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Amazon is offering would-be buyers of its Kindle Fire HDX tablet the option to pay in four installments. The plan doesn't include any interest or added fees. The plan only applies to the Kindle Fire HDX , the most expensive version of the Kindle. ... Ordinarily it costs $229 for the 7-inch version or $379 for the 8.9-inch version. Under the terms of the deal, you pay 25 per cent of the purchase price up-front. That's $57.25 for the 7-inch version and $94.75 for the 8.9-inch version. You'll also pay any applicable sales taxes and shipping. At the time of writing, the deal was only available to US ... (view more)

Twitter plans to introduce an "account verification" feature that the social networking site hopes will help beef up security. The move follows a spate of attacks in which high-profile media accounts have been taken over and used to publish bogus ... news claims. The new system is a form of 'two-factor verification', meaning that merely providing a standard password isn't enough. When a person uses two-factor verification security, a hacker who gains access to a password still won't be able to break into an account. If users enable the new system in their account settings, they'll be able to add ... (view more)

Facebook has a new solution for people who are having trouble accessing their accounts: if you sign up for the site's 'Trusted Contacts' feature, you can log in with a little help from your friends. The system is designed for people who've forgotten ... their password and is an alternative to existing security measures that involve answering questions and awaiting a confirmation email. Using the feature you can designate between three and five people from your Facebook friends list as Trusted Contacts. If and when you are unable to access your account and trigger the feature, Facebook will send a ... (view more)

Google says it will allow users to decide what should happen to their data after they die. It will allow users to have data deleted or passed on to somebody else. The new feature is called 'Inactive Account Manager' and is accessed through the main ... account settings page for your Google account. It's an opt-in service, so it will only take effect if you actively set it up. (Source: google.com ) The feature isn't triggered by your death, but by you failing to carry out any actions that require you to be logged into an account, such as checking emails. You can set the feature to activate after ... (view more)

After a simple yet devastating hack of its security went public last August, Apple has -- just eight months later -- introduced a two-step authentication system. Back in early August 2012, Wired.com's Mat Honan was devastated to find that hackers ... were able to gain access to his MacBook, iPhone, and Gmail account after easily bypassing both Apple and Amazon security systems. Hackers Exploit Simple Security Systems Hackers used a simple trick: they called Amazon to request a password change. When prompted by an Amazon representative, they presented Honan's name, billing address, and email ... (view more)

We recently received this question from an Infopackets reader: "Hi there, I'm interested in giving cloud storage a try, but I'm not sure which service to use. Can you help me out? Thanks! Roger T." My response: Hi Roger -- certainly there are a ... number of different cloud storage services worth trying. I've given both DropBox and Microsoft SkyDrive a try and, personally, I prefer the latter. In this guide, I'll show you how to get started using that service. If you've recently upgraded to Windows 8 or have purchased a Windows 8 computer (including Windows RT, Windows 8 standard, or Windows 8 ... (view more)

If you've been stymied by the intricacies of email in Windows 8, you're not alone. An Infopackets subscriber asks: "Dear Infopackets, I just got Windows 8 and am interested in trying out the new Windows 8 Mail program. But I can't figure it out. It ... seems things have changed a lot since I last used Outlook in Windows 7. Do you have any tips on how to use this software properly? Thanks, Brian D." My response: You're right, Brian. Windows 8 Mail is a lot different from Outlook, Windows Live Mail, or any other email client you've used before. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Microsoft has ... (view more)

It appears that during Tuesday night's election the privacy of a number of high-profile Twitter users was invaded when an unknown website or Internet service compromised their accounts. That prompted Twitter to force password resets on many of its ... users. It remains unclear at the moment how the security breach occurred or how many users' accounts were compromised. Whatever that number, Twitter created a huge stir by sending out more password reset emails than necessary. "We unintentionally reset passwords of a larger number of accounts, beyond those that we believed to have been compromised ... (view more)

Imagine waking up one day and finding that the digital contents of your smartphone, laptop, and tablet computer have all been wiped out by hackers. This nightmare recently became reality for Wired.com writer Mat Honan, who later discovered that ... major holes in Apple and Amazon security had allowed the hack to occur. The hackers did a lot of damage. Not only did they wipe the contents of Honan's iPad, MacBook, and iPhone, but they infiltrated his Gmail account (and deleted it) and his Twitter account, where they posted a number of unseemly comments. (Source: venturebeat.com ) Amazon's Swiss ... (view more)

Hackers who support the Syrian government may be responsible for two separate attacks on the Reuters news agency. The hackers' efforts apparently caused false information about the political and military situation inside Syria to appear on the news ... agency's website. The first hack damaged the Reuters blogging platform, a section of the agency's website that allows Reuters correspondents to write personal accounts and opinion pieces under their own name. It appears Reuters reporters can post directly to the site, which may have made the hacker's job easier. Fake Interview Posted On Reuters ... (view more)