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:

Dear Customer,We recently announced that Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have agreed to terminate their commercial partnership. As a result, payments through your Microsoft account no longer supported. In addition, the NOOK App for Windows will from August 7, 2015 are no longer available outside the United States. This means that your NOOK content can no longer open on a Windows platform.

Our records indicate that you are outside the United States and that you are using your Microsoft account as a payment method in your NOOK App for Windows account. Therefore, you may be eligible for a refund from Microsoft for any purchases you have made with your Microsoft account.

This has all the signs of a bitter retaliation from Barnes & Noble. As some of you surely remember, Microsoft initially had an investment in the Nook store, which Barnes & Noble bought out last December. Apparently, the two sides weren't getting along too well, judging by the abrupt termination of the partnership. Still, it could just be a radical step to streamline the company's business which has shrunk significantly and is in need of some…

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While the Nokia sub-unit that Microsoft acquired is going through some hard times, the Nokia company still musters some excitement and continues to develop its launcher replacement, the Nokia Z Launcher.

The latest update brings a short changelog but it's all welcome improvements. New functionality allows you to change the wallpaper from the launcher settings. Some visual feedback has been added to show where you touched the screen.

The rest includes unnamed bugfixes and performance improvements and those are always welcome. You can update the Z Launcher (still in Beta) from the Play Store.

Source |…

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Microsoft has released the final version of Office 2016 for Mac. The company had released a preview back in March but now you can purchase the full version from Microsoft.

Office 2016 for Mac is a complete revamp of the old Office 2011. The new app brings the new UI design seen on the Windows and mobile versions of Office while harmonizing with the new design and features of OS X. It supports features like fullscreen mode, multi-touch gestures, and also has Retina assets for all the high resolution Macs.

Office 2016 for Mac comes with five applications – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. If you are an Office 365 user, you can just download it for free. If you are a student, you could get it for free or at a substantial discount. If you are a home user, you can get it for the same monthly or yearly subscription price as the Windows version or from your local…

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The ZTE Spro 2 is an odd (but probably useful) pairing between a pico-projector and an LTE hotspot. Oh, and it runs Android. With full access to the Google Play Store. And it has a 5-inch touchscreen. You're probably intrigued by now.

Well, if your interest has been piqued, you should know that starting today there's a version of the Spro 2 out which works with Verizon's network. Up until this point you were only able to get an AT&T-compatible model, which retails for $499.

The bad news is that, for whatever reason, the iteration which supports Verizon's bands is $100 more expensive. ZTE will gladly sell you one, through its official website, for $599. That's hefty, yes, but then this is a pretty unique device, and it stands in a niche of its own.

The Spro 2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, it's got 150Mbps LTE, 2GB of RAM, Bluetooth, as well as HDMI and USB ports. The projector part spits out a 120" 720p image at 200 lumens. There's a 6,300 mAh battery inside, keeping things running, which will last for 3 hours when projecting, and up to 10 hours when you use the Spro 2 solely as a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Source |…

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The latest smartphone that can boot an OS it will likely never need is Asus ZenFone 2. A crafty XDA Developers member ported Microsoft Windows 7 to the Intel Atom-based smartphone.

The desktop OS was ported on the ZE551ML variant of the ZenFone 2. Windows 7 runs on the smartphone as an aSPICE KVM virtual machine.

The desktop OS runs a tad slow on the mobile device, but is still surprisingly usable. See it in action below.

As you have probably guessed by now, getting Windows 7 to run on your ZenFone 2 is not a casual exercise. You will need to root your device, keep its bootloader unlocked, as well as install a number of additional tools on it before you can even get started.

A large capacity microSD card is also recommended alongside a partitioner for it. The whole exercise is explained in detail at the source link below.

Source |…

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Samsung made IFA the home of the Galaxy Note and so it has been for four generations. This might soon be changing though, as the Wall Street Journal reports the Galaxy Note 5 might launch in mid-August.

Last time around the 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus was unveiled just days after the new Note and it stole some of its thunder. Launching sooner will give Samsung more time to ramp up the hype and sales. The company's recent performance has fallen short of expectations and it can't take any chances with its H2 flagship.

This has not been officially confirmed by Samsung, of course. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is expected to have a flat 5.67" screen. No curves here, it seems that will move under the Galaxy S6 edge Plus name.

Source (paywall) |…

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XOLO has launched its new brand today – Black – which will be the company's online only series of smartphone. The first device in the range, called simply XOLO Black, will be sold exclusively through Flipkart for Rs. 12,999 ($205).

The XOLO Black has a slim 7.3mm body with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on front and back. It also has a dual camera feature, with a combination of 13 megapixel sensor and a 2 megapixel depth sensor, similar to HTC One phones. The UbiFocus feature lets you change focus after capturing the image. The camera also has a focusing time of 0.15 seconds and an OptiZoom feature to improve the quality of digital zoom. The phone also has a Photo Studio app powered by Adobe.

Other than that the XOLO Black has a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory with microSD and USB OTG support, hybrid dual SIM support with LTE, 5 megapixel front facing camera, 3200mAh battery, and HIVE UI running on top of Android 5.0…

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BlackBerry just can't seem to catch a break lately. The legendary Canadian company has been struggling to keep afloat in the competitive mobile industry and Android has been cited more than a few times as the savior the manufacturer desperately needs.

We have heard the rumors time and time again and BlackBerry's own CEO John Chen has even stated that adoption the OS is a possibility, so long as it can be made secure enough by the company's standards.

Things moved forward even further toward Android adoption after a mysterious Android-powered slider was showcased at MWC 2015. Now, it appears, BlackBerry might be closer to adopting Android than ever as the company recently registered two new domains, related to Google's mobile OS. The addresses are AndroidSecured.net and AndroidSecured.com, bother purchased by BlackBerry Limited on July 7.

We can't really say what BlackBerry is up to or find any tangible connection between the domains and the BlackBerry Venice Android phone, allegedly scheduled for a November launch. Whatever it is, however, Android is surely somewhere in the mix.

Source |…

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OnePlus doesn't want to get off the hype train when it comes to its next smartphone. A few members of the Chinese company's team took to Reddit today for an AMA session, during which a few new details about the OnePlus 2 have been revealed.

First off, the picture you can see below got posted. That's a OnePlus One, obviously. Though underneath it is a OnePlus 2, apparently. So it's clear that the upcoming phone will be smaller than its predecessor.

Despite this fact, the OnePlus 2 is confirmed to come with a 3,300 mAh battery, an almost 10% capacity increase over the One's 3,100 mAh cell.

The new handset's camera has been a big priority for the team working on it. On the other hand, the OnePlus 2 will not feature a heart rate sensor. Nor will it have fingerprint recognition built into the touchscreen – instead, an actual separate physical sensor will be used (just like what we've seen in Apple's and Samsung's devices).

To buy the new phone, you'll still need an invite, but the system will be greatly improved according to the OnePlus reps. Also, the company's "early supporters" will be prioritized.

The startup is most proud of the upcoming device's design and build, though it still wouldn't say whether metal was used or not. However, it looks like there will be different StyleSwap back covers for the phone.

There will be three versions of the OnePlus 2 (these may be called A2001, A2003, and A2005 according to past leaks). One will be destined for China only, and the other two will be international models. One of those will be aimed at North America, while the other will be tailored for Europe and Asia. One of the differences between these will be network band support.

The North American model will work on GSM 850, 900, 1800, and 1900MHz, WCDMA bands 1/2/4/5/8, and FDD-LTE bands 1/2/4/5/7/8/12/17. The Europe/Asia iteration will support GSM 850, 900, 1800, and 1900MHz, WCDMA bands 1/2/5/8, and FDD-LTE bands 1/3/5/7/8/20.

As for the much-hyped unveiling event itself, this will take place in virtual reality as we've already told you. New info has emerged about it too. OnePlus will release a special Android app through which you'll be able to see the announcement, both in VR (if you have a headset), as well as without VR. Then, after the event finishes, a recording will be uploaded to YouTube, enabling even people who don't have an Android device to watch it.

Finally, some good news for those who think the OnePlus One is still adequate enough even today, especially as a $249 smartphone: last year's flagship will still be on sale, even after the OnePlus 2 becomes…

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