SwipePad: A Must Have App for Every Android Device

SwipePad is a simple application that lets you launch any app with a single swipe action from within any other app. Upon being recommended by a friend of mine, SwipePad was one of those applications I installed immediately after receiving my first Android phone. Since then, SwipePad has become an integral part of my daily life that I almost started seeing it as one of those core apps for Android which comes as default.

"Android Started Before iPhone": How True is That?

How much Apple's founder Steve Jobs hated Android is evident from his last conversations with his biographer, Walter Isaacson. Steve Jobs claimed that Android was a rip-off of Apple's iOS and that he will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong, to destroy Android. This created an uproar. In an interview with Reuters, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, said that all these allegations are baseless and that Android project started well before the iPhone effort. Let's find out how true a statement that is.

20 Most Highly Rated Applications to Install from Ubuntu Software Center

Many long-term Ubuntu users(including me) overlook at the fact that, there are plenty of good quality applications available free of cost in Ubuntu Software Center already. If you look at our reviews of applications here, a good number of them require adding and updating third party repositories. Not that those apps are somehow inferior, but we will, for a change, list the most highly rated applications which are available for free installation from Ubuntu Software Center.

3 Interesting Ubuntu Unity Mobile Mockups

User created ideas and concepts have always been an hallmark of popular Linux based distors like Ubuntu. We have featured such awesome works by loyal users, ranging from awe inspiring Ubuntu Unity mockups to professional looking LibreOffice mockups. Shuttleworth, during the recently concluded Ubuntu Developer Summit(UDS), made it clear that they will be taking Ubuntu to smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. Inspired from that, some users have already created interesting mockups based on the idea of mobile Ubuntu Unity.

5 Things I Would Like to See Improved in Ubuntu Software Center

Ubuntu Software Center had a complete makeover recently. But I have to admit, even with all those changes, it still feels unfinished. In our earlier Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot review, we did shared our concern with the unfinished nature of Ubuntu Software Center and had promised a more elaborate take on the issue. So here is it, things I would like to see improved in the next iteration of Ubuntu Software Center. Read on.

Why Protect IP is Bad? [Video, Infographic]

The title of the video goes something like this - Protect IP breaks the Internet - and that pretty much sums it up. Quoting EFF, "The Internet Blacklist Legislation - known as PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House - is a threatening sequel to last year's COICA Internet censorship bill. Like its predecessor, this legislation invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, and hampers Internet innovation." See the video and the infographic below. Spread the news and be informed.

Firefox 10 Alpha is Here, How to install it in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric via PPA?

Firefox 8.0 has just been released and we will see how to install or upgrade to latest Firefox 8.0 in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot below. Meanwhile, nightly builds of Firefox 10.0 is already available for installation in Ubuntu Oneiric via PPA. Firefox 10.0 Alpha 1, as expected, scores a perfect 100 in Acid 3 tests and is visibly more faster than its previous iterations.

Awoken 2.3 Brings New Themes, Better Support for Unity, GNOME Shell in Ubuntu 11.10

AwOken along with Faenza icons theme are surely among the most feverishly updated icon themes for GNOME. With the arrival of Unity and GNOME Shell though, all these popular icon themes needed to adapt in order to stay relevant. AwOken icons theme 2.3 update does just that. Latest iteration of AwOken comes with a number of updates which makes it look more integrated with Ubuntu's Unity and GNOME Shell desktops.

6 Key Changes in Next Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

Canonical is in a hurry. After the successful release of Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot, it's time to plan for next, more important, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release. Ubuntu 12.04 is codenamed "Precise Pangolin" and following are the important changes in the upcoming Ubuntu 12.04 release, as decided upon during recently concluded Ubuntu Developer Summit.

Nokia GEM Concept is Very Futuristic[Video]

Nokia has always been at the forefront of mobile phone revolution. Even though Nokia's market share has been in a steady decline over the years, Nokia surprised everyone with its MeeGo powered Nokia N9(perhaps the last MeeGo phone, sigh!). N9's hardware was an instant hit and MeeGo OS, without even an ecosystem around it, received wide accolades. Here's a video on Nokia's latest GEM concept mobile phone which looks rather interesting. 

Humble Voxatron Debut Keeps on Adding Games, Total Count is Now 7!

Humble Voxatron Debut, Humble Indie Bundle's latest offering, came with just one game, the Voxatron Alpha. In the latest update, not only does the Voxatron Alpha got an upgrade, but 6 more awesome indie games have been added to the bundle namely Blocks That Matter, The Binding of Issac, Gish, Jasper's Journeys, Chocolate Castle and Zen Puzzle Garden.

5 Best Free Siri Alternatives for Android

One of the most hyped features of recently launched iPhone 4S was Siri, the new voice assistant application for iPhone. I don't own an iPhone 4S and hence I can't comment on how good Siri works. But upon searching a bit, I found out that there are quite a few good Siri alternatives for Android readily available in the Android Market and most of them are free too. Here is quick collection of top free Siri alternatives for Android.

8 Things I did After Installing GNOME Shell in Brand New Ubuntu 11.10

GNOME Shell is GNOME foundation's official shell for GNOME 3.0 and as we have seen in so many posts before, GNOME Shell is an incredibly good alternative for Canonical's Unity UI which became the default Ubuntu interface starting from Natty Narwhal release. The least you can say is, now you have two unique interfaces to choose from instead of plain vanilla GNOME. Top things to do after installing GNOME Shell in Ubuntu 11.10.

Install GNOME Tweak Tool