Yeah, Amazon launched its pretty hyped Kindle Fire a few weeks back and here we are, still confused if we should get it or not. With all the pretty and sometimes cheap tablets around in the market, one gets easily confused as in which one to buy. In situations like this, it is always suggested to list down why exactly you need a tablet, if you need it at all. I, being a college student look for a few basic things (and its the same for most of us). What I need to do is :

• Browse Net. (Send Mails/Facebook/Twitter/Youtube and all)
• Read Stuff (Newspapers/Magazines/E-books/Lecture Notes)
• Watch Movies (Series/Documentaries/Online Tubing)
• Play Games

Amazingly, Kindle Fire checks through all of my Checklists, except for one, Videocalling (No camera, you see!). Then, I console myself that its more than enough for 200 dollars. Now to decide upon the Pros and cons, I browsed through most of the consumer complaints related to it and here the ones that concern me :

PROS

• $199 price tag.
• Awesome Cloud Support and availibility of Amazon services.
• Great hardware for its price.
• Exceptional Screen Quality
• Silk supports Flash.

CONS

• No Android Market
• No Proxy Support
• Its no iPad
• No 3G/Bluetooth
• Just 8 gigs

Pros make me all happy, but no Native proxy supports bothers me a lot. My College, like most of the institutions, offers Wi-Fi access through a Proxy and without it the Kindle Fire would render mostly useless. I can make do with 8 GBs of memory (Of which approximately 7GB would be available for use), but no expansion slot also makes sound dull.

Taming your Kindle

Fortunately, there are some pretty nice fixes (read Hacks) for it. The proxy can be fixed by either rooting the device or by installing Firefox and using its proxy support, but the apps requiring a net connection won’t work in the later case. Amazon also released an update for Kindle in mid December which fixes most of its V 1.0 problems. There is even a hack to access Android Marketplace on Kindle and install custom ROMs on it instead of using Amazon’s UI. Some useful links for the above mentioned things are as follows :

Rooting : http://www.redmondpie.com/root-kindle-fire-6.2.1-using-burritoroot-how-to-tutorial/

Proxy through Firefox :

Installing Marketplace :

Installing custom ROMs :
Verdict

I wouldn’t mind applying all these hacks and fixes considering the price of it, specially when it serves my purpose. I have hardly seen anyone who hasn’t rooted their Android or Jailbroken their iOS device. The Silk browser and the cloud services come pretty handy and for a college student it can be the next best thing (I am not very hopeful about the Aakash tablet, until I use one myself.).

Purchasing Options

Amazon hasn’t yet opened a store for Indian customers and still does not ship Kindle Fire to India (Stupid, isn’t it!). But there are a few services available through eBay which import Kindle Fire and sell them in India. One can can pretty decent deals there ranging from Rs.14000 to Rs. 16000. But do check the feedback of the seller before buying. The shipping time may vary from 10 to 20 days as the device you ordered is first imported to India and then shipped to you.

The Concern

A researcher named Trevor Eckhart posed the disturbing question of what Carrier IQ (CIQ here on) Agent is doing on several of the Android phones. He posted this video on youtube:

In short the findings are :

1. User has no option to opt out of the “diagnostic” service.
2. The application is not listed as a running application, but it is running.
3. The application can not be killed (atleast not using the obvious options).
4. Application logs everything including keystrokes, received messages including contents and unencrypted browsing data.

PS: It is not clear whether the application logs the same amount of data in all devices.

So should a diagnostic tool know so much? Should it log contents of messages? Why does it have to access browsing data? Could malware(s) target the application to steal data?

Carrier IQ insists its software is not a malware but an optional diagnostic tool.

Is your device “affected”?

The application has been confirmed to be present in several Android devices provided by carriers like AT&T and Verizon. Claims are that the application is also present in Nokia and Apple devices as well. There is no conclusive list as yet. So if you would like to know if you are being watched,  you can use this application for Android and do a CIQ Check.

It is apparantly confirmed that CIQ is bundled with iPhone by Apple. Read more here.

Stopping CIQ Agent

For Android users, a paid upgrade to the above mentioned application enables you to uninstall CIQ agent. But this need not work all the time. Application managers on rooted phones could kill the application (not confirmed, but worth a try if it is listed). The other option would be to get a custom ROM (not recommended for newbies). So probably for now, you will have to live with it.

It is suggested that setting the option “Settings > General > About > Diagnostics & Usage” in an iPhone to “Do not send” stops CIQ on it.

We need answers…

For sure. Service providers and Carrier IQ have to make it clear whats the deal with all the logging. Future phones, if to ship with CIQ, must most certainly have an option to opt out. After the Apple tracking your location fiasco, we certainly did not need this.

What is Symbian Anna ?

Symbian Anna is a software update that significantly enhances the user experience on the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01 and Nokia E7. The update will bring

• A new UI
• A portrait QWERTY keyboard for fast, single-handed typing
• A split-screen view while you’re typing
• A faster browser
• Improved Ovi map with support to add location info to posts in social networks
• Activation of the NFC (Near field communication) hardware in the Nokia C7
• Flashlite 4, Java Runtime 2.2, Qt Mobility 1.1 and Qt 4.7 bring things up-to-date for developers.

So if you own any of these devices, make sure you get the update !!

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How to enable it ?

Get the latest google chrome/chromium-browser and open up “preferences” from the wrench menu and enable the feature as shown below :

Browse smarter and faster friends

Don’t worry, after reading this article you would be able to protect your gadgets from this monsoon , after all you know an old saying “Prevention is better than cure”.So better pay heed to your gadgets now rather weeping later:

• Replace the damaged wires before the dampness in air can yield effective lightening and functioning of electrical gadgets.With regard to home theaters and plasma screens do not forget to check the mounting walls for seepage or moisture .  Leakage or even dampness can affect the efficiency and functioning of devices .
• It is advised to put your gadgets inside a cover like a zip lock pouch or protective cover for mobile and they are easily available in market. For laptop keep it safe in laptop bag whenever not in use.
• It is recommended to unplug all gadgets whenever not in use , and don’t keep them in high humid places .
• When going out keep them in bags whenever possible rather than in shirt or trousers .If it is not possible carry with you a small poly pouch , they can be really handy  in case rain greets you.
• If your gadget come in contact with water  DO NOT SWITCH THEM ON  and wait till they dry up.For wet gadget immediately remove its battery and use a dryer or a dry cloth to dry it.Last but not the least you can opt for water proof  models of gadget you are purchasing for instance there are cameras like cannon powershot D10,Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX5 and mobiles like nokia 3720 classic , samsung marine B2100, sony erricson C702 etc.Hope this article would have helped you .Enjoy this monsoon and take care of your precious gadgets .

   

I am a huge fan of Angry Birds. The next time somebody asks me why I love gaming on an iPod, I am going to show them Angry Birds. Thank the lords that Chrome implemented it as an App. Its simply addictive, why shouldn’t it be? Its afterall An addictive, clever and challenging puzzler!

So, They have no wings. Their eggs have been stolen by pigs. Yeah, they’re pretty angry. If you love the game, you will definitely love this theme for windows. The theme includes 5 awesome wallpapers complete with system sounds(which is the best part) and all. and its funny as hell!

Hearing the silly voice of a flightless bird just cheers you up after a long period or mundane work. Shown below is a screenshot :

The theme can be downloaded from here. The chrome app can be found here.

So, gear up and poof the pigs! 

Also,check our list of free softwares for Windows 7

Keep checking for more Photoshop tutorials and goodies. Don’t forget to subscribe.

Keep checking for more Photoshop tutorials and goodies. Don’t forget to subscribe.

Keep checking for more Photoshop tutorials and goodies. Don’t forget to subscribe.

Keep checking for more Photoshop tutorials and goodies. Don’t forget to subscribe.