Category: Amazon

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is on the Microsoft Office 365 Home subscription.  Normally $99.99, it is down to $84.99 at the online retailer.  The Home edition of Office 365 allows you to install the Office suite of apps – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote – on up to 5 PCs or Mac (any combination) and also comes with 1TB of OneDrive storage for your files and photos.  That 1TB of storage applies to all users on the subscription so each will get 1TB.  It’s a pretty sweet deal on the flagship Office offering from Microsoft.

If you already have a subscription, you can still take advantage of this deal.  When you get the subscription card shipped to you, just go to your Office account and add it to your existing subscription. This will just push out your renewal date another year.

Add to this, with the Home subscription, you get full access to the Android and iOS versions of the Office apps.  These apps are free on both platforms but to get all of the features, you have to have a subscription.

Today’s Deal is on the physical subscription card being shipped to you (it’s Prime eligible so it won’t cost you anything if you are a member) and not on the download version.  That version is still $99.

Check it out at Amazon

CES 2017 kicks off today and the announcements of new products and devices are already starting.  Lenovo announced the Amazon Alexa powered Lenovo Smart Assistant today, a competitor to Amazon Echo and Google Home.  The cylinder shaped device looks somewhat similar to the Echo but has a bit more aesthetic appeal.  The top half of it is white with a 360-degree microphone and speaker combination on the top of it.  The bottom half is more similar to Google home with the woven overlay that is available in several colors.

The Lenovo Smart Assistant is powered by the Intel Celeron N3060 process, has one 5w speaker and one 10w speaker for audio.

Over at Amazon you can still pick up the Nextbit Robin for $149.   I reviewed the Robin a few months ago and at the time I said it was a pretty good deal at $299.  At $149, it is one of the best deals on a phone with these specs out there right now.  Over the holidays the phone was $169 on Amazon so this price drop makes it the lowest price the phone has ever been available.

For those that don’t recall, the Nextbit Robin has some great features and offers a unique device-meets-cloud storage solution.  It has 32GB of onboard storage merged with 100 GB online storage, so you always have the space you need. Robin seamlessly backs up your apps and photos, intelligently archives the stuff you’re not using, and easily restores items when you need them.  The idea is that you never run out of space.  Those less used apps are backed up into the cloud but then are instantly available when you want them.  You’ll know an app has been backed up into the cloud as it will be grey on your Robin.  You can read my review of the Robin to see all my thoughts on this great little phone.  I also think it is perhaps one of the most underrated phones of 2016.

Today’s Deal is a great deal on one of the top phones for 2016.  The Honor 8 is being sold unlocked so it will work with any GSM carrier here in the US like AT&T and T-Mobile.  It has a 2.3GHz octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of storage (expandable up to 256GB with the MicroSD slot).  The Honor 8 has a 5.2″ display, fingerprint scanner and a 12MP dual-camera rear shooter. Normally the Honor 8 is $399.99 but today it is down to $289 for the 32GB model while the 64GB model is normally $449.99 and it is down to $348.

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is on the BLU R1 HD.  This 5″ HD curved display phone has been out of stock for a while but has returned at a great price of $59.99 for the 16GB storage model.  Like other Amazon Prime exclusive phones, the R1 HD comes with adverts on the lockscreen.  If you can live with that and are looking for a solid performing phone for yourself or a gift, take a look at it.  Normally it is $99 and if you order it you can get it in a couple of days thanks to free Amazon Prime shipping.

The BLU R1 HD is powered by a quad-core MdeiaTek 6725 processor running at 1.3GHz and has 2GB of RAM.  The 16GB of built in storage can be expanded up to an additional 64GB thansk to the MicroSD support.  The R1 HD is also a dual SIM phone for those who travel abroad.  The cameras on the phone include an 8MP primary camera and a 5MP front facing selfie camera that includes an LED flash for your selfies.

I appreciate that I’ve told readers about this deal already.  Several times in fact.  But it is one of those deals that is just too good to pass up.  Over at Amazon you can still pick up the Nextbit Robin for $169.  Originally the deal was only on the Mint color but now it is also on the darker Midnight color option.  Regardless of which color you choose, you are getting a solid mid-range phone with great specs and performance.  I reviewed the Robin a few months ago and at the time I said it was a pretty good deal at $299.  At $169, it is one of the best deals on a phone with these specs out there and if you are looking for a phone for a gift for family, this is a hard one to beat.

For those that don’t recall, the Nextbit Robin has some great features and offers a unique device-meets-cloud storage solution.  It has 32GB of onboard storage merged with 100 GB online storage, so you always have the space you need. Robin seamlessly backs up your apps and photos, intelligently archives the stuff you’re not using, and easily restores items when you need them.  The idea is that you never run out of space.  Those less used apps are backed up into the cloud but then are instantly available when you want them.  You’ll know an app has been backed up into the cloud as it will be grey on your Robin.  You can read my review of the Robin to see all my thoughts on this great little phone.  I also think it is perhaps one of the most underrated phones of 2016.

Even better news, Nextbit is already beta testing their Android Nougat release for the Robin.  I’m testing that build right now on my Robin and while I can’t share any details, I can say that you are going to be most pleased with this release when it is made available, likely in the next few weeks.