Deals: eBay Debuts 15% Off Sitewide Sale and Macy's Launches Apple Watch Series 3 Black Friday Discount

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Ahead of Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping, eBay today is offering its customers the chance to save 15 percent sitewide with the latest promo code, PICKFAST. Like previous sitewide sales, you only have one day to shop as the new code will expire later tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

There is one caveat to this code: it can only be used when shopping in eBay's iOS and Android mobile apps. If you haven't yet, you can download the eBay app from the iOS App Store for free [Direct Link], shop for eligible items today, add them to your cart, and enter the coupon code PICKFAST before it expires. Also make sure your app is updated to the latest version or the code won't work.

As usual, exclusions include warranties and protection plans, coins and paper money, gift cards and coupons, eBay motors items, and real estate categories. The code must be used within a single transaction as well, although it can include multiple items within one cart, with one code per user. No minimum purchase is required, and the code will be capped at a maximum savings of $100. Be sure to head over to eBay today and shop around before the coupon code expires tonight.

As we get closer to Black Friday, more sales have kicked off today, including one of the best deals on Apple Watch Series 3 you'll find this week. At Macy's, you can get the Apple Watch Series 3 in GPS and GPS + Cellular models for $80 off right now. With this discount, the 38mm GPS model is down to $199.00 and the 42mm GPS model is down to $229.00.


Macy's also has the 38mm GPS + Cellular model at $299.00, while the 42mm GPS + Cellular model is just $329.00.

Macy's sale will match Target's upcoming Black Friday sale on Apple Watch Series 3 at $80 off, but the department store chain is slightly cheaper compared to Target's planned prices of $199.99 for 38mm GPS, $229.99 for 42mm GPS, etc. If you had the 2017 model of the Apple Watch on your shopping list, this is the perfect chance to do a little early shopping before the big event on Friday.

Of course, you can keep track of many more deals by heading to our full Black Friday Roundup, which includes detailed information on when each store will be opening (and if they open) Thanksgiving afternoon.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

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Today is the 10th Anniversary of Emoji on iPhone

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On November 21, 2008, Apple released iPhone OS 2.2 to users in Japan, introducing an emoji keyboard and emoji characters for the first time ever on an iPhone. At the time, the latest iPhone to be released was the iPhone 3G, which launched in June 2008 with iPhone OS 2.

The emoji keyboard in 2008 (left) vs 2018 (right), via Jeremy Burge/Emojipedia
Emojipedia has provided an in-depth look today at the first iPhone emojis, explaining that despite Apple's decision to restrict the emoji keyboard to Japan in iPhone OS 2.2, some apps unlocked the keyboard for users outside of Japan. This was the first time that third-party apps were even available on iPhone, since iPhone OS 2.2 also introduced the App Store.

The launch within iPhone OS 2.2 predated emoji support in the Unicode Standard, which now makes the characters universally interchangeable between devices and operating systems.

Apple's 2008 emoji implementation was based on the set used by Japanese carrier Softbank, and the influence on many of these designs is clear.

Even moreso—much the the chagrin of some—Apple's emoji font has gone on to dominate public expectation of what an emoji should look like.

While Apple does not dictate which emojis are approved by Unicode, it is reasonable to wonder that without Apple's strong color emoji support in these earlier years, whether we would see it as the cultural phenomenon it has become today.

Emojis then gained traction in iOS 4 and Mac OS X Lion, but these were still not widely supported across regions. Not until iOS 5 in 2011 did Apple introduce the emoji keyboard setting that allowed anyone around the world to access the characters by tapping the Globe icon on the iOS keyboard. In 2012, Apple introduced 376 new emojis with iOS 6 and switched to Unicode-compatible code points for the emojis.

iPhone OS 2.2 emojis from 2008
One of the latest updates on the emoji timeline came in 2015, when Apple introduced new emojis for the first time in three years with iOS 8.3. This was the year that Apple also enabled the emoji keyboard to all iOS users by default, whereas before each user had to go into the Settings app, find the keyboard settings, and manually add the emoji keyboard.

In total, the number of emojis has increased from 471 in 2008 to 2,776 in 2018, thanks to the introduction of swappable genders and skin tones. Head over to Emojipedia for more details about the emoji anniversary, and to check out a long list of changes that some of the emojis have had over the years.

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CarPlay Now Available in Select 2014 and Newer Mazda Vehicles as $199 Dealer-Installed Upgrade

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Mazda today announced that CarPlay and Android Auto are now available as part of a dealer-installed upgrade in select 2014 model year and newer Mazda vehicles equipped with the Mazda Connect infotainment system in the United States.


The dealer-installed upgrade has a suggested price of $199 plus the cost of labor and includes both hardware and software components. Eligible vehicles will be equipped with a faster-charging 2.1-amp USB port, in addition to the latest version of Mazda Connect with CarPlay and Android Auto integration.

Eligible customers can schedule an appointment with a Mazda dealership to have the approximately two-hour upgrade service completed.

CarPlay and Android Auto will also be preinstalled in 2018 Mazda6 vehicles manufactured in November 2018 or later, excluding the Sport model, in the United States. Those who purchased a 2018 Mazda6 earlier in the year must purchase the $199 dealer-installed upgrade to gain access to CarPlay.

CarPlay and Android Auto are also preinstalled in the 2019 Mazda CX-9 and the 2019 Mazda CX-5 in the United States.

CarPlay is Apple's in-car software that enables iPhone users to access a range of apps from a vehicle's dashboard display, such as Messages, Apple Maps, Apple Music, Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, SiriusXM Radio, Pandora, WhatsApp, Downcast, Slacker Radio, Stitcher, and as of iOS 12, Google Maps and Waze.

Mazda previously announced that CarPlay will be available as a dealer-installed upgrade for a suggested price of $443 plus labor in Canada by November, but it's unclear if the option is available as of today.

Related Roundup: CarPlay

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