Free Software downloads & Full Programs

Kindle Format 8, or KF8, uses Web technologies such as HTML and CSS to show much more elaborate e-book layouts.

(Credit:
Amazon)

Amazon has retooled and renamed the format for electronic books, embracing Web technologies and adding better abilities for graphics and complex layouts.

The previous format, Mobi 7, will be replaced by Kindle Format 8, aka KF8, according to an Amazon announcement yesterday.

Green Lantern is part of DC Comics' exclusive content deal with Amazon.

(Credit:
Amazon)

“As showcased on Kindle Fire, KF8 enables publishers to create great-looking books in categories that require rich formatting and design such as children’s picture books, comics & graphic novels, technical and engineering books, and cookbooks,” Amazon said in its announcement. “Kindle Format 8 replaces the Mobi format and adds over 150 new formatting capabilities, including fixed layouts, nested tables, callouts, sidebars and Scalable Vector Graphics, opening up more opportunities to create Kindle books that readers will love.”

A move of this sort was inevitable as e-book publishing broadened beyond the initial text-centric focus. For example, … [Read more]

In some challenges the fruit will bounce down objects, so you'll need to be careful with your slices.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Fruit Ninja was one of the early hits at the iTunes App Store, and continues to endure as a perennial top-10 favorite in the paid apps category for its simple, but satisfying game mechanic.

Today Halfbrick–the makers of Fruit Ninja
and hit game Jetpack Joyride–released another version of Fruit Ninja, but this time with a movie tie-in. Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots offers the same fruit-slicing action, but adds a new game type that fans of the game will definitely want to check out.

Though Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots is an obvious promotion for the upcoming Dreamworks Animations movie, HalfBrick seems to have really gone the extra mile to make paying another 99 cents worth your while.

You get two game types with Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots. Bandito mode has you play through three acts (movie theme) with four random challenges each (though you can pick the order you do them). In each challenge you’ll be doing things like slicing 20 strawberries, trying to crack three coconuts, and other fun… [Read more]

The Kindle Fire incorporates Amazon's new Silk browser, which apparently will learn your reading/surfing habits and cache pages you return to frequently.

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

The Silk browser was only one of many revelations at Amazon’s Kindle event last month, but it was a doozy. Expected to ship initially only on the Kindle Fire in November, Silk promises to learn how you browse and to predict where you’re going to surf to next.

That kind of stickiness with your personal data left many security experts and some lawmakers uncomfortable. But the Electronic Frontier Foundation now says it believes Amazon will provide users with the tools to disentangle themselves.

The digital privacy rights group released a report yesterday analyzing several areas of concern it had with Silk,… [Read more]

Some Android browsers deliver all the content, while others cut back for faster browsing. Choosing the correct browser for your connection type each time can become tedious–but there’s a quick fix.

With Smart Browser Chooser, a free app on the Android Market, you can decide which browser is used based on your connection speed. All it takes is a couple minutes of setup and whether you’re on Wi-Fi, 3G, or 2G, your Android device will know which browser to load for the best user experience.

Note: In order to use this app, you need to have different browsers to choose from. A few suggestions to try (like the ones used in this how to) are Dolphin HD, Skyfire, and Opera Mobile

(Credit:
Nicole Cozma)

Step 1: Install Smart Browser Chooser from the Android Market.

This is the list of browsers you can choose from.

(Credit:
Nicole Cozma)

You should see all of your choices under their respective connection speeds.

(Credit:
Nicole Cozma)

Step 2: Open the app and pick browsers from the drop-down menus un… [Read more]

When it comes to performing do-it-yourself fixes or upgrades on your Mac, one of the main resources to use is the online take-apart guides from iFixIt.

The company has detailed how to open and access internal components of many Mac models, and has gained a reputation for quickly tearing down newly released Apple hardware and outlining what’s inside.

iFixIt's manuals can now be viewed cleanly on iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

(Credit:

iFixIt)

The manuals and high-quality detailed images offered by iFixIt can be invaluable, but if for some reason your Mac is not working and you need to use one of the manuals to replace a component, then you will need to access the manuals with another device. The use of Apple’s mobile iOS devices is great for this, but while the company has had an iOS app for its manuals available, until now the program was only available for tablets like the iPad. This meant that unless you had an iPad, you had to access the iFixIt Web site using Safari, which, although not a bad experience, might not be the most convenient one.

To tackle this, iFixIt today has released a new version of its iOS application, which allows its manuals to be browsed and accessed quickly on iPho… [Read more]