It’s finally time for the OnePlus Nord 2 community to get their hands on the stable OxygenOS 12 update. The first Android 12-based Open Beta build for the device went live about a month ago. Next, we saw the arrival of the second beta release last week. Now, merely days after the Beta 2 rollout, OnePlus has started seeding the stable update to OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus Nord 2.
Apart from to the long-awaited bump in the Android OS version, the first obvious change in the update is the reimagined user interface. Also, along with the sweet new feature in Work Life Balance that lets users seamlessly switch between work and life mode, the release introduces an enhanced overclocking mechanism. The Canvas AOD module has received UI enhancements too, while the Shelf acquired support for OnePlus Scout and card styling options. The Android security patch level of the build is May 2022.
Here is the complete changelog of the update:
OxygenOS 12 stable update changelog for the OnePlus Nord 2
System
Newly added Smart Battery Engine, a feature that prolongs battery life based on smart algorithms and biomimetic self-restoration technology
Optimized AI System Booster to 2.1 for your system to run smoothly even when the load is high
Optimized desktop icons with improved textures, by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers
Optimized Extra HD, a feature that can significantly enhance image and video resolutions
Dark mode
Dark mode now supports three adjustable levels, bringing a more personalized and comfortable user experience
Shelf
New additional style options for Cards, making data contents more visual and easier to read
Newly added access to OnePlus Scout in Shelf, allowing you to search multiple contents on your phone, including Apps, Settings, Media Data, etc
Newly added OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf, to easily glance at your health status
Work Life Balance
Work Life Balance feature is now available to all users, allowing you to effortlessly switch between Work and Life mode via quick settings
WLB 2.0 now supports automatic Work/Life mode switching, based on specific locations, Wi-Fi network, and time, also bringing customized App notification profiles according to the personalization
Gallery
Gallery now allows you to switch between different layouts with a two-finger pinch gesture, intelligently recognizing the best-quality pictures, and cropping the thumbnail based on the content, making the gallery layout more pleasing
Canvas AOD
Canvas AOD brings you new diverse styles of lines and colors, for a more personalized lock screen experience with inspiring visuals
Optimized software algorithm and improved face recognition to better identify the features and skin color of different figures
Games
Newly added the HyperBoost end-to-end frame rate stabilizer
Notably, the underlying software version of the stable OxygenOS 12 build is C.04, which is exactly the same as the Beta 2 build. OnePlus didn’t even bother to revise its OTA server listing, hence the “beta” tag is still visible in the update changelog for stable channel users. Neither the Open Beta 2 release, nor the current stable software has seen a formal announcement thread from the company, which means there’s no official list of known issues till date. In a nutshell, things may not go smoothly for you, which is what can happen with a beta-quality build.
Download Stable OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus Nord 2
As usual, OnePlus has opted for a staggered rollout strategy. The stable build will only roll out to a small number of users in India at first and will begin a wider rollout in a few days.
In case you want to install the OxygenOS 12 release right now, you can manually sideload the full OTA package for the update after downloading it using the link below. We’ll update this post as we get new download links.
Google Drive on the web is finally getting support for common keyboard shortcuts, including copy, paste, and cut. Up until now, users had to do things manually by right-clicking on a file and then selecting the appropriate action from the context menu. But that’s finally changing.
In a recent blog post, Google announced that users can now copy, paste, and cut files in Google Drive using familiar keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl + C (or ⌘ + C on Mac), Ctrl + X, and Ctrl + V). These shortcuts make it easier to quickly move multiple files in Drive and across tabs.
“You can now use familiar keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + C (or ⌘ + C on Mac), Ctrl + X, and Ctrl + V to copy, cut and paste Google Drive files in your Chrome browser. This saves you time by allowing you to copy one or more files and move them to new locations in Drive, and across multiple tabs, with fewer clicks,” reads Google’s official announcement.
Google notes that when you copy a file, a link to the files and the title will also be captured to make it easier to paste them into an email.
To avoid creating duplicate files, you can also use Ctrl + C, Ctrl + Shift + V to create a shortcut. And to open a file or folder in a new tab, use Ctrl + Enter. This way, you can view multiple files at once or more easily organize files between two different folders. If you’re a Mac user, use ⌘ instead of Ctrl.
The new keyboard shortcuts in Google Drive are now available to all Google Workspace users and users with personal Google Accounts. For now, Google Chrome is the only supported browser, but hopefully, Google will expand support to other browsers in the future. To try them out, head to drive.google.com.
After years of neglect, Google is finally getting serious about Android tablets. Google’s first real effort in recent years for large screen devices came in Android 12L, which brought along some much-needed UI optimizations for tablets and foldables. But many felt that Google should lead by the example and release its own Android tablet to showcase its commitment to large form factor. At Google I/O 2022, Google gave us the first look at the Pixel Tablet, a widescreen Android tablet that will arrive sometime in 2023. While details about the tablet’s hardware remain scarce at this point, it looks like it could arrive with USI pen support.
A Google tablet codenamed Tangor has been spotted on the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) website. The listing confirms that the tablet in question has been certified by USI as being compliant with the USI Stylus and the Device specification. Sadly, the listing doesn’t reveal much beyond the device codename. We aren’t aware of any other Google tablet in the works besides the Pixel Tablet, so it’s highly likely this is the upcoming Google tablet.
For the unaware, USI is an organization that maintains a standard specification for interoperable styluses that can work on a wide variety of touchscreen devices, including smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Google has been a member of USI since 2018 and has already added support for USI in Chrome OS.
The Google Pixel Tablet supporting USI styluses will indeed be a great thing, allowing Android apps to support exciting new use cases on tablet form factor. The team behind Android tablets has already expressed interest in pen input. “If tablets really are going to become this new device for people to be creative and productive, what new apps would take advantage of people who may be doing things stylus-enabled out of the gate?” said Google’s CTO of tablets, Rich Miner, during The Android Show livestream in March.
It doesn’t take long for dust, dirt, and debris to find their way into all of the nooks and crannies of your phone, irrespective of whether it is an Android flagship or an iPhone. If your phone speaker has started to sound a bit muffled, or the grille is looking a bit furry around the edges, then it’s probably time to give it a clean. Here’s how to clean your phone’s speaker grille.
How to clean your phone’s speaker grille with things around the house
While there are definitely advantages to having the right tools to clean your phone, you can also get good results using things you probably already have lying around the house.
Sticky Tape
Sticky tape is surprisingly versatile and is great for getting surface dust and dirt off your phone’s speaker grille. Simply tear a piece off and loop it around your finger and then gently dab your phone’s speaker grille.
Blu Tack
Blu Tack or any other non-branded adhesive putty is also a pretty good way to get the dust out of your phone speaker grille. While sticky tape fails to get inside the tiny holes of the grille, adhesive putty will morph into the right shape, allowing it to lift dirt from deeper within the speaker.
Be very careful when using Blu Tack or putty to clean your phone as pushing it in too deep can end up causing more harm than good – especially if it breaks off inside!
Cotton Buds
Image Credit: Pexels
While they may not be very good at cleaning your ears, cotton buds make a good alternative to the sponges found in professional phone cleaning kits. Use a dry cotton bud to lift surface dust, and apply a spritz of alcohol cleaner to lift away more stubborn grime.
Last but not least, when it comes to getting dust and dirt out of your phone’s speaker grille, a toothbrush or interdental brush can get into the smallest of spaces. Angle the bristles into the tiny holes of your speaker grille and carefully brush the dirt away. Be careful not to force the bristles too hard, and remember you’re trying to lift the dirt away, not jam it in further. Interdental brushes can also come in handy for cleaning deep down between the keys of your mechanical keyboard.
How to clean your phone’s speaker grille the professional way
If you’re looking to do things in a more professional way, then there’s no shortage of phone cleaning kits available on the internet. Generally speaking, these contain a combination of the following:
Compressed air is one of the safest ways to remove dust from hard-to-reach or delicate places such as your phone’s speaker grille. Some cleaning kits come with a squeezy rubber air duster, while others may come with a can of pressurized air. Whichever you choose, place the nozzle near your speaker grille and blast the dust away.
Cleaning Sponges
Professional cleaning sponges come in a wide range of sizes and shapes because they’re designed to fit into all of your phone’s hard-to-reach places. While cotton buds can shed lint, cleaning sponges are static-free which makes them a better choice if you don’t mind buying some.
You can use dry sponges to wipe away any build-up of dust, and then gently spritz them with alcohol-based cleaning spray to remove any more stubborn grime.
Cleaning Brushes
As with cleaning sponges, cleaning brushes are the professional version of your toothbrush or an interdental brush. They’re designed to be stiff enough to work without causing damage and come in lots of different sizes to ensure they fit into all of the small spaces on your phone.
Cleaning Putty
Lastly, if you want to use the professional version of Blu Tack, then invest in some cleaning putty. Cleaning putty is designed to be flexible and sticky while leaving no residue. It’s also reusable and can be used to clean your Macbook or other laptops and to remove dust and debris from your keyboard too.
Removing dust from your phone speaker
For best results, you’ll want to use a combination of the above to remove the dust and dirt from your phone’s speaker grille. Start by blowing or brushing away the loose fibers, then go in for a deeper clean with some putty before sponging away any remaining residue. If you’re looking to clean deeper still then consider taking your device to a professional who can open it up and clean the speaker grille from the inside out.
The newest, hottest, best graphics cards are remarkable. Even five years ago, were we really expecting the sort of performance we can get right now? PC gamers and custom builders have never had it better. Well, assuming you can even buy one. But I’m looking at the current landscape and thinking I might never buy a new graphics card for gaming ever again and be happy.
This isn’t a sudden realization, it’s actually a thought that first entered my mind a few years ago. A number of different things have all come together and I’m finally ready to commit. I think.
2022 might well be the time to call it a day chasing graphics cards.
The price is offputting
Almost five years ago I spent a not insignificant £670 on a new Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti. I was so excited to get that thing hooked up inside my Alienware Aurora gaming PC and it didn’t disappoint. Even upgrading from a GTX 1070 there was a tangible increase in performance and the visual quality I could enjoy. It was expensive, but it was worth it.
Graphics cards are getting really expensive even without recent shortages.
Fast forward five years and we’re only just starting to see stocks of graphics cards come back. A combination of global chip shortages and crypto bros scalping every available unit left gamers frustrated. Those you could buy were sold at a premium. But even those that aren’t are still expensive.
In the UK where I live you’re looking at about £400 for an RTX 3060 right now. It’s a fantastic graphics card, I have one in my collection of PC parts. But it’s not even technically the “mid-range” anymore and it’s that price. The last graphics card I bought at launch was an AMD RX 5700 and that was £370 at the time. But even AMD cards don’t really have price on their side anymore.
I want to focus on the Nvidia RTX 3080, specifically. I don’t have one, right now they’re at least £800, and not even the highest performer in the Team Green stable. But it’s an important card to me, because thanks to the cloud, I can now play my games with one.
The cloud is the answer?
When I first started dabbling in cloud gaming I wondered if it really could replace PC gaming in the future. It’s not exactly the same – I’m not going to pretend it is – but right now, it’s close enough. The technology has come on so far in the last few years that I think I’m about ready.
I’ve written previously about how good Google Stadia is, and more recently about playing Fortnite on a smartphone with the power of an RTX 3080. The latter is what has started to make me seriously consider this as a reality, not just a dream.
Nvidia GeForce Now has a tier that offers its players the chance to play games on an RTX 3080. It’s the most expensive tier, sure, but compared to actually buying an RTX 3080 you would get about five years’ use from it for the same money. And Nvidia is bound to keep upgrading it. But the simple fact is this: My cloud gaming PC is more powerful than my local gaming PC.
Rise of the Tomb Raider on the RTX 3080 tier of Nvidia GeForce Now
I’m currently using an RTX 2080 inside my personal gaming PC and it’s still absolutely fine. But there will come a time it won’t be, even if it’s a number of years away. Nvidia provides RTX 2080 power on its regular tiers, so even on that, my cloud gaming PC is on par with my own.
Getting fiber helped but the requirements are within reach of many.
For me, the killer feature I was waiting on is fiber. Finally, I’m in a position to jump fully into the cloud. But it’s also why I’m won’t diminish the importance of local hardware. Previously I had fairly slow broadband. Enough to enjoy a spot of cloud gaming, but only if nobody else was home. So for everyone, it’s definitely not the answer. Though I have to say, the 40mbps base requirement for the RTX 3080 tier is pleasantly surprising. And for that, you get to play at up to 120 FPS. In most cases, higher than I can play locally. And every month more and more of my PC library finds its way into GeForce Now.
GeForce Now is certainly the most alluring cloud platform for PC gamers. I play games everywhere, but I see the appeal. The fact your library comes from Steam, Epic, or Ubisoft, all titles you’ve bought but use someone else’s PC to play. Or your phone. TV, iPad, Chromebook, web browser, there have never been more ways to play PC games. Stadia and GeForce Now both support keyboard and mouse, too.
How I game has changed
As I’ve grown older so to have my gaming habits. I’ve never locked myself into one platform, and that’ll never change, but I have fallen out of love with certain types of games. I rarely bother with competitive multiplayer titles anymore, I’m playing games that my young son can enjoy with me and I’m playing more casually, picking up for a short period and then going to do something else.
But the other big change has been getting a Steam Deck. I really do think it’s a game-changer.
I haven't played anything on my gaming PC since the Steam Deck arrived.
It might take a generation or two of hardware, but Valve has built a winner. I’m playing games in my catalog finally that I’d ignored for years. Sat on the sofa, in a coffee shop, and even in the car while I wait to pick up my kids. That falling out of love with PC gaming because I didn’t want to sit at my desk after work, reversed somewhat with the arrival of the Steam Deck.
The cloud is also a solid companion to the Steam Deck, too. Linux gaming is superb these days, but there are still those titles that just don’t work. If I want to play a little Destiny 2 on the couch, I can do so through the browser.
Performance on the Steam Deck has proved that you don’t need a stupidly powerful, stupidly expensive graphics card to have a good time. You could say the same about the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. PC gaming used to feel like the absolute best way to play, now, it just feels like a massive money pit. And I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore.
I’m enjoying gaming again, more than ever before, and it has nothing to do with having splurged on a new, insanely powerful graphics card. By embracing the cloud I can play amazing-looking, high-frame-rate games on a Chromebook. Or my iPad. Or there’s the Steam Deck, which is the only way I’ve played local PC games since it arrived at the end of March.
As rumors begin to swirl about Nvidia’s next stupidly powerful graphics cards, I’m not really interested anymore. At least not beyond a professional capacity. I admit that my situation lends well to this and that not everyone is in a position to rely on the cloud or a handheld PC yet.
But I’m actually really excited. Much like buying an EV, it feels like I’m taking a step into the future. All the big players are getting into streaming and Valve has made handhelds exciting again. Nvidia can keep making crazy powerful graphics cards and filling their server cabinets with them while they’re at it. All this awesome technology is making gaming accessible to wider audiences, and that’s alright by me.
A few days ago, I launched Microsoft’s Edge browser to check some things that I specifically use it for. I was greeted by the dialog that we’ve probably all seen by now, the one that suggests you switch to Microsoft’s suggested settings. Of course, the box to switch is pre-selected for you. It’s easy enough to dismiss, as I’ve done dozens of times at this point.
But this time, I didn’t think, and I just clicked apply. I immediately realized my mistake, went into Edge settings, and changed by default search engine back to Google. Not thinking about it, I later clicked on a link in Slack, and sure enough, my default browser had been changed to Edge. There was never any dialog box to specifically change it, as there would be if any other browser wanted to become the default. And then, I had to go through Windows 11’s nightmarish settings to turn my default browser back to Vivaldi.
I don’t even like Vivaldi. It’s a buggy mess, despite being a very clean experience. But I’ll take it any day over Edge. And after having to switch my browser back, I realized, Microsoft should really be doing a better job of this.
That’s not all that’s wrong with Microsoft Edge. The browser is a faint echo of what it was once promised to be. Now it’s designed as a way to trick you into adopting Microsoft services and a way to spam you with content you don’t want to see.
A brief history of Microsoft Edge
When Microsoft revamped Edge from Google’s open-source Chromium, it wasn’t the first time that the Redmond firm promised that the browser would be good. When Windows 10 was first being announced, it was to come with a brand-new browser, which was only known as Project Spartan at the time. Spartan was going to have innovative new features like the ability to use a pen to write on webpages and save them.
It’s pretty clear where that all headed. Spartan became Edge, a browser that was built on Microsoft’s own EdgeHTML engine. The company did its best to keep up with web standards, but there was always an issue that Edge couldn’t be updated unless Windows was getting a feature update. While Chrome was getting updated every six weeks, Edge got updated every six months. On top of that, Chrome is so dominant when it comes to usage share that the internet is just built for it.
Edge never picked up steam, despite Microsoft continuously trying to improve it. One day, someone from the Edge team asked me what would need to happen for me to use their browser. I jokingly replied that they’d have to turn it into Chrome, the browser I was using at the time.
As it turned out, the team had something similar in mind. Microsoft Edge was to be rebuilt from Chromium, and fans of the company’s products rejoiced. It was an exciting time. Finally, Microsoft fans would have a decent browser to use without having to go to Google. Moreover, Edge was also coming to macOS, iOS, Android, and even Linux, so you’d be able to sync your browsing history to all of your devices.
When it first launched in Canary and Dev channels, it was good, really good. The browser seamlessly imported your history, passwords, and more from Chrome, and then it was just a clean experience. Sure, Microsoft set the default browser to Bing, but you could change it, and that was to be expected, right?
After announcing Edge Chromium in December 2018, it was generally available on January 15, 2020. It was missing key features, such as history sync, something that’s basic for Chrome users. Eventually, all of these features arrived.
Despite delays to core features, it did seem like Microsoft was on the right track toward a great browser. The only problem was that it really wasn’t usable. If you can’t sync your history between devices, any sane person would stick with Chrome until you can.
Edge now exists as a means to push Bing and other Microsoft services
Bing is a bad search engine. I consistently find better results on Google, and I’m pretty sure that exactly no one is tailoring their SEO for Bing. It simply doesn’t have enough users. It’s kind of the same problem that the old Edge has. The web is built around Google now.
The problem is that Bing powers a lot of Microsoft’s efforts, not just web searches from Bing.com. That means that despite the fact that so few people use it that you’d expect for it to be killed off, Microsoft actually does care quite a bit about it.
I, however, would prefer it if I could never see Bing again. Every single time I see a Bing search page, it’s by accident. It means I forgot to change the default search in some browser I’m using. And Microsoft actively tries to push me to use it.
For example, I opened with that story about how Edge occasionally just tosses up a pop-up to tell you to use recommended settings. That pop-up is misleading too, and it makes Edge feel more like malware than anything else. It’s just saying that your settings have somehow been changed from what’s recommended and that it’s a problem you should fix.
And of course, if you change your default search engine, that’s one of the settings that won’t sync. This is behavior that I’d expect, and I’m not particularly mad about it on its own. But this is cumulative. It’s on top of a whole bunch of other stuff that feels like cheap tricks to get you to use Bing.
Microsoft has always been bad with cheap tricks
The problem here is that Microsoft doesn’t realize how bad of a user experience it’s providing. The people that want to use Bing most likely are already, and the ones that don’t are just going to get annoyed when Edge tricks them into using it.
Let’s turn the clock back a bit. Windows RT was a version of Windows 8 that ran on Arm processors, but you could only run apps from the Store. Unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t communicate this very well, and Windows RT looked exactly like regular Windows, so you’d go and buy a Surface RT, and then try to install Chrome – which said it would run on Windows 7 or higher – and it didn’t work. That’s a ‘gotcha moment’.
Surface RT running Windows RT
Fast forward a bit to the next time that Microsoft wanted to force everyone to use Store apps, with Windows 10 S. The big difference was that you’d be able to pay to upgrade from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Pro, giving you an out. Of course, that makes for a terrible experience for consumers, when they buy a premium PC like the Surface Laptop for a thousand dollars, only to find out when they get home that they have to pay another $100 to install the apps that they want. That’s a gotcha moment.
Tricking you into switching your default browser is another gotcha moment. There’s no one that goes through that and comes out on the other end grateful that they ended up using Bing.
The new tab page is a disgusting mess
One of the reasons I choose Vivaldi despite how buggy it is is that the new page can have almost nothing on it. That’s what I want. The new tab page in Edge is so bad that it almost gives me a headache. And yes, you can customize it, but I don’t have the time to do that on every new PC, nor should I have to.
At the top is a search bar, powered by Bing, as you’d guess. Below are shortcuts to frequently viewed websites, which is fine.
Below that is what basically feels like spam. Labeled as “My Feed”, it’s a bunch of stuff that I wouldn’t care about in a million years, such as headlines about Rihanna’s child, what Britney Spears posted on Instagram, football news, and more. There are also ads with headlines like, “Is a Recession Coming? 5 Things To Do ASAP”, and frankly, it blends right in with the quality of content I’m seeing natively.
The thing is, even if the content was relevant, I wouldn’t want to see any of that. Why would anyone want a busy, noisy new tab page? I don’t know about you, but when I click that ‘+’ icon to open a new tab, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do with it. I don’t need suggestions.
While I look at the ads and the headlines, it feels like just another way for Microsoft to monetize its browser instead of actually making it a good experience. The problem is that if you sacrifice a good experience in the name of monetization, no one will use it. So you lose out on the experience and the monetization along with it.
Syncing is slow
I’m something of a rare use case because I’m activating a new Windows PC just about every week. That means that I’m setting up a browser. The old joke for Internet Explorer, and later Edge, was that it’s a Chrome installer. And aside from the year or so that I used it as a default browser before I couldn’t take it anymore, one of the first things I do on a new PC is use Edge to download a new browser.
Let me put it this way. When I set up a new PC, I can open Edge, download Vivaldi, sign in to Vivaldi, and have all of my passwords and favorites sync in Vivaldi long before any of them appear in Microsoft Edge. Edge simply isn’t very good at syncing. Oh, and that amount of time doesn’t include the 10-second animation you have to go through just to open Edge for the first time.
Also, sometimes there are bugs in syncing. I had an issue once with Edge where every time I signed in, it switched the browser to light mode, and I’d have to change it to the system setting. This was eventually resolved, but at the time, no matter how many times I’d change the setting, it would still be changed back on a new PC. This went on for months and months.
That’s just one example of several, and if it was just that one bug that got fixed, I wouldn’t even mention it. But it’s not, and syncing is that important in a modern browser in this multi-device world.
Edge was supposed to be good, and some things are good
Microsoft Edge was supposed to bring balance to the force, so to speak. If you’re a Microsoft fan, you’re probably not much of a Google fan, so basically getting Chrome but with Microsoft services seemed perfect.
The team started out on such a good track too. Everything was seamless. When opening Edge Chromium, you’d get a simple message asking if you wanted to import your things from Chrome, and once you did, you could quite literally pick up in Edge where you left off in Chrome. It was great. But Microsoft did what Microsoft does; it continued to add new features instead of improving the features that actually matter.
Some things are still good though.
Microsoft Edge is the only Chromium browser that works natively on Arm
If you use Windows on Arm, then you know that your choice in decent browsers is limited. While Windows 11 can emulate any x64 app on an ARM64 processor, you’ll probably want a browser that runs natively. For that, your only choices are Edge and Firefox.
As a matter of fact, Google does indeed have Chrome ready to go, and has for years. It just hasn’t released it.
Edge still has excellent inking features
One cool thing about Microsoft Edge is inking, specifically for PDFs. When a company sends me an NDA or a loan agreement, I just open it in Edge, sign it with that PC’s pen, save it, and send it back. It’s fantastic.
Of course, you can do more, such as highlighting and stuff. It’s just nice to have a simple, easy, and free way to write on PDFs.
Microsoft needs to do better
I want Microsoft Edge to be good. I really do. Like I said earlier, I set up a new Windows PC almost every week. I don’t want to install extra software if I don’t have to.
I currently use Vivaldi. There was a bug for months where I’d try to type something in the URL bar, and it would just repopulate with the existing URL. It was infuriating. Autofill URLs never seem to be quite right. Tab management seems to have a bug in it right now where you have to pull tabs away from the window just to split them away from the main window.
But it’s still better than Edge. Microsoft likes to talk about your “flow”. You know, that’s when you’re doing something on your PC and you’re just in your groove. That can be when doing anything. You’re passionate about something, you’re creating it, and you’re just in the zone. The idea is that the Redmond firm wants to create products that help keep you in your flow, not distract from it.
Microsoft Edge distracts from your flow. It’s a bad browser, which is a shame, because it should, and totally could be good. All Microsoft would have to do is work on improving existing features instead of adding useless new ones, and stop with the cheap tricks to get people to use their services like Bing. Unfortunately, those things are unlikely. It’s very much Microsoft’s culture to launch new features instead of improving the core features, and the monetization angle is always going to be a key component of how Microsoft operates. Other companies might say that providing a great experience would lead to monetization, but that’s not how this is going to go.
This week, Amazon sent out a notice to several Kindle users who still have a few older Kindle models linked to their accounts. As per the notice, select models will lose access to the Kindle Store starting August 17, preventing users from browsing, purchasing, or borrowing books using the older devices. That might seem like the end of the road for those rocking one of the EoL e-readers, but there’s still some hope. Read on to learn which models are losing support for the Kindle Store and how you can still get new books on them after the August deadline.
Amazon is dropping support for the following Kindle e-readers starting August 17:
Kindle (2nd-gen) International
Kindle DX International
Kindle Keyboard
Kindle (4th-gen)
Kindle (5th-gen)
If you own any of the Kindle models mentioned above, you won’t be able to browse, purchase, or borrow books from the Kindle Store starting August 17. However, according to Good e-Reader, you should still be able to access existing books and have new ones delivered to these models from Amazon’s website.
This is the first time Amazon is completely cutting off store access for older Kindle models. Sadly, the company has not provided a reason for this change. The announcement comes just weeks after Amazon announced ePub support for its modern lineup of Kindle e-readers.
Do you own any of the aforementioned Kindle models? What do you plan on doing after August 17? Will you purchase a new Kindle, or will you stick with your old faithful e-reader and purchase books from Amazon’s website? We highly recommend the new Kindle with a built-in front light, if it’s the former. The ad-supported version will only set you back $89.99, which is nothing short of a bargain. For those who don’t like its tiny 6-inch display, we recommend the brand new Kindle Paperwhite. It brings a larger 6.8-inch display to the table for a small premium of just $50.
