If you happen to be an avid reader and like the whole idea of an e-book device, then you probably own a Kindle. Yet, Amazon’s signature device does have quite a few alternatives, most-notably the Barnes & Noble Nook, which a lot of users do find to be more-convenient than a Kindle.

All seems to be good and well with the company’s e-ink readers, but a new email sent out to international users paints a different story for the company’s Windows client base. It informs user outside the US and UK that the Windows Nook app will stop functioning on August 7. Furthermore, payments form Microsoft accounts are no longer supported, so any purchase made through that channel may be eligible for a full refund. Here is the original memo: Read more »

IBM hasn’t really been at the forefront of tech innovation for quite some time now, or at least, that is what its shrunken consumer electronics segment has led us to believe. However, the company is still investing heavily in research and development and like many others, is trying to advance modern computing. The latest breakthrough comes in a revolutionary new chip, manufactured using a 7nm process.

The major milestone is the result of a $3 billion investment in research and was accomplished in collaboration with Global Foundries, Samsung and the SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany, New York. The scale-down was achieved by using Silicon Germanium (SiGe) channel transistors and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography integration. Read more »

Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, is reportedly gearing up for a huge business change. The e-tailer is planning to shut down its website altogether and follow an app-only business model. This should happen this September and is sure to stir things up in the country’s online commerce segment. The announcement was made by Punit Soni, the company’s CEO at a staff meeting, so it is pretty much official.

As you can imagine, this is a well thought out move and definitely not void of logic. Flipkart has estimated that about 75% of its entire traffic comes from mobile devices, so it doesn’t make much sense to support and invest in a traditional website anymore. The company’s second site Myntra actually already went down the same route in May 2015. The fashion-centric market reported similar numbers prior to the shift – 80 percent of traffic and 70% of purchases were via mobile app. Read more »

The world as we know it is drawing to an end. Well, at least Bubble Wrap is, but the feeling is mostly the same. Stress reliever No. 1 is set to fall victim to practical considerations now that iBubble is here.

We’ll try to steer clear of commenting on the choice of name, but the essence is that the new product is simply easier to transport. Read more »

We have no doubt that you have heard the “Over the Horizon” song by Samsung. Actually, it is hard not to, seeing how it has been around for quite some time now as the default ringtone for all of Samsung’s devices and is also featured in its marketing campaigns and frequently played at events.

However, chances are that you are only familiar with a couple of version of the said piece and it has gone through a lot of reimagining over the years. Samsung tells the story of how its beautiful theme was transformed yet again, prior to the release of the current flagship duo – the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. All versions of the song are based on the same six basic notes, enough to make it instantly recognizable, while leaving endless room for variations and ornamentation. Read more »

Remember Samsung Pay? It is the company’s ambitious payment solution, announced at this year’s MWC in Barcelona alongside the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge duo, so naturally it got slightly pushed to the sidelines. Since then, we haven’t really received any major progress updates, but the promise for a September release in the US and South Korea still stands.

A new report indicates that Samsung Pay is already in the final stages of its testing. The Korean tech giant is working in cooperation with eight local card vendors to ensure everything works as intended. But, there might still be quite a few problems along the way. Unlike most other payment services, Samsung seems to be facing technical issues, rather than legal ones. Read more »

You definitely shouldn’t trust everything you hear and even more so, everything you read online and the recent MediaTek, Nvidia merger rumor is a prime example of exactly what can happen otherwise. The speculation was quickly debunked MediaTek, but apparently, not before the memo reached the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The implications of such a merger could potentially be huge for the entire industry, and stock brokers reacted quicker than just about everyone else.

This is most-probably why the chip maker decided to post a filing with the said stock exchange, explaining that it is not considering any such deal with Nvidia and is not the source of the rumor, originally reported by Economic Daily News. That is some pretty official explaining that MediaTek was forced to do. Read more »

Stress and torture test videos have really become trendy and only seem to be growing in popularity.Nowadays it seems that scientific and carefully though-out testing procedures have almost entirely given way to over the top experiments and often senseless carnage and destruction, simply for the sake of it. Mind you, we are not complaining – there is something oddly satisfying in watching others destroy their valuable tech in increasingly-creative ways.

The latest such clip is the unassumingly titled “LG G Flex 2 drop test”. It definitely delivers on its promises, as it starts off with a few quite-likely drops of the phone, first from something close to a meter. Actually, to the presenter’s credit, he does attempt to make at least a few valid points and give a nice damage report. As you might remember, the LG G Flex 2 features a special finish on the back, which the company has often referred to as “self-healing”. Actually, the coating favored pretty well after a few drops, but not even it can prevent denting to the edges. Read more »

Samsung added another member to its Level family of audio products. The Level U is a wireless in-ear headset with ergonomic around-the-neck design and beefy 12mm audio drivers.

The Korean giant has integrated two microphones into the Level U – one handles voice, while the other one blocks ambient noise. Read more »

We’ve seen similar videos from its phone division, but now Samsung chose to demonstrate just how seriously in takes build quality for its notebooks. The clip shows extensive torture testing done at a massive industrial scale. The horrors these computers are put through are enough to make any tech geek weep, but it is all for the greater good! Still, we wouldn’t blame you if you look away.

Samsung really seems to be extensive in its stress tests. The video shows quite a few, highly-sophisticated and entirely automated test rigs toying away over unfortunate Samsung Series or Samsung ATIV Book ultrabooks. Read more »

Sony announced today its own crowdfunding platform called First Flight. It looks a lot like Kickstarter, but isn’t just another replica. In fact First Flight has entirely different concept – it’s Sony’s hope to repair some of its struggling businesses.

Sony PlayStation 4 might be doing great, but we can’t say the same for the Xperia lineup which has become somewhat of a run-of-the-mill job. With First Flight Sony will be able to achieve to major things free of charge – learn the interest towards certain product ahead of re;ease and cut its losses in case of poor market reception for a given product. Read more »

Amazon’s revolutionary one-hour delivery service has finally landed in Europe. But, before you rush over to order new socks and make Amazon race your washing machine, there are quite a few notes to be made. Prime Now did indeed launch in the UK, but with a rather modest start. Not only is the service limited to London only, but also to just a few areas within the city. More are sure to come soon, but currently you need to check whether your post code is covered.

And even if you are among the select few who get to experience online shopping within the hour, outside the US, there are still some restrictions. Naturally, the service is only available to Amazon Prime users and is not a free service. Deliveries will set you back £6.99, but if that is too steep for you, the “sluggish” two-hour or same-day shipping option is free with a Prime account. Read more »

Facebook has released its latest employee diversity report, revealing that there has been little progress in the area since it reported the numbers last time.

As per the report, 91% of the company’s employees are white or Asian. These include 94% of the tech employees, 86% of the non-tech employees, and 94% of the senior leadership. Read more »

Google announced that it will improve the click quality of mobile display ads. Recent studies have revealed that up to 50% of the current clicks have been accidental.

Going forward, the search giant will automatically block accidental clicks on several occasions. Read more »

We’ve heard it time and time again and add some. A new revolutionary battery that is going to prolong the life of our tech, unshackle it from the bounds of the wall socket, well, maybe not quite as dramatic, but, you definitely get the idea.

Joking aside, however, we are in dire need of a portable power revolution if we are going to keep up with the ever-increasing needs of our sophisticated tech. Given that the basic principles under which batteries operate, as well as their size limitations have become pretty fixed, the only salvation seems to be in new materials to enhance the controlled electro-chemical reaction we rely on. Researchers at Samsung have done just that and promise to deliver whopping 1.5 to 1.8 times greater charge in future commercial batteries. Read more »