微软为假日购物做好准备

由 Rob EnderleOct 12， 2020 4：00 AM

微软在假日购物的时间边缘 |搜索技术 |技术新闻世界

鉴于这一大流行，我们今年可能会有新的网上购物记录。对COVID-19的担忧和实体店（尤其是大商店）的持续关闭，将促使我们网上购物创下纪录。

为了迎接这一举措，Microsoft 已积极更新了其新的 Chromium 版本的 Edge 浏览器，具有多种功能，可帮助您找到礼物并节省资金，同时在网络上保持安全。

让我们来谈谈本周对 Edge 的这些改进，我们将使用来自 Gateway 的新笔记本电脑，该计算机看起来具有尺寸、价格和性能的近乎完美的混合，适合我们新的 COVID-19 正常配置。

价格比较

我倾向于住在亚马逊， 但即使在黄金时期， 我从来不确定我是否真的得到了很多。但比较购物是一个痛苦的经历， 因为你必须在确保产品相同的前提下，在几个标签间来回翻阅，。

例如，几个月前我买了一台电视，我认为这是一笔不错的交易，但它是专门为零售商创建，以获得更低的价格，我想要的功能之一，HDR支持所有HDMI链接，已被删除。现在，我每次看电视都会收到一个警报，指出电视不支持此功能。感觉电视在我的错误中不断摩擦， 它已经变得足够烦人， 我很想再次更换电视。

本月，微软推出价格比较，这应该可以帮助你找到一个更好的价格，而网上购物。如果您拥有新的 Chromium Edge 浏览器，您应该可以立即试用，通过向集合添加产品，然后单击"将价格与其他零售商进行比较"选项。然后，此功能应生成零售商之间的该商品的价格列表，以及允许您完成购买的页面的链接。

必应返点

我目前使用乐天（我的妻子把我转向这个实用程序），你在网上购买时它给你回扣，除非你使用像亚马逊Smile的网站，而不是转移这笔钱到慈善机构（我的是人道协会）。

必应返点的工作方式与乐天类似，但它内置于浏览器中，并且更加自动。当您搜索产品、品牌或类别时，您将在搜索结果中看到必应返点。您必须先注册 Microsoft 奖励;然后，在 90 天的节奏中，您将自动获得您帐户中的PayPal。相比之下，Ruketen 会向您发送一张支票，考虑到美国邮政服务现在的状态，这一支票并不理想。

这个月，通过必应返点，你可以从时尚、电子产品、杂货、旅游、游戏、娱乐和书籍中收回现金。

收藏 + 兴趣

我妻子用 Pinterest 比我多， 我从来没有用它来购物， 虽然我知道很多人这样做。将礼品创意收集到Pinterest中一直非常方便，但现在您可以将该功能与Edge收藏集成。

您的想法不是将它们放在 Pinterest中，而是将它们放入 Edge 集合中（使用浏览器右上右侧的 pin 符号或右键单击页面并选择"将页面添加到集合中"）。顺便说一下，如果你还没有使用集合，它们很方便。我使用的功能主要是收集电子书，我以后可能想买和阅读。

与Edge 与Pinterest的集成将查看您的收藏，并在收藏页面底部显示来自 Pinterest的建议。此功能将帮助您识别可能送给他人（或您自己）的潜在礼物，否则您可能没有发现这些礼品。

给与必应

此功能今年早些时候启用了，但不知何故我错过了公告。此功能允许您使用 Microsoft 奖励积分（您也只需在必应上搜索即累积积分）到全球 140 万非营利组织之一。

此功能有点像亚马逊Smile，但具有更大的覆盖面和潜力，赚取更多的钱。据微软称，到目前为止，人们已经捐赠了超过100万美元给使用此功能的有价值的组织。

上周，微软将此功能从仅美国扩展到英国、加拿大、澳大利亚、法国、意大利、德国和西班牙。您可以在此处找到要注册的仪表板。我已经注册了自己， 根据仪表板， 我把365 分给了中央俄勒冈州 Spca 人道协会。 到目前为止，这大约36美分，虽然我每月通常得到几块钱或一年大约24美元，但如果每个人都这样做，产生的金额可能是巨大的，它不会花费你任何东西，只会耗费你已经花在搜索和购物上的时间。

电信党

现在，我们不谈礼物，考虑到威胁到我们生存的流行病，我想念的事情之一是与朋友做事情。TeleParty（以前的 Netflix 派对）允许您同时与远程好友和视频会议一起观看视频。当我下载此功能时，它仍然只与 Netflix 合作，但不久它也应该与 Hulu、亚马逊 Prime、HBO Go 和迪斯尼® 以及 Netflix 一起使用。如果你想去全屏，它有集成聊天。微软称， 他们是唯一允许 4k 流的服务，， 这意味着在圣诞节我需要一个新的 4k 显示器。

包装

假期即将来临，在大流行下，对我们中的许多人来说，它们很可能会有所不同。我们应该在第二波 COVID - 19 浪潮中被困在家里。但有了这些浏览器的新功能，我们应该能够省钱。我们可以同时去购物，帮助我们最喜欢的慈善机构，为自己和他人创建愿望清单，我们的朋友虚拟地玩耍，看电影（考虑到我们当地的剧院刚刚关闭，也许我们唯一的选择）。

微软还推出了其他几个令人兴奋的功能。其中包括改进的 InPrivate 浏览功能，以防您上网时不希望人们知道这些网站;一个神奇女侠1984年的主题（每当那部电影出现）;电子竞技中心，整合来自多个平台的新闻、游戏流、比赛、比赛和团队信息 — — 支持 Twitch 和 YouTube;和一些增强的苹果版本的边缘浏览器为 ios 。

鉴于Edge浏览器是免费的，这是微软的早期礼物，而不是一个坏的。我想今年圣诞节来得早了些。

我继续寻找完美的大流行笔记本，我的最新候选人是 AMD 供电网关创建器系列 15.6" 产品。沃尔玛的激进价格 （他们现在似乎有独家） 799 美元， 这是一个真正体面的价值。

我对一台大流行笔记本电脑的看法是， 你不需要电池寿命， 也不需要高便携性， 因为你不会去任何地方。你需要的是一个大屏幕（15.6"是相当大的），体面的电源（这台笔记本电脑有AMD的Ryzen 5和NVIDIA的GTX 1650图形系统），体面的声音（THX 7.1空间音频调谐），电影功能（THX显示校准），和体面的视频游戏支持，因为，正如我指出的，你不会去任何地方一段时间。

这台笔记本电脑不是最薄的，也不是最轻的，也不是最好看的笔记本电脑。但这个东西价值很高。如果你想要一些负担得起的东西，让你通过被困在家里的时期，这可能是于你而言完美打造的笔记本电脑。

网关创建器系列 15.6" FHD 性能笔记本

AMD 和 Nvidia 技术的混合一直是该市场鲜为人知的协同效应之一。英特尔和Nvidia相处不好，但AMD的处理器端和Nvidia的图形方面似乎有一些奇怪的像罗密欧和朱丽叶的爱情关系一样的联系，因为他们相处的很好。结果是，AMD 和 Nvidia 之间的协同效应往往比 Nvidia 和英特尔之间更好，尤其是现在英特尔正在推出其高性能图形和仅英特尔的 EVO 平台。

现在，这种网关的电池续航时间在5小时以下，但对高性能笔记本电脑来说并不罕见，而且，你现在需要电池的地方又会去哪里？对于飞机上的教练座位来说，它太大了。不过，我敢打赌，在可预见的未来，你不会比我更飞——如果没人亲自看到你，谁在乎漂亮呢？它看起来还不错，但它没有碳纤维、铝或皮革。（我的意思是， 说真的， 我们中的许多人不穿裤子， 同样地，谁会在乎你的笔记本电脑是什么样子的？

这台笔记本电脑强调性能、屏幕尺寸和可负担性，我认为在大流行期间，它应该是这样的。我所说的大多数公司都说在家工作会无限期地继续下去。许多人现在报告生产率的提高、工人的参与度和满意度的提高;高管们告诉我，他们完全可以放弃旅行。因此，这种新的常态很可能在一段时间里成为常态。

当我们大多数人呆在家里时，如果你想要一台完美的笔记本电脑，网关创造机系列15.6"FHD性能笔记本可能是你最好的选择 - 这是我本周的产品。

Microsoft Hones Edge in Time for Holiday Shopping

By Rob Enderle Oct 12, 2020 4:00 AM PT

Microsoft Hones Edge in Time for Holiday Shopping | Search Tech | TechNewsWorld

Given the pandemic, we are likely to have a new record for online shopping this year. The combination of concerns about COVID-19 and the continued shut down of brick and mortar stores, particularly big-box stores, will push a record number of us to shop online.

In anticipation of this move, Microsoft has aggressively updated its new Chromium version of the Edge browser with several features that should help you find gifts and save money while remaining far safer while on the web.

Let's talk about these improvements to Edge this week, and we'll close with a new notebook computer from Gateway, which appears to have the near-perfect blend of size, price, and performance for our new COVID-19 normal.

Price Comparison

I tend to live on Amazon, but even during Prime days I'm never sure if I'm honestly getting a great deal or not. But comparison shopping is a pain in the butt as you have to juggle several tabs and make sure the products are the same.

For instance, I bought a TV a few months back that I thought was a good deal, but it had been created specifically for the retailer to get a lower price, and one of the features I wanted, HDR support across all the HDMI links, had been deleted. Now I get an alert every time I watch TV that the TV doesn't support this feature. It feels like the TV is continuously rubbing in my mistake, and it has become annoying enough that I'm tempted to replace the TV again.

This month, Microsoft is rolling out price comparison, which should help you find a better price while shopping online. You should be able to try this out today, if you have the new Chromium Edge browser, by adding a product to a collection and then click on the option "compare price to other retailers." This feature should then generate a list of prices of that item across retailers and links to the pages that allow you to complete the purchase.

Bing Rebates

I currently use Rakuten (my wife turned me onto this utility), which gives you rebates when you buy online unless you are using a site like Amazon Smile, which instead shifts that money to a charity (mine is the Humane Society).

Bing Rebates work in a similar way to Rakuten, but it is built into the browsers and is more automatic. When you search for products, brands, or categories, you'll see Bing Rebates right in the search results. You do have to sign up for Microsoft Rewards first; then, on a 90-day cadence, you'll automatically get the rebate in your PayPal account. In contrast, Ruketen sends you a check -- which isn't ideal given the state of the U.S. Postal Service right now.

This month, with Bing Rebates you can get cash back from fashion, electronics, groceries, travel, games, entertainment, and books.

Collections + Pinterest

My wife uses Pinterest far more than I do, and I've never used it for shopping though I know many do. Collecting gift ideas into Pinterest has always been pretty handy, but now you can integrate that feature with Edge Collections.

You take your ideas, and instead of putting them in Pinterest, you place them into an Edge collection (use the pin symbol on the top right of the browser or right-click on the page and choose "add the page to collections"). By the way, if you haven't used collections yet, they are convenient. I use the feature mostly to collect e-books I may want to buy and read later.

Pinterest integration with Edge will look at your collection and show suggestions from Pinterest at the bottom of your collection page. This feature should help you identify potential gifts for others -- or yourself -- that you may not have discovered otherwise.

Give With Bing

This feature was enabled earlier this year, but somehow I missed the announcement. This capability allows you to use your Microsoft Rewards points (which you also accumulate just by searching on Bing) to one of 1.4 million non-profit organizations all over the world.

This feature is kind of like Amazon Smile but with far greater reach and the potential for earning more money to give. According to Microsoft, people have donated over one million dollars to worthy organizations using this feature thus far.

Last week Microsoft expanded this feature from U.S.-only, to the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. You can find the dashboard to sign up here. I've already signed up myself and according to the dashboard I'm giving 365 points to the Humane Society of Central Oregon SPCA so far this month. That's about 36 cents, though I typically get to a couple of bucks by month or something like $24 a year, but if everyone did this, the amount generated could be huge, and it doesn't cost you anything but the time you are already spending to search and shop.

Teleparty

Now we move from gifts and giving to surviving the pandemic, and one of the things I miss is doing things with friends. Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party) allows you to watch a video with your remote friend and video conference at the same time. When I downloaded this feature, it was still only working with Netflix, but shortly it should also work with Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, and Disney+, along with Netflix. It has integrated chat if you want to go to full screen. According to Microsoft, theirs is the only service that allows 4K streaming, which likely means I need a new 4K monitor for Christmas.

Wrapping Up

The holidays are coming, and under the pandemic they'll likely be a ton different for many of us. We should be in the midst (thanks to being forced indoors) of a second COVID-19 wave and stuck at home. But with these new browser features, we should be able to save money. We can simultaneously go shopping, help our favorite charity, create wish lists for ourselves and others, hang out virtually with our friends, and watch movies (given that our local theaters just closed again, that maybe our only choice).

Microsoft launched several other exciting features as well. These include improved InPrivate browsing -- in case you go places online that you don't want people to know about; a Wonder Woman 1984 theme (for whenever that movie shows up); an Esports hub that consolidates news, game streams, matches, tournaments, and team info from multiple platforms -- Twitch and YouTube are both supported; and some enhancements to the Apple version of the Edge browser for iOS.

Given the Edge browser is free, this is an early present from Microsoft -- and not a bad one. I guess Christmas came early this year.

The Gateway Creator Series 15.6" With AMD Ryzen

I'm continuing my search for the perfect pandemic notebook, and my latest candidate is the AMD powered Gateway Creator Series 15.6" offering. With an aggressive price at Walmart (they appear to have an exclusive at the moment) of $799, this is a genuinely decent value.

My view of a pandemic laptop is you don't need battery life, nor do you need high portability because you aren't going anyplace. What you need is a big screen (15.6" is pretty big), decent power (this laptop has both AMD's Ryzen 5 and NVIDIA's GTX 1650 graphics system), decent sound (THX 7.1 Spatial Audio tuning), movie capability (THX display calibration), and decent video game support because, as I pointed out, you aren't going anyplace for a while.

This laptop isn't the thinnest, nor the lightest, nor the best-looking laptop. But this thing screams value. If you want something affordable to get you through being stuck at home, this could be the perfect laptop for you.

Gateway Creator Series 15.6" FHD Performance Notebook

The blend of AMD and Nvidia technology has always been one of the little-understood synergies in this market. Intel and Nvidia don't get along well, but the processor side of AMD and the graphics side of Nvidia seem to have some weird Romeo and Juliette lovefest going on, because they get along just fine. The result is that you tend to get more synergy between AMD and Nvidia than you do between Nvidia and Intel, particularly now that intel is rolling out their high-performance graphics and their EVO platform that is Intel-only.

Now, battery life on this Gateway kind of sucks at 5 hours, but that isn't uncommon for a high-performance laptop, and again, where are you going where you need the battery now anyway? It is too big for a coach seat on a plane. Still, I'll bet you aren't flying for the foreseeable future any more than I am -- and who cares about pretty if no one sees you in person anyway? It isn't bad looking, but it doesn't have carbon fiber, aluminum, or leather. (I mean, seriously, many of us spend our days not wearing pants, who cares what your laptop looks like?)

This laptop emphasizes performance, screen size, and affordability, and I think that's where it should be during a pandemic. Most of the companies I'm talking to say working from home will continue indefinitely. Many are now reporting productivity increases, higher worker engagement and satisfaction; and executives are telling me that they are okay with giving up travel altogether. So this new normal is likely to be the norm for some time.

If you want a laptop that is perfect for the world as it exists for most of us stuck at home, the Gateway Creator Series 15.6" FHD Performance Notebook may be your best choice -- and it is my product of the week.