Yesterday's update not only allows a large team to control the page, it allows transfer of ownership. So if one person created your page but someone else needs to be in charge of it, the creator can transfer that power. The Google+ interface is a little busy, so here's a step-by-step guide for how to change managers of a Google+ page.

Here's how to add managers or transfer ownership:

1. On your Google+ page, click the gear icon in the top right corner of the screen and select "Google+ Settings"

Note: Google's new top nav bar is taking a rather long time to roll out. For now, some users will see a "Settings" link on a gray bar instead of the gear on a black bar. Don't worry, they're in the same place and they do the same thing.

2. Select "Managers" from the menu on the left side

3. Add managers using their email address

Google points out that email addresses add another layer of security when adding managers, but it also gives people the option of accepting the invitation with a different email address/Google account than the one you selected.

4. To transfer ownership, click the link in the top right corner

That's all there is to it. Now you can add anyone on your team who needs the ability to manage your Google+ page.

Add Google+ Your Business to your circles to receive regular tips from Google.

Oh, and don't forget to encircle ReadWriteWeb on Google+.

Well, great! The possibilities are endless! I want to automate everything! Where to begin? How about with some tasks that are important, not merely nifty? For instance, does posting your whole life into the cloudy ether ever make you worry about losing your data? Read on to learn how ifttt can back that stuff up for you automatically from behind the scenes.

A Little Background

A "task" on ifttt follows the "If this then that" format. For creating tasks, ifttt has "channels" for many of the Web services we use. The "this" part of the task is called a "trigger," and each of the channels has a set of triggers for the common things you do with that service, like "If I post a photo to Instagram." The "that" part of a task is called an "action," which each channel also lists for its service, like "then save it to my Dropbox." When you create a task, you link a trigger in one channel to a task in another channel, and away you go: "If I post a photo to Instagram, then save it to my Dropbox." Tasks check your services for new data every 15 minutes, but you can refresh them manually.

It's a little trickier than writing a sentence, though. Each trigger and task must be defined by various "addins" that point to variables like your user name on the service, the title of a post, the caption of a photo, the URL, etc. We can show you how to set up the basic task, but you'll have to figure out how to grab just the right data for you.

Fortunately, tasks can be saved as "recipes," so they can be shared. Below is a guide to the kinds of tasks you can create for backing up your online life with some links to existing recipes for inspiration. Clicking any of the links will take you to the full ifttt page that explains that piece of the puzzle in detail.

How To Back Up Your Photos

Ifttt currently offers channels for three major photo services: Facebook, Flickr and Instagram. Each of these services works a little differently, but they can all be backed up to Dropbox using ifttt.

Here are the triggers for each service that can be used to save photos:

Facebook:

• You upload a new photo
• You are tagged in a photo

Flickr:

• Any new public photo
• New public photo tagged
• New public photos (for batch uploads)
• New public favorite

Instagram:

• Any new photo by you
• New photo by you tagged
• New liked photo

To back up your photos on ifttt, find the triggers above that suit you, then set up tasks for those triggers to engage the "Add file from URL" action in Dropbox. Just make sure your trigger uses the addon to get the photo's URL, and you should be all set. Here are some example recipes:

Download Facebook Tagged Photo
by pavelbinar

Download any photos of me to dropbox
by liamegan

Save all Instagram photos to Dropbox
by tealtan

Faves to dropbox (for Flickr)
by hartsell

How To Back Up Your Tweets and Blog Posts

Ifttt has channels for Posterous, Tumblr, Twitter and WordPress, so it can be used to back up your posts from any of those services. You can save your posts as files in Dropbox, or you can save them as notes in Evernote. Here are the triggers you can use from these channels:

Posterous:

• New post
• New post tagged

Tumblr:

• Any new post
• New text post
• New photo post*
• New like

* Note: Tumblr has triggers for every single kind of media post. It would be crazy to link them all here. Instead, just go to the Tumblr channel page to find them.

Twitter:

• New tweet by you
• New tweet by you with hashtag

WordPress:

• Any new post

You can save posts from any of these triggers as files in Dropbox by adding on their URL, or you can grab the the actual post as a note in Evernote. Here are some recipes for inspiration:

Archive your tweets on Evernote
by redwanhuq

Blog archive (for Tumblr)
by caffeinefusion

Next page: How To Automatically Save Articles to Read Later

How To Automatically Save Articles to Read Later

Throughout the day, you might find articles that look interesting on Twitter or Google Reader but you don't have time to read them. You can use ifttt to save those articles for later automatically just by liking or starring the Google Reader item or a tweet containing a link. You can even set up RSS triggers to feed any blog in the world straight into your read-later services. Here are the triggers:

Twitter:

• New favorite tweet
• New link from any friend
• New link from you

Google Reader:

• New liked item
• New starred item

RSS feed:

• New feed item
• New feed item matches (for keyword or phrase triggers)

Ifttt has actions for both Instapaper and Read It Later, which means you can set up triggers to save articles to them automatically when you favorite them from Twitter, Google Reader or straight from RSS. If you don't use either read-later service, you can save articles as text in Evernote. Here are some example recipes:

Google Reader Star to Instapaper
by btpayson

Send Google Reader Starred items to Read It Later
by m3r

Reader Star To Evernote
by nuochan

Link In "Favorite" Tweet Sent Directly To Instapaper
by jimmaiella

How To Back Up Your Check-Ins and Statuses

If you want to keep a diary of your check-ins and statuses for posterity, you can use triggers from Foursquare, Facebook or Twitter to save updates as Google Calendar events. Here are the triggers you'll need:

Foursquare:

• Any new check-in

Facebook:

• New status message by you

Twitter:

• New tweet by you
• New tweet by you with hashtag

Using these triggers, you can make these updates save automatically as events in Google Calendar. If you have your Google Calendar sync down to your computer, it's a way of locally backing up your status updates and saving them like journal entries. Here are some recipes to get you started:

Dear Diary, a running log of where I am
by alexander

Save a timeline of facebook statuses to G Cal
by liamegan

Go Make Your Own!

Backing up your social life is just the beginning of what you can do with ifttt. For more inspiration, browse the recipe list. Here's the full channel menu, so you can see what services are connected. Don't see your favorite? Contact the ifttt team and tell them what you'd like to see.

Already chomping at the bit? Click right here to start making a task.

Have you created any cool ifttt recipes? Share them with us in the comments.

Internet of Things (IoT) is a term for when everyday ordinary objects are connected to the Internet via microchips. It's a simple concept with big implications for how we interact with the world, deal with the resulting mass of data, live our lives and...get the mail?

IoT can be something as complex as smart power grids or something as simple as - as evidenced by the object-hacking folks over at Make Magazine - getting push notifications every time a letter arrives. That's right, it's "You've Got Mail" for the real world, via push notifications for your iPhone.

If you're the code hacker type like I am, you can take Richardson's entire project, which is available on Google Code or in a Zip file, and go from there. The Arduino is connected to a PHP-enabled Web server, which handles the software side of sending out the push notification using an iPhone app called Prowl. Richardson explores just a couple of the possibilities:

There are a lot of great uses for this project. You could have push alerts delivered to your iPhone when you leave your garage door open, when someone opens your front gate, when the temperature drops below freezing, or when your home power usage exceeds a certain level. Whatever kind of switch or sensor you can hook up to your microprocessor can trigger a push alert. I'm eager to see how you decide to implement iPhone push alerts into your projects.

Not ones to hide behind the mystery of how to make something, the folks at Make Magazine also provided a nifty how-to video that we'll include here. Why leave the Internet of Things up to automakers and corporations, right?

Every so often, we like to feature a "weekend project" here on ReadWriteWeb. These generally consist of the kind of things you'll want to try out and play with when you have some free time, like over a weekend. Past projects have included things like hacking Nike+ for automatic Foursquare check-ins, a resource list on how to get started hacking Microsoft Kinect, experimenting with a customized, third-party version of Chrome OS called "Vanilla," and more.

This weekend, we've decided to round up a few resources detailing how to peek inside your mobile applications.

Thanks to a guide we found on Appstorm, we discovered that you can "break into" your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch applications, so you can see what's inside of them. Why on earth would you want to do this? Well, Appstorm says it could be useful if you wanted to get to the content they contain - like video tutorials that are taking up more space on your phone than you would like, and that you want to watch on a larger screen. Or maybe there's a soundtrack to a game that you want to grab and mix, mashup or turn into a ringtone.

Of course, you should proceed carefully here - that content doesn't belong to you, and the rights associated with it should be observed.

However, we have a perfectly good reason you should try this out: because you can.  And c'mon, fellow geeks - isn't that good enough for you? Consider this a guide meant for "educational purposes only." Something you learn about, not something you do because you want to steal code, music, videos, images or anything else an app contains.

A short how-to on the break-in process is below, but we recommend checking out the more detailed guide on Appstorm if you run into trouble. We added some tips for Windows users, too, since Appstorm only focused on Mac systems.

1. Find your apps in iTunes, right-click on the app, select "Show in Finder" or in Windows "Show in Windows Explorer." (Alternately, you can just navigate to the iTunes folder "Mobile Applications" to see your apps).
2. Copy the app from its original location to somewhere else, like your desktop.
3. Change the file extension from .ipa to .zip
4. Unzip the file.
5. On Mac, go into the Payload folder, right-click on the .app file and choose "Show Package Contents." This will open a second Finder window showing everything contained in the app. On Windows, you can just double-click on the .app file to do the same (tested on Windows 7).

That's it! You're inside your app!

Breaking into Android Apps

Have an Android phone instead? There's a similar - OK, slightly more tricky - procedure for breaking into Android apps. This procedure involves accessing the contents in the .dex file - the single file that contains all of an app's resources, assets, code and its manifest file.

Again, may we remind you: educational purposes only!

1. Locate the Android app on your computer and change the file extension from .apk to .zip.
2. Unzip the zip file. (Alternately, you can use a program like 7Zip to open an .apk file).
3. Inside the file contents, find the file classes.dex, this contains all the Java files, but it's encrypted.
4. To decrypt the file, download Dex2Jar from here and a Java compiler like JD from here. (Yep, we told you this was a bit harder).
5. Copy classes.dex to the folder where you unzipped Dex2Jar and run from the command line: "dex2jar.bat classes.dex" - this will convert the classes.dex file to a JAR file.
6. This creates a file with an odd name like classes.dex.dex2jar.jar.
7. Launch JD decompiler.
8. Open the classes.dex.dex2jar.jar file and view the .class files.

At least, those are the steps according to WebageSolutions. AndroidGuys says you can stop at #6 then just use WinRAR to open the file.

There's also another method using a tool called apktool, hosted here on Google Code. This software is designed for reengineering Android apps. It can decode resources to nearly original form and rebuild them after making some modifications. As noted on the Google Code site, this tool is not meant for piracy or illegal uses, but can be helpful in "localizing, adding some features or support for custom platforms and other GOOD purposes."

Or, you know, because you can?

To go this route instead, follow the detailed instructions on the project home page.

Whichever way you find easier, the end result is the same: you can break into your Android apps, too.

Some people don't like when tutorials like this are posted online, because they could encourage piracy. But frankly, people who are going to pirate apps don't need our help - they'll find a way on their own. However, for budding developers - maybe those who want to try out Google's DIY App Inventor, for example - being able to peer inside an app's folders is a good first step in beginning to understand mobile software's structure.

By the end of last year, two of these content farms - Demand Media and Answers.com - were firmly established inside the top 20 Web properties in the U.S. as measured by comScore. This year, Demand Media filed for IPO and two big Internet portals - AOL and Yahoo! - joined the trend. Let's take a look back on the year of the Content Farm and their collective impact in the Web.

Demand Media's IPO

Demand Media is the epitome of a content farm and by far the largest example of one, pumping out 7,000 pieces of content per day. In August Demand Media filed for IPO (Initial Public Offering), at a reported $1.5 billion valuation.

The company operates based on a simple formula: create a ton of niche, mostly uninspired content targeted to search engines, then make it viral through social software and make lots of money through ads. There has been plenty of talk about Google countering the mass production of Demand Media (and similar content farm companies), by adjusting its algorithm to better account for quality. During 2010, Google has been quiet on this issue - although I discovered from a Google source earlier in the year that Google is aware of it and is tweaking its PageRank algorithm. Google's power to devalue content farm articles may prove to be Demand Media's biggest obstacle to IPO glory in 2011.

Portals Move In: Yahoo! and AOL

One of the biggest acquisitions of the year came in the content farm space, when Yahoo! acquired Associated Content for an estimated $90-100M in May. Associated Content produces around 10,000 new pieces of content per week. The acquisition immediately increased the number of pages Yahoo! has on the Web by over 10%, adding some 20 million web pages to Yahoo's content store. It also gave Yahoo! access to 380,000 contributors.

Rather than buy, AOL decided to build its own content farm. Early in the year, AOL launched an initiative called SEED. It's a user-generated content production platform that "seeds" content among AOL's 80+ properties.

Video Content Farms

It's not just textual content being produced by content farms. Video may be the next frontier. A startup called Howcast specializes in mass production of video content, streaming 25 million videos each month on both its own web site and across a network that includes web portals like AOL and Yahoo, and online TV or video sites like YouTube, Hulu and Dailymotion.

As the name suggests, Howcast is all about how-to videos. It's betting that how-to videos will have more relevance to searchers in the near future, than textual how-to articles. Given that YouTube is already the 2nd largest search engine in the world, behind only Google, that seems a solid business assumption and makes Howcast one to watch in 2011.

The content farm companies that we've listed here have been the most prominent in 2010. But other established companies in this space have continued to chug along: About.com (owned by The New York Times), Mahalo (founded by Jason Calacanis, who sold his previous business Weblogs, Inc. to AOL in 2005) and Answers.com are three examples.

Lesser known names have ramped up this year too, such as Suite101 - which we profiled in July - and the wiki-based serviceWikiHow.

Let us know in the comments your thoughts on the growth of Content Farms in 2010. Are you worried that this will dilute the quality of information on the Web?

To you, sir, we say this: oh really? Perhaps this new, expanded list will change your mind. For regular jailbreakers, we think you'll find something new to love on the list below, too.

What you have to understand about jailbreaking is that there's not necessarily one "killer app" that's going to sell every person who owns an iPhone on the benefits of jailbreaking.

Jailbreaking is about control. It's about getting the phone to do that one (or more) special thing you wish it would do, but that Apple won't allow, doesn't provide controls for, or has rejected from its official App Store. For some, that may be a high-profile app like the Wi-Fi hotspot or FaceTime over 3G, but for others it will be something as simple as not being limited to just 12 apps in a single iOS 4 folder. (For app addicts like myself, this is a MUST!)

The list below is organized by category of hack. Some of these are free tools, others are paid - yes, even jailbreak iPhone developers are making a little money these days.

A few caveats: We have not thoroughly tested each and every tweak on this list, just our personal favorites - some may not work on your iPhone or iPod Touch OS version or hardware, others may have been updated since this post, there may be bugs and issues we're not aware of, etc. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. Don't install all your favorite apps at once - install them one at a time and use the app for a little while to see if anything goes wrong. If not, then try a second, then a third, etc. It's the best way to know which app or tweak has caused a problem, if one occurs.

Some of the apps in the list are old, some are new. Please share in the comments about your favorites!

Homescreen/Lockscreen Customization

Infifolders: As noted above, Infifolders lets you put as many icons into an iOS 4 app folder as you want, while Apple limits you to 12.

FolderEnhancer: For even better iOS 4 folders, this is the tweak you want. FolderEnhancer, like Infifolders, lets you nest unlimited apps in a folder, but it also lets you swipe between pages within a folder, nest folders in folders and lets you move around more than one icon at a time. ($1.99)

FolderCloser: Automatically closes the folder after you close an app in the folder.

LockInfo: Now updated with Retina Display, this is one of my personal favorites. This tweak let syou customize your phone's lockscreen to provide info like email and SMS notifications, missed calls, calendar events and more. More plugins are available to add things like weather, Twitter or RSS feeds, and more.

NoLockScreen: Turn the Lockscreen off entirely by disabling the "Slide to unlock" feature. 

Overboard: This adds an overview of all the Springboard pages and lets you jump in between them. It extends the Springboard page limit, too. This older app has been recently updated to support iOS 4.x and retina display. ($1.99)

No Folder Badges: Not a fan of badges? This tweak turn them all off.

Gridlock: This tweak lets you "unsnap" icons from their typical row/column restrictions, allowing you to group them however you want. ($0.99)

Five Icon Dock: Oldie, but goodie - put five icons in your iPhone's dock.

Five Icon Switcher: A simple tweak to put 5 icons instead of four in your multitasking switcher's screen.

SBSettings: All-time favorite for adding controls to a drop-down menu that appears when you swipe the top left part of the screen. You can add switches through add-ons for all sorts of things like disabling radios, killing processes and more. (Free)

Add Functionality/Tweaks

iPod Touch 4 HDR Enabler: Want to take HDR photos with your iPod Touch 4G? You can with this tweak, which is available in Cydia.

HDR/Game Center Enabler: Two tweaks in one! Not only does this enable the HDR feature in the camera app on the iPhone 3/3G, it also adds the Game Center on the 3G. Activate it with Winterboard.

Silent Photo: Turn off the annoying camera shutter sound when you take a photo. Activate it with Winterboard.

SnapTap: This tweak lets you take photos with the iPhone's volume controls. ($1.49)

FaceBreak: Also mentioned above, FaceBreak lets you make FaceTime calls over 3G. ($1.49)

Mark Read: This tweak provides an easy way to mark all your inbox items as read, or just emails you select as read. When you tap "Edit" on your mailbox, you'll have the option to select certain emails or tap "Mark All." You can also mass archive or move emails, too. ($1.99)

Covert: Add a "Private Browsing" mode to Safari. The new button shows up between the "New Page" and "Done" buttons. (Free)

EnhancedTabs: This is a Safari tweak that lets you adjust Safari's "Open in New Page" behavior. You can either set it to "normal" (the default), which opens a link in a new tab, or you can force Safari to stay in the current tab or the tab overview screen while a new page opens in the background. You can also choose to automatically go to the tab overview screen every time you launch Safari. The "TabCloser" option can be enabled to close all tabs but the selected one. (Free)

FullScreen for Safari: This lets you run Safari in full-screen mode and navigate using gestures. You can map two and three-finger controls, double taps and shaking the device. ($1.50)

iPicMyContacts: A simple tweak that shows contact pictures next to their names in your address book. If you don't have a picture, you can do a Web search in Google for one to add. ($1.29)

SecretSMS: This tweak encrypts SMS messages so that they can only be read with a password. Sneaky!

EZDecline: Replaces "slide to answer" with "Answer" and "Decline" buttons instead. ($0.99)

Auto3G: This tweak extends battery life by automatically turning off 3G when you lock your phone then turning it back on automatically when you unlock. All radios can now be tweaked too in the most recent update. ($5.99)

Synchronicity: This tweak lets you continue to use your iPhone or iPod Touch while you sync with iTunes. You run apps, make calls, etc., however, there may be a lag. ($2.00)

Wi-Fi Sync: This app lets you wirelessly sync your iPhone or iPod Touch over Wi-Fi.

Apps

Animated Live Clock: Instead of the static stock clock app, you can have a live and working clock on iOS 4.1+ devices. You can even customize the animation or look-and-feel if you have Winterboard installed.

Grooveshark: The questionably legal, live streaming music service Grooveshark is available in Cydia. You start with a free trial, but if you want to keep it, it's $3/month - a bit cheaper than its competitors MOG and Rdio, for example.

PlayAwake: Instead of an annoying "beep, beep, beep!" PlayAwake lets you set your iPhone alarm clock to wake you up with your own music - you just pick the song. ($1.99)

iGotYa: Sneaky app takes a picture of the person who uses your iPhone 4 while you're away. ($4.99)

biteSMS: An app that provides more features for SMS messages including emoticons, quick reply/compose, privacy settings, scheduled SMS's, a passcode lock, delivery reports, signatures and more. (Multiple prices)

MyWi: The much needed iPhone Wi-Fi hotspot app. $19.99 for new iPhone 4 users or a $9.99 upgrade for those who previously purchased on iPhone 3 or 3G.

NitoTV: The first jailbreak app for Apple TV! Why? Because you can. Nito TV brings media center capabilities, weather info and RSS updates to your TV.

In our content farms coverage so far, we've focused mostly on textual content farms. But video may well be the next frontier. A startup called Howcast specializes in mass production of video content.

How Howcast Works

As the name suggests, Howcast is all about how-to videos. As with other 'content farm' companies, Howcast has identified a big opportunity to provide so-called "evergreen" informational content on the Web across hundreds of thousands of categories. The rationale being that people search, mostly on Google, for instructional content. How To Shuck an Oyster, How to Save Water in Your Garden, How to Avoid Dropped Calls on the iPhone 4, and so on.

Howcast is betting that how-to videos will have more relevance to searchers in the near future, than textual how-to articles. And given that YouTube is already the 2nd largest search engine in the world, behind only Google, that seems a solid business assumption.

Distribution

Howcast launched in February 2008 and now has nearly 200,000 instructional videos. It streams 25 million videos each month on both its own web site and across a network that includes web portals like AOL and Yahoo, and online TV or video sites like Hulu and Dailymotion. Its biggest distribution platform though is YouTube, where it has over 150,000 channel subscribers. Raman said that around 80% of its videos are viewed offsite, with 20% being viewed on Howcast's web site.

It also has a strong mobile presence, which Raman said was key to Howcast's future growth. He noted that Howcast has had over 2 million app downloads across the iPhone, iPad, Android, and BlackBerry devices. The Howcast for iPad app alone has been installed by 150,000 iPad users (approximately 5% of global iPad users) and was for a time the number 2 free iPad app in Apple's App Store.

Raman noted that user engagement is very good on mobile - for example users watch videos on average twice a day and watch two videos per session. Perhaps for this reason, Raman said that the value of users on mobile is much higher than on other platforms.

The Quality Question

In my discussion with Sanjay Raman, Chief Product Officer at Howcast, the word "quality" came up a number of times.

Every time I talk to 'content farm' companies, they insist that the aim is to produce quality content. That's because the most common criticism of content farms is that they clog up search engines with poor quality content.

In Howcast's case, the content appears to be professionally produced. It outputs about 400 how-to videos each month, most of which flows through its Emerging Filmmakers Program. Raman said that the program attracts wanna-be filmmakers, who are looking for a place to prove their skills. Howcast pays between $50-$300 per video.

Raman told me that Howcast wants to keep the content bar high. He claimed that Howcast has a much higher ratio of subscribers per video than Demand Media. Howcast is "not necessarily playing the volume game," he added.

Comparison to Demand Media

Who is the top YouTube provider, measured by views? You guessed it, Demand Media. This is because it produces far more video content per month than Howcast (Demand competes directly with Howcast with its property eHow). While Sanjay Raman didn't have exact figures, he estimated that Demand Media produces about 10 times more videos every month than Howcast. However he implied that this resulted in lower quality videos.

"Demand Media takes tasks and makes them smaller than they need to be," said Raman.

He also claimed that Howcast's playbacks per video are higher than Demand Media's. Howcast averages 44-50,000 playbacks per video, he told me, whereas Demand is around 7,000 per video.

Despite Demand Media Threat, Howcast Well Positioned

Many questions about content farms seem to center around whether other companies can compete with Demand Media, which operates on a much larger scale than its competitors. Perhaps the only company capable of stopping Demand's relentless growth is Google, which is reportedly tweaking its algorithms to better account for quality over quantity.

Howcast is hoping that its focus on professional video-making, via its filmmakers program, will lead to high search results. That remains to be seen. One thing that Howcast definitely has going for it is its positioning in the mobile space, which is increasingly where video content is consumed.

However, you don't have to wait until Chrome OS debuts to install Chrome Web apps - you can test a few of them now by using a Chrome developer build or Chromium, the open-source browser behind Google Chrome.

Before you get started, you'll need to install a developer build of Google Chrome or its open-source counterpart, Chromium. I prefer using Chromium for this sort of project because it allows me to play around while still keeping my default Chrome install a separate, stable version.

Step 1: Grab a Developer Build or Chromium Build

To use a developer build of Google Chrome, go to this page and scroll down to the section called "Subscribing to a channel." From here, pick the "Dev Channel" for your current OS: Windows, Mac or Linux. Just click the appropriate link to run the installer and launch the browser.

If you would prefer to use Chromium, you'll need to head over to this site instead: build.chromium.org/buildbot/snapshots. On this page, you'll find folders instead of direct links, each labeled by OS. Click the link for your OS (Linux, Linux-64, Mac or XP -that's for all Windows users, by the way). Within each folder, you'll notice a list of build numbers accompanied by a "last modified" date. To get the most recent one, scroll to the bottom of the page and click through to the files listed. Here, grab the installer for your OS; for example, Windows users would download "mini_installer.exe". Run the installer and launch the browser.

Step 2: Edit the Shortcut

Next, you'll need to edit the desktop shortcut for the newly installed browser in order to add the command line flag that enables Web apps. In Windows, right-click on the desktop shortcut, click "Properties," then place your cursor at the end of the line in the "Target" field. Add a space then type --enable-apps in this field. Click the "OK" button and restart the browser.

In Mac, it's $ open /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app --args -enable-apps.

Step 3: Install the Extensions

Now, in Chrome/Chromium go to chrome://extensions, click "Developer Mode" then click "Load Unpacked Extension."

In the window that appears, you'll need to browse to Chrome's resources folder. (In Windows, you'll find it at:

• For current versions of Windows (Vista/7): %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\[Version]\resources
• For Windows XP users: %userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\[Version]\resources

Once you've navigated to the appropriate folder, you'll notice there are three subfolders: gmail_app, calendar_app and docs_app. Click the folder for the app you want to install and it will now appear in the extensions list in Chrome/Chromium.

Step 4: Load the Web Apps!

OK, here comes the fun part: loading the Web apps themselves. Click the "New Tab" button in Chrome/Chromium like you were about to launch a new Web page and you'll now see the available Web apps listed. Click the app's icon to load it into the browser.

Once the app is installed, it appears with a large icon that hovers a bit above the tab.

To load other Web apps, like those featured here, you have to first download the .crx file to your computer then open it using Chrome/Chromium.

You can find more apps to try by browsing through the discussion group for Chromium apps here. Plus, there are even more apps posted here and here, too.

Have fun!

Plus, there are several reports now surfacing about issues with the iPhone 4's hardware. Are these credible? Should you be concerned? How do you resolve these issues?

Below, we'll answer these and more of the most burning questions new users may have about their iPhone 4.

Yes. Apple has officially gone on record with a statement that reads as follows:

Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.

This comes after an outpouring of reports from new users, gadget sites and technology news outlets, all discussing the same exact problem with the new Apple phone. Left-handed users have it the worst, due to the antenna placement. (The issue is worst when gripped in your left hand, with your skin pressed against the outside steel band.) Even Steve Jobs himself is now responding to user email complaints with the simple advice: "Just avoid holding it in that way."

What way? The way the Apple commercials show? Yes, that's right. Apple's own marketing material shows people happily chatting on their iPhone 4's while holding the phone in the way that would actually lead to signal loss.

Instead, here is the proper method.

Is there a solution? Of course. Why do you think Apple got into the bumper biz? Reportedly, using a plastic iPhone bumper (the outer rubberized protection product sold for around $30 at the Apple Store) solves the problem.

2. How Do You Use FaceTime?

FaceTime, the video calling feature introduced in the new Apple operating system can only be used on iPhone 4 hardware. Simply upgrading your iPhone 3G or 3GS is not enough - you must purchase the new phone. That's because FaceTime takes advantage of the iPhone 4's new dual-camera system, allowing to you to broadcast your face while watching your screen.

To actually use FaceTime, when you're on a phone call, move the phone away from your face and press the FaceTime button that appears on screen amid the menu of choices (like Keypad, Hold, etc.).

The recipient, assuming they also have an iPhone 4, will receive a request to initiative the FaceTime session, which they can then either accept or deny.

You can also start a FaceTime call directly from your Contacts list. Just scroll to the bottom of a contact card and tap the FaceTime button.

Remember though, FaceTime is a Wi-Fi only application for now (Jobs said it's Wi-Fi only "in 2010," hinting at Apple's future plans), which limits its functionality for the time being. However, FaceTime calls don't eat up your wireless minutes, as we recently found out. You can also test FaceTime out by calling 1-888-FACETIME.

3. How Do You Kill a Multi-Tasking App?

The iPhone 4 operating system (iOS) offers a new feature called multi-tasking. This works on the iPhone 3GS as well, but not the 3G. Not all apps multi-task - they must be designed that way by their developers first. To launch the multi-tasking interface, double-tap the "Home" button (the round button at the bottom of the screen). To kill an app that's running in the background, press and hold the app in the multi-task interface until it starts jiggling. Then, you'll see a red minus icon appear on the app icon's top-left. Tap the minus icon and the app closes. All the multi-task enabled applications stay open after you close them, so this menu can get filled up quickly if you're a heavy app user.

4. Does the iPhone 4 Record 1080p HD Video?

No, it records 720p HD video, up to 30 frames per second.

5. How Do I Make Sure an App isn't Tracking My Location?

Location services, which use information from the phone's GPS, cellular and Wi-Fi data to determine your location, are used in applications like Maps and Compass, as well as in other Apple apps like Camera and any number of third-party applications, too. If the Big Brother-esque tracking has you worried, you can turn location services off using the global switch located in Settings > General > Location Services. Otherwise, you can use the settings below this switch to individually shut off location services for select apps.

6. How Do I Access My Playback Controls? (The double-tap now launches the app switcher!)

The multi-tasking interface is now revealed when you double-tap the home button, but your playback controls are still there. Just swipe to the right from within the app switcher to reveal them.

7. How do I Make the iPhone 4 Stay in Portrait Mode?

Follow the instructions in step six above to reveal the playback controls. To the left of the controls is a black icon with an arrow making a circle. Tap this button to lock the screen into portrait or landscape mode. You'll know the screen is locked because an icon appears next to the battery meter at the top right of your screen.

8. How Many Applications Can I Install?

Given disk space, you can theoretically install up to 2,160 applications on your iPhone now, using the new "Folders" feature. Folders let you organize apps into folders simply by dragging one app on top of another and then providing that folder with a name of your choosing (or keeping the suggested name that appears).

But there's a second tool called "sn0wbreeze," which does. This software also supports jailbreaking the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch second generation. However, sn0wbreeze is a Windows-only tool and even more importantly, it is meant just for devices which have already been jailbroken. If you upgraded to the new iOS 4.0, you cannot use sn0wbreeze.

For the uninitiated, "jailbreaking" refers to the ability to open up a device in order to install unapproved, third-party applications. Given both AT&T and Apple's restrictions regarding the iPhone, this process is a must for many Apple device owners.

Jailbreaking allows access to many new functions, including turning the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, being able to fully customize the phone down to its icons, forcing Wi-Fi only apps to run over 3G and, for those whose older devices don't support all of iOS 4's new features, jailbreaking offers some viable alternatives. 

Jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone are two different hacks which allow you to take control of your mobile device in different ways. Jailbreaking, as noted above, is a type of hack that lets you install unapproved third-party applications on your iPhone or iPod Touch from searchable repositories provided by apps like Cydia and Icy. Unlocking, on the other hand, is a hack that lets you use your iPhone on another cellular network. Here in the U.S., that means you can use the iPhone on T-Mobile instead of AT&T. You have to first jailbreak your phone before you can unlock it, but you don't have to unlock a phone in order to jailbreak it.

How to Jailbreak with Sn0wbreeze

The "sn0wbreeze" jailbreak software has a very specific use case. You can only use it if your phone has already been jailbroken and if that jailbreak was not performed using the popular jailbreak tool called "Spirit." It is also a Windows-only software program.

To be clear, if you have an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS or iPod Touch that's already jailbroken with redsn0w or the Mac software called Pwnage Tool, you can use sn0wbreeze. It also does not work on "MC" model iPods - those whose model numbers begin with the characters "MC." To check your device, go into "Settings," "General," "About," then scroll down to "Model Number."

If your device fits these specific parameters, here's how to do it:

1. Download and install the most recent version of iTunes first and back up your phone. Do not upgrade your phone's firmware to 4.0 at this time.
2. Download sn0wbreeze from the ih8sn0w.com homepage here.
3. Download the iOS 4.0 firmware. (Links available here and here and elsewhere on the net. Remember, you're downloading the iOS 4.0 firmware for your device, older versions or those for other devices don't work.)
4. Run the sn0wbreeze executable you downloaded.
5. Choose "Simple Mode" from the first screen of the setup program.
6. When prompted, point it to the iOS 4 firmware file you just downloaded. The software will verify the file and then you can click "Next" to continue.
7. On the following screen, click "No" on the pop-up message that appears if you are using your phone on an official carrier (like AT&T in the U.S). Click "Yes" if you want to use your phone on a different carrier.
8. The software will then proceed to jailbreak your iOS 4.0 software file.
9. The final step is to restore your phone to the now-jailbroken software. Connect your phone to your computer, launch iTunes and select your phone in the left-side menu of iTunes.
10. Hold down the SHIFT button on your keyboard while clicking on the "Restore" button in iTunes. Then let go of the SHIFT button. 
11. iTunes will now prompt you to select the location of your custom firmware file (the now-jailbroken iOS 4.0 software). Direct it to wherever you had originally downloaded that file and click "open."
12. iTunes will now "restore" your phone to that jailbroken version of the iOS 4.0 firmware. Do not do anything else on the computer while this is taking place.
13. When the process completes, your phone is jailbroken. Those who then want to then "unlock" their phone for use on a non-standard carrier (like T-Mobile in the U.S.) will need to follow further instructions to do an unlock. This guide can help.

Keep in mind that if you have a jailbroken phone, you can't get support from Apple for any issues you may have. However, jailbreaking isn't permanent. You can revert your phone to its factory settings at any time via iTunes with no one the wiser.

Jailbreaking allows for a plethora of new features, including turning the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, being able to fully customize the phone down to its icons and forcing Wi-Fi only apps to run over 3G. For those whose older devices don't support all of iOS 4's new features, jailbreaking offers some viable alternatives. 

Jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone are two different hacks which allow you to take control of your mobile device in different ways. Jailbreaking is a type of hack that lets you install unapproved third-party applications on your iPhone or iPod Touch from searchable repositories provided by apps like Cydia and Icy. Unlocking, on the other hand, is a hack that lets you use your iPhone on another cellular network. Here in the U.S., that means you can use the iPhone on T-Mobile instead of AT&T. You have to first jailbreak your phone before you can unlock it, but you don't have to unlock a phone in order to jailbreak it.

How to Jailbreak the 4.0 Software for the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch Second Generation

The "Redsn0w" jailbreak software has been updated to support iOS 4.0 on both Mac and Windows and works for iPhone 3G and the iPod Touch, second generation. This jailbreak is especially helpful for for iPhone 3G owners as the new OS won't offer the much sought-after multitasking feature on their devices. A jailbreak application called multifl0w will, however, provide an alternative. Another jailbreak app called WinterBoard offers a way to customize the iPhone's background even though that too is disabled for 3G owners running the latest OS 4.0 update.

This jailbreak guide assumes you've already downloaded and updated your phone or iPod Touch to the latest software, iOS 4.0, and have backed up your device.

If you are looking to unlock your phone in order to run it on a network belonging to another carrier, this is not the guide for you.

How to Jailbreak iOS 4 on Non-iPhone 4 Devices

1. Download Redsn0w, version 0.9.5b5-3 (Links: Mac OSX (x86), Windows Updated file locations: Mac, Windows)
2. Extract the files and run the Redsn0w executable. (Windows users should run it as Administrator)
3. When prompted, point it to the original iOS 4 firmware file (in Windows, browse to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPod Software Updates and look for the .ipsw file; on Mac, the file will be here: ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates/)
4. On the following screen, make sure "Install Cydia" is selected. You can check or uncheck the other options as desired.



5. If you phone isn't already off, turn it off now. (Press and hold the power button at the top until the "Slide to turn off" message appears, then shut the phone down).
6. Plug the phone into your computer via the USB cable, if you haven't done so already.



7. Here it gets a little tricky. The following screen instructs you on a combination of button presses that will force the phone into a special mode called "DFU" mode. You don't need to know what that means, but you need to follow the instructions precisely. If you mess up, it's OK. You'll just get an error message and can then go back and try it again.



8. After successfully entering DFU mode, the jailbreaking processing will begin. You'll see file copying procedures taking place, but there's nothing else you really need to do except for hitting the "Finish" button when the computer portion of the jailbreak ends. (The rest of the jailbreak happens on your phone).



9. When your phone reboots, look for the new Cydia icon on your homescreen. From this jailbreak App Store, you can download all the applications that aren't allowed into Apple's curated and approved collection.

Keep in mind that if you have a jailbroken phone, you can't get support from Apple for any issues you may have. However, jailbreaking isn't permanent. You can revert your phone to its factory settings at any time via iTunes with no one the wiser.

But how does one build a working application for Google TV?

They are, as follows:

• Make it Simple: Identify the vital parts of your app before starting work, stick with one visible mode of navigation or one information hierarchy, make the primary action reachable in one click, avoid the temptation to use abstract icons, limit vertical scrolling, and preselect the user's next action when you can.
• Get Navigation Right: Google TV users will often navigate with a directional pad, so the navigation model involves up, down, left, right and enter buttons and action. Make your app navigable with one hand.
• Design for TV screens, not Computer Screens: TVs have wider screens, so you should make UI elements slightly larger. Also, avoid highly saturated and very bright colors, and design for 1280x720 and 1920x1080 resolutions, including at least a 10% margin. Use pure white (#FFFFFF) sparingly.
• Pick the Right Fonts: Avoid lightweight fonts or those with very narrow or broad strokes. Use simply constructed sans serif fonts and apply anti aliasing to increase readability. Google TV currently supports only the Droid Sans and Droid Serif font families. If you want to use font embedding techniques to create a more customized appearance, you can, but this relies on Flash, which will be slower.
• Make Onscreen Text Readable:
• Limit each paragraph to no more than 90 words.
• Break text into small chunks that can be read at a glance.
• Keep line length at about five to seven words per line. Never go shorter than three or longer than 12.
• Remember that light text on a dark background is slightly easier to read on TV (compared to dark text on a light background).
• Target body text to be around 21pt on 720p and 28pt on 1080p.
• Don't use any text smaller than 18pt on 720p and 24pt on 1080p.
• Add more leading (larger line spacing) for onscreen text than print text.
• Don't Use Disruptive Sounds: By default, volume should be low. Make it simple to mute the app. Don't make interactions dependent on audio cues.
• Use Flash Wisely: Google TV can play 720p and 1080p Flash videos. Use h.264 encoding, not h.263 or vp6. Avoid Flash banner or sidebar ads that include video. Only use one instance of the media player at a time. Be conscious of system memory.
• Be Conscious of Performance: Perceived performance is more important than actual performance for TV apps. Make sure the app never executes so much code that the runtime can't frequently update the screen and gather user input. You may need to divide a task into parts to accomplish this.
• Use Bitmaps: Use bitmaps to optimize rendering.
• Watch Out for Tweening: Minimize the use of motion tweens to help content run faster.

A few caveats:

• Jailbreaking, the process of opening up your phone to allow for the installation of unapproved 3rd-party applications, voids the warranty on your phone. If you're a stickler for these types of things, this may not be the hack for you. (If you really want a phone that functions as a Wi-Fi hotspot, maybe you should wait for the Evo instead.)
• That said, jailbreaking is reversible in the sense that you can always return your phone to factory settings then reapply your backup and no one will be the wiser. Your iPhone is automatically backed up every time you sync with iTunes, but you may want to double-check that your contacts, photos, calendar items and any other critical information is safely stored somewhere else...just in case.
• The MyWi app is buggy. Really, really buggy. Upon first launch, it crashed repeatedly in our tests. The issue seems to be with the "Rock You" sign-in/registration process. But I got it working and you may be able to as well. In fact, it's the crashing problem that makes the entire setup process take so long - not the jailbreak itself. That's downright speedy.
• MyWi isn't free, but comes with a trial period (thank goodness!). The app costs $9.99 when you're ready to purchase.

How to Turn your iPhone into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

1. The first step is to jailbreak your phone. If you've never done this before, you can follow our guide here for the iPad - it's the exact same procedure, from start to finish. For those who are familiar with jailbreaking and just need the software, go here: spiritjb.com.
2. Once your jailbroken phone is up-and-running, launch the Cydia application store.
3. In Cydia, search for "MyWi." There are two apps listed, but the one that says "No Rock" next to it never installed for us. Grab the other one instead.
4. Tap on the search result for the app, tap the "install" button in the upper-right corner, then tap "confirm."
5. When installation is complete, tap the "Reload SpringBoard" button. (If this part gets stuck, just reboot your iPhone).
6. Launch the MyWi app. Accept the agreement and tap "OK." Now comes the tricky part. In our tests, the app would barely stay open for more than a couple of seconds at this point. In fact, we were about to write it off as a total loss. But after a bit of perseverance, we got it working. It appeared as if the problem was with registering for a RockYourPhone account via the app. (RockYourPhone is a paid application store for jailbroken phones where MyWi is sold.)
7. Instead of registering for an account via the app, we went to RockYourPhone.com and signed up there instead.
8. Before returning to the app, we copied our registration email address to the clipboard so we could quickly paste it in instead of typing it in.
9. Re-launch MyWi. Tap "sign in." Paste in your email, type in your password. The app will check for your registration (and probably crash again).
10. The app will check for license updates and then allow you to use it on the "trial" license. If you can't get past this step because the app continues to crash, we're sorry. We can't help you. Like we said, the app is buggy. You may be able to get it going, but we'll make no promises. Hopefully, a future version will be more stable.
11. Assuming you do get the app to (finally!) launch, you'll see the option to turn Wi-Fi Tethering on via a toggle switch at the top. You can also turn on USB and Bluetooth tethering using the toggle towards the bottom. With tethering on, your phone's Internet connection, 3G or otherwise, is made available as a Wi-Fi hotspot to nearby computers. You can even use WEP security if you'd like.
12. When you're finished, you can switch tethering off and close the app.

Note: Problems Sharing 3G?

If you run into problems with MyWi not being able to share your 3G data connection, a simple reset of your network settings may resolve the issue. Go into the Settings app -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings. Reboot the phone and try MyWi again.

Unlike Google's Android Market, the app store for Google-powered phones, Apple's iTunes App Store is tightly controlled with only "approved" applications allowed access. But for jailbreakers, the term used to describe those who hack their devices, hundreds more applications are immediately available, allowing you greater control and freedom over the hardware you own.

Users who jailbreak can download apps that allow you to customize everything on the device from your homescreen images to your icons. You can also multitask by running apps in the background, tether your iPhone to your PC to use it as a modem, even turn your iPhone into a "MiFi" hotspot. Those are just the highlights, though. The jailbreak application stores (there are several, like Cydia, Icy and RockYourPhone, for example) have apps that let you do pretty much anything. Here, there really are "apps for that," when "that" is something Apple would rather you not do.

For some users, there are only one or two apps that make jailbreaking worthwhile, but for others, the reason for jailbreaking isn't just the apps themselves, but the freedom a jailbroken device provides.

For those who aren't afraid to void their warranty (don't worry, you can always restore to factory settings with no one the wiser), the new jailbreaking tool called "Spirit" brings that level of freedom to all Apple mobile devices running firmware 3.1.2, 3.1.3 or 3.2. This is also an "untethered" jailbreak, meaning you don't have to plug in your device to your computer every time your reboot it, an issue that plagued similar exploits used in the recent past.

How To Jailbreak the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch

Note that this particular jailbreak is what's known by the hacker community as a "userland" jailbreak. That means that it exploits a security weakness in the mobile operating system. Apple tends to quickly patch these holes, once exposed, through software updates. Jailbreak users who don't want to be affected by the soon-to-arrive Apple software update, can go through a procedure to back up something called "SHSH blobs" which allow you to downgrade and re-jailbreak your device if you were to accidentally upgrade. If you want go through this step, there's a tutorial here. Otherwise, just be careful to not upgrade your device when a new software patch is released.

1. Verify you're running the latest version of iTunes (9.1.1) and then sync your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad one last time in order to back it up. The iPad should be running OS 3.2.
2. Download the Spirit jailbreak for Mac or PC. Both are found on the Spirit homepage. (Also here: Mac, PC).
3. Connect the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to your computer using the USB cable.
4. Run the Spirit jailbreak application. (Note: Windows users may need to run the program as an administrator - Right-click on the .exe file and choose "Run as Administrator" from the menu. If you still have issues, try running it in compatibility mode as well. Right-click, go to Properties, Compatibility tab, and check the box "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 98/Me").

   

5. Click the "jailbreak" button.

   

6. The iPad will automatically reboot.
7. Once rebooted, you'll see the "Cydia" application installed on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad's desktop. From here, you have access to all the unapproved, third-party applications.

That's it!

Your device is now hacked.

Note that Spirit is not a "carrier unlock" which allows the iPhone to be used with carriers other than AT&T. It is a jailbreak only.

If you want a safer solution, there's a new Facebook "like" bookmarklet you can use instead.

Not only does using the bookmarklet he created protect you from like fraud as described here, it's also a handy way to like anything on the Internet - even if there's no like button available on that page.

How to Use the Facebook Like Bookmarklet

To use the bookmarklet, just drag this link to your bookmarks bar in your Web browser: Like-o-matic.

Once it's there, you can click it anytime you're on a page or website you like.

Like ReadWriteWeb, for example? Click the button. Although there's no "Facebook Like Button" for the website as a whole (you can, however, find us on Facebook), you'll be given the opportunity to like ReadWriteWeb.

After clicking the bookmarklet once, you'll see a message appear at the top of the screen: "Be the first of your friends to like this." Click the button with the thumbs up on it and it will register your like on Facebook and post it to your News Feed.

That's all there is to it.

By using the bookmarklet instead of the like buttons on the websites themselves, you can be sure that your Facebook like will be pointing to the real thing. Plus, it allows you to like anything you want - even a site that isn't using Facebook buttons. Nice!