Black Friday 2013: all the best deals from Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and more

Google is taking part in today's shopping festivities with deals on the Nexus 7, the Chromecast, and nearly 40 popular selections from the Play Store. From today through what Google's calling the "Cyber Weekend," the new Nexus 7 will come with a $25 credit for the Play Store, while the Chromecast will come with a $6 movie rental credit. Some of the most enticing deals are on games, music, and books though: Kanye West and Robin Thicke's latest albums are both selling for only $1.99, Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Brown's new books are both available for just under $4, and Need for Speed Most Wanted is selling for $1.99. You can check out the full selection below:

Gadgets

Amazon might not be the best place to buy a discounted Nvidia Shield, but today the online retailer is offering the best deal on a PlayStation Vita yet. With the "Amazon Exclusive Holiday Walking Dead Vita Bundle," you can get the original 3G / Wi-Fi model of the 5-inch gaming handheld with a 4GB memory card and voucher codes to download four great games for just $174.99, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Retro City Rampage, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season.

If the only thing stopping you from purchasing an Nvidia Shield was the Android gaming handheld's $300 price tag, now is the time to buy. Starting today for Black Friday, and running through Cyber Monday, you can get the powerful portable for just $249.99.

Apple has just updated its online store with a host of Black Friday deals and, unlike those in Europe, US customers will have to make do with gift cards included alongside various full-price purchases. We've included a list below — but remember, other retailers will be dropping real prices on Apple products today, so follow our StoryStream to find the best deal.

iPads

After making its retail debut earlier this year, the Pebble smartwatch is coming to Amazon. The company made the announcement last night, and the watch is now available for US buyers in black, gray, orange, red, and white for $148.99, its arrival coinciding with the effective start of the holiday shopping season. It's been a little over a year and a half since the Pebble's Kickstarter campaign launched in April of 2012, and nearly five months since it started shipping at Best Buy in July; it's also being sold through AT&T. Around retail launch, the company said it had taken 275,000 total orders for the Pebble, and in early November, it announced that 190,000 had been successfully shipped.

Update: Pebble's first foray into the Black Friday madness, and a reason to buy the device directly from the company itself, is a $20 discount just for today, making it $130.

If you've been following our Black Friday coverage, you're pretty well caught up on what's going to be on sale the day after Thanksgiving. But there's a big difference between $5 off a terrible video game and $150 off a great laptop, so here are a few of the most appealing deals you'll see over the next several days. Some of these will be on sale all weekend, and others only on select days; either way, most of them will be going fast.

Plenty of retailers are slashing prices on Samsung HDTVs, smartphones, and tablets for Black Friday, so it should come as no surprise that the popular hardware manufacturer is holding a sale of its own. But rather than a one day event, Samsung's deals are running all week through December 2nd. Samsung is pulling from its entire product line for the limited-time sale; it's even including a number of smaller-sized TVs, which are proving harder to find at large electronics chains like Best Buy. We've included some highlights below, but visit Samsung's official online store for the full list.

Televisions

For several years, Apple has joined other retailers in discounting various products for Black Friday. Unfortunately for deal hunters, that's not the case this year. When shoppers visit the company's retail stores tomorrow, every Mac, iPad, and iPod will be at its regular price. Instead of lowering the cost of its hardware, the company has opted to include Apple Store gift cards with select purchases. The Australian online store is first to reflect the "deals" — which are available both online and in-store.

Purchase any MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or iMac and you'll get a $150 AUD ($137 USD) Apple Store gift card. iPad Air buyers will get $75 AUD ($68), though the iPad mini and iPad 2 each come with a $50 AUD ($46) card. The iPod touch is eligible for the same bonus, but buying an iPad nano will only net you $25 AUD ($23) in Apple Store "cash." Apple is also handing out gift cards alongside popular third-party products like the Olloclip, Parrot AR.Drone, the Fitbit Flex, and Beats headphones. You can head over to the Australian Apple Store for the full list of eligible items, and we'll update this post once the US store is updated tomorrow. But keep in mind that plenty of other retailers are legitimately cutting the price of Apple products, and you can keep track of the best deals through our Black Friday StoryStream.

Steam has just kicked off its Autumn Sale 2013, which offers deals on a range of downloadable games from now until December 3rd. The twist is that the sales change each day, so you'll have to check back regularly. The first set of daily deals includes nine different games, with a nice mixture of indie titles and bug budget blockbusters — here's the full list.

In addition to the daily deals, Steam is also offering flash sales that last for just eight hours each, so make sure to keep your eye on the site to get the most out of the promotion.

Target already revealed that Barnes & Noble's Nook HD would be available for $79 during this year's Black Friday shopping frenzy, and today B&N itself is matching the promotion and extending it with a cheaper Simple Touch e-reader and discounted content deals. The Simple Touch drops to $39 from tomorrow through Sunday, December 1st, with availability first on the company's website and then across its 700 stores from Friday. The same is true of the $79 Nook HD, which — like the Simple Touch — isn't the very latest or greatest device in its category, but does get you access to the Google Play Store and enough utility to justify its discounted price.

On the content side of things, B&N has a vast selection of discounts and incentives to buy in bulk. There's a "buy one, get one for $10" offer on Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions, a 50 percent discount on boxed sets like Game of Thrones, and 50 percent off a library of over 1,000 DVDs and Blu-rays that includes Skyfall and House of Cards.

Microsoft has just announced its Black Friday 2013 offers, which include some pretty hefty discounts on popular games. The company is offering games like Skyrim, Fallout 3, Mark of the Ninja, Red Dead Redemption, Dark Souls, and Tomb Raider for more than 50 percent off their MSRP. Here's the full list of deals, organized by eligibility date and discount:

November 26th to December 2nd

GameStop seems like it's ready for the biggest shopping day of the year. After hiring an additional 17,000 people to help staff its stores, the company has today announced its range of Black Friday deals. Its list isn't as expansive as the offerings of Best Buy or Amazon, but there are some good deals here, like Battlefield 4 for $24.99 — less than half its MSRP. Here's the full list, all of which are only available on Friday:

Unlike many of its peers, GameStop has elected not to open on Thanksgiving Day, and instead open at 12:01AM on November 29th — Black Friday itself. Keep your eyes peeled, though. GameStop also plans to offer another set of deals for Cyber Monday, which is the Monday following Black Friday.

Just like Best Buy, eBay’s Black Friday deals are starting a day early on November 28th. While the online marketplace is usually associated with second-hand goods, there will be a host of deals available on new items this year. eBay isn’t unleashing them all on the same day though, instead they’ll be posted daily to the company’s deal site throughout the Black Friday period. Some highlights include the original iPad mini for $239, a PS Vita for $149, Google’s latest Nexus 7 for $199, and Microsoft’s Surface for $169.99. We’ve gathered together a list of all the items, but you’ll need to check eBay’s deal site on the day for the exact timing.

November 28th, 2013

Fans of the virtual currency Bitcoin have organized their own version of the nightmarish American shopping tradition known as Black Friday, recruiting a coalition of 100 merchants and counting to offer discounts on November 29th.

"Supporters of the math-based currency are rallying the internet to solidify Bitcoin’s place in the most mainstream sphere: the holiday shopping season," reads a press release from Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group coordinating the campaign.

In the frantic leadup to Black Friday, every retailer is looking for a way to differentiate its sale from the competition. Amazon's trick is to go all out with daily deals. Starting Sunday November 24th, the retail giant will begin offering deals with deep discounts. They'll come thick and fast — as often as every ten minutes — but will only be valid for a short time while stocks last. The promotion is planned to run all the way through to Black Friday weekend.

Some of the highlights include TVs like a Seiki 32-inch 720p TV for $99, a 55-inch Vizio TV for $479.99, and a 65-inch 1080p Samsung TV for $999; last-gen consoles and games like a PS3 250GB with The Last of Us and Batman Arkham Origins for $199, an Xbox 360 250GB with Halo 4 and Tomb Raider for $189.99, a PlayStation Vita with four games for $174.99, and titles like Call of Duty: Ghosts, Arkham Origins, FIFA 14, Madden 25, Battlefield 4 all at big discounts. Amazon will also be offering up to 90 percent off apps from its Android app store and countless other deals including an HTC One smartphone for just $0.01 with a two-year contract.

Microsoft's physical retail presence is still growing, but thankfully the company's web store should make taking advantage of its Black Friday specials a bit easier. The sale kicks off at midnight EST November 28th, and Microsoft is discounting a number of PCs, video games, and its own Surface tablets. We've collected some of the highlights below, and Microsoft says that all orders include free shipping.

For better or worse, Walmart is the retailer most commonly associated with Black Friday. But the company isn't shy about embracing that link. This year, Walmart plans to separate its Black Friday deals into three separate "events." The first starts on Thursday, November 28th at 6PM. Just two hours later, the second set of sales begins at 8PM. But Walmart is also saving some of its better specials for Friday, with the final event set to kick off at 8AM. We've gathered together some of the retailer's best Black Friday offerings below, but you'll want to check Walmart.com to see what time you'll need to line up for any desired items.

HDTVs

Best Buy's Black Friday deals are actually kicking off one day early, a trend that's become the norm among retailers this year. Stores will be opening at 6PM on Thanksgiving, with another "mystery" set of doorbusters set to go on sale at midnight. The company is looking to lure in shoppers with big savings on smartphones, tablets, PCs, HDTVs, and more. Some of Best Buy's gaming console bundles also stand out as potential steals — assuming you're willing to endure the Black Friday shopping experience. We've rounded up some of the highlights below, but you'll want to scope out the retailer's website to be sure you're not missing out on something.

HDTVs and Home Theater