Get the Google Play store on your Kindle Fire

The Amazon app store still doesn't have as many apps as the Google Play store so you may want to have it on your Kindle. We show you how to do that here.

The Kindle Fire is a great tablet for those who use Amazon's services and it comes at a great price point which bodes well for those looking for budget friendly devices. Kindle also runs Android although the version of Android it runs is heavily modified it is very difficult to see it runs Android and with no Google Play store device around it becomes hard to use it like any other Android device. Thankfully though, you can install the Play Store on your actual Kindle with a little bit of work. This is how you do it.

In order for this to work, you will need to have your Kindle Fire rooted.

1. First off, download the ES File Explorer App from the Amazon App Store which will allow you to transfer and launch the necessary files.

2. Download the necessary Google Play files from here and extract the files from the compressed file.

3. Open ES File Explorer and enable 'Root Explorer' by going into 'Settings' and selecting 'Root Settings' and checking the 'Super User', 'Root Explorer', and 'Mount File System' options.

4. Return to the folder where you extracted the downloaded files and install 'GoogleServicesFramework.apk' and reboot your Kindle.

5. Once the reboot is complete, cut the 'vending.apk' file and paste it in the /system/app directory.

6. Long press on the 'vending.apk' once it's moved and select 'Properties'. You'll need to change the permissions to make sure that 'read' and 'write' are checked for 'User' and 'read' is checked for 'Group and Other'.

7. Install 'vending.apk'.

8. Return to your homescreen and look in your Home-> Apps section and open the 'Market' icon to launch it and sign into your Google account.

9. Finally, you'll want to return to the folder with the extracted files and install the file 'gplay.apk', reboot your Kindle, and enjoy Google Play on your Kindle Fire.

Have you tried this process out on your Kindle device? Please leave us a comment below to tell us how it went for you.

Source: Android Guys

Chrome Remote Desktop finally arrives for Android

Google has released the final version of the Chrome Remote Desktop client for Android, allowing you to control your PC or Mac from the comfort of your Android device.

Google is on a bit of a roll with the high impact app releases lately, following on from the awesome new Google Camera app, the giant of Mountain View has also released Chrome Remote Desktop for Android. This app lets you take control of your desktop on your mobile device. Don't let the name fool you though, you're not just getting access to Chrome, but to your entire PC or Mac.

First up, you need to add an extension to Chrome on your desktop. You can do that via the Chrome Web Store. Once you've got that installed you can grab the Chrome Remote Desktop app for Android from the Play Store and get started. You'll now have access to any of your PCs or laptops from you Android device, as long as they have the remote desktop extension added.

None of this is new news, a version of this client was available way back in January and some other major companies like Amazon have already released their own desktop clients, plus there's dozens of remote access apps in the Play Store. But this is big news simply because it's Google supporting it, and that means dire things for all those small third-party clients out there. The big boys just joined the party.

Check out list of the best remote access apps for Android.

Have you used a remote desktop client before? Do you think the likes of Google and Amazon will squeeze out the little guys?

Via: Tech Crunch
Source: Google Play Store

Top 10 Most Anticipated Horror Films in 2014

So far, it's been an exciting year for horror. Afflicted is a "damn fine film," The Babadook is a must see, and Only Lovers Left Alive is one of the most gorgeous horror films ever. 2014 is really shaping out to be a great year for horror, and it's not over yet. Here are several reasons to be thrilled about the future of horror.

1. Stage Fright (April 3)

Ok it's not technically science fiction or fantasy — but the premise of Stage Fright is too good (and too much like Phantom of the Opera) to ignore. This is a musical horror film. At a ridiculous theater camp, the aspiring stars are in for a bloody disaster as campers and counselors alike wind up dead. But the show must go on. Also somehow they got both Minnie Driver and Meatloaf (Eddie!) to sing and dance in this, which is just wonderful. Really wonderful.

2. Oculus (April 11)



The mirror is haunted! Our beloved Karen Gillan stars as a woman hell bent on getting revenge on a mirror that ate her parents. The supernatural-powered mirror has a myriad of powers including the ability to project images into its victims brains. So it can make you think a lightbulb is an apple, and you won't realize the difference until you've taken a bite.

3. 13 Sins (April 18)

Inspired by the Thai movie 13: Game of Death, this new remake centers around Elliot, a man with no money, no prospects and no hope. Seemingly out of nowhere Elliot is invited to play a hidden camera gameshow called 13 Sins! All he has to do is complete 13 tasks and he will receive 6 million. But as each task is accomplished the next one becomes more and more morally repugnant task. How far will Elliot go? 13 Sins has two of our all time favorite cult actors — Pruitt Taylor Vince and Ron Perlman. And stars Mark Webber (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) who is absolutely sensational in everything he's in (no matter how small the part) so we're excited to see this guy get unhinged. The director is from another io9 favorite The Last Exorcist. Here's the trailer.

4. The Quiet Ones (April 25)

Hammer Horror films cast Jared Harris and Sam Claflin in a vintage ghost movie set in the '70s. Harris is on a paranormal mission to use science to solve ghostly problems. Instead he only manages to create one giant, pissed-off spirit. Uh oh.

5. Alien Abduction (May 1)

This found footage-esque film follows a vacationing family through the woods and right into an alien encounter. The story is allegedly based on the "real life" Brown Mountain Lights phenomenon in North Carolina. From the looks of the trailer we're dealing with classic alien abduction horror, lots of creepy long arms, bright lights and terrible, terrible experiments.

6. Mr. Jones (May 2)

Hands down, the most bananas premise we've heard about in horror this year — but it has us absolutely intrigued. A couple on a woodland retreat stumbles upon the work of famous recluse and artist Mr. Jones. He's known for his epically creepy scarecrow creations. And they are utterly horrifying. But the plot isn't that linear — it's actually wrapped up with the couple's fights, and things become unclear on what is reality and what is scarecrow hell. Just go watch the trailer right now it's amazing.

7. Deliver Us From Evil (July 2)

Based on the "true story" from a real New York cop who really fought the devil (or something) Eric Bana plays the role of said troubled cop. Who finds out he can't arrest evil. Deliver Us From Evil was directed by Scott Derrickson, who gave us Sinister which we half loved. So that is promising. Here's a look.

8. The Purge 2 (July 18)

The Purge is back! And this time we've got an amazing cast, including Frank Grillo and Friday Night Lights' Zach Gilford. The sequel to the very successful movie about the one night a year when all crime is legal (all of it) takes place outside of the safe house, on the mean streets! Welcome back to The Purge and all its ham-fisted political themes!

9. Tusk (No Date)

Kevin Smith's walrus horror movie. It sounds sounds insane. Starring Justin Long and Haley Joel Osment, Tusk is about what happens when a man answers a roommate ad that advertises free rent, granted they dress up in a walrus costume from time to time. It has been called very Human Centipede like with the body horror, so we'll just let your mind go from there. On the plus side it does have the wonderful Rob Kurtzman (Hisss, Bubba Ho-Tep, From Dusk Till Dawn) doing the special effects makeup, so at least it will look awesome. Not sure when Smith will be done with this one, hopefully this year, because we're dying to see Jusin Long all mutilated into looking like a walrus.

10. Clown (No Date)

Inspired by the excellent fake trailer created by Jon Watts, Eli Roth (who was the fake director of the fake trailer) decided to go ahead and back the project. And now this horrifying man-to-clown-monster transformation movie is being made. It even got a script from Robot & Frank writer Christopher D. Ford, and a brand new trailer that looks terrifying. There is nothing scarier than a clown.

 

Tips: If you want to rent or purchase these movies from iTunes, Amazon, BBC iPlayer, Xbox Live Store, etc. on your any devices, just need to get a professional DRM removal and converter tool.

Editor Recommendation:

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Share: How to Make Your Tablet Safe for Kids?

Have you have recently upgraded to a new tablet and want to hand off your older model to your lucky kids? 
 
That's a good idea, but before you do there are a number of steps you should take before you let go of that older tablet. Even a beat up, older model is still useful, albeit a bit slower than your new tablet, but you might want to make sure it's safe for your kids to use.

Get a sturdy case

Kids drop things – a lot. (Well, so do I, but that's not important.) A rubberized case will protect your tablet from most drops, so it's well worth the investment.

Tablets come on all shapes and sizes, and so do cases. The Speck iGuy case for the iPad shown above is one option, but if you need to look further afield, here are a few websites where you can buy a variety of cases:

• M-Edge
• Speck
• Amazon

Perform a factory reset

If you've been using your old tablet for any length of time, chances are good that there are any number of things on your tablet that you don't want other people to see.

It might be as simple as work emails you don't want anyone to read, or perhaps you don't want your reading habits shared with the world. In any case, the best way to make sure that all of your personal documents are removed is to reset the tablet to factory settings. With most tablets this will wipe all of the internal storage, remove any apps you've installed, and delete any changes you've made to the settings.

The steps involved vary between tablets, but you can probably find the reset option under the Settings menu on your tablet. Just make sure that you save any important files first.

Install a Parental Control App

If you would like to restrict what a kid can do with the tablet (block games, inappropriate content, and so on) then you should install a parental control app. I'm not sure I would take this step, but you might want to. There are a lot of websites, Youtube videos, and apps that aren't appropriate for small children.

There are a number of apps which would work. One Android app you could try is Kids Place. I came across it when I reviews the ClicknKids tablet, and on that tablet it blocked access to any app which had not been selected and approved by the parent. I thought it worked well, but if you don't like it there are many other alternatives in Google Play.

Of course if you have a Kindle Fire, that tablet has parental controls built in. So does the iPad.

Block in app purchases

We've all read the horror stories about kids running up thousands of dollars in charges, right? You don't want that to happen to you, so you should probably make sure that your tablet asks for a password before any purchases.

On Android tablets, both Google and Amazon have a parental control option under the settings menu which can be set to require a password before any purchases can be made. On the Kindle Fire, this setting is found with the other parental control options.

On the iPad, I would suggest a different approach. I would set up a separate account just for the kid's iPad. This is extra work, but it will allow you to remove any chance that the kid might run up charges in iTunes.

If you need to make purchases for the kid's iPad, you can buy a gift card with the parent account and give it to the child account.

Install a Kid Friendly Web Browser

As a final step, I'm going to suggest that you install an alternate web browser. There are any number of child safe web browsers in Google Play and iTunes.

• Google Play
• 10 Kid Friendly Web Browsers for the iPad

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The 5 suggestions in the above post are really just a start on what can be done to child-proof a tablet. If you have any suggestions for other apps to install, don't hesitate to leave a comment.

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What do you think of the proposed new Google icons for Android?

Google's app icons for Android look set to get a makeover soon to more closely match their web-based counterparts. What do you think of the change and do we even need it?

With a likely change in the Google icons for Android in the pipelines to better match what we currently have on the web-based version of our favorite Google products, the question arises: do we really need them if they represent yet another change in Android's design guidelines?

The new leaked Google app icons - do you prefer them or want them to stay the same?

The new icons have been picked up by Android Police and they do seem a little more stream-lined compared to their current Android form. But considering the Holo design style is still seeping into the billion apps in the Play Store with relatively slow uptake, is changing the guidelines for app icons – requiring even more changes from developers, no matter how simple – really a good idea? Sure, Google gets to set the standard, but suddenly everything else on your Android looks out of whack and everyone has to play catch up. Here's the current web and Android versions along with the new icons leaked to Android Police.

The new icons show a better resemblance to their web-based counterparts, but they're still not perfectly aligned with Google's design guidelines.

The guidelines set by Google for both web and Android are not even mirrored in their own icons. Giving the icons a refresh to actually match what Google itself lays down for others makes sense, but even with the proposed new icons in the image above we still don't have consistency across the board between the web and future Android icons (or the guidelines themselves in their current state). Is this just change for change's sake? Or is this part of a broader cleaning up of Google's properties and well overdue?

Source: Android Police

Google to launch Android TV: Report

Close on the heels of the Amazon Fire TV launch, a new report emerged claiming that Google is working on its own version of Android TV, which in all likelihood will compete with Apple TV, Amazon's Fire TV and Roku.

Reportedly, major video app providers have started building for the platform. Technology website The Verge claims that it has exclusively received some documents which read, "Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform".

It's all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction." It will be "cinematic, fun, fluid, and fast."

Google reportedly is working on its own version of Android TV, which in all likelihood will compete with Apple TV, Amazon's Fire TV and Roku.

The company is asking developers to build simple TV apps for what is claimed to be an extremely simple set-top-box interface. The interface will have a set of scrolling "cards" that represent movies, shows, apps, and games.

Using a remote control, you will be able to scroll left and right through different suggestions, or up and down through different categories of content.

The controller will also have Enter, Home, and Back buttons. Also, there will be "optional" game controllers. Quite like the Amazon Fire TV, Google' upcoming Android TV is rumoured to support voice inputs.

This article originally published at IBNLive

HTC One M8 Primer for iPhone 5S Switchers

HTC One M8 is my new best friend, not that you'd know from this post that follows. About 72 hours ago, FedEx delivered the T-Mobile variant, triggering my move from iPhone 5s to the newer One. The Apple's departure was inevitable. I merely dabbled in the 5s to support my iPad Air habit. But I expected to go Nexus 5, when returning to Android. Then HTC unveiled the One, which I really want to call the One Two. M8 is so robotic and diminishes the powerful connotations "the One" evokes.

This post starts several "first-impression" reactions as I go through the product review experience, which will be a longer process than anticipated. From one perspective, The One -- how I henceforth will refer to the M8 -- evolves from the older One. But from another vantage point, the refinements, particularly regarding the camera, are magnanimous and demand time to experience and to explain.

Some of you may consider moving from iPhone 5 or 5s to The One. That experience, and there are loads of considerations, is where I start. Future posts will be more positive about The One.

1. Design and craftsmanship are exceptional. Like its predecessor, The One is an attractive, well-built smartphone. This beauty will turn heads, if you keep it pure rather than dressed in drab case. If you bought iPhone 5 or 5s for appearances, you won't be disappointed transferring design affections to The One.

2. The One is huge. For perspective, the entire length of iPhone 5s is about the same as the length of the HTC smartphone's screen. Right, just the display. The One measures 146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35 mm compared to the Apple's 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm.

3. The screen is gorgeous. Much like its predecessor, The One packs one crisp display -- full HD, unlike iPhone 5s. Whether reading or watching videos, I find The One superior to the Apple.

4. Beware daylight. Outdoors, The One display is nowhere as readable as the iPhone 5s' screen. Dammit.

5. Fumble fingers are inevitable. I suddenly can no longer type text messages or much anything else. My muscle memory is attuned to a smaller display, and the move from 4-inch to 5-inch screen changes everything. HTC provides more generous space between keys, taking advantage of the extra screen real estate. That's going to be fine coming from the older One or another big Android, but, unless I am totally atypical, not from iPhone 5s.

6. The iOS 7 flat design is easier on the eyes. Likely, my fumble-fingers problem is as much about the benefits of Apple's UI as the change in screen size.

7. That said, HTC's Sense 6 is more refined than its predecessor. Subtle changes to attributes like fonts make the overall experience more pleasing than Sense 5. Hehe, The One has more sense than its predecessor.

8. The default color scheme displeases -- or so I find compared to the light freshness of the Apple's UI. Where did that green come from, HTC? Or should I blame T-Mobile? Eek. Someone needs a lesson in color palettes and things that cause eye strain.

9. BlinkFeed is great if you love it (and I do), and nothing on iOS compares. HTC refines the catch-all news, social, and weather app/UI into one of several killer, must-have, drool-worthy features.

10. Audio is awesome. The iPhone 5s tin-cans can't compare to The One's front-facing speakers, much like its predecessor. Boom, boom, baby.

11. Prepare for crapware. I assume T-Mobile's variant is typical. Like its predecessor, The One comes with loads of battery-life sucking software you may never want or need. I should feel good about the anti-malware, but complaining is my nature. That said, I can discern no performance penalty imposed by the crapware.

12. Popups are (cough, cough) everywhere. My God, did HTC hire a Windows Vista UI designer? The One delivers, at least on the T-Mobile variant, scads of annoying (but presumably helpful) pop-up tips. While they diminish with time and usage, the popups are sure to shock iPhone 5s users.

13. On T-Mobile, like the original One, the newer model offers WiFi calling. If you live in a sucky-signal area like I do, the capability is exceptionally useful. Apple won't let carriers add anything like this feature.

14. Battery life is exceptional, and in my early testing better than iPhone 5s. Suddenly a day's battery means just that.

15. Storage is expandable. Yep, there's a card slot on The One.

16. It's slippery. There is a reason HTC offers free screen replacement for six months. The One has nearly slipped out of my hands several times and once a foot fall to the desk. This is unusual for me. Get this: Best strategy to avoid drops: Dirty hands. Yuck.

17. Connections are better. In my neighborhood, using iPhone 5 or 5s on either AT&T or T-Mobile, calls are typically broken up on either end. Data is slow like cement. Calls on The One, like its predecessor or Moto X,  are generally clear and data throughput much faster. 

18. Your old data goes with you. Backup your iPhone 5s to iTunes, download HTC Sync Manager, and follow the instructions. I transferred everything important -- heck, even text messages -- from iPhone 5s to The One.http://www.htc.com/www/software/htc-sync-manager/?section=Overview

You might wonder about the camera. That's a topic deserving its own post. Watch for it. But take this as preview: I sold my digital camera yesterday.

Wrapping up, I started this post by calling the M8 "my new best friend". The One is my Mate (M-eight)

Source: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JoeWilcox/posts