class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/muo-hptp-kindle.jpg?323f2c" alt="" />It’s the tablet that wouldn’t die, the device that kept coming back for more, and despite HP’s dithering over whether they would continue to support webOS or not, the HP TouchPad has exceeded expectations thanks to various fire sales at popular online and offline retailers and its friendly user interface. However thanks to the lack of support from HP early on (it was decided that the company would discard the webOS platform soon after the TouchPad launched) there is a big hole in the number of official apps available for the webOS tablets.

One of these missing apps is Kindle. While you will easily find Amazon’s eBook reading app on the HP TouchPad in the USA, outside of the country (in places such as Europe and Australia) Kindle isn’t listed in the HP App Catalog. As tablets are popularly used for reading, this is clearly disappointing. Thankfully, however, there is a way of installing the webOS Kindle app on HP TouchPads in territories where the app is unavailable.

So Why Is the HP TouchPad Kindle App US-only?

style="margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/amazon-kindle-logo.jpg?323f2c" alt="" width="205" height="205" align="left" />Well, to begin with it depends on your definition of “US-only”. For many TouchPad users in North America, the Kindle app is an easy to use and enjoyable eBook reading experience. But these are the lucky ones. Thanks to some initial confusion or a problem with the app (the reason has never been made clear) the Amazon Kindle app was shipped with some first wave TouchPads but then removed from later devices, replaced with a placeholder “coming soon” app.

Fortunately, if your US-based TouchPad doesn’t have a working Kindle app, you can now find it via the HP App Catalog.

Preparing Your HP TouchPad

Before proceeding to install the Kindle app on your HP TouchPad, you will need to download a few tools (this method can be used on Windows and Mac OS X). The first thing you should do is head to href="http://hotfile.com/dl/128523150/76e47a4/com.palm.app.kindle_0.11.499820_all.ipk.html">this link and download the Kindle .ipk file. An .ipk is the installer file format used on webOS.

After doing this, download the webOS Quick Install software from href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2774158/WebOSQuickInstall-4.3.1.jar">here. This is a tool that allows the testing of unapproved applications on webOS devices such as the HP TouchPad, and requires you to have Java installed on your computer (available from href="http://www.java.com/getjava">here).

Next, connect your HP TouchPad to your computer using the supplied USB cable. The Connected dialogue box will appear, but you can select Close to continue – the USB Drive mode cannot be used for this process. You will then need to find Developer Mode, revealed by typing the following string into the search box: webos20090606

Tap the Developer Mode icon to proceed and then slide the switch in the top-right corner to activate; you may be prompted for a password, but click Submit to bypass this.

The next stage is to run the downloaded webOSQuickInstall-4.3.1.jar (you might have a different version) file and follow any prompts to download additional software (such as the Novacom driver for creating a stable connection between your computer and the tablet).

Installing The Kindle App

With all of the above installed and running, adding the Kindle app – which is in beta so might be slightly unreliable at times – is a simple task.

The webOS Quick Install application on your desktop computer will display a largely empty screen with a handful of buttons, including + and – on the right-hand side. Click the + button to browse for the previously downloaded Kindle .ipk, which will have a filename in the form of com.palm.app.kindle_0.11.499820_all.ipk (although the version number at the end may differ). Select this file and then click the Install button and wait a few moments.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/muo-hptp-kindle2.png?323f2c" alt="Sideloading the Kindle app onto your HP TouchPad" width="580" height="371" />

When the process is complete the .ipk file will no longer be listed in the Files to Install section of the webOS Quick Install application, so you will be free to close the software (it can be relaunched by running webOSQuickInstall-4.3.1.jar).

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/muo-hptp-kindle4.png?323f2c" alt="Signing into the Kindle app on the HP TouchPad" width="580" height="435" />

Next, double-tap the menu button on your HP TouchPad and go to the Downloads tab where you will find the Amazon Kindle app listed. Tap to launch and enter your credentials (or register) to continue.

A few moments later, the main screen of the app will appear. If you have used Kindle in the past,  your books will be listed; otherwise you will be prompted to visit the Amazon Kindle store, where you will find free and paid-for titles to download direct to your TouchPad.

Reading Books On Your TouchPad

Amazon’s Kindle app provides similar functionality to tablets and mobile phones as can be found on the popular dedicated eBook reader. Utilizing an Amazon account and providing access to the Kindle store, the app allows the user to download free out-of-copyright titles (such as the works of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens) as well as find the latest titles to download and read on their device.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/muo-hptp-kindle5.png?323f2c" alt="HP TouchPad Kindle app book library" width="580" height="435" />

With versions available for Mac, iOS, Android, Windows and Windows Phone, Kindle apps extend the functionality of the dedicated device to users of other hardware, often those for whom an Amazon Kindle app would be desirable if it didn’t mean carrying multiple devices. The HP TouchPad version of Kindle is just as good as the others and will allow you to download and enjoy books on your tablet wherever you are.

If you are a HP Touchpad owner, and you tried to download the Kindle app using this method, let us know if you were successful.  Or maybe you know of another way to install the Kindle app on the Touchpad?

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You don’t need to be an expert in the technology industry to be able to see where the trend is heading: the cloud. More and more web-based applications are available, substituting their desktop-based counterpart.

While this is a good idea, the trend brings up some inconveniences. One of them is the unavoidable clutter of the browser tabs. It seems that the concept of opening only one tab at a time is alien to modern day people. If you are similar to most people, you’ll have many open many tabs simultaneously.

Terror of the tabs

All of these open tabs, which consist of the regulars (the ones that we always open) and the passersby (the occasional browse), will eventually choke your browser and drain your system resources.

But the worst part is the time when you have to re-open your browser – along with all the tabs. Even if you are lucky enough to have the last opened tabs remembered by the browser, the process will still take time and bandwidth.

What if you’ve quit your browser, but you need to check your inbox in GMail? Do you need to open all the tabs for the sake of only one?

It would be nice if the important links – the one that we often visit – could be opened independently in a site specific browser. Beside reducing the clutters, this method will also lighten up the burden for your system.

To be able to do that on Mac, you need the help from Fluid.

The turn and the tune

Fluid is an application that will help you build Site Specific Browsers (SSBs). Translation: you can create a dedicated browser for each of your favorite web address. Every browser instances is an independent application by itself.

Jackson discussed Fluid back in 2008, please refer to the article for more information and the background story. But there have been many improvements since then. So, let’s have another look, shall we?

To create a new SSB, tell Fluid the site address. Don’t forget to give name to it. By default, Fluid will put the end result in the Applications folder and use the web’s favicon as the app’s icon (even though the icon fetching action is not always successful). Click create to start the building process.

Several seconds later, your dinner is served.

Launching the new app will open the main page (or the address that you provide).

The interface is deliberately set to be clean and simple. But should you need the standard browser interface, you could do so via “View” menu.

You can adjust many behaviors of created SSB from the Preferences menu. There are many categories there, but we’ll just look into some of the most important.

First, the General Preferences. This is the place to assign shortcut keys and change the application icon.

You can also adjust the general look to your liking from the Appearance Preference.

The Userstyles Preferences pane is the “dreams come true” tab for most of creative people out there. You can assign CSS codes to alter the appearance of SSB’s sites and pages. After clicking the “Plus” (+) button, write down the specific address in the “URL Pattern” box and check the box. While selecting one of the URL Pattern, you add lines of the CSS codes inside the box below.

There is a short video explaining this feature in the developer’s blog.

And for those who aren’t into CSS, there are a lot of ready-made userstyles for Fluid. Each of them was usually written for a specific site/web service. All you need to do is search for them. Userstyles.org is a good place to start.

To get ideas on how far you can go with the customization, you could visit this site.

As the name suggests, SSB will only allow you to go around a specific site. But the strict rule could easily be bent by going to the Advanced Preferences. You could add more URL patterns – the open areas that could be visited – or you could just bypass the rule by choosing “Allow browsing to any URL” radio button.

(Almost) unlimited possibilities

Fluid and its ability to be customized really open up the door for possibilites. You could go from just creating simple SSBs of your favorite sites to building your own desktop clients made up of web services. Few of the popular web services among Fluid users are: Digg, Twitter, GMail, Remember the Milk, Google Docs and Facebook. While my personal favorite usage is to build specific blogging clients of the sites where I contribute.

The availability of bookmarks bar also allows you to add bookmarklets to enhance the ablility of the SSBs.

As a standalone applications, you could also add your SSBs to the startup list (System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items) so they will always be available every time you restart your system.

Have you ever tried Fluid? Do you have other ideas of using Fluid? Do you know cool customizations for Fluid’s SSBs? Share using the comment below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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