July has a way of zipping past us, and before we know it we’ve landed in August and we’re a month away from back to school. It’s hard to believe time can go by that fast, but that’s the downfall of a Canadian summer. They seem to be over before you know it.
Thankfully there are still plenty of days left to spend outside soaking up the sunshine. While you’re enjoying the warm weather, you might want to grab your laptop, sit outside on a lawn chair, and take a look at what’s new at Best Buy for August. It’s definitely the best time to get a jump on your back to school shopping, and there’s a lot of great stuff you need to see this month.
Coffee lovers, rejoice!
I’m a huge coffee fan, but I’ll admit that I don’t have drip coffee maker skills. In the past I’ve either added too much coffee, it’s either too weak or too strong, or I find that the machine just doesn’t get the brew hot enough.
But the new Braun BrewSense 12-cup drip coffee maker just might be the coffee maker that makes me switch to drip. It has something called a PureFlavour system that makes the best, most flavourful coffee, cup after cup, and you can even set the strength. Plus, you never have to worry about your coffee getting cold because it has a carafe lid that seals and keeps everything hot.
If you’re shopping for a coffee maker for the dorm room, this coffee maker could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Make 4K TV your fall resolution
If you’ve ever gone into a Best Buy location and spent a bit of time taking in the view you get with a 4K TV, you’ll know why so many people just stand in awe when they see one. The picture quality really does have to be seen to be believed.
If you’re fall resolution is to set up a 4K TV in your living room, you have to take a look at the Toshiba 49” 4K UHD Smart TV. It’s an LCD with 4K Ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160 and 60Hz refresh rate to keep up with all the action you’ll watch.
What’s great about this TV is that your streaming video options are all built-in. It has Wi-Fi and a Google Cast option so you can stream from your phone or laptop straight to the TV, and there are three HDMI ports so you can plug in your gaming system or Blu-ray.
Smart light up your home
I’m a huge fan of smart lighting. The Philips Hue kit was one of the first smart products I bought when I was doing my house renovation, and since we’ve hooked them up we’ve had a ton of fun with the bulbs.
Yes, they can change into every color of the rainbow, but you see the real usefulness of Philips Hue when you use it to let you know if you’ve received an email or text, to let you know when the sun is setting, or to tell you if its raining outside. Yes, you can do all of that with your smart lights, and now that Philips Hue Beyond is available, you get all of that smart home functionality built into a cool looking table tamp.
The Hue Beyond smart table lamp uses LightDuo technology. That means it has an uplight and a downlight so you can create different lighting combinations, and you can do everything with it from synch it to your music or set it to turn on when you’re not home
Smart toys that are fun and educational
My kids saw an ad for the Sphero SPRK+ on a kids programming site they hang out on, and my science loving sons have been excited about this toy ever since. From the creators of the BB-8 droid, the SPRK+ teaches the basics of programming, has programmable LED lights, gyroscope, and accelerometer, and your kids will be able to make it move on the ground or water.
It’s available on August 12th but you can pre-order right now. Take a look at Leo’s review for a full and detailed description of the Sphero SPRK+.
SPRK+ is for older kids age 8 and up, but Edwin the Duck will definitely captivate the interest of your younger kids. For ages newborn to 5, Edwin is a Bluetooth-enabled duck that connects to your Apple or Android device and can be controlled by an app. He’s waterproof so you can take him into the tub, has a Bluetooth speaker to play music, stories, and more, and he’s also a cozy night light. He even has a built-in accelerometer to play games with your little one.
Christine did a review of Edwin the Duck, so take a peek at her thoughts on this smart toy.
The blockbuster game of the summer
A lot of people have been waiting for this one, and after a delay from its original June release, it’s finally available on August 9th: No Man’s Sky for PlayStation 4 is the massive online exploration game we’ve all been waiting for. With 18 quintillion planet-sized worlds, you can navigate and explore planets never before explored by another human.
You’re the explorer in this game, and you can name the planets you discover or just cruise though space until you decide to make a pit stop. Fun fact about No Man’s Sky: most people playing this game will only discover 1% of the planets. In fact, there are so many planets that even the game developers haven’t discovered them yet, so game play is virtually endless.
You can pre-order No Man’s Sky right now, and if you do pre-order you get a bonus steelbook.
That’s just a taste of what’s new at Best Buy in August, so keep your eyes peeled for everything new for back to school, all the back to school tech, and the great fall gadgets and appliances that will be popping up. Having so much to look forward to really does take the sting out of summer ending.
