Barb Gonzalez

A streaming service subscription makes a great last-minute gift or the perfect addition to go with the gift of a Roku or Amazon stick. Some services offer gift cards, others have restrictions. Find out how to gift popular streaming services.

Black Friday deals on streaming subscriptions may be the best way to try out new apps. Many channels and apps have dollar deals that give you enough time to watch those titles that you didn't want to spend full price to see. This is a push by the streaming services to get more subscribers (that equates to more advertising dollars for ad-supported services). And they are hoping that once you subscribe, you'll stay with the service. Between Thanksgiving day and midnight on Cyber Monday is the best time to sign up for deals on Hulu, AMC+, and many add-on channels, as well as streaming player/streaming software bundles.

In a special event this week, Apple announced a new generation of AirPods and HomePod mini options to go with the soon-to-be-released Apple Music Voice Plan. The reduced-price plan can only be accessed and controlled using Siri voice commands through the headphones, speaker, or other Apple devices.

Roku is upgrading its operating system and has announced plans to release a new Roku Streaming Stick 4K and Roku Streaming Stick 4K+ in October. The new Roku OS 10.5 promises to speed up content retrieval and improve Roku Voice commands in addition to adding wireless surround sound and streamlined audio adjustments.