Month: March 2019

Enlarge (credit: Verizon)

The advertising industry's self-regulatory division has urged Verizon to stop claiming that it has America's first 5G network, but Verizon claims that its "first to 5G" commercials are not misleading and is appealing the decision.

The National Advertising Division (NAD), an investigative unit managed by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, announced its recommendation to Verizon last week. The NAD investigated after a challenge lodged by AT&T, which has been misleading customers itself by renaming large portions of its 4G network to "5G E." But AT&T's challenge of Verizon's 5G ads was "the first case involving advertising for 5G" to come before the self-regulatory body, the NAD said.

Specifically, AT&T challenged three Verizon commercials that included claims that Verizon is "first to 5G" and that it has launched America's "only 5G ultra wideband network." While "ultra wideband" does refer to real radio technology, it's more of a marketing term when Verizon uses it in the context of 5G. Verizon doesn't even always use that qualifier to describe its future 5G service—at one point, this commercial says Verizon is "building America's first 5G network" without the ultra wideband language.

(credit: Aurich x Getty)

PlayStation 4 owners who like buying downloadable game codes directly from brick-and-mortar stores will soon be out of luck. That's because Sony has confirmed to The Verge that it will stop selling such downloadable codes through physical retailers starting on April 1.

The report confirms a Wario64 tweet from last week, which quoted a GameStop memo saying, "Sony full game digital downloads will only be available for purchase through the PlayStation marketplace" after April 1. Days Gone and Mortal Kombat 11 will be the sole full-game exceptions to this policy, according to the memo, though DLC and season passes will still be available for direct purchase. It's currently unclear if Web-based retailers like Amazon will be affected by the decision.

Retail availability of digital game codes was especially useful for players who didn't or couldn't use a credit card on the PlayStation Network storefront. Buying digital codes through a retailer also let customers make use of trade-in credit from used physical games and take advantage of other retailer promotions without requiring the purchase of a physical disc.

Enlarge / The Roku Streaming Stick+. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with another round of deals to share. Today's list is headlined by a deal on Roku's Streaming Stick+, which is currently down to $49 at Walmart and Amazon. While not the absolute cheapest it's ever been, it's the 4K media streamer's typical discount price and a good savings from the usual going rate of $59. Walmart's deal also includes a three-month subscription to CBS' All Access streaming service, so if you're been interested in checking out Star Trek: Discovery, consider it a nice kicker.

We reviewed the Streaming Stick+ back in late 2017. To sum it up: the Streaming Stick+ lacks the Dolby Vision HDR support of Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K and can't quite match the voice search capabilities of that device's built-in Alexa assistant, but it still runs well, works with HDR10, and is easy to set up. Perhaps most importantly, Roku's device interface doesn't funnel you toward certain services and programs the way Amazon or Apple tend to do. The UI could stand to get a makeover, but even if it looks bland, it stays relatively neutral in letting you use the apps you prefer to use. Unlike Roku's cheaper Premiere streamers, the Streaming Stick+ also supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which should keep it from buffering as much as those other devices might.

If you don't need a 4K media streamer, though, this week's Dealmaster also has a big Gold Box sale on gaming accessories at Amazon, a number of Apple device discounts, deals on Fire tablets, and more. Have a look for yourself below.