back to article Amazon Kindle Fire browser hacked for your Android pleasure

Hackers have managed to get Amazon's proxy-based Silk browser compiled into other Android versions, allowing anyone* to take advantage of the Amazon cloud. The hack requires a rooted device, and some mucking about with apk files, but does share the Silk love. XDA-Developers member TyHi initially hacked the Silk browser into …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    or

    you could just run the far superior Opera Mini, which is the same concept, but in a mature product form.

    1. Richard Wharram
      WTF?

      Which is exactly what the article says.

      Isn't it ?

      1. Craigness

        Turbo != Mini

        The article mentions the Turbo option, which is a setting in Opera's regular browser. Opera Mini is a different app which has the functionality as standard. It's worth a mention.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Opera Mini

          That's right, I used Opera mini to bypass the site blocking protocol on a T mobile broadband dongle.

          They wanted credit card details and to charge a £2 fee for unblocking it legitimately.

          I was pissed off because If they had told me about the site blocking on this beforehand I wouldn't have bought it. (and since I paid for the thing with a credit card in the first place why should I pay again?).

          I tried it with the turbo version too but that wouldn't work for some reason.

    2. Doogie1

      or the even more superior Opera Mobile

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why?

    Silk seems an underwhelming performer at best, and potentially a major privacy intrusion. Why would anyone want to spread it further?

  3. JDX Gold badge

    @Ralph 5

    Read the damn article.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Same question springs to mind

      It's like hearing my accountant filed my business accounts twice with HMRC to see if they would charge twice as much tax. If I wondered why, he might say, "this is just a hack to demonstrate what can be done"... to which I could only respond with, "but why??"

    2. Stevie
      Thumb Down

      Er...

      "So the only reason for wanting to run Silk would seem to be a desire to let Amazon know more about one's browsing habits"

      Perhaps the enquirer would like some insight as to an advantage that makes the above worth the cost?

      If you don't have one there's no need to say so.

  4. JDX Gold badge

    Although

    I don't really care if Amazon knows my history. Privacy advocates seem to complain about this for the principle involved, without actually explaining why it's worse than Hitler and Stalin combined.

    Tesco know all the things I buy in their store and my credit card company knows _everything_ I buy, should I be worried by those things too? Damn you Tesco, reminding me I forgot to buy milk!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      With a bank you accept that they know, with browsing we have had it free'n'easy for so long we find it sort of creepy that from all the little snippets of info we leave in our wake, they can piece our lives back together again. It's also the beginning of a slippery slope, no harm in keeping those who think they can abuse our privacy, in check once in a while.

  5. yeahyeahno
    Meh

    Silk like Opera Turbo?

    I hope not too like it.

    Opera Turbo really messes with location sensative sites and services. Opera Trubo kills iPlayer, TVCatchup and changes the content of BBC News, BBC homepage and many others.

    If Amazon Silk suffers the same problem I wondering if it makes investing in a browser enabled Kindle at all.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like