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Saturday, November 12, 2011



Top 5 Photo Editors for Android

Posted: 11 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

Editing photos on the desktop is easy as pie, thanks to great applications like GIMP and Photoshop. But what if you've just taken a snap on your beloved Android device and want to edit it on the go? Don't worry; it's not entirely impossible. Thanks to the openness of Android platform, dozens of apps have sprung up that let you edit your photos on the go.

Now, editing on the phone is not the same as editing on the desktop, so don't expect GIMP-like awesomeness from these apps. Having said that, these apps do suffice the photo-editing needs of almost all the phone users by adding essential effects which are both simple to apply and easy to learn. So, if you want to add some cool effects to your recently snapped holiday photos, read on as we cover the top 5 photo editors for Android.


Pixlr-o-matic
Pixlr-o-matic is an immensely popular free photo-editing application that is developed by Autodesk. Yes, it's the same company that makes the famous AUTOCAD software. Packed with a number of cool effects, Pixlr-o-matic allows you to add layers, lightings and borders to your photos in 3 simple steps. You can also add color filters that help you adjust the mood of the photograph. For example, you can amplify the tone, cool it down or add a surreal shades in an instant. Other effects include the vintage look (Instagram-style), the drama look, and the sparkle effect.

Another great thing about this application is that it doesn't need a camera. You can simply pick a snap from the gallery and start editing right away. You can then share your masterpiece with your friends and family on Facebook or immo.io right from the app. What's more, you can also export your photo in high resolution to your gallery.



PicSay Pro
PicSay Pro is an award-winning photo editor for Android that comes with a slew of cool effects like Vignette, Lomo, faux HDR, Pencil Sketch and more. Apart from adding effects, you can also sharpen the image, remove red eye, crop, distort and even insert cutouts. One of the few photo-editing apps with tablets support, PicSay Pro has 4.5 out of 5 stars on the Android Marketplace. The app includes support for Android tablets with Honeycomb like the Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, and others. Priced at around $4, PicSay Pro is available for download from the marketplace.



Camera Zoom FX
Voted as the Editor's choice on Lifehacker, Gizmodo and Slashgear, Camera Zoom FX is an award-winning camera replacement app for Android. Though not a photo editor in the traditional sense, it comes loaded with a bunch of cool post-processing effects that give it an edge over many other photo-editors out there. Camera Zoom FX supports a lot of cool effects like vintage, funky, pencil, fish-eye, mosaic, mirror FX and tilt-shift. You can also crop a picture to any size and make a collage. And, if that doesn't whet your editing appetite, Camera Zoom FX also lets you do digital compositing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_compositing ), à la Photoshop. Priced at around $5, Camera Zoom FX doubles up as a camera replacement as well as a full-featured Photo editor for Android.



BeFunky
As the name suggests, BeFunky lets you add some funky effects to your photos, free of charge. You can edit photos, add frames, and then export them back to your gallery in real simple steps. With more than 20 effects in the free version, the app lets you add effects like LomoArt, Cross Process, HDR, Tilt Shift and more without any limitations. Besides adding effects, you can also crop and rotate your photos on the go. Finally, once you are done creating your masterpiece, you can save it to Facebook, Flickr or BeFunky online right from the app. There is also a PRO version of the app that includes more effects (50 to be exact) and comes at a price tag of $1.99.



Adobe Photoshop Express
When it comes to Photo editing, there's no name more popular than Adobe's Photoshop. Though it may not bring as many features as its flagship desktop application, Photoshop Express does a pretty good job at editing and sharing photos. You can crop, adjust color, and add artistic effects to your photos with just a few clicks and save them to your gallery. You can also upload the retouched photos to your Photoshop.com account as a back up. With more than 5 million installs so far, Photoshop Express is freely available for download from the Android Marketplace.



Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

Thursday, November 10, 2011



Lenovo Mobile Enters the Philippine Market With a Barrage of New Phones

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 02:47 AM PST

Lenovo, one of the world's most leading PC makers, has now entered the Philippine market with its own range of low and medium range phones. Open Communications, Inc., Lenovo Mobile's distributor in the Philippines, showcased its products to a group of bloggers last October 27, 2011 at Chateau 1771 in Greenbelt 5. Chim Serrano, business unit head of Open Communications, mentioned that their phones are feature-laden, fashionable, well-made, affordable, and will have distinct features that aren't expected from the phones in their target market segment.

A video clip showed Lenovo Mobile's stringent product quality testing to ensure that their software and hardware will perform well in normal day to day use. Another video clip shown described how Lenovo designs its products to reach and exceed international standards by having a multi-national design team and having actual consumer input during the design stage. After dinner, there was a presentation of the phones and their unique features.

For the initial launch, six phones were presented:


Lenovo E156
The E156 is a basic phone which comes in either black or black with red. Though it is just a basic phone, it already comes with an MP3 player, FM radio, WAP browser, Call Blacklist, GPRS, MMS and Sound Recording. It also has FM recording capabilities which makes one remember the good old days when you call a radio station to request a song and then record it with a cassette tape. A microSD slot is available for cards with up to 8 GBs capacity for storing one's MP3 files and recorded FM songs. The Dual-Active SIM feature makes this desirable for those who want to dispose of their second phones but still maintain two active numbers.



Lenovo A336
The A336 is Lenovo Mobile's affordable answer to Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play. The phone was designed to be a gaming phone by having a built-in game simulator and supports NES ROMs. The limited edition of the phone already comes with 11 games. Dedicated gaming keys (O and X) are there to make playing easier. The phone also supports Voice Call and Sound Recording, Background Effect, Answer Machine, Bluetooth connectivity and Webcam Functionality. Background Effect is Lenovo's solution to calls that you don't like to answer or have valid answers when you need them. It simulates realistic background sounds of places like cafes or a train station. It would now be more convincing to say "Sorry, sir, I can't hear you. I'm at the train station." And in cases you really can't answer the call, the phone will answer it for you and record a message from the caller through the Answer Machine feature. No need for extra charges when retrieving messages from your voice mailbox if your phone can do it for you. Additionally, Lenovo's Webcam functionality allows one to use the phones camera to be used as a webcam when connected to a camera.



Lenovo Q330
The next phone shown was the Q330 which is a QWERTY phone for those who love to chat, text and e-mail lengthy messages. This phone also supports Dual-Active SIM, microSD cards up to 8GBs, music and video playback, Pushmail, FM with recording, Answer Machine, Bluetooth and Background Sound Effect. The phone is also Internet-capable with the pre-installed Opera Mini Browser, and built-in SNS Apps for Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter. The Q330 is also equipped with a 2 megapixel camera and LED flash.



Lenovo Q350
The Q350 is the bigger sibling of the Q330 with upgraded specs. In addition to the Q330's features, this phone has Webcam functionality, SMS Schedule, Mobile Tracker, WiFi connectivity, and an improved three megapixel camera. The SMS schedule allows text messages to be drafted and automatically sent by the phone at a scheduled time. You will no longer miss birthday greetings, and may even be the first one to greet people consecutively. Mobile Tracker is Lenovo's anti-theft technology wherein if an unauthorized SIM is placed in the phone, it will send up to five chosen contacts an alert that the phone is stolen.



Lenovo S800
The S800 is the Philippines' first translucent phone. Though the screen is translucent it is a 262,000 color display. The phone features an accelerometer which is used for detecting the phones orientation. The accelerometer is also used for the Motion Mute Calling feature wherein one only needs to shake the phone to reject calls during meetings and other busy moments. The S800 features Webcam functionality with its 2 megapixel camera, text viewer, video recording, Bluetooth, Answer Machine and Background Sound.




Lenovo A60
The A60 is Lenovo's Dual Active SIM Android OS phone. The phone features Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread, 3.5" capacitive multi-touch screen, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, 3 megapixel rear-facing camera, VGA front-facing camera, FM radio, GPS navigation, and microSD slot supporting cards up to 16GBs.



Conclusion
Entering into the crowded mobile phone market will be a big challenge for Lenovo Mobile. Lenovo Mobile's advantages are its innovative features like the Webcam functionality, Background Effect and Answer Machine which, hopefully, would be enough to differentiate their product offerings from the rest. The attention to detail and quality that the Lenovo brand is known for would certainly help in selling their mobile phone offerings.


Written by: Miguel Antonino Varela, a part-time TechSource contributor covering the local tech scene.

[HowtoForge] Newsletter 11/10/2011

HowtoForge Newsletter 11/10/2011
================================

*** Version 1.3 of the ISPConfig 3 Manual ***
=============================================

The next update of the ISPConfig 3 Manual is available in PDF format (version 1.3 for ISPConfig >= 3.0.4; Date: 10/25/2011).

Version 1.3 for ISPConfig >= 3.0.4 (Date: 10/25/2011)
Author: Falko Timme
333 pages

The manual can be downloaded from these two links:

http://www.ispconfig.org/ispconfig-3/ispconfig-3-manual/
http://www.howtoforge.com/download-the-ispconfig-3-manual


*********************************************
*********************************************


ISPConfig Monitor App for Android Phones
========================================

With the ISPConfig Monitor App, you can check your server status and find out if all services are running as expected. You can check TCP and UDP ports and ping your servers. In addition to that you can use this app to request details from servers that have ISPConfig installed; these details include everything you know from the Monitor module in the ISPConfig Control Panel (e.g. services, mail and system logs, mail queue, CPU and memory info, disk usage, quota, OS details, RKHunter log, etc.).

Download/Usage
==============

For download and usage instructions, please visit http://www.ispconfig.org/ispconfig-3/ispconfig-monitor-app-for-android/ .


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*** HowtoForge Now Has Its own Facebook Page ***
================================================

We at HowtoForge are proud to announce that our new Facebook page is now available under http://www.facebook.com/howtoforge. As most of you probably have a Facebook account, we want to use this additional channel to post updates and get feedback from you. Therefore we would like you to "Like" our page, share it with your friends, post comments, etc. :-)

http://www.facebook.com/howtoforge
********************************************************************


New HOWTOs:
===========

* How To Upgrade From Fedora 15 To Fedora 16 (Desktop & Server)
* Enabling Compiz Fusion On Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)
* The Perfect Server - Ubuntu 11.10 With Nginx [ISPConfig 3]
* Virtual Users And Domains With Postfix, Courier, MySQL And SquirrelMail (Ubuntu 11.10)
* Installing And Using OpenVZ On CentOS 5.7
* Serving CGI Scripts With Nginx On Fedora 15
* Installing LedgerSMB 1.3 Series (Open Source Accounting/ERP Application) On Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)

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How To Upgrade From Fedora 15 To Fedora 16 (Desktop & Server)
=============================================================

This article describes how you can upgrade your Fedora 15 system to Fedora 16. The upgrade procedure works for both desktop and server installations.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-upgrade-from-fedora-15-to-fedora-16-desktop-and-server


Enabling Compiz Fusion On Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)
=======================================================

This tutorial shows how you can enable Compiz Fusion on an Ubuntu Linux 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) Unity desktop (the system must have a 3D-capable graphics card - I'm using an NVIDIA GeForce 8200 here). With Compiz Fusion you can use beautiful 3D effects like wobbly windows or a desktop cube on your desktop.

You can find the document here:
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http://www.howtoforge.com/enabling-compiz-fusion-on-ubuntu-11.10-oneiric-ocelot


The Perfect Server - Ubuntu 11.10 With Nginx [ISPConfig 3]
==========================================================

This tutorial shows how to prepare an Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) server with nginx for the installation of ISPConfig 3, and how to install ISPConfig 3. Since version 3.0.4, ISPConfig comes with full support for the nginx web server in addition to Apache, and this tutorial covers the setup of a server that uses nginx instead of Apache. ISPConfig 3 is a webhosting control panel that allows you to configure the following services through a web browser: nginx and Apache web server, Postfix mail server, MySQL, BIND or MyDNS nameserver, PureFTPd, SpamAssassin, ClamAV, and many more.

You can find the document here:
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http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu-11.10-with-nginx-ispconfig-3


Virtual Users And Domains With Postfix, Courier, MySQL And SquirrelMail (Ubuntu 11.10)
======================================================================================

This document describes how to install a Postfix mail server that is based on virtual users and domains, i.e. users and domains that are in a MySQL database. I'll also demonstrate the installation and configuration of Courier (Courier-POP3, Courier-IMAP), so that Courier can authenticate against the same MySQL database Postfix uses. The resulting Postfix server is capable of SMTP-AUTH and TLS and quota. Passwords are stored in encrypted form in the database. In addition to that, this tutorial covers the installation of Amavisd, SpamAssassin and ClamAV. I will also show how to install SquirrelMail as a webmail interface so that users can read and send emails and change their passwords.

You can find the document here:
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http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-users-and-domains-with-postfix-courier-mysql-and-squirrelmail-ubuntu-11.10


Installing And Using OpenVZ On CentOS 5.7
=========================================

In this HowTo I will describe how to prepare a CentOS 5.7 server for OpenVZ. With OpenVZ you can create multiple Virtual Private Servers (VPS) on the same hardware, similar to Xen and the Linux Vserver project. OpenVZ is the open-source branch of Virtuozzo, a commercial virtualization solution used by many providers that offer virtual servers. The OpenVZ kernel patch is licensed under the GPL license, and the user-level tools are under the QPL license.

You can find the document here:
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http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-and-using-openvz-on-centos-5.7


Serving CGI Scripts With Nginx On Fedora 15
===========================================

This tutorial shows how you can serve CGI scripts (Perl scripts) with nginx on Fedora 15. While nginx itself does not serve CGI, there are several ways to work around this. I will outline two solutions: the first is to proxy requests for CGI scripts to Thttpd, a small web server that has CGI support, while the second solution uses a CGI wrapper to serve CGI scripts.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/serving-cgi-scripts-with-nginx-on-fedora-15


Installing LedgerSMB 1.3 Series (Open Source Accounting/ERP Application) On Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)
=========================================================================================================

This tutorial explains how to install LedgerSMB 1.3 on an Ubuntu 11.10 system. LedgerSMB is an open source financial accounting and ERP program. As of 1.3, it offers solid AR, AP, and GL tracking as well as inventory control and fixed assets handling.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-ledgersmb-1.3-series-open-source-accounting-erp-application-on-ubuntu-11.10-oneiric-ocelot


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You can now support HowtoForge by becoming a subscriber:

HowtoForge Subscription
=======================

*** New! We now accept RBS WorldPay payments in addition to PayPal. ***

For a monthly fee of 5 EUR or 25 EUR for half a year, you can become a HowtoForge supporter and help us cover our costs (servers, bandwidth, etc.) and support ISPConfig development. In return, you receive the following benefits:

1. Download the ISPConfig 3 Manual (from http://www.howtoforge.com/download-the-ispconfig-3-manual).
2. Access the whole HowtoForge web site without any ads.
3. Download the results of our tutorials as VMware images (where available) (a list of downloadable VMware images is available here: http://www.howtoforge.com/list-of-downloadable-vmware-images).
4. Download our tutorials as PDF files.
5. View our tutorials as printer-friendly pages.
6. You will be marked as a "HowtoForge Supporter" in your forum posts.
7. Plus, you support the ISPConfig development.

If you have the free VMware Server or Player installed, you can import our VMware images and start playing around with the results of our tutorials immediately. It's a great way to track down problems with your own setup or simply to save time. ;-)

More details can be found on http://www.howtoforge.com/subscription.

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011



Best RSS Feed Readers for Android

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 07:50 PM PST

While the world is going crazy about the recent changes in Google Reader, the debate over the relevance of RSS is still a hot topic among many techies. Many bloggers and even celebrities are moving away from the popular syndication format thanks to the dearth of decent RSS applications on the desktop and also due to the rapid surge in the use of social media. Even as the desktop sees a fall in the number of RSS readers, an opposite trend seems to be happening on the mobile front.

Every week new feed readers are popping up in the Android and Apple app stores that provide the same old syndication with a different twist. Furthermore, with added capabilities like syncing and sharing, these applications make content consumption a fun experience. While many of them are good enough just to 'do the job', there are only a very few which have transcended the concept of the traditional RSS reader.

So, if you've just purchased a new Android device and you're dying to read all the latest and the upcoming TechSource articles on it, read on as we list the absolute best feed readers for Android.


Google Reader

This is the official Google Reader app for Android. Now, as everyone knows, Google Reader is the most popular RSS reader on desktop, and believe me, you won't be disappointed with its mobile version. The app syncs with your Google account and lets you keep up with your favorite sites anywhere you want. All your folders and your starred items are synced between your web account and mobile. So, if you read or star a story on your mobile, it will take effect immediately on the web version.


The free application also features a neat and clean interface letting you focus on the content and nothing else. The blue bar at the top lets you either 'star' a particular story or share it with your friends. To cycle between articles you can use the 'up' and 'down' buttons at the bottom. Finally, if you want to look for a new feed, just hit the search button on your phone and start searching for it. So, in short, you get almost the same GReader experience as you would get on the desktop. Google Reader for mobile is freely available for download from the Android marketplace.

Price: Free
Size: 1.2 Mb
Rating: 4.2 (avg)
Download Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.reader&feature=search_result


Pulse

Pulse is one of the most promising apps for mobile. The app has gotten so popular that it was even praised by the late Steve Jobs during an Apple conference. Developed by Alphonso Labs, Pulse comes with a nice tiled user interface that incorporates colorful panning story bars and fills them with content from your favorite sources. You can view news from your favorite sources (imported from Google Reader) or discover new ones from their list of curated feeds. You can also share the story on your favorite social media networks like Twitter, Facebook with a click of a button.


Another thing that I loved about Pulse is the 'drag to refresh' feature. To refresh your sources instantly, all you have to do is drag the pane in the downward direction and release it. Furthermore, you can navigate between different sources using tabs at the top. Finally, if you own multiple devices, let's say an iPhone and a Droid, you can sync your preferences between both the devices using Pulse's cloud-based service. Picked as the editor's choice for Android Marketplace, Pulse is freely available for download.

Price: Free
Size: 2.7 Mb
Rating: 4.4
Download Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.alphonso.pulse&feature=search_result


Feedly

Feedly is a beautifully designed RSS feed reader for Android, iOS, Desktop and Web. Personally, I use Feedly on a daily basis, and so far, it is the best RSS feed reader I've used. The ability to seamlessly sync with Google Reader is what makes Feedly stand apart from the crowd. Sporting a clean, content-focused interface, Feedly turns your Google Reader into a convenient magazine. The free app displays all your favorite articles in a clean, slick format with full support for gestures like zooming, 'pinch to close' and more. The other advantage of using Feedly over the time-honored Google Reader is that it comes integrated with various social media services like Twitter, Facebook and even ping.fm. For sharing the articles, you can also customize Feedly to use your own bit.ly account.


The sources in Feedly are neatly organized in categories. You can jump between various categories by simply hitting the drop-down button at the top. You can also find new blogs right from the search bar and add them to your sources. Every time you create a new category, it gets automatically synced with your Google Reader account. So, let's say, you added TechSource to your list of sources and put it in the category 'Open Source'. Now, the next time you'll check your Google Reader account you'll find a new folder by the name 'Open Source' with 'TechSource' added to it. Cool huh? With 4.6 rating, Feedly is freely available for download from the Android Marketplace.

Price: Free
Size: 1.3 Mb
Rating: 4.6
Download Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.devhd.feedly&feature=search_result


Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

Saturday, November 5, 2011



Why Ubuntu Should Just Focus on the Desktop Market

Posted: 05 Nov 2011 12:45 AM PDT

Recently, at UDS, it was announced that Ubuntu would soon be coming to tablets, and smartphones, and other devices. Come 2014, Ubuntu, the most mainstream Linux distribution around, will be battling major players like Android, iOS, and Windows for the mobile OS market share.

As exciting as it may sound to any Linux fan, it seems that this is simply one of the worst decisions Canonical has taken recently. Even though Ubuntu is struggling to cross the 1% desktop market share, Canonical is running around in multiple directions when they should focus on their core product, that is the desktop.

Here's why focusing on the desktop market might be beneficial for Ubuntu:


Tough task ahead

Before Unity came, Ubuntu was one of the most stable Linux distributions around. The modern desktop utopia that Unity promised only managed to disappoint its loyal followers. And although Ubuntu 11.10 managed to undo that damage to a certain extent, Unity still is one of the most contentious interfaces around. Let's say by 2014, Canonical manages to make Unity stable enough to be called a perfect desktop, bringing the same experience on mobile will be another herculean task.


A bit too late

The mobile market is already dominated by Android and iOS. The competition is so tough that even a multi-billion corporation like Microsoft is having a tough time making its mark. In 2014, when Ubuntu will launch its first mobile version, it will face even stiffer competition. And mind you, getting into the market is just the first step. Let's say Ubuntu manages to get 20% of the market in 2 years, which can't be ruled out entirely, it will have to be smart enough to play the game of thrones with evil competitors like Apple and Microsoft. The mobile market is a place where lawsuits are thrown at each other every day, and Canonical won't be spared from the game. What's more, once Apple starts perceiving Ubuntu as a threat to its empire, we can only guess how ugly things would get.


Changing trends

The mobile market is one of the most tumultuous places around. Even in 2011, it has undergone so many changes that even experienced tech bloggers are finding it hard to keep up with the latest news. Venturing into such a market, that too in 2014, is a huge risk, and it will take a great planning and investment. Ubuntu will have to watch Android and Apple closely for the latest trends. If Apple introduces a new product, let's say in 2013, the whole industry would flip upside down.


A huge investment

Canonical doesn't have a lot of money. To bring Ubuntu to smartphones and tablets will take a huge amount of investment in terms of money and time. If only Ubuntu could put that much focus on the desktop, they might be able to reach their 200-million-user goal in time and make Linux a truly popular operating system.


Lack of focus

Recently Google has been busy retiring all their old products. Now, they've just started focusing on what they do best – Gmail, search and few more of their frontline products. Ubuntu, on the other hand, is moving in exactly the opposite direction by focusing on too many things at once. This is exactly the problem Microsoft suffers from right now. Redmond has focused on so many products that they've just lost the focus on their core product that is desktop. We all know how Ubuntu loves Apple. If there is one thing that Ubuntu could learn from the Cupertino-based company, it should be focus. Apple has always focused on their core products, and that's what makes them so great.

I know that it would be very cynical to call it a bad decision yet. However, after the Unity debacle, even the most loyal of Ubuntu fans have started doubting Canonical's decisions. Moreover, many cynics of the industry doubt that a small company like Canonical simply cannot deliver on a platform that's already so crowded. This, undoubtedly, is Ubuntu's last shot at proving them all wrong, and we hope it really does.

Thursday, November 3, 2011



Why the Kindle Fire Might Burn the iPad

Posted: 02 Nov 2011 07:08 PM PDT

With millions of devices already sold, the iPad 2 merely reinforced Apple's position as the leader of the tablet market. While Apple is busy selling the latest iPhone 4S, Amazon is having a tough time keeping up with the insane demands for its upcoming tablet called Kindle Fire.

Touted as the iPad-killer, Amazon's Kindle Fire comes packed with almost the same amount of features as the iPad 2 but at an unbeatable price of $199. Many experts have predicted that once it is out, Kindle Fire might do to iPad what the Android did to the iPhone.

Here's why we, at Tech Source, believe that this Amazon's latest offering might make a huge dent in the tablet market by surpassing the dominant iPad 2.


Unbeatable Price

Prices for iPad 2 start at $499. At $499, what you get is a Wi-Fi-enabled iPad 2 with two cameras. Amazon's Kindle Fire on the other hand, comes at an incredibly low price of $199, which itself, is its biggest selling point. I know, many people argue that the Kindle fire doesn't have camera or 3G, but folks, do we really need a camera on a tablet? People look ridiculous when they take pictures with their iPads.


It's all about the content

A tablet device is all about the content. You can make a cheap $200 Android tablet and sell it to say 10,000 people. But when you have to sell it to millions, the content becomes the prerogative. The iPad sold millions of devices because it managed to bring engaging content directly into the consumers' hands. In order to outmatch content like that, any competitor needs to have a huge repertoire of quality content. And, Amazon currently has more quality content than Apple. The Kindle Fire offers unlimited streaming of movies and music to its Prime customers. They've also announced high quality Whispersync-enabled magazines for the device, making it even more lucrative to the consumers. Furthermore, with millions of books to choose from, Kindle Fire also doubles up as a great reading device.


More bang for the buck

The Kindle Fire's price tag may be cheap, but that is no way reflected in the performance and build-quality of the device. The 7-inch tablet comes with a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512 MB RAM, and 8 GB of internal storage. The device has a solid Gorilla glass coating and it weighs only 14.6 ounces. The iPad 2 on the other hand, weighs 21.28 ounces, and has a 1GHz dual-core A5 processor. The specs in both the devices are almost the same; however, the price differs by as much as $300.


Apps

Apple has millions of apps in its App store but Kindle Fire, as of now, suffers from a dearth of quality apps. That may change however, as once the device is released, many app developers will definitely come up with some quality apps. Remember that Android too came in late, but now it has taken over Apple in the number of apps downloaded.


Great for browsing on the go

The Kindle Fire features a super fast web browser called Silk that crunches web pages using the cloud. The result is that pages load way faster than they would usually load on a normal browser like Safari or Chrome. Here too, Kindle Fire wins the round, because, after all, who doesn't love speed?


Cloud Ready

The Kindle Fire is the first tablet device that is completely cloud ready. If, at all, you run out of the 8GB space on your device, don't worry, you can store as much data as you want right into Amazon's cloud servers. Currently Amazon has no data caps or charges for this service.


There's no match for Whispersync

Finally, Kindle Fire comes with the amazing Whispersync technology that syncs your data across all the devices you own. Imagine you are watching a TV show on your Kindle Fire and the battery runs out. You can then resume watching the show right where you left off from your computer using Amazon's streaming services. Apple's yet to come out with a match for this little marvel.



The Amazon Kindle Fire will be released starting November 15 and is already available for pre-order HERE. I already pre-ordered mine :-)

[HowtoForge] Newsletter 11/03/2011

HowtoForge Newsletter 11/03/2011
================================

*** Version 1.3 of the ISPConfig 3 Manual ***
=============================================

The next update of the ISPConfig 3 Manual is available in PDF format (version 1.3 for ISPConfig >= 3.0.4; Date: 10/25/2011).

Version 1.3 for ISPConfig >= 3.0.4 (Date: 10/25/2011)
Author: Falko Timme
333 pages

The manual can be downloaded from these two links:

http://www.ispconfig.org/ispconfig-3/ispconfig-3-manual/
http://www.howtoforge.com/download-the-ispconfig-3-manual


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New HOWTOs:
===========

* Installing Nginx With PHP5 (And PHP-FPM) And MySQL Support On Ubuntu 11.10
* Running SugarCRM Community Edition On Nginx (LEMP) on Debian Squeeze/Ubuntu 11.04
* How To Make Your Own (Almost) Chromebook
* Setting Up Network RAID1 With DRBD On Ubuntu 11.10
* Installing Windows Software With Wine (Linux Mint 11)
* How To Let Your Wallpapers Rotate With Webilder (Linux Mint 11)
* How To Install ImageMagick (And Imagick) With jp2 Support On CentOS (6.0)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Installing Nginx With PHP5 (And PHP-FPM) And MySQL Support On Ubuntu 11.10
==========================================================================

Nginx (pronounced "engine x") is a free, open-source, high-performance HTTP server. Nginx is known for its stability, rich feature set, simple configuration, and low resource consumption. This tutorial shows how you can install Nginx on an Ubuntu 11.10 server with PHP5 support (through PHP-FPM) and MySQL support.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-nginx-with-php5-and-php-fpm-and-mysql-support-on-ubuntu-11.10


Running SugarCRM Community Edition On Nginx (LEMP) on Debian Squeeze/Ubuntu 11.04
=================================================================================

SugarCRM is a webbased CRM solution written in PHP. SugarCRM is available in different flavours called "Editions" ("Community" (free), "Professional", and "Enterprise"). In this tutorial I will describe the installation of the free Community Edition on a Debian Squeeze or Ubuntu 11.04 system that has nginx installed instead of Apache (LEMP = Linux + nginx (pronounced "engine x") + MySQL + PHP). With the modules My Portal, Calendar, Activities, Contacts, Accounts, Leads, Opportunities, Cases, Bugtracker, Documents and Email, SugarCRM Community Edition offers everything that can be expected from a CRM solution.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/running-sugarcrm-community-edition-on-nginx-lemp-on-debian-squeeze-ubuntu-11.04


How To Make Your Own (Almost) Chromebook
========================================

This HowTo lays out how to convert a regular netbook/laptop/desktop into an almost Google Chromebook using Hexxeh's Chromium OS build. All you need is a 2GB USB stick and a bit of time. It also makes a nice portable operating system as well.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-make-your-own-almost-chromebook


Setting Up Network RAID1 With DRBD On Ubuntu 11.10
==================================================

This tutorial shows how to set up network RAID1 with the help of DRBD on two Ubuntu 11.10 systems. DRBD stands for Distributed Replicated Block Device and allows you to mirror block devices over a network. This is useful for high-availability setups (like a HA NFS server) because if one node fails, all data is still available from the other node.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/setting-up-network-raid1-with-drbd-on-ubuntu-11.10


Installing Windows Software With Wine (Linux Mint 11)
=====================================================

This tutorial is supposed to show you how to install .exe files on your Linux system. I am using Linux Mint 11 as an operating system, however the steps should not differ greatly from other distributions. The software I am going to use as an example will be VLC Player. I am aware that there is a version of VLC for Linux, in some cases even preinstalled, but it serves well for the purpose of guiding through the steps of installation.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-windows-software-with-wine-linux-mint-11


How To Let Your Wallpapers Rotate With Webilder (Linux Mint 11)
===============================================================

This article is about how to automatically change your desktop wallpaper on prespecified intervals with a software called Webilder that also downloads new wallpapers from flickr and webshots every few hours. This is also the software used for rotating wallpapers in the Ubuntu derivative Pinguy OS. I have installed and tried Webilder on Linux Mint 11, however it should also work on all other Debian and Ubuntu based distributions.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-let-your-wallpapers-rotate-with-webilder-linux-mint-11


How To Install ImageMagick (And Imagick) With jp2 Support On CentOS (6.0)
=========================================================================

This tutorial describes how to install ImageMagick and imagik with jp2 support on CentOS 6.0.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-install-imagemagick-and-imagick-with-jp2-support-on-centos-6.0


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