Cerberus Mobile Security App for Android for free for a limited time only! (29 Feb 2012)

Just a quick post to share with fellow Android users (Yes, I'm currently using a Samsung Galaxy S2 mobile phone). Just found out that you can get the Cerberus mobile security app for free only for limited time (till 29 Feb 2012). See the following link for more details :http://bit.ly/zHJtRm

Instructions for download

1. Download and install the Cerberus app from the Android market, 

2. Create an account with username and register your email with them. 

3. Go to the following link: http://bit.ly/A8Skmp 

to enter your Cerberus account name and email and wait for them to send you your free license code! (Do this by 29 Feb 2012 to get it free)

To test if it’s working:
1. Make sure you turn on GPS setting on your phone/tablet.

2. On your computer browser, go to the following link: http://www.cerberusapp.com
Enter Username and Password to login.

3 Make sure the “Command” = “Start Tracking” and click Send Command button

4. The map should refresh to show location of your phone/tablet.

5. If you try other options e.g. “Command” ="Take Picture" and click Send Command
The photo will be sent to the email address you registered with.


[Update 27 Feb 2012: This is quite cool, I just tried it out today and it works fine. Only Android users need apply. Verified working with Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy Note and ASUS Slider tablet]


[Update 06 Mar 2012: Here's how to check if the free license works:
All licenses for the promotion have been activated, here's what you have to do:
- Open Cerberus on your device and log in to access the configuration
- Check if the "Buy license" option is present
If it's still there, send an email to support@cerberusapp.com from the email address you entered into the form; otherwise, enjoy your free license! ]

Kindle Review (Kindle Touch Accessories): Amazon Kindle Touch Lighted Cover & Kindle Power Adapter (UK plug)

Amazon Kindle Touch Lighted Cover

When you purchase your Kindle Touch (as with most devices like your IPads and mobile phones these days), you can choose from an array of options for cases or covers to protect your precious device. I decided not to get a screen protector since I would get a cover to protect the Kindle unit. 

My criteria was to get a cover that affords sufficient protection from knocks (and other mishaps) and must look decent enough to me.

Browsing through the cover options available for the Kindle Touch, I came across the following cover:

It fulfilled the criteria plus it has a built-in light for reading in dim light! BUT at a price...at US$59.99 (~S$78),  it is nearly 2/3 the cost of the Kindle Touch itself.

I spent time mulling over whether I should get it or a cheaper cover plus an additional clip-on reading light. I weight the pros and cons and decided to bite the bullet and get the Kindle Touch Lighted cover by Amazon.

What swayed the decision:

1. I definitely wanted to get an LED reading light to use with the Kindle Touch. The built-in LED light Amazon Lighted Touch Cover is a more elegant and compact option and it runs on the Kindle Touch's battery i.e. no need to buy more batteries in future for an external clip-on LED light. In addition to that, if I had gotten a separate clip-on reading light, there would be a greater chance that I would lose it too.

2. The build quality (at least from the website) looks much better than those offered by most 3rd parties

3. The cover looks more compact and elegant (see the simple lines) than other options I've seen and comes in Wine Red!.

In my earlier post, I did mention that I actually got it together with the Kindle Touch eReader itself so as to consolidate shipping using VPOST (3rd party shipper) to save costs. The Kindle Touch Lighted Cover came together with the 3-pin (UK) Kindle power plug in a separate package from the Kindle Touch itself. 

The cost of shipping these 2 items was S$7.20 (This cost was due to consolidated shipping with the Kindle Touch eReader. You have to add S$13.40 base charge if this is the only package) 

What was in the package:

As can be seen in the picture below, on the left is the cover itself (closed and viewed from the front) and on the right is a simple card which illustrates how to use the in-built reading light. The cover seems to be made of leather with rounded curves at the corners. 

The next picture shows you the view when the cover is flipped open:

The left side of the cover feels like padded foam with the Kindle word inscribed. The right side of the cover is made from some sort of rubberised plastic case (some sort of exo-skeleton? haha) which is moulded with the grooves and curves to grip your Kindle Touch tightly. I suspect the 2 round points near the bottom is how the cover draws the power from the Kindle Touch's in-built battery to power the LED reading light. 

The pic below shows the back view of the case (when closed). As you can see, the moulded cover has been covered with the same type of leather material as the front part of the cover. 

Adding a cover will definitely add more bulk and weight to the Kindle Touch but I find it quite acceptable as it is still lighter than some paperback books.

However the cover is not built like a tank so don't expect that you can drop it from tall heights without the Kindle Touch suffering damage. It will protect it from minor mishaps and bumps but then the same can be said for most IPad2 and mobile phone covers.

The inbuilt LED reading light:

As you can see in the picture below, all you have to do to turn on the light is to flip out the arm in a clock wise direction.

The next photo shows the LED reading light in action in a pitch black room.

The truest test I feel is to use it in total darkness to see if the light really works well. As you can see from the photo, readability all the way to the bottom of the page is very good. Though you might want to angle the cover to a more upright position to avoid shining the LED light straight into your eyes as it can be quite glaring.

Verdict: The design is well thought out, the cover is quite well built and the in-built LED reading light works well, even in pitch black darkness. I really like the fact that the in-built LED light runs on the Kindle Touch's battery instead of needing to replace batteries on a regular basis. 

However, if you do get one, do be careful with the leather parts of the cover. Avoid placing it near sharp objects when you place it in your bag. I have some scratches and indentations on the leather cover probably from contact with my house-keys or other objects in my bag.  Overall, I give it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars! I didn't give it a perfect score as I believe Amazon should price it lower than US$59.99 and the leather parts of the cover scratch a bit easily.

Price: US$59.99

Where to Get it: Amazon

Amazon Kindle UK (Type G) Power Adapter

The Kindle Touch does not include a power adapter (cos it charges by USB) so I decided to buy one. Of course, I could have just used any USB compatible power adapter that I currently have from my other devices. However, I decided to play it safe and order the official Amazon Kindle adapter as I wasn't sure of the current rating and didn't feel like taking a chance of accidentally damaging my Kindle. There are different variations to cater to the compatible electrical socket in your country.  I chose the UK (Type G) as shown below: 

 It arrived in the same package as the Lighted Kindle Cover.

Below shows an angled view where you can see the USB slot:

Nothing fancy, it looks quite like most other USB power adapters.
To charge your Kindle, just connect the micro USB end of the USB cable (included with your Kindle) to the Kindle and the normal USB end to this power adapter and plug this adapter to an electrical socket to charge.
One more picture below to show the close up of the power rating. It is rated at 100 to 240Volts AC meaning it can be used worldwide on your overseas travels. The output voltage is 5 Volts and the current is rated at 0.85Amps.

With regards to chargers, the Amazon Kindle User Guide does state the following:
"Your Kindle should only be charged using the USB cable included with the device, or another USB cable approved for use with your Kindle, with a compatible USB charger or USB port that meets the following requirements: USB-IF Battery Charging Spec, Rev 1.2."

From some forums, they say that it is generally safe to use compatible chargers with the same Output Voltage (5 Volts) and nearly the same output current (0.85 Amps to 1 Amp). However this is for information only and not a recommendation, you do this at your own risk!

Overall, not much to review except that the adapter works well and charges the Kindle faster (4 hours or less) than using the USB port on your computer.
Price: US$14.99 ( US$9.99 (Save US$5 if you get it together with the Kindle) 
Where to buy: Amazon

Kindle ebook: How to read ebooks that are not natively supported on your Kindle.

In my past posts, I did a review on Kindle Touch and also covered how to import it to Singapore.

Now that you've got a Kindle eBook Reader, it'll be useless unless it is loaded with content. If you are like me, you would probably have some ebooks on hand, some of which are not natively supported by the Kindle e.g. LIT (Microsoft Reader), ePUB.

Don't fret! Although the Amazon Kindle can only support some formats natively (Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively), there are softwares available that allow you to convert whatever ebook you have to be compatible with the Kindle. 2 good examples are listed below.

Calibre ebook software:
This is an excellent software available on multiple OS platforms that allows you to convert ebooks into nearly any format that is compatible with a whole range of ebook readers (Sony, Barnes and Noble's Nook etc.) For a full list of the formats supported, please refer to here.

1. Go to the download page
2. Click on your preferred version (Windows, Apple OS X, Linux or Portable) depending on the Operating System you are using. Portable version allows you to run it without installing it on any PC.
3. Run the installer and follow the instructions.
4. During the installation, if you are prompted for which eBook reader, Select Kindle 1 - 4.

How to use Calibre?
I'm not going to run into really detailed steps here as it is well documented on the site.
Some basic steps to use calibre:
1. Hook up your ebook reader to your PC/Mac (usually via USB cable).
2. Start up the Calibre program. The screen looks something like that below (the screenshot is from Calibre's Demo Page):

3. Click on Add books button on the top left menu bar to add the ebooks you want to add to the eReader and  the calibre library 

4. Select/Highlight the ebook entries listed in your Calibre Library and click Send to Device button.
5. If conversion is required, the program will ask if you want to convert it to the format supported, Click Yes if prompted.
6. To know if the action has completed, check if Jobs: 0 at the bottom right corner of the screen. If there are Jobs pending, Jobs will not be 0.
7. Eject / Disconnect your Kindle eReader, the eBooks you selected should be listed in your Kindle eReader Library.
# For Kindle readers, the program converts the ePub format into MOBI format.

For detailed screens and the video demo, you can refer to their Demo page on how to use the program.

They also have a useful help page that you can refer to.

The good news is Calibre is "donate ware". Meaning you can download and use it for free. It is entirely up to you if you want to donate money (via Paypal) to support the further development of the product.

K2pdfopt 

I have encountered instances where the original PDF ebook is A4 or letter sized and if you just copy these files to your Kindle 6 inch reader, the words are too small to read.
Enter K2pdfopt, which is a nifty software that helps to resize PDF (or DJVU) format ebook files to fit the 6 inch ebook format i.e. make the words bigger for better readability on your ebook reader.

To get the software,

1. First, start up your internet browser and go to this LINK:

2. Click on the Download link on the left side menu bar.

3. Enter the 3 digit capcha code on the left

4. Now click on the version for your computer /laptop OS e.g. Windows 64-bit
5. There is no installation required. When the file prompts you to save, Save to your Computer desktop.

Simple steps to run the software:
1.  Just drag your PDF or DJVU file and drop it on the K2pdfopt icon on the desktop and it will begin the process.
2.  A command window will pop up and prompt for options, just type ENTER or RETURN to run with default settings.
For specific instructions on how to get started, customising the output etc. please refer to this link. 

An FAQ page is also available for you to refer to. This software is freeware i.e. free to download and use.

Some things to note by using this software:
1.  The file size of the resized pdf file generated will be much larger than the original file. (MBytes vs Kbytes)
2. You will not be able to select a word (to highlight, to add a note or find a definition ) when you use it on your Kindle as the resized file is actually compiled into a graphic format (bitmap) PDF.  

#Practical Tip: If this isn't enough, Amazon has a page which lists some resources on how and where to get free ebooks for the Kindle

Hope the tips are useful so far! Have fun with your Kindle and Read on ! :)

Amazon Kindle Touch : How to import a Kindle eReader to Singapore

As of the time of writing, Kindle eBook Readers have not been made officially available for direct shipping to Singapore. So in order to own a Kindle, you have to use a workaround which often involves getting friends who are going to the US to get one on your behalf or alternatively getting it shipped here using a 3rd party shipper who provides a US delivery address to deliver it back to Singapore for a fee. The following sections detail the specific steps on how to do this.

Step 1: Create an account with a 3rd party ("middleman") shipper

For more details, see the following link:  a complete guide on how to do this (plus other tips on importing items from USA to Singapore)

Step 2: Create an account with Amazon

1. Go to Amazon. As below, click Start Here under the Sign In button to create an account.

2.In the next screen below, enter your email, select option: No, I am a new customer and click on the Sign in using our secure server button.

3. In the next screen, enter all details as requested and click on Create account button.

4. Once you've completed the registration, In My Account page, click Add New Address link below

5. In the next screen, fill up the details of the specific US Delivery Address as given by your 3rd party shipper (for VPOST, you MUST include your suite number VPXXXXX in the Address Line as stated in VPOST site. I suggest to open another browser tab with the address and copy and paste each field accordingly). Click Save & Add Payment Method.

 

6. To purchase anything from Amazon, you do need to add a payment mode. Here you can add a local i.e. Singapore Credit Card. Fill up all details accordingly. For a Singapore Credit Card, the Billing Address MUST be your Singapore Billing Address (i.e. the address to which all the credit card statements are sent to) else any attempted payment will be rejected! Click on Use this address button to save the info. 

Step 3: Kindle Pre-purchase setup (This is the all-important step!)

1. Before you get excited and run off to purchase your Kindle, Navigate to the same Your Account page and scroll down, you will notice a section called Digital Content. Click on the Manage Your Kindle link as shown below.

2. The next screen will show you all the Kindle related settings. Click on the bottom-most link Country Settings on the left side menu bar.

3. In the following screen, click on Change (below Actions) on the right side of the screen. When presented with the list of countries, select United States as the Country and save the setting.

Now you're all set! You can now select your Kindle of Choice! 

Step 4: Choose your Kindle

1. Select your poison from among the different Kindle models:
a. Kindle (WIFI) - US$79
b. Kindle Touch (WIFI) - US$99
c. Kindle Touch 3G (WIFI & 3G) - US$149
d. Kindle Keyboard 3G (WIFI & 3G) - US$139
e. Kindle Fire  (WIFI) - US$199 (Unlike the rest of the Kindles which are greyscale/ black and white e-ink readers, this is a 7 inch full colour multimedia tablet that runs on the Android OS platform)

2. Click Add to Cart button.  You can shop around for Kindle accessories if you want.

3. To proceed with the purchase, click Proceed to Checkout.

4. In the next screen, please verify that the credit card, delivery and billing address details are correct. If you are in no hurry and to keep shipping costs down, make sure you select the FREE Super Saver Shipping (5-8 business days) option - 5 to 8 business days is the average time it takes to deliver from Amazon to the 3rd Party Shipper's US address. Click Place Your Order to finalise the payment.

5. Now you wait till you receive notification that Amazon has shipped out the Kindle.

6.  Once shipped, you can check the status of the shipping on your Amazon account page.

 7. Next, you wait for notification from your 3rd party shipper that they have received your item. Login to that 3rd party shipper account and pay them the shipping charge so that they can deliver it to Singapore. This might take a few more days to arrive so be patient but trust me, it will be worth the wait!


Practical Tip #1: You may want to list the local shipping address in your 3rd party shipper account as your office address if no one is at home to receive the delivery during office hours. But do indicate if you can that it is an office address i.e. only open on Mondays to Fridays from 9am to 6pm else they may go on weekends. Alternatively, you can leave it as your residential address and arrange for re-delivery if they issue you a delivery notice when you are not home.


Practical Tip #2: Although you have configured your Kindle under the United States, it does not mean that you can purchase ebooks from Amazon straight from the Kindle reader. If Amazon detects that you are outside of the US, they may suspend your Kindle account. There are workarounds to purchase ebooks from Amazon's Kindle Store.  Depending on whether there are enough requests to provide the info. I may share this in future. 

Amazon Kindle Touch: 3rd party shipper shipping costs

In this specific example, I have included the actual shipping bill which I got from VPOST for the Kindle Touch. See pic below.

There are 2 line items listed above. 

The 1st line item is for the Kindle Touch reader itself which costs about S$17.90. 

The 2nd line item is for the accessories that I ordered with the Kindle i.e. Amazon Lighted Leather Cover (which nearly costs 2/3 of the price of the Kindle Touch itself, OUCH!) and a 3 pin (UK G plug) Kindle power adapter to allow me to charge the Kindle reader using direct connection to a power outlet.

Shipping cost may also vary according to the model of Kindle that you decide to get - Chargeable Weight may be different if the package is a different size / weight. 

  

* Please don't take these shipping costs as fixed. These may vary due to constantly changing fuel surcharges, exchange rates etc. but as of the time of writing, it is an extremely accurate estimate. 

With that, I've come to the end of another post. Please feel free to leave any feedback, compliments or suggestions to improve etc. 

As you may have noticed, I share all my experiences for free. If you do find the info useful, you are welcome to click on any advertisement that appears on this blog or click on any of the Amazon links on these pages to purchase stuff like the Kindle. I don't earn much (if anything) from these but I take it as a sign of support that people are really enjoying the articles that I've written. No obligations, you are welcome to read for free and lurk too :) To each his own, Cheers!

Kindle Review: Amazon Kindle Touch - Rekindling my love for reading

I still fondly remember when I first started reading my first full-length storybook. When I was about 5  years old, my mom, in an attempt to wean me away from the TV, forced me to read a storybook (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer). Despite my initial resistance, I found myself enjoying the story.

Fast forward to the present, my love affair with books since then has always been considered an on-off affair. I decided to "re-ignite the spark" by getting an Amazon Kindle Touch eReader.

In this age of Internet tablets with full colour LCD screens and multiple functionality (Surf the web, read books/comics, play games etc), what is the justification to get a grey-scale dedicated ebook reader?
Here are some points I found when I compared it to my Apple Ipad 2 for the sole purpose of reading:

An iPad, though an excellent media device, isn't very good for long term reading as  

1. it has a screen that is too reflective, which I find isn't very good on the eyes and your eyes will suffer fatigue after a while

2. its screen is hard to see in bright sunlight due to its own reflectiveness

3. the unit is too heavy and awkward to hold for a long time especially if you are reading in bed. 

A Kindle e-ink reader, on the other hand, is better suited for serious reading for the following reasons:  

1. it has a matte screen, e-ink technology is easy on the eyes even if you read for long spells

2. Since it is not backlit, it actually is easier to read when there is more light.

3. 6 inch model is much lighter than an iPad so it won't strain your hands to bring it nearer to your eye level. 

An additional plus point for the kindle is the exceptional battery life: 1 to 2 months on a single charge!

Without further ado, let's get on with the review! As per the norm, let's start with the package:

To give you a perspective of size, I held it in my hand. A neat small package with a bevelled top. Opening the package, you can see the Kindle sitting snugly in the case:

The contents (as pictured below) of the box:

Clockwise (From left) the Kindle Touch, the USB charging cable (one end is normal USB and the other is micro USB) and a simple quickstart guide.

The Kindle Touch does not have many buttons except for the Power button and the Home button (the button made up of 4 black lines at the bottom of the front of the Kindle touch).
Below you can see the bottom panel (from left to right): Micro-USB port for charging / synching, 3.5mm Audio jack and the Power button. To the left and right of this panel, you can see the rear speaker grills. 

Booting Up the Kindle for the first time
Press the Power button to turn the Kindle Touch on and you'll see the screen below:

You can see a status bar below the tree. Once it is loaded, the Kindle User's Guide will be the first thing you see, starting with Kindle Touch navigation basics. The page below shows where to tap on the screen to go to the next and previous page.

The next page shows you where to tap to show the Menu and tool bar.

 The third page shows you how to open and use your library (of ebooks loaded to the kindle).

Very easy to navigate and quite an intuitive interface in all.

After the navigation pointers, you will be delving deeper into the brief and self explanatory Kindle User's Guide with all the useful information on how to get started, Device Dos and Don'ts etc. I'd advise you to take the time to go through this simple guide to orientate yourself on how to use your Kindle Touch.

Now you know why there isn't a hardcopy user guide included with the package as it is an included ebook. A stroke of genius on Amazon's part! As you read the guide it also serves as good practice on how to navigate between pages of an ebook.  

Once you've finished running through the Kindle guide (or if you're the impatient type), press the Home button to bring you to your library. As shown below:

Other than the Guide, the Touch comes default with 2 dictionaries : Oxford Dictionary of English and the New Oxford American Dictionary.

Registering your Kindle

If you have a WiFi network setup at home, all you have to do is to hook up the Kindle Touch to your home WiFi network. (The wireless adapter on the Touch is switched on by default)

To start joining a network, from the top bar on the Kindle screen, Tap the Menu button.

The following menu screen will appear:

 Next, Tap the Settings option. You are now presented with the following options:

Tap the Wi-Fi Networks option. You will now see all the active Wi-Fi networks that the Touch can detect in the vicinity.

Identify and select your WiFi network and tap the Join button. You will then be prompted to enter the Password for your WiFi network like so:

Type in your network password and tap the Connect button. Once you have successfully joined the network, the WiFi icon (waves) appears at the top right of the Kindle screen (as below).

If your network is connected to the Internet, the Kindle Touch will automatically try to register itself. If the registration is successful, you will see something similar at the top left of the Kindle Touch screen: <Name>'s Kindle on the black bar on the top left of the screen.  If a Kindle is not registered, the words on the black bar will state My Kindle.

If you want to view Amazon's Kindle ebook Store, just tap the trolley icon to the left of the search bar.

And you're set! All you have to do is load eBook content to your Kindle. This can be done in 2 ways:

1. Manual Copy: Connect the Micro-USB end of provided USB cable to the Kindle Touch and the other end to a PC/Laptop/Mac. The Kindle will appear in Windows Explorer (or Finder if you are a Mac user) as a USB storage. Just copy ebooks to the Documents Folder. eBook Formats supported natively: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF,  unprotected MOBI, PRC
2. Purchase eBooks from Kindle eBook store and let it magically be transferred via Amazon Whispernet directly to the Kindle Touch (WiFi and Internet connection must be on).*

*Practical Tip: Before you get too excited and try to buy ebooks from Amazon straight from your Kindle, please take note of the following restrictions: 

•  If you reside in a country (e.g. Singapore) that Amazon does not have Kindle support, you will not be able to see the Kindle eBook store or purchase eBooks from it (at least not without a workaround)
• To be able to view the eBooks in the Amazon Kindle store on your laptop/PC/Mac browser or on your Kindle Touch, your Kindle country settings (which can be set prior to purchasing the Kindle)  must be set to a country that supports this feature e.g. United States. To be safe, your Amazon account delivery address should also be set to a valid address in that country. 

Amazon Kindle eBook Store on the Kindle Touch

If it is the first time you have accessed the Kindle Store on your Kindle Touch, you will see the following message:

Once updated, the Kindle ebook Store front looks something like this:

As you've noticed, it is a smaller greyscale version of the store as compared to when you view it on your home computer browser. To follow a link or view more details of a book, just press on the option(s) you want. 

Reading

Once you have loaded content into the Kindle, it appears in your library. In the example shown below, say you want to read 60 Minute Expert: Wine, just tap on the title to read the book.

The reading page will look like what is shown below:

Add Note, Highlight or Find definition of a word:

To activate these features, just tap and hold onto it till the definition pops up like so:

The definition is shown as above. To Highlight the word or Add a Note, just select the corresponding button. The Kindle Touch has the distinct advantage of speed over its non touchscreen Kindle counterparts in that one just needs to tap-and-hold directly on the word in question whereas for non touchscreen the reader is required to use the Keyboard or D-Pad navigation to move gradually to the word.
You've already seen how to navigate between pages. To exit the pages of the ebook to the Library screen, press the Home button. If you return to this ebook later, the Kindle will remember where you last stopped reading.
Other Functions of the Kindle Touch

There are a few other functions namely Web Browser, MP3 Player and Text-To-Speech that are listed under the Experimental option of the Menu. To access the first two functions, make sure you are in the main Library page. From the top menu bar, Tap the Menu button and the following menu appears:

Tap on Experimental. The next screen shows you the three named functions.

Web Browser:

Select Web Browser option and you will be shown a list of pre-loaded bookmarks (as below) 

Say I choose Yahoo Mail and press it. The following screen appears:

Of course, you can also enter your own URLs when you are in the browser page. As seen above, don't have high expectations for surfing on your Kindle Touch. Perhaps only if you really have to check mail or something that doesn't require colours / videos.  

MP3 Player:

I guess this function was included more as an afterthought because the implementation is half-hearted at best. But Yes, you can play songs and music as you read. You can copy songs on it via the included USB cable connected to your laptop/PC/Mac. No software is required to sync the songs over, just copy them to the Kindle's music directory which will appear when the Kindle is connected to a laptop/PC/Mac. The player interface when activated looks like so:

At the bottom of the screen, you can see extremely basic functions like Previous/Next song, Play/Pause,Volume Control and an Off button to turn off the player. There is a built in speaker at the bottom of the Kindle Touch so it works even if you do not connect a pair of earphones/headphones to it but the sound buzzes at higher volumes. As I said, Don't expect much. Anyway there is only 4GB of inbuilt non expandable storage on the Kindle Touch so reserve it for ebooks!
Text-To-Speech (TTS):
This function is activated from within the pages of an ebook. Once you are on a page, tap the top of the screen to see the top menu bar and press Menu. The screen below appears:

Tap Turn On Text-to-Speech option. Soon you will hear a voice dictating the words on the page you are currently on (example shown below):

You can select the gender ( Female/Male) of the speaking voice, Speech Rate, Volume and Off button to turn off the TTS. The page will automatically advance with the voice and the voices aren't as bad as the really robotic voices I used to hear in the past from some automated systems but it still sounds digital. It also fails to pronounce certain words correctly especially non-English words (for e.g. it said Sake instead of Sa-Ke when describing the Japanese Liquor).  Overall, I find the dictation "soulless" as there isn't much life to the vocalisation which I put down to the current limitations of the technology. It definitely won't replace Mom and Dad's bedtime story telling, at least not in its current incarnation.

I did not get a chance to test Kindle's X-ray feature as I do not currently have an Amazon ebook that has this feature enabled. I also was not able to test the Audio Book feature (Audible) as I do not have one on hand.

Verdict: If I were to judge it purely on its primary function to read eBooks, then it would be close to perfect. 
Lots to like here: 

• e-Ink screen is clear and readable (in visible light) 
• navigation is very straight forward 
• battery life looks to live up to what is promised (even with occasional use of WiFi so far I haven't had to charge it since I got it in the mail) 
• the lightweight and compact form factor of the Kindle Touch and its 4GB of internal storage means you can carry a lot of eBooks along with you wherever you go 
• Easy to load content into the Kindle via a drag and drop USB interface to your PC/laptop/Mac with no additional software required (unlike ITunes)
• Many ebook formats supported (other than the natively supported formats, other formats that can be converted to use on a Kindle Touch using software, I will touch on this in another post)

The experimental features like the Web Browser, MP3 Player and Text-To-Speech are passable, good to haves but nothing to shout about. My only gripe is that in order to read in dim light, I have to buy an additional reading light which may be in the form of a Lighted Cover (see my upcoming post for a review) or a clip-on LED reading light. I believe an LED reading light could have been built in to the Kindle itself but for whatever reasons (perhaps to keep the costs of producing the Kindle Unit down or to create more revenue from Kindle Accessories or a combination of both as I suspect) it is not. 
Nearly forgot to mention that I got the version that displays Special Offers and Sponsored Screensavers on the Kindle screen when the unit is left idle. This is US$40 cheaper than the one without ads. It isn't a bother to me as these do not interfere when you are reading. 
Overall based on my Kindle experience so far, I give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.  The age of the eBook reader is well and truly upon us!  

Price: US$99 (version with ads)
Where to get it: Amazon 
[Updated 19/02/2012: with actual links to related posts below]
Stay Tuned for related Kindle posts such as my experience in importing a Kindle to Singapore, A Kindle Touch accessories review and how to convert eBooks for use with your Kindle. 

iRobot Roomba 550 Robot Vacuum: A cleaner without social problems

I had ordered my new house helper the IRobot Roomba 550 in November 2011 but only received it just before Chinese New Year due to overwhelming demand.
My Wife and I considered the following factors before purchasing this unit:

1. We are both working so it is not easy to always maintain that level of House Maintenance especially when you are tired on the weekends.
2. Even if it could keep the floors 80% clean, it would be better than 0% clean.
3. It can be scheduled to clean so it can work while we are working too (:D).
4. Freeing up one cleaning task meant we could put our energy into other tasks  
5. Being a robot, it doesn't have the usual social problems with maids: no need to train on how to do work,  no need to worry if the maid steals or if she brings her boyfriend back to our place secretly for hanky panky etc.

The guy who delivered the unit spent some time to demonstrate how it works and showed us the parts that need to be maintained. I had initially ordered the Roomba 560 Model with an additional Aerovac bin (optional for the 560 model) but the guy offered us the Roomba 550 as it was essentially the same thing with a different colour and with more accessories (more brushes and filters).  
The box looks like so (a simple but attractive package):

What's in the box? The Roomba unit itself that looks like a very fat frisbee (seen here with the docking base and charger (world voltage 120 to 240V so no need for a voltage transformer)).
Practical Tip #1: Charge the Roomba for 16 hours before using it for the first time.

 ..And the Accessories:

Clockwise (From top left): 3 x Aerovac bin filters (blue), the brush cleaning tools(red), The manuals & starter guides, 2 x Virtual Walls (yes, i know they resemble liquor flasks) and finally 2 spare sets of Roomba brushes

The below pic shows the bottom view of the Roomba. Here you can see the navigation wheels,  triple blade attachment that helps to sweep dirt into its path to clean and the chamber that contains the cleaning brushes.

 Opening the chamber, you can remove the cleaning brushes for maintenance or to replace.

 Aerovac Bin
The Aerovac bin is an optional accessory with other models but comes standard with the Roomba 550. The image below shows you how to detach the bin from the Roomba Unit (Press the button and pull towards you)

The Aerovac bin (seen below) stores the dust, dirt and hair etc. that the Roomba unit cleans from the floor. Notice the Aerovac bin filter (in blue) fixed inside the bin. After 1 or 2 cleaning sessions,  take this bin out to empty the dust clumps into the rubbish bin else the next time the Roomba runs, it won't pick up as much dirt.

Virtual Walls (Setting the boundaries):
The Roomba 550 comes with 2 virtual wall units (no, no, they still remind me of liquor flasks). Virtual walls come in handy when you want to set up barriers just before rooms or areas that you do not want the Roomba to go into. For e.g. in front of stairs, in front of bathrooms etc. In my case, I use it to set boundaries to restrict where the Roomba can go (say only half of the house) so that the Roomba can concentrate on cleaning in that particular area.
Of course, you can alternatively put a big object to block the Roomba from going to a particular room (DUH!).

Top view of the Virtual wall:

As shown above, the direction of the arrow embedded on the top beside the green light is where the beam will emit from and you can activate the beam by toggling the switch on the right away from the Off position. 

If you open the casing (as below), you can see that each virtual wall unit is powered by 2 "C" cell batteries. I've been advised to use Alkaline batteries instead of rechargeable (e.g. NiMH - Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries as they can maintain the current needed to power the Virtual Wall unit better.

Alkaline batteries I've been told can last an average of 4 months (depending on your usage) before you need to replace them.

Real Life Performance:
Ad-hoc Cleaning: 
To start cleaning on an ad-hoc basis, just press the round "CLEAN" silver button on the top panel of the Roomba and the Roomba will move out of the base station and do its magic. It will automatically navigate around the obstacles it finds and slows down when it senses it is heading for impact with an object in front of it. When the Roomba's batteries are running low, it will find its way back to the Docking station to recharge.


Scheduled Cleaning: 
You can set the any day and Time of the week that you want the Roomba to run (of course this assumes you have already set the clock correctly on the Roomba).
How to setup a schedule?

As shown above, Hold down the "Schedule" button with one finger and use another to click on the "Day" button to set which day of the week you want it to run. To set the time, while still holding down the "Schedule" button, Use another finger to press on the "Hour" button to set the hour followed by the Minute button to set the exact minutes. When finished, release the "Schedule" button and that particular schedule is set.
In this way, you can program the Roomba to function any day of the week even if you are not at home, it will go by itself. Now that's what I call Automation!

The following video is a demonstration on how the Roomba cleans and navigates around obstacles:

Spot cleaning: 
If you want to clean a very small area of say within a 2 metre radius, you can make use of the Spot cleaning function. Just press the semi circular "Spot" button above the "CLEAN" button on top of the Roomba to activate this function.
The following video shows how spot cleaning works:

Verdict: So far the experience has been positive. The Roomba is simple to use and yields decent results.  The floors are mostly free from dust but not all the dirt on the floor is picked up all the time as it depends on the movement pattern that the Roomba decides to take. Due to its size, it cannot reach into tight corners and cramps areas like behind room doors. If you do not find it in its docking station when you get back from work, you may have to hunt around the house for it. It has gotten stuck once into a position that it could not get out from. When that happens, it sounds an alert and a female voice will announce"Error, please move the Roomba to a new location to start" (or something like that).  What influences the final decision for you will probably boil down to the convenience it affords versus how tedious you find the maintenance (of the bins, brushes and batteries) and if it is worth your while. So far, I like the convenience and like the feeling of walking on clean floors. My Personal Rating : 4 out of 5 stars

Practical Tip #2: Remember to make sure there are no small personal items on the floor before you start the cleaning or before the schedule starts so that they don't get sucked up into the Roomba. 

Practical Tip #3: If you do import a Roomba (US voltage) from the US to use in Singapore, you will need to buy a Voltage Step down transformer to step down the 240V power outlet to 120 V else you will fry the unit.

Price: Really depends on where you buy the unit from. If you don't have a distributor near you, you can get it from places like Amazon or other online retailers.

If you live in Singapore, you can get it locally from irobot.com.sg * (official irobot distributor for Singapore) or if you don't mind getting it cheaper from a parallel importer, you can get it from Autovacstore which is where I got my Roomba. For an additional S$11, they offer you their own 1 year warranty. My experience with Autovacstore was very positive. The staff who came to deliver the Roomba was polite. He demo-ed how to use the Roomba, explained about the maintenance and answered all my queries. They also offer other models of robot vacuums if the Roomba 550 is not what you are looking for, check it out here. 

*Do take note that the official local distributor has a strict policy about not entertaining any replacements or repairs if you did not buy the unit from them. You have been warned!   

That wraps up another post. I hope you've enjoyed what you've read so far. If you have any feedback, comments, questions or queries, you can use the comments section at the end of any post and I will try to respond to you as best as I can. Of course, any compliments are welcome ! 

or you could just click on any Ad or buy something using my amazon links to show your support :)