍎 But it won’t happen – unless Apple and Google start to censor or gatekeep
📉 The Samsung Music Frame is down to its lowest-ever price
💰 You can save $150 at Samsung and Amazon on the attractive speaker
🤩 The Samsung Music Frame sounds and looks fantastic
🖼️ It’s the perfect speaker for those who own the Frame TV or want something that blends into their space
Amazon: Samsung Music Frame deal
🟦 $100 PlayStation giftcard for $87
🍄 $50 Nintendo Gift Card for $43
🟩 $50 Xbox Gift Card for $43
🟩 $100 Xbox Gift Card for $86
❎ 50% off Xbox Game Pass for $26.99 (Microsoft’s MSRP is now $60 for 3 months)
We’re expanding our discount codes for paid subscribers as a pack-in. It’s sort of like CD-ROM pack-ins for subscribers of 90s magazines.
😬 Can’t afford it? Totally fine. I’m opening up more ways to be a paid subscriber for people who can’t spare the $5/mo ($4.16/mo) to keep us going. Support us in other ways by referring your friends & family to The Shortcut. Help us grow!
Here are the actual discount codes for paid subscribers ⤵️
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