- Dancing and gaming collide in the latest iteration of the ‘Just Dance’ series. We catch up with Simon Chanu, Associate Producer on Just Dance 2026 Edition, at Ubisoft Paris.
- Whether it’s buying holiday gifts or your weekly grocery shop, save money with the Flipp app and website. We sit down with CEO Michael Silverman to get the scoop on what’s new and newsworthy
- Speaking of Black Friday, I share some of my favorite gadgets that will be on sale leading up to (and over) November 28th
- Thank you to Visa, Norton, and Sandisk for your support!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak. Technology columnist, author,
and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week
for every listener, Mark tackles the latest news, reviews, and
how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's not
(00:22):
and why.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey, everyone, welcome to teck it Out. This is episode
four twenty. There's probably a joke in there that my
twenty something kids would giggle at. Hey, I'm super stoked
that Norton has recently joined Visa to officially partner with
tech it Out. Visa has been a long standing partner
on this program and Norton just joined a month ago. Interestingly,
(00:46):
both companies aim to protect you in slightly different ways,
which I'll tell you more about shortly. I hope you're
all doing great now that Hey, November is marching along.
In fact, this hour, i'll share some discounted devices that
I showed on TV this past week, some deals that
you can pick up over Black Friday, November twenty eighth
and Cyber Monday, December first, if not beforehand. One of
(01:09):
those items is a game Just Dance twenty twenty six edition,
which is up to forty percent off and available for
multiple platforms, gets kids and kids at heart moving in
front of the TV. And so we're going to start
with tech it Out in a minute from now about
that game. We'll touch base with the makers of Just
Dance twenty twenty six. You be soft all the way
from France as we'll hear what's new and newsworthy about
(01:32):
the latest edition of the Just Dance franchise. Also on
the program, and speaking of Black Friday deals, we're going
to hear from Flip. This is a company that has
a free app and website that can save you serious
cash on your holiday purchases, but also on your weekly
grocery shop. They aggregate all of those circulars, those paper
ads that you get delivered to your home every week.
(01:53):
We'll learn how flip works and what makes it different
from other apps designed to save you money. That's going
to be a little bit later on in the Tech
It Out Show. Today, all of this and more on
a new and pre holiday Tech it Out episode. All right,
enough with my jobbring, let's officially kick off a new
show with our first interview as we get our game
on one of my favorite video game developers and publishers, you.
(02:16):
Besoft has some new titles out this time of year,
including Just Dance twenty twenty six edition, and also some
sales on games this coming Black Friday later in November,
which we're also going to hear about. We're joined on
the line by Simon Shanu, associate producer on Just Dance
twenty twenty six edition, on the line with us all
the way from France. Welcome to the show, Simon, good
(02:37):
to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Hello, nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Bajor Salou. Before we talk about Just Dance twenty twenty
six edition, the latest in the best selling franchise, please
tell us a bit about Ubisoft Paris and some of
the more notable games that has come out of that studio.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, of course, first thing, thanks for having me, and
what we can say about Ubisoft's rest is that it
was created more than thirty five years ago. Some notable
games we developed and we released the Ramann Games, Gostrican
franchise for those who know its, and the Raving Rabbits
(03:14):
franchise as well, and of course Just Dance. Be Soft
Paris is the home of Just Dance since the beginning
of the franchise.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Really really impressive catalog of games. Congratulations, thank you. Let's
talk Just Dance. So the series is more than a
decade old, now, is that right?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Definitely? Actually I think it's fifteen years old.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Now the first one.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
And I was on a Nintendo Wii I think, and
maybe Xbox Connect. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
The first game was a Nintendo Wii and it went
on most platforms. I would say Xbox with the Connect,
PlayStation with the PlayStation move.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Right, so all the cameras that can monitor your movement,
or with the Wii it was holding the we controller.
I mean, I think a lot of our listeners know
this franchise, but why don't we start with the premise
behind the game. It fuses music and dancing and gameplay
all in one.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, so Just Dance is your dance on demanded video game.
I would say every year we are going to talk
about Just Dance twenty six just after but every year
we are trying to bring some new songs and choreographies
with it, and the idea released to bring a lot
of fun and end of things to tour players. We
(04:27):
want to like group up with our friends and often
while dancing on the best songs of the year.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
All right, So the idea is that you dance in
front of your TV to many new and even classic
songs covering multiple genres. And you can play just for fun,
or you can also be competitive right with the people
beside you or even over the internet, where you're competing
for points based on how well you dance. You kind
of mimic the dancers on screen exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
And you got some choreographies which are for kids for
the family, little bit easy going, but if you like,
if you're like more experienced and engaged dancer, you can
go with like really complicated choreographies as well and often,
and the competes with your friends who are on the
(05:15):
couch with you.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You're actually not supposed to be on the couch and
you play.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You know, you're supposed to stand up and like to
dance for real. We'll love you your whole body.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I love the idea. Also, as a parent of three kids,
I love the idea of getting them to move. So
Just Dance twenty twenty six edition is now available for
multiple platforms. Please tell us what's new at a high
level here. So Just the twenty six.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
It's of course, the latest entrance of the series is
available right now on Nintendo Switch PS five. It's Box
Series six. It contains forty new exciting tracks to dance to.
The tracks goes to charts topping tracks like apt by
(05:58):
Rossi and Bruno, mass like Wodined by Juliba, but also
some timeless classics I would say Hang Up from Madonna
or All Stars by smash Mouth. The ideas there will
be a song for everyone actually, and we come every
year with a bunch of new maps, but we are
(06:18):
also trying to bring some new content. The idea really
is to say, okay, what can we bring, What can
we bring that's new to the table for players. This
is why this year we also added two new features
to the game. The first one would be the Party Mood.
It's a feature we develop with friends and families in mind.
(06:43):
In this game mode, you are invited to meet the
Doctor Gigabald, a character who we invented was a brilliant
and goofy scientist and he tries to crack the dancing family.
I believe he believes in his you can crack it.
So the ideas you will step as a player in
(07:04):
his laboratory with your friends and you'll be able to
go through his schaotic and fun experiments on which would
be challenged to maintain your focus.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Can you tell me more about party mode? Simon?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Absolutely, we wanted to create something special this year with
this feature. The idea was to endreach this kind of
special local gaming experience that is just dancing. And when
you enter into the Doctor, the gabout laboratory that we created,
you will face some unexpected twists and fun challenges. You
(07:38):
will be asked to keep dancing in front of visual
picture betters like a slime splashing on the screen from
the strength machine, or never pop up that is blocking
the view. And sometimes you will also be asked to
stop dancing and follow the Doctor's instructions a little bit
like Simon says, you could check your controller, you could
(07:59):
be asked to clap your hands. And this is a
very customizable experience. You can pick difficulty, you can pick
a duration, which makes it great for family sasions with kids,
but also for more experienced players who would want to
try something a little bit more challenges. So this is
a bit chaotick, a lot of fun, and to be honest,
(08:21):
we are very excited for the players to try it.
Love it so that the first feature and the second
one is called the camera controller, and it allows solo
players to turn their phone, their phone's camera into a
full body motion scoring device and enjoy a hands free
(08:43):
dancing experience. As you know, when you play Just Dance,
you have to hold the controller, and the ID with
this camera controller feature is you don't have to You
dance with your full body without having anything in your hand.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I love that. I'm going to ask you more about
that in a moment, Simon. We're going to take a
short break in a moment, and yes, back to Just
Dance twenty twenty six, including the sales that they've got
over Black Frauday and Cyber Monday, super fun game, the
latest in the franchise. But first, as I mentioned off
the top of the program that Visa has been a
longtime partner on Tech It Out. We do cover cybersecurity
(09:18):
a lot on this program and how you can best
protect yourself from the digital age, even if you're not
super tech savvy. One part of the solution is securely
shopping online, especially this time of year, right, and so
I'm thrilled about my partnership with Visa on the program.
They've made some major investments in fraud prevention over the
past five years, as much as ten billion dollars according
(09:39):
to the company, to support Visa's brand promise to protect
the financial information of both individuals and businesses. Zero liability
means peace of mind when you shop online using your
Visa card. There can be no half measures when it
comes to cybersecurity, which is why the company takes an
aggressive and multi layered approach to combating the rising threat
(09:59):
of Mali software aka malware, and other threats by well
funded and global criminal enterprises. Read more about Visa and
how securing the world's payments is priority one at Visa
dot com slash security. That's Visa dot Com slash Security.
After the interview with Ubisoft and we get to flip
(10:20):
and I share some Black Friday deals, I'm also going
to tell you about Norton and their approach to your
personal protection in the digital age. If you want to
reach out on social media with any tech questions you've
got from me, be it tech support, or you've got
any follow up questions on the Black Friday deals I'm
chatting about this hour, or you want more info in
any of my guests. I'll spell my name in a moment,
(10:42):
but you can find me on x, Facebook, Instagram threads,
Blue Sky, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn. I think that's enough.
One that's like nine or something. So it's Mark Saltzman,
mar C sa l t z m a n. Or
as the announcer says through this show, Mark with the C,
Saltzman with the Z, nice little ring to it. And yes,
(11:04):
as a Canadian s A L t z m a
n just doesn't have that rhyming thing. So again, yeah,
I love to hear from you. Also, let me know
how you're listening to check it out. Is it on
your local talk radio station and if so, where you're
listening in from or if it's in podcast form? All right,
more check it out coming right up after this.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Listen to check it out whenever you want find the
Check it Out podcast, did I too, or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Welcome back to check it out. We are chatting with
Simon Shanu. He is global producer on the Just Dance
series from ub Soft. We're chatting with him all the
way from Paris, France. The game is available now for
multiple platforms. We just heard, of course about new music,
that's always something that we get every year with the
Just Dance franchise, but also new modes. We heard about
(12:02):
party mode, which sounds like a lot of fun. I
did watch the animation of the scientist in a YouTube video.
And now we're hearing about camera controller. So instead of
having to hold the controller, but this leverages the camera
on your smartphone so you can play hands free. So
simon is the idea that you prop up your phone
near the TV facing it towards you.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, that's exactly its just have to download the Just
Dance Controller application, which is available on iOS and adoid.
The next step is placing your phone between yourself and
the TV so the camerara can track your movements.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
As a player.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
And this is how you experience that this full body
movement trucking. So it's a very exciting way to play
Just Dance. We are releasing the feature in a final
version for Just Dance twenty six, and I know the
community is very excited about it, and I believe everyone
who tries it understand why, understand why it fun. What's
(13:00):
interesting is it's compatible with all the maps from Just
Dance twenty six, but also with map from the previous
entries of the series.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
When you say maps you mean the songs.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I mean the songs exactly, all.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Right, So I think that's great. Obviously you have to
be on the same Wi Fi network with your phone
as you are your video game system.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Definitely, that's the way the smartphone connects to the to
the console.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Is it almost as accurate as holding a controller. It's
a lot more convenient, for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Actually I would say it's even more precise that with
the that with the controller, the joy Gone or your
phone in the end controller, because it tracks the whole body,
so you really have to, like I don't know if
you if you saw that, but sometimes when playing Just Dance,
you have this like temptation to just move a little
(13:49):
bit the end and you feel like it's covering, but
you can't do that with the full bodies covering. This
is really the more precise experience you can get, and
you really have to like involve yourself with your football.
So I think it's really fun to do it that way,
and this is kind of the more complete experience you
can have of dancing in Just Dance.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Looking forward to trying that. That sounds great. And you
said it also works with other versions, like previous versions
of Just Dance.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah, it works with songs starting from Just Dance twenty
twenty three, So it means if you already own previous
Just Dance you can try it.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Speaking of songs, can you add more songs to Just
Dance twenty twenty six over time, like you know, with
an end game purchase.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, so we of course you're already own forty maps
when you buy Just Dance twenty six, which is a lot.
But you can also have access to more songs on
your Just Dance by subscribing to the Just Dance Plus subscription.
It's a subscription that grants you exclusive access to an
everging catalog with hundreds of songs from the previous Just
(14:55):
Dance installments, but also to new songs we are releasing
ran there during the year.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
That's great. I like that option. And I also understand
that there are some Black Friday deals on UB games,
including Just Dance twenty twenty six editions, so some extra
incentive to buy this by the end of November and
then place it into a stocking for Christmas a month later.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, absolutely, so Black Friday is like from November twenty
to December first, I believe, and the Just Dance will
be available at up to forty percent off. Wow, which
makes it basically the perfect time to grab the latest
edition and enjoy all the new content with the bartimode
(15:39):
and the camera's going.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
That's significant, and I think there's also similar sales on
other Ubisoft games like Star Wars, Outlaws and all that,
So that's amazing. So Black Friday is technically the twenty
eighth of November, but as Simon said, these deals start
as early as the twentieth. Before I let you go, Simon,
I understand that one of the other games in the series,
called Just Dance Now has more than one hundred and
(16:01):
thirty five million players worldwide, and LG just announced the
partnership with this game. Can you tell us about it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
So Just Dance Now is running since about ten years.
I think it a lots players to enjoy Just Dance
everywhere basically using only a smartphone and an Internet connected
second screen. It is led by our fantastic team at
Ubisoft Pune, and of course we are very excited about
(16:33):
this great partnership which is happening with LG, and I
think it will bring Just Dance now to a lot
of people who own an LGTV, so a lot of
new players who are going to be able to try
Just Dance starting next December.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, that's great. So you don't need a console to
play this version Just Dance Now, it's going to be
baked into the TV and some other platforms internet based game.
Love it. And then finally, Simon worked we learn more
about Just Dance twenty twenty six edition, the forty new
songs that are added, modes like party mode, and the
new camera control feature. Is there a website you can recommend?
Speaker 3 (17:09):
You can see all of the infos on Just Dance Socials,
but also the Just Dance website. You can just google
it and I think you'll find it very quickly.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
So just go to Google and just type in Just
Dance twenty twenty six. Awesome, Simon schnew great to chat
with you. Congrats on the launch of Just Dance twenty
twenty six edition. Very exciting. Thank you. After this short break,
I'm going to chat about some Black Friday deals and
steals on gadgets and games, followed by an interview with
Flip about that app and website and how it can
save you money. I just wanted to give a shout out.
(17:41):
As I mentioned earlier in the program, Norton is a
new partner on tech it Out. In today's connected world,
a simple antivirus just isn't enough. Your identity, your finances,
and your privacy are all on the line. That's why
you need Norton three sixty with LifeLock. It's a comprehensive
solution that bundles device security and I dentity theft protection.
Get the all in one piece of mind you need
(18:03):
with Norton three sixty with LifeLock. Learn more about it
at Norton dot com. That's n R T O N
dot com the best Black Friday tech deals. When we
return on teck it Out, I.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Want to follow Mark Google Mark with a C and
Saltzman with a Z breaking down geeks peak into street speak.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
This is check it out to check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
With technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Welcome back to teck it Out. As I mentioned earlier
in the program, I had a lot of fun going
on TV chatting about some Black Friday and Cyber Monday
related deals and just generally some great gadget gift ideas
and some game related ones too, whether you're shopping for
a loved one on your gift list or you want
to treat yourself to something that may be on sale
(19:00):
later this month. Black Friday is the twenty eighth and
Cyber Monday is the first of December, And why not,
right if you can save money, and if you've had
an eye on something for yourself, no judging, right, grab
a couple things in the kart for your family and
friends and maybe coworkers, and maybe one or two for
yourself as well, even if you were more naughty than
(19:21):
nice this year. And so I wanted to share with
you the items I showed on TV. And if you
do want to see them, by the way, just look
me up on social media and you can see a
video of this. It's Mark Saltzman, Mark with the c
SA L t z M AN. You'll find me on
all the major social media platforms out there. All right,
let's start off on the next evolution in handheld gaming,
(19:43):
a partnership between rog Republic of Gamers and Xbox. I'm
referring to the rog Xbox Ally and the Rog ally X.
These are handheld gaming systems that deliver a lot of
power and a gorgeous screen. More on that in the moment,
but it fuses the power and versatility of a Windows
eleven PC with the simplicity and comfort of console gaming
(20:07):
because you've got Xbox like controls on each side of
the gorgeous seven inch screen. So perfect to play wherever
life takes you because you've got the screen right on
the device, but you can also dock it and play
it on a big screen TV or monitor when you
get home or in a hotel room or what have you.
There's the white rog Ally, which is great for everyday
(20:28):
and enthusiast gamers who want great value at five ninety nine.
And then there's the rog xbox ally X in black
for those who want the very best in performance and
battery life and a few other bells and whistles at
nine to ninety nine. And both of these are powered
by AMD Rizin processors. Again, easy to pick up, hard
(20:48):
to put down, it's a lot of fun. So that's
the rog xbox ally series. Brand new to the market,
highly anticipated, and they deliver the goods. Asus dot Com
has more. That'sus dot Com. And speaking of the rog
xbox ally series, what about storage to expand how many
games you can hold on there without having to delete
(21:10):
ones you still want to play right. That's always a
pain point. While sand Disk, the leaders in flash storage,
have sand Disc micro SD cards for the rog Xbox
ally so these are officially licensed tiny little micro SD
cards about the size of your pinky fingernail from sand
Disk that are engineered with high read and write speeds
(21:31):
so optimize for fast game installations and updates so you
can spend less time loading and more time playing. Despite
its teeny size, storage options are up to two terabytes
that's about two thousand gigabytes, allowing you to hold up
to fifty games. These cards are also shockproof, drawproof, and
X ray proof, and back by a limited lifetime warranty.
(21:54):
They start at sixty nine dollars, but you can find
some sales over Black Friday and Cyber Monday at sand Disk.
Next up, and speaking of gaming, there's also a huge
sale on a pair of Ubisoft games leading up to
Black Friday. There's an interview with the company playing this
hour as well, but because there's also a Black Friday sale,
I wanted to include them here too. Just Dance twenty
(22:15):
twenty six edition is the hit holiday game for families
and friends with forty new tracks to dance to, a
new party mode with a fun and silly story with
animated scenes to follow, along with a hands free camera
controller option that uses your phone's camera if you don't
want to hold the controller, and a bluey medley for
(22:35):
fans of the hit TV show Just Dance twenty twenty
six edition is twenty five bucks off, which is a
great deal from November the twentieth to December third. There's
also Star Wars Outlaws, which is one of my favorite
games from last year, but now out for the Nintendo
Switch and other platforms. It's an epic single player Star
Wars game that's open ended. There's so much to do,
(22:58):
and it's twenty bucks off the game. You should definitely
check it out. So that's Star Wars Outlaws and Just
Dance twenty twenty six edition. You'bisoft dot com has more
all right? Moving on, how about a portable projector. Epsin
just launched its life studio pop Plus. This is a
portable projector with four K resolution and high brightness seven
(23:20):
hundred lumens of color and white brightness, built in Google
TV for streaming content, so you likely don't even need
to connect anything to it, like a cable box or
a Blu ray player or anything like that. And exceptional sound.
Why because epsin has partnered with Bose to handle the
audio from this Life Studio Pop Plus Projector. It's a partnership.
The epsin Projection Studio app works with the projector and
(23:43):
lets you and others create and share personalized videos directly
on the one hundred and fifty inch image, whether you're
indoors or outdoors in real time. It's really wild. So
that's the app called epsin Projection Studio, which works with
the Epsen Life Studio Pop Plus Projector. We're chatting about
on sale for Black Friday down to seven ninety nine.
(24:04):
Epsom dot com has more one more idea and then
a tech tip to share with you. So LG is
saying that you can save up to seventy percent on
some of its products leading up to Black Friday and
over that weekend Cyber Monday being the first of December.
And they always have great sales on its O lead
TVs as well, even though they haven't specifically said how
(24:25):
much this particular model will be reduced. But I'm referring
to the lgoled Evo AI C five four K smart TV.
It's perfect for families looking to upgrade their television as
the weather cools. It's in sizes from forty two all
the way up to eighty three inches, so budget and
wall size permitting. Those LGO lead TVs offer perfect blacks
(24:48):
and vibrant colors, high brightness, wide viewing angles. They sip
rather than gulp power, so they're easy on your monthly
energy bills. But again it's that picture. It's not just
four K, but perfect block because of the selflit pixels
powered by the Alpha A nine AI processor Gen eight.
And for gamers, I know we've been talking a lot
(25:09):
about gaming in this segment. It has a one hundred
and forty four HITZ refresh rate and a point one
millisecond response times, so super fast for gaming to keep
up those fast paced games like that Star Wars Outlaws
or just answ twenty twenty six edition. Actually so great
stuff from LG at LG dot com. And finally, before
we wrap up, especially this time of year, it's easy
(25:30):
to get caught up in the excitement of Black Friday
and Cyber Monday, but RBC is reminding you to stay
cautious when shopping online. Be wary of too good to
be true deals and texts and emails with links or
attachments that can lead to scams or malware malicious software.
Rbc'sbcyberaware website at rbc dot com slash cyber has an
(25:52):
article on great tips to protecting yourself, such as enabling
two factor authentication where you not only need your password
to log in, but one time code sent to your
mobile phone and ensuring that the website has HTTPS as
insecure or that little padlock in the web browser to
confirm it's an encrypted connection. Again RBC dot com slash
cyber for more. Speaking of holiday shopping, we're going to
(26:15):
catch up with Flip when we return after this short break.
Stay with us.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak. Check it Out hosted
by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Welcome back everyone. You're listening to check it out if
you're looking to save money while shopping this season, and hey,
who isn't, especially this year with tariff related price hikes
and inflation. One of my very few must have apps
on your smartphone is called Flip. That's FLI DOUBLEP. Among
other features, Flip shows you all the circulars that you
(26:58):
get delivered to your home digitally, all in one place,
all in one app, along with coupons so you can
get the best possible deals at retailers that you already
shop at. Joining us on the line for a Flip
one oh one if you will, is Michael Silverman, CEO
of Flip. Welcome back to the show. Michael, good to
chat with you again.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
Yeah, thank you, Mark, very excited to be here.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Mike.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I gotta tell you I've been covering Flip since it
was called with Shabby back I don't know, twelve years
and ten twelve years ago. It was founded by we
Hunts ten many many moons ago. It's been a privilege
to also partner with the company many times before. And
having you back on the show is awesome and perfect
timing as we're heading into Black Friday. So with that
in mind, at a high level, please tell us all
(27:39):
about Flip and how it works.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Sure, so, thank you for noting it at the top here.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
But Flip two Pie's is essentially like a free shopping
app and website, and what we do is we aggregate
all the circulars and deals from over two thousand retailers
across North America with the purpose of effectively helping shopper
plan and then save money. And you know, like at flip,
our state and mission is to help people make smarter
(28:06):
shopping decisions. And again you made the point before, but
in a time where inflation is impacting people's wallets and
people's budgets are getting tighter, this could not be more
important for most households.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
And so if Flip's free to download.
Speaker 6 (28:20):
The app store the Google play Store, all you have
to do is search for it, find it, download it.
Ultimately you enter your zip code and then you have
the ability to find all the latest deals near.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
You, and you can search by retailer, like if you
know you have a certain I don't know supermarket down
the street, I should mention it's not just for Black
Friday for gifts, but for groceries and other household decor
and things like that. You could either browse buy store,
or you could do a search by keyword right, could
type in air pods or chicken breasts or something right,
and then you could see your closest retailers who has
(28:52):
one on sale.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Yeah, that's totally right.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
So, in addition to being able to like browse or
peruse the retailers nearby. We also have a search feature,
a pretty powerful one, and it's really great for the
shoppers who know exactly what it is that they already
want to buy, and so ahead of the holidays, if
you're searching for big ticket items, TVs, vacuums, whatever it is,
it's a pretty powerful tool. But it's also you know,
like you touch on this just now, it's also great
(29:16):
for comparing those day to day prices. The grocery is
the household essentials, and for these holiday seasons, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
or Hanukkah, whatever the holiday may be, having the ability
to find those household essentials and groceries as you plan
for family events is also an incredibly valuable tool. So
if you see the deals, you have the ability then
(29:38):
subsequently in the app to add them to a shopping list,
and it, you know, sort of helps you stay organized.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So with that in mind, let's say you've seen a
I don't know, a butterball turkey, or you see a
big screen TV that you've had your eye on. What
do you do? You just tap it once and it
adds it to your shopping list.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
Yeah, you can effectually it's the same terminology we used
to use an analog, so we call it clipping. So
if you find an item in a circular or through
the search feature, can clip the item and then subsequently
gets added automatically.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
To your shopping list.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And here's a fun fact. If you press a hold
on that item, you'll get more information like you can
see like more details or specs if it is consumer electronics,
maybe some reviews. It's all by pressing and holding, but
a quick tap lets you, as you called it, quote unquote,
clip it into your shopping list before you head out.
And we should clarify that flip is more for retail
(30:27):
shopping than it is for online shopping at this point.
Speaker 6 (30:30):
Yeah, that's a great distinction. I'd say it services both.
So we have retailers that work with us, especially around
Black Friday, to promote some of the amazing offers that they.
Speaker 5 (30:41):
Have that happen online. Yeah, and that happens year round.
Speaker 6 (30:44):
But you know, we know that you know most of
your shopping, most of your staple shopping for the head
of household shopper who's looking and is on a mission
to feed their family, clothe their family, that it's those
day to day items, those household essentials, those groceries that
have such a large impact on their wallet. So that's
where we do most of our damage trying to help shoppers,
(31:04):
is we help them find those local savings near them
in store.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Going back to Black Friday though, because this is mid November,
I believe that flip has a dedicated Black Friday section.
Is that right? And is it fair to say, Michael
that there's a lot of buzz this year leading into
Black Friday?
Speaker 6 (31:22):
Yeah, I mean, savings oriented holidays are big. But we
keep touching on this. It's an obvious theme, but a
real and present one for most households. Budgets are tight,
so this is a year where retailers are leaning in
pretty heavily to their savings oriented promotions. And in addition
to that, it's been a theme for over a decade
(31:42):
now that these deals have a tendency to drop earlier
and earlier each year. So you know, like when you
think about it, that can be incredibly overwhelming to manage,
especially over a large space of time. So we work
pretty diligently to find ways inside of the tools that
we offer shoppers to help them manage that chaos. And
in fact you said it. We have created a dedicated
Black Friday category to help you stay organized for the holidays.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
So, whether it's the Flip app or the website which
is at simply flip dot com flipp dot com, there's
like a carousel or what have you near the top
where you can find specific Black Friday deals. And as
you mentioned, and I'm glad you did that, you often
don't have to wait. The retailers don't want to lose you.
They want to make that sale, even if it's earlier,
and so be on the lookout for great deals this
(32:28):
year and Flip can certainly help there. We are chatting
with Michael Silverman, chief executive officer at Flip. This is
an app and a website that has been dedicated to
saving you money. What about the Flips watch List. Let's
say you've had something on your mind all year around,
but you've been waiting for that price to drop.
Speaker 6 (32:43):
What a great tool, great ingenuity by our team. It
acts as your personal deal tracker. If you're searching for
something and you don't love the deals that you're finding
on it at the moment, what you're allowed to do
is add it to a watch list inside of the
app and then Flip does all the work for you
and essentially, like as you were going about your daily life,
if there's something you wanted to keep an eye on,
we'll send you a notification when deals do pop up.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
All right, awesome, More about this feature when we return
with flip on Teck it out.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram. Listen
to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
A few more minutes With Flip's CEO, Michael Silverman, Flip
is fli doublep and app and website that saves you money.
Is there a way, Michael you can quantify how much
people can save using Flip, whether it's for day to
day groceries or bigger ticket items as gifts.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
Yeah, you know, it really does. Depend more you use it,
the more you can say it.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
I would say that, and certainly we survey the shoppers regularly,
and our average Flip user save somewhere in the neighborhood
of twenty to twenty five percent per week. Oh well
on your groceries, so it's very substantial, very meaningful saving
on your regular purchases at the time of holidays, I mean,
on any individual item. It could save you up to
seventy percent. It really depends on what offer is being made.
(34:09):
But we see ourselves as a utility that shoppers use
on a regular basis, and for the shoppers that do
use our app regularly, we have a pretty material impact
on their wall.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah. I like that you're empowering users to make a decision.
For example, if my wife, Kelly, who does the shopping
in our home, if she sees something like, I don't know,
cereal is on sale for a dollar off, if it's
far away, it's not going to be worth her time
or the gas money to go and get it. So
but she can decide where she wants to hit, you know,
and what order, what supermarkets she wants to go do
(34:41):
kind of thing, and whether she should wait or not.
But I like that you're giving us the information and
then we can use it how we want at that
point or not at all. And then before we wrap up,
I wanted to ask you, Michael, about the ability to
store loyalty cards or rewards cards inside the app. I
use this all the time. I'm opening up Flip all
the time when I'm surepping somewhere and I have like
a points card or what have. You can you tell
(35:03):
us about that.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Yeah, another feature in our app that I love. I
really think of our app.
Speaker 6 (35:07):
As sort of like a Swiss army knife for savings.
And so in addition to the watch list we discuss
or regular shopping lists or the ability to search, we
also have effectively like your digital loyalty card wallet, so
you can save some of your loyalty cards directly in
the app to make it more convenient, you know, whether
you're perusing or you're in store, to have the ability
(35:30):
to sort of like leverage the app as one convenient
app to manage your savings.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Instead of carrying a pocket or a purse full of
plastic cards that you need to pull out and the
people behind you in line are getting irritated, and you
just open up the Flip app and you tap the
settings icon a little gear and then it's under something
like my cards or something like that. So, yeah, super convenient.
And then if there is a coupon, like for something
that you could use at a store, like say Target
(35:55):
or Walmart or Home Depot, Michael, how does that work
within the Flip app?
Speaker 6 (35:59):
Yeah, you know, as an extension of those loyalty cards.
We really primarily deal with digital coupons. So there was
a point in time where print coupons were a very
big thing, and we actually enabled that more frequently in
the app. Now we're hyper digitally focused business, and so
what happens is that the coupons that we do have
available present themselves throughout the content, whether again, whether it's
(36:21):
in search, you'll be able to see a little icon
that shows you that there's a coupon available on the product,
or if you're perusing the flyer, we actually have icons
in the flyer embedded in the flyers to show you
that there is a coupon available against that item that
you can stack against the savings you're already generating that
are available in store. But the way that it functions
is that you have to clip the coupon inside of
(36:44):
the app and add it to your loyalty card, so
it's called load to ID savings, and many of the
retailers across the US we have those tools available.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Awesome. And then finally, how do we get going with flip?
Do you recommend going to the app store if you're
on iPhone or iPad or Google Play Store for Android devices,
or do you think people should start at the website first.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
No, I you know, I'm more often than not suggest
the apps. I think the apps are a really robust experience.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
The websites have parody in the features, but I really
love the app experience. I think we are designed teams
on an exceptional job of building a pretty straightforward and
beautiful app to help you with what's otherwise a utility.
So we have a very highly rated app. It's very present.
Whether you're searching for other keywords like local deals, local
savings will come up there as well. But if you
(37:30):
show up on the app store the Google play Store
and you type in flip, that's again Flip with two p's,
you can download us and then you know, enter your
zip code and you're good to go.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
All right, So, Michael, thank you so much for your time,
especially this time of year. I know how swamp you
are all at flip HQ. Thank you for taking the
time to explain the app and website to our listeners.
Thanks again, all the best and happy holidays. Yeah, thank you,
Mark to you as well, and to you listeners as well.
Thank you so much for tuning into the program, and
of course happy early holidays to you. Going to be
(38:00):
having a new tech it out every week anyhow, leading
up to and over Black Friday and Cyber Monday and
into December. But why not spread the joy and cheer
earlier then later. Also, thank you to my amazing partners
on tech it Out, Norton and Visa. I told you
about both of them this hour, as well as SanDisk,
the company that provides reliable backup storage flash memory amazing stuff.
(38:24):
If you want to reach out on social media, I'll
plug my handle once again. Feel free to ask questions.
Maybe you've got your eye on something that you want
to buy a loved one or treat yourself to something
that's discounted this time of year, and you want my
advice on it my opinion. You can hit me up
on x formerly Twitter, as well as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, threads,
Blue Sky, TikTok and YouTube. It's Mark Saltzman MARC SA
(38:48):
LTZMA N or if you prefer email, my website is
Mark Saltzman dot com. Anyhow, have a fantastic rest of
your day, happy shopping if you've started that already, and
I look forward to catching up with you next week
for another new episode of Tack it Out. But bye
for now,
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak. Technology columnist, author,
and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week
for every listener, Mark tackles the latest news, reviews, and
how toos to help you understand what's hot, what's not
(00:22):
and why.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey, everyone, welcome to teck it Out. This is episode
four twenty. There's probably a joke in there that my
twenty something kids would giggle at. Hey, I'm super stoked
that Norton has recently joined Visa to officially partner with
tech it Out. Visa has been a long standing partner
on this program and Norton just joined a month ago. Interestingly,
(00:46):
both companies aim to protect you in slightly different ways,
which I'll tell you more about shortly. I hope you're
all doing great now that Hey, November is marching along.
In fact, this hour, i'll share some discounted devices that
I showed on TV this past week, some deals that
you can pick up over Black Friday, November twenty eighth
and Cyber Monday, December first, if not beforehand. One of
(01:09):
those items is a game Just Dance twenty twenty six edition,
which is up to forty percent off and available for
multiple platforms, gets kids and kids at heart moving in
front of the TV. And so we're going to start
with tech it Out in a minute from now about
that game. We'll touch base with the makers of Just
Dance twenty twenty six. You be soft all the way
from France as we'll hear what's new and newsworthy about
(01:32):
the latest edition of the Just Dance franchise. Also on
the program, and speaking of Black Friday deals, we're going
to hear from Flip. This is a company that has
a free app and website that can save you serious
cash on your holiday purchases, but also on your weekly
grocery shop. They aggregate all of those circulars, those paper
ads that you get delivered to your home every week.
(01:53):
We'll learn how flip works and what makes it different
from other apps designed to save you money. That's going
to be a little bit later on in the Tech
It Out Show. Today, all of this and more on
a new and pre holiday Tech it Out episode. All right,
enough with my jobbring, let's officially kick off a new
show with our first interview as we get our game
on one of my favorite video game developers and publishers, you.
(02:16):
Besoft has some new titles out this time of year,
including Just Dance twenty twenty six edition, and also some
sales on games this coming Black Friday later in November,
which we're also going to hear about. We're joined on
the line by Simon Shanu, associate producer on Just Dance
twenty twenty six edition, on the line with us all
the way from France. Welcome to the show, Simon, good
(02:37):
to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Hello, nice to meet you.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Bajor Salou. Before we talk about Just Dance twenty twenty
six edition, the latest in the best selling franchise, please
tell us a bit about Ubisoft Paris and some of
the more notable games that has come out of that studio.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Yeah, of course, first thing, thanks for having me, and
what we can say about Ubisoft's rest is that it
was created more than thirty five years ago. Some notable
games we developed and we released the Ramann Games, Gostrican
franchise for those who know its, and the Raving Rabbits
(03:14):
franchise as well, and of course Just Dance. Be Soft
Paris is the home of Just Dance since the beginning
of the franchise.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Really really impressive catalog of games. Congratulations, thank you. Let's
talk Just Dance. So the series is more than a
decade old, now, is that right?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Definitely? Actually I think it's fifteen years old.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Now the first one.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
And I was on a Nintendo Wii I think, and
maybe Xbox Connect. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
The first game was a Nintendo Wii and it went
on most platforms. I would say Xbox with the Connect,
PlayStation with the PlayStation move.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Right, so all the cameras that can monitor your movement,
or with the Wii it was holding the we controller.
I mean, I think a lot of our listeners know
this franchise, but why don't we start with the premise
behind the game. It fuses music and dancing and gameplay
all in one.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Yeah, so Just Dance is your dance on demanded video game.
I would say every year we are going to talk
about Just Dance twenty six just after but every year
we are trying to bring some new songs and choreographies
with it, and the idea released to bring a lot
of fun and end of things to tour players. We
(04:27):
want to like group up with our friends and often
while dancing on the best songs of the year.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
All right, So the idea is that you dance in
front of your TV to many new and even classic
songs covering multiple genres. And you can play just for fun,
or you can also be competitive right with the people
beside you or even over the internet, where you're competing
for points based on how well you dance. You kind
of mimic the dancers on screen exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
And you got some choreographies which are for kids for
the family, little bit easy going, but if you like,
if you're like more experienced and engaged dancer, you can
go with like really complicated choreographies as well and often,
and the competes with your friends who are on the
(05:15):
couch with you.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You're actually not supposed to be on the couch and
you play.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
You know, you're supposed to stand up and like to
dance for real. We'll love you your whole body.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I love the idea. Also, as a parent of three kids,
I love the idea of getting them to move. So
Just Dance twenty twenty six edition is now available for
multiple platforms. Please tell us what's new at a high
level here. So Just the twenty six.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
It's of course, the latest entrance of the series is
available right now on Nintendo Switch PS five. It's Box
Series six. It contains forty new exciting tracks to dance to.
The tracks goes to charts topping tracks like apt by
(05:58):
Rossi and Bruno, mass like Wodined by Juliba, but also
some timeless classics I would say Hang Up from Madonna
or All Stars by smash Mouth. The ideas there will
be a song for everyone actually, and we come every
year with a bunch of new maps, but we are
(06:18):
also trying to bring some new content. The idea really
is to say, okay, what can we bring, What can
we bring that's new to the table for players. This
is why this year we also added two new features
to the game. The first one would be the Party Mood.
It's a feature we develop with friends and families in mind.
(06:43):
In this game mode, you are invited to meet the
Doctor Gigabald, a character who we invented was a brilliant
and goofy scientist and he tries to crack the dancing family.
I believe he believes in his you can crack it.
So the ideas you will step as a player in
(07:04):
his laboratory with your friends and you'll be able to
go through his schaotic and fun experiments on which would
be challenged to maintain your focus.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Can you tell me more about party mode? Simon?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Absolutely, we wanted to create something special this year with
this feature. The idea was to endreach this kind of
special local gaming experience that is just dancing. And when
you enter into the Doctor, the gabout laboratory that we created,
you will face some unexpected twists and fun challenges. You
(07:38):
will be asked to keep dancing in front of visual
picture betters like a slime splashing on the screen from
the strength machine, or never pop up that is blocking
the view. And sometimes you will also be asked to
stop dancing and follow the Doctor's instructions a little bit
like Simon says, you could check your controller, you could
(07:59):
be asked to clap your hands. And this is a
very customizable experience. You can pick difficulty, you can pick
a duration, which makes it great for family sasions with kids,
but also for more experienced players who would want to
try something a little bit more challenges. So this is
a bit chaotick, a lot of fun, and to be honest,
(08:21):
we are very excited for the players to try it.
Love it so that the first feature and the second
one is called the camera controller, and it allows solo
players to turn their phone, their phone's camera into a
full body motion scoring device and enjoy a hands free
(08:43):
dancing experience. As you know, when you play Just Dance,
you have to hold the controller, and the ID with
this camera controller feature is you don't have to You
dance with your full body without having anything in your hand.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I love that. I'm going to ask you more about
that in a moment, Simon. We're going to take a
short break in a moment, and yes, back to Just
Dance twenty twenty six, including the sales that they've got
over Black Frauday and Cyber Monday, super fun game, the
latest in the franchise. But first, as I mentioned off
the top of the program that Visa has been a
longtime partner on Tech It Out. We do cover cybersecurity
(09:18):
a lot on this program and how you can best
protect yourself from the digital age, even if you're not
super tech savvy. One part of the solution is securely
shopping online, especially this time of year, right, and so
I'm thrilled about my partnership with Visa on the program.
They've made some major investments in fraud prevention over the
past five years, as much as ten billion dollars according
(09:39):
to the company, to support Visa's brand promise to protect
the financial information of both individuals and businesses. Zero liability
means peace of mind when you shop online using your
Visa card. There can be no half measures when it
comes to cybersecurity, which is why the company takes an
aggressive and multi layered approach to combating the rising threat
(09:59):
of Mali software aka malware, and other threats by well
funded and global criminal enterprises. Read more about Visa and
how securing the world's payments is priority one at Visa
dot com slash security. That's Visa dot Com slash Security.
After the interview with Ubisoft and we get to flip
(10:20):
and I share some Black Friday deals, I'm also going
to tell you about Norton and their approach to your
personal protection in the digital age. If you want to
reach out on social media with any tech questions you've
got from me, be it tech support, or you've got
any follow up questions on the Black Friday deals I'm
chatting about this hour, or you want more info in
any of my guests. I'll spell my name in a moment,
(10:42):
but you can find me on x, Facebook, Instagram threads,
Blue Sky, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn. I think that's enough.
One that's like nine or something. So it's Mark Saltzman,
mar C sa l t z m a n. Or
as the announcer says through this show, Mark with the C,
Saltzman with the Z, nice little ring to it. And yes,
(11:04):
as a Canadian s A L t z m a
n just doesn't have that rhyming thing. So again, yeah,
I love to hear from you. Also, let me know
how you're listening to check it out. Is it on
your local talk radio station and if so, where you're
listening in from or if it's in podcast form? All right,
more check it out coming right up after this.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Listen to check it out whenever you want find the
Check it Out podcast, did I too, or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Welcome back to check it out. We are chatting with
Simon Shanu. He is global producer on the Just Dance
series from ub Soft. We're chatting with him all the
way from Paris, France. The game is available now for
multiple platforms. We just heard, of course about new music,
that's always something that we get every year with the
Just Dance franchise, but also new modes. We heard about
(12:02):
party mode, which sounds like a lot of fun. I
did watch the animation of the scientist in a YouTube video.
And now we're hearing about camera controller. So instead of
having to hold the controller, but this leverages the camera
on your smartphone so you can play hands free. So
simon is the idea that you prop up your phone
near the TV facing it towards you.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, that's exactly its just have to download the Just
Dance Controller application, which is available on iOS and adoid.
The next step is placing your phone between yourself and
the TV so the camerara can track your movements.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
As a player.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
And this is how you experience that this full body
movement trucking. So it's a very exciting way to play
Just Dance. We are releasing the feature in a final
version for Just Dance twenty six, and I know the
community is very excited about it, and I believe everyone
who tries it understand why, understand why it fun. What's
(13:00):
interesting is it's compatible with all the maps from Just
Dance twenty six, but also with map from the previous
entries of the series.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
When you say maps you mean the songs.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I mean the songs exactly, all.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Right, So I think that's great. Obviously you have to
be on the same Wi Fi network with your phone
as you are your video game system.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Definitely, that's the way the smartphone connects to the to
the console.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Is it almost as accurate as holding a controller. It's
a lot more convenient, for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Actually I would say it's even more precise that with
the that with the controller, the joy Gone or your
phone in the end controller, because it tracks the whole body,
so you really have to, like I don't know if
you if you saw that, but sometimes when playing Just Dance,
you have this like temptation to just move a little
(13:49):
bit the end and you feel like it's covering, but
you can't do that with the full bodies covering. This
is really the more precise experience you can get, and
you really have to like involve yourself with your football.
So I think it's really fun to do it that way,
and this is kind of the more complete experience you
can have of dancing in Just Dance.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Looking forward to trying that. That sounds great. And you
said it also works with other versions, like previous versions
of Just Dance.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah, it works with songs starting from Just Dance twenty
twenty three, So it means if you already own previous
Just Dance you can try it.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Speaking of songs, can you add more songs to Just
Dance twenty twenty six over time, like you know, with
an end game purchase.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, so we of course you're already own forty maps
when you buy Just Dance twenty six, which is a lot.
But you can also have access to more songs on
your Just Dance by subscribing to the Just Dance Plus subscription.
It's a subscription that grants you exclusive access to an
everging catalog with hundreds of songs from the previous Just
(14:55):
Dance installments, but also to new songs we are releasing
ran there during the year.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
That's great. I like that option. And I also understand
that there are some Black Friday deals on UB games,
including Just Dance twenty twenty six editions, so some extra
incentive to buy this by the end of November and
then place it into a stocking for Christmas a month later.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, absolutely, so Black Friday is like from November twenty
to December first, I believe, and the Just Dance will
be available at up to forty percent off. Wow, which
makes it basically the perfect time to grab the latest
edition and enjoy all the new content with the bartimode
(15:39):
and the camera's going.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
That's significant, and I think there's also similar sales on
other Ubisoft games like Star Wars, Outlaws and all that,
So that's amazing. So Black Friday is technically the twenty
eighth of November, but as Simon said, these deals start
as early as the twentieth. Before I let you go, Simon,
I understand that one of the other games in the series,
called Just Dance Now has more than one hundred and
(16:01):
thirty five million players worldwide, and LG just announced the
partnership with this game. Can you tell us about it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
So Just Dance Now is running since about ten years.
I think it a lots players to enjoy Just Dance
everywhere basically using only a smartphone and an Internet connected
second screen. It is led by our fantastic team at
Ubisoft Pune, and of course we are very excited about
(16:33):
this great partnership which is happening with LG, and I
think it will bring Just Dance now to a lot
of people who own an LGTV, so a lot of
new players who are going to be able to try
Just Dance starting next December.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, that's great. So you don't need a console to
play this version Just Dance Now, it's going to be
baked into the TV and some other platforms internet based game.
Love it. And then finally, Simon worked we learn more
about Just Dance twenty twenty six edition, the forty new
songs that are added, modes like party mode, and the
new camera control feature. Is there a website you can recommend?
Speaker 3 (17:09):
You can see all of the infos on Just Dance Socials,
but also the Just Dance website. You can just google
it and I think you'll find it very quickly.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
So just go to Google and just type in Just
Dance twenty twenty six. Awesome, Simon schnew great to chat
with you. Congrats on the launch of Just Dance twenty
twenty six edition. Very exciting. Thank you. After this short break,
I'm going to chat about some Black Friday deals and
steals on gadgets and games, followed by an interview with
Flip about that app and website and how it can
save you money. I just wanted to give a shout out.
(17:41):
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dot com the best Black Friday tech deals. When we
return on teck it Out, I.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Want to follow Mark Google Mark with a C and
Saltzman with a Z breaking down geeks peak into street speak.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
This is check it out to check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
With technology columnist, author, and TV personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Welcome back to teck it Out. As I mentioned earlier
in the program, I had a lot of fun going
on TV chatting about some Black Friday and Cyber Monday
related deals and just generally some great gadget gift ideas
and some game related ones too, whether you're shopping for
a loved one on your gift list or you want
to treat yourself to something that may be on sale
(19:00):
later this month. Black Friday is the twenty eighth and
Cyber Monday is the first of December, And why not,
right if you can save money, and if you've had
an eye on something for yourself, no judging, right, grab
a couple things in the kart for your family and
friends and maybe coworkers, and maybe one or two for
yourself as well, even if you were more naughty than
(19:21):
nice this year. And so I wanted to share with
you the items I showed on TV. And if you
do want to see them, by the way, just look
me up on social media and you can see a
video of this. It's Mark Saltzman, Mark with the c
SA L t z M AN. You'll find me on
all the major social media platforms out there. All right,
let's start off on the next evolution in handheld gaming,
(19:43):
a partnership between rog Republic of Gamers and Xbox. I'm
referring to the rog Xbox Ally and the Rog ally X.
These are handheld gaming systems that deliver a lot of
power and a gorgeous screen. More on that in the moment,
but it fuses the power and versatility of a Windows
eleven PC with the simplicity and comfort of console gaming
(20:07):
because you've got Xbox like controls on each side of
the gorgeous seven inch screen. So perfect to play wherever
life takes you because you've got the screen right on
the device, but you can also dock it and play
it on a big screen TV or monitor when you
get home or in a hotel room or what have you.
There's the white rog Ally, which is great for everyday
(20:28):
and enthusiast gamers who want great value at five ninety nine.
And then there's the rog xbox ally X in black
for those who want the very best in performance and
battery life and a few other bells and whistles at
nine to ninety nine. And both of these are powered
by AMD Rizin processors. Again, easy to pick up, hard
(20:48):
to put down, it's a lot of fun. So that's
the rog xbox ally series. Brand new to the market,
highly anticipated, and they deliver the goods. Asus dot Com
has more. That'sus dot Com. And speaking of the rog
xbox ally series, what about storage to expand how many
games you can hold on there without having to delete
(21:10):
ones you still want to play right. That's always a
pain point. While sand Disk, the leaders in flash storage,
have sand Disc micro SD cards for the rog Xbox
ally so these are officially licensed tiny little micro SD
cards about the size of your pinky fingernail from sand
Disk that are engineered with high read and write speeds
(21:31):
so optimize for fast game installations and updates so you
can spend less time loading and more time playing. Despite
its teeny size, storage options are up to two terabytes
that's about two thousand gigabytes, allowing you to hold up
to fifty games. These cards are also shockproof, drawproof, and
X ray proof, and back by a limited lifetime warranty.
(21:54):
They start at sixty nine dollars, but you can find
some sales over Black Friday and Cyber Monday at sand Disk.
Next up, and speaking of gaming, there's also a huge
sale on a pair of Ubisoft games leading up to
Black Friday. There's an interview with the company playing this
hour as well, but because there's also a Black Friday sale,
I wanted to include them here too. Just Dance twenty
(22:15):
twenty six edition is the hit holiday game for families
and friends with forty new tracks to dance to, a
new party mode with a fun and silly story with
animated scenes to follow, along with a hands free camera
controller option that uses your phone's camera if you don't
want to hold the controller, and a bluey medley for
(22:35):
fans of the hit TV show Just Dance twenty twenty
six edition is twenty five bucks off, which is a
great deal from November the twentieth to December third. There's
also Star Wars Outlaws, which is one of my favorite
games from last year, but now out for the Nintendo
Switch and other platforms. It's an epic single player Star
Wars game that's open ended. There's so much to do,
(22:58):
and it's twenty bucks off the game. You should definitely
check it out. So that's Star Wars Outlaws and Just
Dance twenty twenty six edition. You'bisoft dot com has more
all right? Moving on, how about a portable projector. Epsin
just launched its life studio pop Plus. This is a
portable projector with four K resolution and high brightness seven
(23:20):
hundred lumens of color and white brightness, built in Google
TV for streaming content, so you likely don't even need
to connect anything to it, like a cable box or
a Blu ray player or anything like that. And exceptional sound.
Why because epsin has partnered with Bose to handle the
audio from this Life Studio Pop Plus Projector. It's a partnership.
The epsin Projection Studio app works with the projector and
(23:43):
lets you and others create and share personalized videos directly
on the one hundred and fifty inch image, whether you're
indoors or outdoors in real time. It's really wild. So
that's the app called epsin Projection Studio, which works with
the Epsen Life Studio Pop Plus Projector. We're chatting about
on sale for Black Friday down to seven ninety nine.
(24:04):
Epsom dot com has more one more idea and then
a tech tip to share with you. So LG is
saying that you can save up to seventy percent on
some of its products leading up to Black Friday and
over that weekend Cyber Monday being the first of December.
And they always have great sales on its O lead
TVs as well, even though they haven't specifically said how
(24:25):
much this particular model will be reduced. But I'm referring
to the lgoled Evo AI C five four K smart TV.
It's perfect for families looking to upgrade their television as
the weather cools. It's in sizes from forty two all
the way up to eighty three inches, so budget and
wall size permitting. Those LGO lead TVs offer perfect blacks
(24:48):
and vibrant colors, high brightness, wide viewing angles. They sip
rather than gulp power, so they're easy on your monthly
energy bills. But again it's that picture. It's not just
four K, but perfect block because of the selflit pixels
powered by the Alpha A nine AI processor Gen eight.
And for gamers, I know we've been talking a lot
(25:09):
about gaming in this segment. It has a one hundred
and forty four HITZ refresh rate and a point one
millisecond response times, so super fast for gaming to keep
up those fast paced games like that Star Wars Outlaws
or just answ twenty twenty six edition. Actually so great
stuff from LG at LG dot com. And finally, before
we wrap up, especially this time of year, it's easy
(25:30):
to get caught up in the excitement of Black Friday
and Cyber Monday, but RBC is reminding you to stay
cautious when shopping online. Be wary of too good to
be true deals and texts and emails with links or
attachments that can lead to scams or malware malicious software.
Rbc'sbcyberaware website at rbc dot com slash cyber has an
(25:52):
article on great tips to protecting yourself, such as enabling
two factor authentication where you not only need your password
to log in, but one time code sent to your
mobile phone and ensuring that the website has HTTPS as
insecure or that little padlock in the web browser to
confirm it's an encrypted connection. Again RBC dot com slash
cyber for more. Speaking of holiday shopping, we're going to
(26:15):
catch up with Flip when we return after this short break.
Stay with us.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak. Check it Out hosted
by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Welcome back everyone. You're listening to check it out if
you're looking to save money while shopping this season, and hey,
who isn't, especially this year with tariff related price hikes
and inflation. One of my very few must have apps
on your smartphone is called Flip. That's FLI DOUBLEP. Among
other features, Flip shows you all the circulars that you
(26:58):
get delivered to your home digitally, all in one place,
all in one app, along with coupons so you can
get the best possible deals at retailers that you already
shop at. Joining us on the line for a Flip
one oh one if you will, is Michael Silverman, CEO
of Flip. Welcome back to the show. Michael, good to
chat with you again.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
Yeah, thank you, Mark, very excited to be here.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Mike.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I gotta tell you I've been covering Flip since it
was called with Shabby back I don't know, twelve years
and ten twelve years ago. It was founded by we
Hunts ten many many moons ago. It's been a privilege
to also partner with the company many times before. And
having you back on the show is awesome and perfect
timing as we're heading into Black Friday. So with that
in mind, at a high level, please tell us all
(27:39):
about Flip and how it works.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Sure, so, thank you for noting it at the top here.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
But Flip two Pie's is essentially like a free shopping
app and website, and what we do is we aggregate
all the circulars and deals from over two thousand retailers
across North America with the purpose of effectively helping shopper
plan and then save money. And you know, like at flip,
our state and mission is to help people make smarter
(28:06):
shopping decisions. And again you made the point before, but
in a time where inflation is impacting people's wallets and
people's budgets are getting tighter, this could not be more
important for most households.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
And so if Flip's free to download.
Speaker 6 (28:20):
The app store the Google play Store, all you have
to do is search for it, find it, download it.
Ultimately you enter your zip code and then you have
the ability to find all the latest deals near.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
You, and you can search by retailer, like if you
know you have a certain I don't know supermarket down
the street, I should mention it's not just for Black
Friday for gifts, but for groceries and other household decor
and things like that. You could either browse buy store,
or you could do a search by keyword right, could
type in air pods or chicken breasts or something right,
and then you could see your closest retailers who has
(28:52):
one on sale.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Yeah, that's totally right.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
So, in addition to being able to like browse or
peruse the retailers nearby. We also have a search feature,
a pretty powerful one, and it's really great for the
shoppers who know exactly what it is that they already
want to buy, and so ahead of the holidays, if
you're searching for big ticket items, TVs, vacuums, whatever it is,
it's a pretty powerful tool. But it's also you know,
like you touch on this just now, it's also great
(29:16):
for comparing those day to day prices. The grocery is
the household essentials, and for these holiday seasons, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
or Hanukkah, whatever the holiday may be, having the ability
to find those household essentials and groceries as you plan
for family events is also an incredibly valuable tool. So
if you see the deals, you have the ability then
(29:38):
subsequently in the app to add them to a shopping list,
and it, you know, sort of helps you stay organized.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
So with that in mind, let's say you've seen a
I don't know, a butterball turkey, or you see a
big screen TV that you've had your eye on. What
do you do? You just tap it once and it
adds it to your shopping list.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
Yeah, you can effectually it's the same terminology we used
to use an analog, so we call it clipping. So
if you find an item in a circular or through
the search feature, can clip the item and then subsequently
gets added automatically.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
To your shopping list.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And here's a fun fact. If you press a hold
on that item, you'll get more information like you can
see like more details or specs if it is consumer electronics,
maybe some reviews. It's all by pressing and holding, but
a quick tap lets you, as you called it, quote unquote,
clip it into your shopping list before you head out.
And we should clarify that flip is more for retail
(30:27):
shopping than it is for online shopping at this point.
Speaker 6 (30:30):
Yeah, that's a great distinction. I'd say it services both.
So we have retailers that work with us, especially around
Black Friday, to promote some of the amazing offers that they.
Speaker 5 (30:41):
Have that happen online. Yeah, and that happens year round.
Speaker 6 (30:44):
But you know, we know that you know most of
your shopping, most of your staple shopping for the head
of household shopper who's looking and is on a mission
to feed their family, clothe their family, that it's those
day to day items, those household essentials, those groceries that
have such a large impact on their wallet. So that's
where we do most of our damage trying to help shoppers,
(31:04):
is we help them find those local savings near them
in store.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Going back to Black Friday though, because this is mid November,
I believe that flip has a dedicated Black Friday section.
Is that right? And is it fair to say, Michael
that there's a lot of buzz this year leading into
Black Friday?
Speaker 6 (31:22):
Yeah, I mean, savings oriented holidays are big. But we
keep touching on this. It's an obvious theme, but a
real and present one for most households. Budgets are tight,
so this is a year where retailers are leaning in
pretty heavily to their savings oriented promotions. And in addition
to that, it's been a theme for over a decade
(31:42):
now that these deals have a tendency to drop earlier
and earlier each year. So you know, like when you
think about it, that can be incredibly overwhelming to manage,
especially over a large space of time. So we work
pretty diligently to find ways inside of the tools that
we offer shoppers to help them manage that chaos. And
in fact you said it. We have created a dedicated
Black Friday category to help you stay organized for the holidays.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
So, whether it's the Flip app or the website which
is at simply flip dot com flipp dot com, there's
like a carousel or what have you near the top
where you can find specific Black Friday deals. And as
you mentioned, and I'm glad you did that, you often
don't have to wait. The retailers don't want to lose you.
They want to make that sale, even if it's earlier,
and so be on the lookout for great deals this
(32:28):
year and Flip can certainly help there. We are chatting
with Michael Silverman, chief executive officer at Flip. This is
an app and a website that has been dedicated to
saving you money. What about the Flips watch List. Let's
say you've had something on your mind all year around,
but you've been waiting for that price to drop.
Speaker 6 (32:43):
What a great tool, great ingenuity by our team. It
acts as your personal deal tracker. If you're searching for
something and you don't love the deals that you're finding
on it at the moment, what you're allowed to do
is add it to a watch list inside of the
app and then Flip does all the work for you
and essentially, like as you were going about your daily life,
if there's something you wanted to keep an eye on,
we'll send you a notification when deals do pop up.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
All right, awesome, More about this feature when we return
with flip on Teck it out.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram. Listen
to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
A few more minutes With Flip's CEO, Michael Silverman, Flip
is fli doublep and app and website that saves you money.
Is there a way, Michael you can quantify how much
people can save using Flip, whether it's for day to
day groceries or bigger ticket items as gifts.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
Yeah, you know, it really does. Depend more you use it,
the more you can say it.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
I would say that, and certainly we survey the shoppers regularly,
and our average Flip user save somewhere in the neighborhood
of twenty to twenty five percent per week. Oh well
on your groceries, so it's very substantial, very meaningful saving
on your regular purchases at the time of holidays, I mean,
on any individual item. It could save you up to
seventy percent. It really depends on what offer is being made.
(34:09):
But we see ourselves as a utility that shoppers use
on a regular basis, and for the shoppers that do
use our app regularly, we have a pretty material impact
on their wall.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah. I like that you're empowering users to make a decision.
For example, if my wife, Kelly, who does the shopping
in our home, if she sees something like, I don't know,
cereal is on sale for a dollar off, if it's
far away, it's not going to be worth her time
or the gas money to go and get it. So
but she can decide where she wants to hit, you know,
and what order, what supermarkets she wants to go do
(34:41):
kind of thing, and whether she should wait or not.
But I like that you're giving us the information and
then we can use it how we want at that
point or not at all. And then before we wrap up,
I wanted to ask you, Michael, about the ability to
store loyalty cards or rewards cards inside the app. I
use this all the time. I'm opening up Flip all
the time when I'm surepping somewhere and I have like
a points card or what have. You can you tell
(35:03):
us about that.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Yeah, another feature in our app that I love. I
really think of our app.
Speaker 6 (35:07):
As sort of like a Swiss army knife for savings.
And so in addition to the watch list we discuss
or regular shopping lists or the ability to search, we
also have effectively like your digital loyalty card wallet, so
you can save some of your loyalty cards directly in
the app to make it more convenient, you know, whether
you're perusing or you're in store, to have the ability
(35:30):
to sort of like leverage the app as one convenient
app to manage your savings.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Instead of carrying a pocket or a purse full of
plastic cards that you need to pull out and the
people behind you in line are getting irritated, and you
just open up the Flip app and you tap the
settings icon a little gear and then it's under something
like my cards or something like that. So, yeah, super convenient.
And then if there is a coupon, like for something
that you could use at a store, like say Target
(35:55):
or Walmart or Home Depot, Michael, how does that work
within the Flip app?
Speaker 6 (35:59):
Yeah, you know, as an extension of those loyalty cards.
We really primarily deal with digital coupons. So there was
a point in time where print coupons were a very
big thing, and we actually enabled that more frequently in
the app. Now we're hyper digitally focused business, and so
what happens is that the coupons that we do have
available present themselves throughout the content, whether again, whether it's
(36:21):
in search, you'll be able to see a little icon
that shows you that there's a coupon available on the product,
or if you're perusing the flyer, we actually have icons
in the flyer embedded in the flyers to show you
that there is a coupon available against that item that
you can stack against the savings you're already generating that
are available in store. But the way that it functions
is that you have to clip the coupon inside of
(36:44):
the app and add it to your loyalty card, so
it's called load to ID savings, and many of the
retailers across the US we have those tools available.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Awesome. And then finally, how do we get going with flip?
Do you recommend going to the app store if you're
on iPhone or iPad or Google Play Store for Android devices,
or do you think people should start at the website first.
Speaker 5 (37:04):
No, I you know, I'm more often than not suggest
the apps. I think the apps are a really robust experience.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
The websites have parody in the features, but I really
love the app experience. I think we are designed teams
on an exceptional job of building a pretty straightforward and
beautiful app to help you with what's otherwise a utility.
So we have a very highly rated app. It's very present.
Whether you're searching for other keywords like local deals, local
savings will come up there as well. But if you
(37:30):
show up on the app store the Google play Store
and you type in flip, that's again Flip with two p's,
you can download us and then you know, enter your
zip code and you're good to go.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
All right, So, Michael, thank you so much for your time,
especially this time of year. I know how swamp you
are all at flip HQ. Thank you for taking the
time to explain the app and website to our listeners.
Thanks again, all the best and happy holidays. Yeah, thank you,
Mark to you as well, and to you listeners as well.
Thank you so much for tuning into the program, and
of course happy early holidays to you. Going to be
(38:00):
having a new tech it out every week anyhow, leading
up to and over Black Friday and Cyber Monday and
into December. But why not spread the joy and cheer
earlier then later. Also, thank you to my amazing partners
on tech it Out, Norton and Visa. I told you
about both of them this hour, as well as SanDisk,
the company that provides reliable backup storage flash memory amazing stuff.
(38:24):
If you want to reach out on social media, I'll
plug my handle once again. Feel free to ask questions.
Maybe you've got your eye on something that you want
to buy a loved one or treat yourself to something
that's discounted this time of year, and you want my
advice on it my opinion. You can hit me up
on x formerly Twitter, as well as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, threads,
Blue Sky, TikTok and YouTube. It's Mark Saltzman MARC SA
(38:48):
LTZMA N or if you prefer email, my website is
Mark Saltzman dot com. Anyhow, have a fantastic rest of
your day, happy shopping if you've started that already, and
I look forward to catching up with you next week
for another new episode of Tack it Out. But bye
for now,
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