Amazon Fire: How To's

With so much Flash content still available on the web, it's unfortunate that Google no longer supports mobile Flash Player on Android. Loading a webpage only to be met with a "Plug-in Error" is never fun, and it can inhibit your mobile browsing experience as you attempt to watch a video or play an addicting Flash game.

Aside from a collection of new features, like Carousel Pinning, the latest update to the Amazon Fire Phone also ushered in Quick Switch functionality, allowing for quickly switching between or closing recent apps. Like the majority of mobile devices, this is our primary tool in multitasking as it allows us to easily jump from app to app, or close them with a flick.

Thanks to Yifan Lu, it's been discovered that the operating system running on the Kindle Touch is written mostly in HTML5 and JavaScript, unlike the previous models which used Java. This is exciting, because when a device is hacked or rooted, that means homebrew programs can be run on the device, maximizing its potential and getting the most for your money.

Don't be too disappointed if you don't have the spiffy new Kindle Touch, there is an up side. The benefit to owning the older (duller) models is that the firmware remains the same throughought generations, so the hacks retain their usefulness. This has given the modding community for Kindle a bunch of time to flourish, with tons of great code, hacks and homebrew.

With so many keyboard options available for Android, there's no reason to limit ourselves to the default one, or to just the ones available in the Amazon Appstore. While the Appstore does provide alternatives, such as SwiftKey, it doesn't come close to the selection available in the Google Play Store.

The first thing we usually do with a new smartphone is download apps, and lots of them. There are your must-have games, utility apps, and of course—the free daily "app of the day" from Amazon. If you're like me, you'll install every single one of these free apps, and whether they get used or not, they'll be waiting in the app drawer.

Screenshots are all the rage. From sharing high game scores with friends to placing conversation threads online for the world to see to secretly capturing Snapchats, this function of smartphones is prevalent through modern society.

The camera on the Amazon Fire Phone is simple and easy-to-use, with a 13-megapixel rear shooter with optical image stabilization, but there are a couple of features that makes this camera stand out from others.

The reason Amazon's Kindle has become so popular over the past several years is due to the amount of digital books one can fit inside—over 1,000 for the smallest Kindle. Gone are the days of lugging around heavy books to school and the airport. Instead we can fit our e-readers snugly inside our bags and never worry about forgetting a book.

Amazon's newest addition to the Kindle family, the Kindle Paperwhite, has a built-in light and much better resolution than its predecessors. Amazon boasts that the battery can last up to eight weeks (based on 30 minutes of reading per day with Wi-Fi turned off) and weighs less than half a pound.

Kindle users love reading. But let's face it—nothing compares to the feel of a book in your hands.

Want to drop Amazon's DRM from a Kindle eBook you've purchased? As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way. And, in this case, there are actually a couple of ways: One method uses Calibre and works for both Windows and Mac users, the other uses an AppleScript and is Mac exclusive. To maximize the usefulness of this guide, we've chosen to excerpt a tutorial that uses the OS-agnostic method. Mac users looking to find a writeup of the latter method, however, should look here.

The Amazon Kindle 2 has changed the way millions of people read books, but many of you aren't taking full advantage of your device's many advanced features. This video will show you how to use some advanced features of the Kindle 2, including how to highlight text, annotate text, and add a bookmark.

Interested in adding a new book to your digital collection? It's easy! And this brief video tutorial from the folks at Butterscotch will teach you everything you need to know. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, and to get started buying and downloading eBooks from the Amazon bookstore to your own Kindle 2 or Kindle 3 eReader, take a look.

To remove the DRM from a Kindle, you will need the following: Kindle for PC software program and Python scripting program.

You've got a Kindle, and you've bought your first ebooks! Did you know that you don't have complete control over those books you bought? Amazon restricts your use of ebooks with DRM, or Digital Rights Management, that prevents you from transferring your purchases to other devices, or copying them. Watch this video to learn how to strip your Kindle ebooks of the DRM, and really own your content!

See how easy it is to install media on your Amazon Kindle! CNET Quick Tips shows you how to use the USB cable to put your own documents on the Kindle to read later. You can add music and text files by simply dragging and dropping the files onto the Kindle from your computer. This video makes it all look so easy.

Want to skip ahead in an eBook? Watch this computer tutorial video to learn how to jump to a new location in the Amazon Kindle. Jumping pages in the Kindle video will be easy once you've mastered the tips in this how-to video.

Check out this Quick Tips video from CNET to learn how to bookmark pages in the Amazon Kindle so you can make sure you don't lose your place, or mark a really juicy part for later. Never get lost again during your eBook reading!

Watch this CNET Quick Tips video to learn how to add your own MP3s for background music on the Amazon Kindle. Some readers just like to listen to music as they read, and the Kindle makes that easy. It's as easy as dragging and dropping your digitla music files onto your Kindle from your computer.