Microsoft offering deals on Surface, Xbox One and various accessories starting tonight

Microsoft Canada is getting into the spirit of giving early by giving customers access to upcoming Black Friday deals on various products.

As of 9 p.m. EST tonight, buyers can see the deals on microsoftstore.ca so they can plan holiday shopping ahead of time. Hit jump for the details.

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Google revamps Play Newsstand app, introduces web version

Google’s own news aggregator gets a new look and a web version to go along with it. The new version of Play Newsstand now features four different tabs: For You, Library, Explore, and Read Later. For You shows AI-powered recommendation stream and shows breaking news, top stories, and suggested articles based on your interests. Library shows you sites and subjects you picked out. Explore shows more stories to read through, and Read Later shows articles you’ve saved in the past. Version 4.0 of Newsstand also now has full-bleed images, autoplaying videos, and built-in playback controls for podcasts. And now if you want to use Play Newsstand on your browser, you can. Just head to this link.

Source: The Verge

Pocketable drone can help take your selfies

There are so many ways to take selfies these days. Adding one more to that mix is this new quadcopter launched on Kickstarter called AirSelfie. This small drone can fit in the palm of your hand and be put into a custom phone case for storage and charging. The drone can’t take lengthy shots of you as it can only fly for around three minutes up to 20 meters high but that should be enough time to take some pretty cool selfies or group shots. The AirSelfie can be controlled with one hand via the iOS or Android.

There are three flight modes available: Selfie mode, with an on-screen button that moves the drone farther or closer to you; Selfie Motion Control mode, which lets you control the drone with a virtual joystick for more flight options; and Flight mode, which turns your phone into a classic controller for more freedom. When you’re done, you can just pluck the AirSelfie out of the air. It charges after 30 minutes. If you pledge 179 euros (around CA$250), you can get the AirSelfie as a reward. If you’re waiting for it to be available on the market, it’ll go for around 270 euros (around CA$380).

Source: Digital Trends

Elon Musk claims Tesla’s solar roof will cost less than a regular roof

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says his company’s solar roof will cost less than a regular roof. And no, we’re not just talking about the long-term effects that come into play with producing your own energy via the roof. Musk says the upfront cost will be less, both when it comes to manufacturing and installing the roof. Musk was quoted in a Bloomberg report saying this after Tesla shareholders approve the acquisition of Solar City. He says electricity is now “just a bonus.”

But don’t expect these to be dirt cheap. These will still come at a premium price (which we don’t know yet). The terra cotta and slate roofs Tesla mimicked are considered among the most expensive roofing materials on the market—sometimes costing as much as 20 times more than cheap asphalt shingles. The cost savings though might be seen in the shipping of the materials. These new tempered-glass roof tiles are said to weigh as little as a fifth of current products and are easier to ship.