Well, ever since I did that post about the top 5 Free Root applications for an Android, people just haven’t stopped asking whats a rooted Android? Well my iPhone-only-lovers, Android is as good as the iPhone and to show that I am going to get started with the ‘roots’.

If you want to know what really is a Rooted Android, then I can’t put it better than Wikipedia:

Rooting is a process that allows users of cellphones running the Android operating system to attain privileged control (known as “root access“) within Android’s Linux subsystem, similar to jailbreaking on Apple devices running the iOS operating system, overcoming limitations that the carriers and manufacturers put on such phones. Through rooting it is possible to run apps and caches from an SD card, apply themes, use cellphone as a tether, run applications that require root, enable auto rotation and much more.

There that is simple and especially if you are a iPhone-know-it-all. Let me elaborate on those advantages:

1. I am your Master!

Okay, that is a catchy subtopic. Anyway, a rooted Android phone is like your slave in the sense that you have full control over it. You have access to alter any system files, use themes, change boot images, delete annoying stock apps such as Sprint’s NFL Mobile live and Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile and other various native applications that might drive you crazy.

2. System backup

Unlike other devices, you can backup your rooted Android over an SD card. Simple and yet powerful. This is great for trying out new stuff such as installing new ROMs. Do check out ROM Manger which does the above.

3. Save that Space

Check this out. You can move the cache data to your memory card which unbelievably frees so much space. XDA Devs have posted an excellant article on how to move cache data.

Also moving other apps can take up space on your device. Rooting will help you avoid that. Use Cyanogen ROM for moving apps to your memory card.

4. We Run This

Rooted Android owners own the Android community. Yes sir, you can install apps that do wonderful things and make you go “This is bloody brilliant!”. Here are some apps that you simply must own if you are an Android user:

Android-WiFi-Tether or Barnacle Wifi-Tethering – Probably the most useful applications you could utilize on a rooted device. They turn your rooted phone into a wireless access point so that you can effectively share your phone’s Internet connection with laptops and other devices near you, using WiFi or Bluetooth.
These apps are better than similar apps, such as PDANet or EasyTether, because

• you don’t have to run special clients on your computer and servers on your phone
• you can share a single connection between multiple devices

Super User – allows you to approve or deny root access to any application

Auto Memory Manager – kills tasks you wouldn’t be able to otherwise

Move Cache for Root – move cache for browser, market, maps, street view, and gmail onto SD card

Startup Manager – Clean up android system from system startup to boost system power and memory from the get go

SetCPU for Root Users – Overclocking your rooted device lets you speed up your phone’s processor when you are using it and lets you slow it down when it goes into “sleep” mode. It can either be a battery hog or battery saver.

5. Pimp My Android

After the G1 released, its been raining custom ROMs. You have ROMs that can overclock the CPU, give your Android the new feel etc. Psst, search for “<yourdevicename> custom ROM” in Google. You will know what I mean.

Ever wondered how it would like be to experience Android on your PC? Look no further, lets run Android on the PC and see its real speed on actual raw hardwares.

First, check if your notebook or laptop is supported by checking here.

1. First of all download Android x86 and download the one in the Stable Release section. Click View under android-x86-1.6-r2.iso and your ISO file should start downloading.

2. Make sure you have a flash drive or a memory card of minimum size 256 MB and clear it to run boot Android from it.

3. Next, download UNetbootin.

4. Run UNetbootin. Click the bullet beside Diskimage and then click the “… “ button and select the Android ISO file you just downloaded.

5. Select your flash drive or memory card in the menu on the bottom, and click OK.

6. UNetbootin will now copy all the files to your flash drive.

7. After the copy, it will ask for a reboot. If you want to run Android right away, click Reboot.

If you want to try Android on a computer that has a CD or a DVD drive, you could just burn the ISO to a disk and boot from it.

Run Android On your Computer

1. Reboot your computer with the USB drive, and select to boot from it. If your computer doesn’t automatically detect the USB drive, keep tapping F2 or F10 and change the boot options on the bios.

2. When you boot from the USB drive, select ‘Live CD – Run Android-x86 without installation.’

3. Android will load for a few moments. Then you’ll see the Android boot screen which means the computer has booted into Android.

4. Now you’ll see the Android desktop on your netbook or computer!

This is a great way to feel the Android even if you don’t own an Android device.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Beta just got released a few days back. Fact of the matter is, it is still in the beta stages and you might have problems with it. As of now I would say no for an uninstall, but if you really have to do it, then here’s how.

Before you start on the uninstall path, its better you have a system restore point. You can uninstall Windows 7 SP1 via the control panel, system restore point or the command prompt.

Uninstalling Windows 7 Via The Control Panel:

1. Goto Start > Control Panel > Programs > Program & Features > View Installed Updates.

2. Lookout for Windows Service Pack KB 976932.

3. Uninstall the above update. Restart your system.

Uninstalling Windows 7 SP1 Via System Restore:

1. Navigate to Start > Control Panel > System & Security > Backup & Restore.

2. Click Restore my Files and lookout for the date on which your installed Windows 7 Service Pack 1. It will be labelled as Windows Update or something on the same lines.

3. Click Finish to restore the settings.

Uninstalling Windows 7 SP1 Via the Command Prompt:

1. Goto Start > Run.

2. Type cmd.

3. Type: wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:976932

4. Windows 7 SP1 should begin uninstalling by now.

Rooting an Android phone is so much better. You can download the most used and top rated Android ROMs created by the community. Some applications which require root permissions can be easily installed and are almost always the good ones. So heres 5 must have rooted Android Applications every Android user must have.

5 Must Have Rooted Android Apps

1. ShootMe

ShootMe is one great screenshot application. You get to take a screenshot of the Android with a simple shake. Yes it requires a root permission but beats most of the other phones when it comes to taking a screenshot.

2. Quick Boot

An application couldn’t be any simpler. Quick Boot offers you only three options or rather it does 3 things only. They are reboot, recovery boot and bootloader boot with a single tap. Sure other apps do the same but Quick Boot’s shortcut are easily visible and more suitable for this operation. If three shortcut icons isn’t easier to access, then I don’t know what is.

3. Wireless Tether

Wireless Tether is the best way to use your Android device as a WiFi or a Bluetooth hotspot and even the previous Android versions are supported by this app.

You can download Wireless Tether from the Google code page which has many more features but are still in the beta stage.

Wireless Tether lets you change your wireless LAN network block, lets clients access your MAC network and lets you alter your broadcasting channel.

4. Shark for Root

Shark For Root monitors all your network activity on your device and outputs a .pcap file. Unfortunately, it isn’t a live feed and there is no other app that offers that. So for the present, Shark for Root is the best when we want to know where our traffic is going.

5. Titanium Backup

As far as I know, I don’t know any device which doesn’t crash unless its your brain. But then again I am just a human.

For those of you who fear that your Android might as well die tomorrow. Installing Titanium Backup before that and backing up data is a great idea. Titanium Backup lets you store apps, app data and other system data on your SD cards. You can configure the app to do periodical backups.

Now its completely free but for $3.99 you can setup multiple scheduling backups. Its useful if you got some heavy stuff in there.

Titanium Backup also lets you remove apps including the system installed ones. The ugly part is the fact that if you delete a system file that is critical for system functioning, your OS may crash.

Thats it! Enjoy these must have apps on your Android phone!

The latest in the Ashampoo, the Ashampoo Anti-Malware 1.2 days is one of the best in business and comes with two scanners i.e. Anti Virus and Anti Spyware. Let me show you how to get this software for with a license key valid for 3 months, all this completely free!

The current Ashampoo Anti-Malware 1.2 consists of two scanning engines, Emsisoft Anti-Malware and the Ikarus Anti-Virus engine.

This combination of engines considerably reduces scan time and greater efficiency when it comes to identifying malware patters and other similar activities.

Download Ashampoo Anti-Malware 1.2 For Free

1. Visit Ashampoo Promo Page as shown below and enter your Email address and other details. And click Send.

2. Download the Ashampoo Anti-Malware 1.2 From Download.com.

3. Thats it! Just install the file and enter the activation key when it asks! Enjoy!

The unlock for iOS 4 was released immediately within hours of its release. But Apple has already released the update iOS 4.0.1. Fortunately, the baseband remains the same, so you can update to iOS 4.0.1 without fear.

The baseband when updated to iOS 4.0.1 remains unchanged. It is the same 05.13.04 as in iOS 4. You can update without fear of your iPhone getting locked.

You can unlock the same using Ultrasn0w 0.93.

How To Unlock iOS 4.0.1 On iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS:

1. First of all jailbreak iOS 4.0.1 using Redsnow 0.9.5 Beta. Download Redsnow 0.9.5 For Windows And For Mac.

2. Launch Cydia and head to the Manage Section.

3. Goto Sources and click Edit to add the following repo:

Repo666.ultrasn0w.com (The ‘o’ in ultransnow is a zero here).

4. Search for Ultrasnow 0.93 and click install.

5. Ultransn0w 0.93 will complete the unlocking process. The iPhone should reboot after unlocking. Well, thats it! Enjoy!

Okay, not always is the security top notch. Not always are we on the lookout for hackers. Not always is Gmail fail safe. And for all that not always, you can always tell if someone has unauthorized access to your Gmail account.

Here is how you check whether there has been unauthorized access:

1. If you are sceptical about unauthorized access to your Gmail account, goto the bottom of your gmail page and click ‘Details’ just below the ‘You are currently using 1234 MB of 5678 MB” and beside the ‘Last account activity details.’

2. It will display the recent activity including Date and time of the activity. It also displays the access type device like browser, mobile etc.

3. If you think one of those IP addresses, access types or Date/time looks out of place, you can always verify the IP address using Domain Tools.

Just enter the IP address and follow up.

However Google also keeps an lookout for the outlaws. It notifies you when there has been suspicious activity going on about your account. At situations like these, its best to change your password.

4. Also, its better you avoid errors on your part. Remember to Sign out when using Public computers. Also, if you have lost your portable device, then you can click the ‘Sign out all other sessions’ using an alternate browser.

Well thats the most you can do. Unless you are Chuck Norris. Remember to change your passwords and secret questions when the security of your mail is at stake.

Hobbyist Software has released iBrowse 2.0 for the iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch. iBrowse 2.0 is one of hell of a software that allows free flow of multiple tabs and allows full screen browsing.

iBrowse 2.0 is also integrated with a powerful search engine that delivers results more effectively based on relevance and common sites. You can also open the search results in the background tabs so you can browse the other links more effectively. The tabs are stored in the background until the user switches to the flow mode where you can seamlessly flip through pages.

iBrowse 2.0 also supports private browsing. You can open private tabs that will not be logged into the browser history. Talking about browser history, it also supports flow tabs and is great!

The Power Search is new in iBrowse. It takes users to a commonly visited site for that search term. Check out the list of shortcut power letters for power search at http://hobbyistsoftware.com/ibrowse-power.

In a nutshell, iBrowse 2.0 features include:

* Open pages in the background for easy retrieval
* Visual flow for tabs, bookmarks and history
* Full screen browsing
* Private browsing
* Turbo browsing option, which strips images and formatting but loads pages up to 10 times faster
* Turn image loading on or off
* Unlimited tabs
* Smooth, easy interface
* Quick and easy power searches

iBrows 2.0 is available for the first for iPad users. For $2.99, I think iBrowse 2.0 is one slick application with new attractive interface that is also easy on the eye.

iBrowse 2.0 at iTunes Store

Recovery Desk is one hell of a software when it comes to data recovery. The fact that it doesn’t require much resources and still recovers your lost data is another plus point.

Recovery Desk allows the user to scan the system for deleted files and folders and lets them choose particulars ones in proper tree format.

Besides supporting file format systems like FAT32, FAT16, NTFS etc. it also recovers data from external devices like SD cards, Multimedia Cards etc.

The user interface is pretty simple and as simple as A,B,C and D. First, click Scan to scan the whole system for the deleted files to be recovered. You can scan the system in two ways: Full System Scan or Quick Scan. Once you have seen the select files, click Recover.

In general, recovering the files in the same drive is not recommend at all. So better save it in some other drive or some external device.

If you are a newbie when it comes to recovery data, you can this software a shot.

Right now, Recovery Desk supports Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Download Recovery Desk

Youtube is such an interesting place to watch interesting videos that keep popping up every second. But what if you cant zero up on a particular category of videos to be updated? No worries, you can subscribe to videos based on keywords too!

First decide the keywords that you want to subscribe the YouTube videos based upon.

The YouTube Data API supports two different methods for retrieving videos that are in a particular category or that are labeled with a specific keyword or developer tag.

By using the following URLs, you can be up to date on videos of the particular subtopic.

How To Subscribe:

1. Subscribing by Tags:

http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/-/tag

where tag can be replaced by any tags like comedy, action etc.

2.  Subscribing By Category:

http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos?category=category

3. Subscribing by Keywords:

http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/-/keyword?v=2

If you want to subscribe based on multiple keywords, then:

http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/-/keyword1/keyword2?v=2

Well thats about it. All thanks to Google. Check out the Developer’s guide on Youtube APIs and Tools. There is a lot more than meets the eye.