Tag Archives: Beta

Chrome 28 beta for Android brings translation bar, fullscreen on tablets

Chrome for Android on a Galaxy Nexus

Internationally savvy Chrome desktop users are well acquainted with the translation bar’s ability to quickly make sense of sites using foreign languages. Courtesy of the new Chrome 28 beta for Android, they can take that linguistic power on the road: the translation bar now shows up on mobile when visiting pages in non-native text. The test release also gives tablets the same fullscreen mode that phones have in the stable build, and everyone can see graphs illustrating the data usage savings they get from compression. Those who want to better understand their mobile world just have to swing by the source links to get the latest beta.

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Via: Android Police

Source: Chrome Releases, Google Play

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Nokia Xpress Now browser brings content discovery to Asha phones, in beta now

DNP  Nokia Xpress Now browser in beta brings content discovery to Asha phones

Nokia took to its blog today to introduce Xpress Now, an enhanced version of its Xpress browser. Made for Asha devices, the web app delivers personalized content suggestions based both on your personal preferences and those of the browser’s “more than 80 million monthly users.” These new recommendations come courtesy of three separate browsers views: What’s Hot, You May Also like and Most Liked. The categories are largely self-explanatory, and we imagine suggested content will be more spot-on after the app has been around for a few months. For the time being, though, Nokia Xpress Now is in beta in India, and it should make its away to other countries later in 2013.

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Source: Conversations by Nokia

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Half-Life 2 picks up official Oculus Rift support, beta gets shipped to developers

HalfLife 2 picks up official Oculus Rift support, beta gets shipped to developers

Gordon Freeman, in your head. Well, that’s the plan, with Oculus now offering official beta support for a headset-based Half-Life 2. There’s a few known issues to iron out already, including an overly-dim UI and issues with the zoom, though it appears to lack any gameplay deal-breakers, unlike what we’ve seen on some unofficial Oculus ports. As mentioned by Valve’s Joe Ludwig on the Oculus developer forums, however, the current build is a bit rougher around the edges compared to the Team Fortress 2 beta that launched earlier this year. Developers with the necessary Rift hardware can pick up the files on Steam or follow the developments on Oculus’ own forums — but no comments about headcrab hats and wearables, okay?

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Via: Ubergizmo, Oculus3D (Twitter)

Source: Oculus VR developer forums

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Left 4 Dead 2 now available on Linux, reclaims beta moniker

Left 4 Dead 2 now available on Linux, reclaims beta moniker

Valve’s bid to lure gamers away from Microsoft’s platform just got a little sweeter: Left 4 Dead 2 is finally available on Linux. Despite early appearances in early leaks, the game has been absent from Steam’s Linux compatible library. The wait might have been worth it — early ports of the game apparently only ran at six frames per second, but it eventually surpassed its Windows counterpart. Now, Valve is looking towards is community to fine tune the port even further, offering a fully functional beta client to Steam users who already own the game. Although the focus here is Linux compatibility, the company is offering the beta to Windows and Mac users as well, and says that running the game on any system helps with testing. Ready to take down the horde? Fire up Ubuntu and get started. Otherwise, you can check out the company’s official announcement at the source link below.

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Source: L4D Blog

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Swype keyboard app exits beta, enters Google Play

The app monitors users’ activity to better understand their writing style and help predict when common words or phrases are at hand, saving input time. [Read more]

    




CNET News

DirecTV adding voice search to its iOS and Android phone apps, beta coming this summer

DirecTV adding voice search to its iOS and Android phone apps, beta coming this summer

Now that it’s finally got an Android tablet app to speak of, DirecTV is returning its attention to phones: the company announced today that both its iOS and Android applications will be receiving voice search starting this summer. As the company describes it, the app is meant to address the age-old problem of there being “nothing on TV.” (And also, the fact that searching for things on your television is damn tedious.) In particular, you can use the app to search by person, title, channel show time or genre, using commands such as “find comedy movies,” etc. Like other voice-control services, too, you can give follow-up instructions like, “with Bill Hader” and it’ll know to narrow down your results instead of starting a new search. Considering DirecTV whipped up its own search algorithm from scratch, it seems to work intuitively. Still, the fact that the landing page is filled with sample queries suggests there’s very much a right and wrong way to ask for what you want.

If you’re using the app away from home, you can set your DVR to record different shows. When you’re on your home network, though, you can have the search results show up on your television, at which point your phone transforms into a remote you can use to scroll through menus and the like. With the TV, too, you can wade through various programs, as well as search for sports content or ask the app to switch to a certain channel (saying either the channel name or number will work). You can even tell the app to go back through menus, but you can’t use your voice to access features like the settings menu. No word on when the beta will roll out, except that it’ll happen sometime this summer.

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Goodbye Sherpa, Hello Osito! Predictive Intelligence iOS App Rebrands And Graduates From Beta

osito1It was only about three weeks ago when the team behind predictive intelligence app Sherpa announced a hefty seed round and that it was rolling the app out to private beta users. Now it seems they’re all ready for prime time… with a few changes.

Since there’s already a glut of mobile apps named Sherpa floating around out there, founder and CEO Bill Ferrell thought it was high time for a bit of rebranding — to that end Sherpa has been renamed Osito, and it’s ready for you to download in the iOS App Store.
TechCrunch

BitTorrent’s Surf Extension Now In Beta; Use Chrome Or Firefox Like A Desktop Client For Downloading

Pretty Lights - Around The Block - ArtBitTorrent, the content sharing and distribution network with 170 million monthly active users and 85 petabytes of content, continues to roll out more tools for artists and consumers to turn to the service for all their music, video and reading needs. Today it’s turning its attention to the mechanics of downloading: its putting its Surf Chrome extension — which effectively turns the browser into a desktop client for downloading content — into beta and adding in some new features, including Firefox support and a new recommendation engine.

TechCrunch

Adobe Introduces Lightroom 5 Public Beta, With New Features For Enthusiasts And Pros Alike

adobe-logoAdobe’s Lightroom is probably the best software available when it comes to a photographer’s digital darkroom needs. The company has been putting lots of time and effort into building it into something that appeals to both pros and enthusiasts, and now it’s releasing Lightroom 5 beta, representing the fastest turnaround for a major point release in the app’s history.
TechCrunch

Microsoft releases Office 2010 SP2 public beta

Microsoft on Monday released a public beta of Office 2010 Service Pack 2, the first major update to the suite in almost two years.
Computerworld News

Chrome 27 Beta now available, promises faster speeds

Chrome 27 Beta browser has been released by Google, bringing with it some goodies for developers, as well as faster page loading to the tune of about 5-percent. Users who don’t mind dippingo into beta territory can grab the latest download now from the Chrome beta page. We’ve got a run down of the new

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Google Maps Engine Lite beta lets amateurs craft their own location sets

Google Maps Engine Lite beta lets amateurs import their own points of interest

Pros have long had access to Google Maps Engine if they need to highlight anything from local stores to natural resources. Today, Google is catering to the rest of us would-be cartographers with a beta for Google Maps Engine Lite. The web service lets everyday users draw objects and import locations for their own reference, whether it’s plotting favorite hiking trails or pinpointing worthwhile places on an upcoming vacation. Map makers can stylize the maps and share them with others, if they like — the Lite label mostly limits users to “small” spreadsheet imports and a maximum of three data sets for comparisons. As long as you can live within those prescribed boundaries, you can try the slimmed down engine right now.

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Via: Google Lat Long Blog

Source: Google Maps Engine Lite

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Plants vs. Zombies Adventures hits limited beta on Facebook

One of the most popular games from PopCap Games for casual gamers was Plants vs. Zombies. The game first debuted a long time ago and was incredibly popular on a number of platforms. PopCap Games has announced that it is launching a new Plants vs. Zombies game in limited beta on Facebook for social gamers.

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Pinterest Store Platform ShopInterest Extends Free Beta, Launches Affiliate Network For SMB Sellers

sales-networkShopInterest, the 500 Startups-backed e-commerce site that lets you sell from your Pinterest boards, is announcing plans to extend its beta period by six more months while it gets its SMB-focused selling solution off the ground. In addition, the company has launched an affiliate marketing program called the “ShopInterest Sales Network,” which allows sellers’ items to be sold through third-parties.

TechCrunch

Posthaven Launches In Public Beta, Has Saved 850K Posts Since Posterous Announced Its Shutdown Date Of April 30th

6704601719_5c507cca0a_zOnce Twitter acquired Posterous, we knew that it was going to shut down at some point, as there was no way that the micro-blogging service would support a fully-featured alternative platform. Once we found out the date it was shutting down, then things felt real. If you were using Posterous to post pictures, video or random thoughts, you’d have to find somewhere else to put them. That somewhere else was Posthaven, set up by Posterous co-founders Garry Tan and Brett Gibson. The day that Posterous and Twitter announced the shutdown date, Posthaven jumped into action. At the time, Tan told me that the timing was completely serendipitous, as he had no insight as to when the decision would be made to shut down shop. Immediately, the service signed people up without even fully launching, even having problems handling the traffic at times. Today, Posthaven is launching its public beta and is available to anyone would would like to pay $ 5 a month to host their Posterous data, forever. Yes, Tan and Gibson have promised to keep the service running as long as it has users. The best part about Posthaven is that you can continue to use it just like you did Posterous, so it’s not merely storing your old posts, you can keep going. Tan and Gibson describe Posthaven is that it’s “he only safe and complete importer option available for Posterous blogs.” This makes sense because, well, Posterous’ co-founders would know the system better than anyone else. When I spoke with Tan about the public beta launch, he told me that since launching on February 15th, Posthaven has imported 850,000 posts, including photos, videos, documents and audio files. Tan promises zero corruption for the files that you’re bringing in as well, a pretty worthwhile reason to spend the $ 5 a month. Some of the other Posterous importing options have suffered issues like loss of original file names and even names from commenters, which Posthaven pulls in without a problem. The service is as simple as it gets right now, but Tan and Gibson are working on adding new features. For example, you can now create up to ten blogs with one account and they’re working hard to add post-by-email, commenting, multiple contributors, email notifications and a bookmarklet. These are all features that people who used Posterous will remember, and will miss when it shuts down on April 30th.
TechCrunch

Neverwinter Beta Weekend 3 starts March 22

If you’re a fan of the Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG called Neverwinter, you might not want to venture too far from your computer this weekend. Starting on March 22, which is next Friday, at 12 PM PDT Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios are launching their Beta Weekend 3. During the beta weekend players will

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Swype beta update released, offers several fixes and features

The folks over at Swype have rolled out version 1.4.9.13905, a beta release for those who like to try the newest iteration of software and aren’t afraid of taking on a bit of risk. This feature brings with it a variety of new features and fixes, including Advanced Language Models for more languages and improved

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YouTube’s One Channel design taken out of beta

YouTube has taken its One Channel design out of beta and made it available for all who want it. The design looks quite different than what users are currently using, and offers many features and improvements that both casual and career YouTubers will appreciate. The features are designed to help users score new subscribers, have

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Opera Browser beta for Android now available via the Play Store

During Mobile World Congress earlier this month, Opera showed off its all new browser, which it had announced last month. This browser, which is the full deal, has been built from the ground up and utilizes the WebKit rendering engine, the same used by Chrome. The browser is in beta mode, and is now available

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eComStation 2.2 Beta, the Legacy of OS/2 Lives On

An anonymous reader writes “Yes, those OS/2 Warp bastards just don’t want to quit. Today the eComStation 2.2 beta live CD was released for public download. There is also this positive review from TechRepublic , and OS/2 Zelots partying/ranting at their community sites.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




Slashdot

Firefox 20 beta for Android adds per-tab private browsing, customizable home screen shortcuts

The final version of Firefox 19 may have just left the den, but the Mozilla team are already hard at work on the beta version of Firefox 20, which just came out for Android today. Notable new features include a new per-tab private browsing feature that lets you alternate between normal and private tabs within the same session, customizable shortcuts for the home screen and support for additional ARMv6 devices. The browser also now supports lower-end phones with the minimum requirements of a 600MHz processor, 384MB memory and a QVGA display, which includes devices like the Samsung Galaxy Pop and the HTC Aria. Curious? Check out the release notes at the source, or if you’re willing to tread those risky beta waters, just download it right now from Google Play.

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Source: Mozilla Blog, Firefox Beta (Google Play), Firefox Beta mobile notes

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iOS 6.1.3 Beta 2 Patches evasi0n Jailbreak

hypnosec writes “Apple released iOS 6.1.3 beta 2 to developers, patching at least one of the vulnerabilities used by evasi0n thereby rendering the jailbreak tool useless — the time zone settings vulnerability. David Wang aka @planetbeing, has confirmed that iOS 6.1.3 beta 2 does patch one of the vulnerabilities that they exploited in their evasi0n tool.”

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Slashdot

Apple releases iOS 6.1.3 beta with passcode bug fix in tow

Available for developers, the new beta is designed to resolve a flaw that allows someone to bypass the lock screen. [Read more]


CNET News

Ten Days After Private Beta Launch, Snapchat Officially Brings Video To Android

snapandroidIt was just ten days ago that Snapchat launched a private beta version of its Android app, updated to include the video capture feature we’ve come to enjoy on iOS.

Today, however, the company has turned it around, making the Snapchat with video application officially available in theGoogle Play</a. Store. Co-founder Evan Spiegel mentioned to us earlier in the month that developing Snapchat for Android can be difficult, since Snapchat's video feature needs to be compatible across a number of different processors, screen sizes, etc.
TechCrunch

Belkin releases WeMo beta app for Galaxy S III, devices with ICS or higher

Belkin releases WeMo beta app for Galaxy S III, devices with ICS or higher

Word of an Android app for Belkin’s line of WeMo home automation hardware came amid a flurry of CES news, and now the application has rolled onto Google Play in beta form just over a month later. The app is specifically tested for the Galaxy S III, but handsets toting Ice Cream Sandwich or higher will be able to take it for a spin. By wielding the application, users can control WeMo devices over WiFi and cellular networks, configure custom icons, tweak names, take care of local firmware updates and hook things up with IFTTT. Remote firmware updates, support content and WeMo rules have yet to be baked into the software, however. Belkin is hoping guinea pigs will report bugs, but can’t guarantee they’ll be fixed in the short term. Currently, the outfit says issues regarding poor signal strength and app crashes are on its radar. Looking forward to the polished, growing pain-free product? The final app is expected to arrive around the summertime.

[Thanks, Matt]

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Source: Google Play

Engadget

Free Ride Will Soon Be Over For Google Compute Engine Limited Preview Beta Users

Google Compute Engine-1Google Compute Engine Limited Preview beta customers who want to continue using the cloud service will have to fork over their credit-card numbers after receiving emails announcing the March 1 end of their free trials.
TechCrunch

SimCity hosting another closed beta on February 16

EA and Maxis are gearing up for another closed beta for their upcoming SimCity reboot. The companies hosted the first closed beta late last month, and now they’re going for a second round. The beta will begin at 9 am ET on Saturday, February 16 and will run until 9 am ET on Sunday, February

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Tesla releases beta Tesla Model S app in the Play Store

Tesla has released a beta version of its Tesla Model S app for Android in the Google Play Store. With this app, Model S owners can communicate with their vehicles via their mobile unit no matter where they are located, doing such things as checking out its charge status or warming it up on a

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Tesla Model S app hits Android in beta

Tesla Model S app hits Android in beta

Sending commands to a Tesla Model S via a native smartphone app is already old hat for iPhone users who have one of Musk and Co.’s electric chariots, but Android users are just now getting their first crack at a dedicated app. Google Play has finally been graced with a beta version of the software, packing the look and features of its iOS counterpart. Armed with the application, Model S owners can remotely control charging, keep tabs on the car’s battery level, adjust the cabin’s climate, find and track the auto on a map, trigger door locks and more. Regarding bugs in the beta, Tesla warns that some UI glitches are on its radar. Jab the bordering source link for the download.

[Thanks, Jarrod]

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Source: Google Play

Engadget

Pod2g Confirms IOS 6, IOS 6.1 Beta 4 Untethered Jailbreak

hypnosec writes “Well known iOS security researcher Pod2g has confirmed that a working untethered iOS 6 jailbreak is ready and would be released as soon as iOS 6.1 GM is released. In an interview with iDigitalTimes, the security researcher has revealed that they are already in possession of a functional untethered iOS 6 and iOS 6.1 beta 4 jailbreak and majority of the work has been done by @planetbeing and @pimskeks. “6.0 is jailbroken, 6.1 beta 4 also. Now we are waiting 6.1 to confirm and release,” said the researcher. He said that the jailbreak would have been possible without him as he came into the iOS 6 jailbreak scene at a later stage and provided pointers that pushed the other researchers to the maximum.”

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Slashdot

HDHomeRun Prime beta update for DLNA streaming is live

HDHomeRun Prime update to DLNA starts beta

Got your HDHomeRun Prime, your favorite DLNA client and an itch to watch some premium HD cable TV? Well, then it’s time to head over to the beta forum, download the latest firmware then register as a tester. Those of you lucky enough to have a nice TV provider that doesn’t lock everything down with Copy Once flags will be able to watch live TV on just about any DLNA playback device that supports MPEG2. Those not so lucky will need a PS3 or a 2012 Samsung HDTV, without which this little gem ain’t going to do you much good. Sadly, this exclusive to the HDHomeRun Prime because its the only one with the hardware to support DLNA, but the new tuners due this spring will allow DLNA access of ATSC, QAM and DVB sources — as well as allow playback on Media Players that only support h.264. The usefulness of this is still pretty limited while we wait for the rest of SiliconDust’s Project:Connect to come together, but we don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t join in on the fun.

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Source: Project:Connect beta forum

Engadget

Ibex Virtual Reality Desktop Beta For Mac Released

New submitter Hesh writes “Ibex, the first cross-platform VR desktop of its kind, was previously released for Linux, and has finally been updated to work on Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Running at a silky smooth 60fps, it is nearing final release and awaiting delivery of the developer Oculus Rift kits for final integration testing. A Windows version may be released in time. The source can be found on bitbucket for the Linux version and iPhone orientation sensor client while the Mac source is to follow soon at the same location.”

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Slashdot

Redbox Instant tipped to exit beta in March

If you are excited at the thought of another streaming video service available to battle against Netflix and Hulu, you may already be familiar with the beta for Redbox Instant. Redbox is the kiosk DVD rental service that you can find just about every Walmart location in the country and a lot of other places

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Synology lauches DSM 4.2 beta at CES 2103

Synology announces at CES 2013 the beta of the next upgrade to its advanced and robust operating system for NAS server, the DSM (DiskStation Manager) version 4.2. [Read more]


CNET News

BlueStacks for Mac quietly moves to beta

Mac users are now one step closer to running Android apps on their computers. [Read more]


CNET News

BlueStacks beta for Mac brings 750,000+ Android apps to OS X

Android app player BlueStacks has launched for Mac, with a new beta allowing OS X users to run software intended for Android phones and tablets on their iMac, MacBook Pro, or other Apple kit. The freshly released beta – which follows a similar Windows version released earlier this year - means more than 750,000 Android titles

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Dropbox beta lets Android photographers share, organize photos in bulk

Dropbox beta lets Android photographers share, organize photos in bulk

If you hadn’t noticed, Dropbox is on a major photography kick lately, and it’s not stopping just because the holidays are nearly in full swing. Its new Android beta helps users deal with their photos by the bushel, either sharing or scrapping multiple photos at once as well as organize them into photos. Anyone less than photographically inclined will still see a few interface tweaks that partly mirror the earlier iOS updates, as well as a new option to receive betas as soon as they’re posted. There’s inherent risks to using unfinished code, so take that into account before getting involved; it’s still hard to resist when Dropbox has been handing out free storage to Android device buyers like candy.

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Via: Android Police

Source: Dropbox Forums

Engadget

NimbleTV beta goes live in New York City for a chosen few, streams paid TV anywhere they are

NimbleTV beta goes live in New York City for the chosen few, streams paid TV to wherever they are

Online video startup NimbleTV told us that service was just months away, and it’s acting on that promise with the official launch of its private beta. The 250-plus New York City residents let into the beta will have the option to stream cable, satellite or other paid TV services to virtually any device with a modern web browser and a good broadband connection. Regular service could be available in the first quarter of 2013 at an estimated $ 20 per month, although this doesn’t include the TV programming in question: NimbleTV’s business model requires subscribing to traditional service that the company sets up on the customer’s behalf. This is also presuming the provider doesn’t encounter any legal obstacles. The fledgling firm lets customers sign up for service outside of their actual region, which could dodge around blackout policies on sports and other shows. If Aereo upset broadcasters by streaming local, over-the-air TV, an even more adventurous company could wind up in the same boat.

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Via: The Verge

Source: NimbleTV

Engadget

Rent.com Is Beta Testing A Mobile-Friendly Redesign

rentRent.com is making a big step into the mobile world with the beta launch of its redesigned website, one that uses responsive web design to deliver an experience that’s usable on desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

Head of Product Amanda McConnell and Chief Technology Officer Alain Avakian gave me a preview of the redesign last week. It’s very clean, with big images and text, and if you’re looking at it on a smartphone, the page elements that won’t fit on the narrower screen just slide down, forming a more column-style layout.
TechCrunch

Valve opens Steam for Linux beta, asks users to track bugs via GitHub

Valve opens Steam for Linux beta, asks users to track bugs via GitHub

Not “experienced” enough to qualify for Valve’s first Steam for Linux beta? That’s okay — patience pays off. Poised as an early Christmas present, Valve has opened Steam’s Linux beta to all users. The team is tweaking how it handles buck reports too, eschewing the existing forum-based system for a public GitHub repository — though the Linux forums will remain open for community discussion. New and updating beta testers will be treated to a few minor fixes — correcting excessive CPU usage from the client while running Team Fortress 2 and adding a few needed details to the Linux variant of Big Picture mode. With just under 40 games working on the Penguin-suited OS, Newell’s Windows 8 alternative is starting to gain ground. It’s going to be interesting to see where it goes.

[Thanks, Devon]

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Source: Steam Community

Engadget

Steam For Linux Is Now an Open Beta

First time accepted submitter jotaass writes “In news that are guaranteed to make the Linux gaming community (in particular, but not exclusively) excited, Valve has just announced that the Steam for Linux client Beta is now open to the public. A .deb package is available here. Interesting as well, they are using an empty GitHub repository solely as an issue tracker, open for anyone to submit, edit and track bugs, with no actual code in the repo.”

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Slashdot

Ceton brings major Echo WMC Extender update out of beta, fixes 1080i and more

Ceton brings major Echo WMC Extender update out of beta, fixes 1080i and more

We’ve been eagerly tracking Ceton’s Echo Windows Media Center Extender since its debut at CES, however as we noted in our review, at launch its appeal was held back by some bugs. The team over there responded to the issues by extending the warranty and return period, and today announced that a patch fixing our biggest issue — 1080i video playback — is available to all users. We’ve been checking out the update in beta and can confirm it works (check out this week’s Engadget HD Podcast for more details), and also brings other changes. Those include a new native resolution mode if you’d rather let your TV or other device do the video processing, fully functional Echo settings webpage plus fixes for aspect ratios, color space, green screen issues and much more. Owners can get all the info and find out how to grab the update at the source link — if you’d like to be in the beta group (no new info on that Android update, yet), you can join just by choosing it in settings.

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Source: Ceton

Engadget

MediaPortal 1.3 hits beta, scores new Titan UI, preliminary Windows 8 support

MediaPortal hits 1.3 Beta, scores new Titan UI, preliminary Windows 8 support

After simmering in its second alpha stage for roughly two weeks, MediaPortal 1.3 has hit the beta phase with a trio of newly-minted looks. The Titan skin spruces up the open source media player’s interface with fresh visuals designed for folks with 1080p 16:9 displays. If you’re worried about the new look harshing your plugin mellow, the Titan Extended option already plays nice with a handful of add-ons: OnlineVideos, MovingPictures, MP-TvSeries, My Films, Fanart Handler, Latest Media Handler, Trakt, InfoService and the Extensions plugin. Those who’d rather not make the leap to the brand-spanking-new skin can take advantage of refreshed Default and DefaultWide themes instead. In addition to the new coat of paint, the Beta adds preliminary support for Windows 8, which is scheduled to mature in the final version. Thanks to Last.fm’s about face on free API access, the music service’s plugin has been nixed, but it might return for Last.fm subscribers. For the full changelog and instructions on migrating to the latest test release, hit the bordering source link.

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Source: MediaPortal

Engadget

Microsoft launches Socl into Beta, brings the part(ies) to social networking

Microsoft launches Socl into Beta, throws its federa into the social networking ring

Microsoft has unleashed Socl into beta for all comers to probe, bringing it out of the experimental stages and a step closer to a full-fledged site. We first heard about the project back in July when it was dubbed Tulalip, and MS Research’s Fuse Labs officially launched it internally and into some universities back in October last year. The site carries the Windows 8 tile-like look, and Fuse says that imagery is emphasized over “blue links” for search, helping democratize the site “even for people who speak different languages.” That lets you find others via posts, a people gallery, or someone’s page — where new posts, people and interests can be viewed all at once. A nav bar allows articles to be created by topics like web, videos or news, and users can create “parties,” where they can chat, create playlists or watch videos with others in a similar fashion to Google Hangouts. The project was coded using Redmond’s Java-hued Typescript to allow for rapid coding changes, according to Fuse’s blog in the source below. To try it out for yourself, check the “more coverage” link.

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Via: Techmeme

Source: Microsoft Research FuseLabs

Engadget

Redbox Instant debut delayed, Verizon CEO targets January for beta testing

Redbox Instant debut delayed, Verizon CEO targets January for beta testing

Although leaked details of the new Redbox Instant service suggested a launch date within the next couple of weeks, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam (Verizon’s is Redbox’s partner in “Project Zoetrope”) told investors today that it would launch commercially in Q1 2013. The Hollywood Reporter and Variety indicated his comments came during the UBS Global Media and Communications conference, where he indicated the beta testing we’d heard would start this month, will actually open up in early January. Word of a $ 6 per month unlimited streaming subscription plan that could be upgraded to include four kiosk DVD rentals for just $ 2 more, with apps for Android, iOS, Samsung and Xbox 360 had us more interested than ever in this competitor for Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, but it looks like it will be just a little longer before we get to try it out for ourselves.

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety

Engadget

Amazon takes Maps API out of beta, cautiously steps out of Google’s shadow

If Amazon has its way, Google Maps on your Kindle Fire won’t be the default option for much longer. Back in September, the online retail giant introduced a beta version of its Amazon Maps API to see if it could go the Apple route by fleshing out its own maps platform. Now it’s ready to take the API out of beta after several months of testing and a lot of developer interest — Hipmunk, Evernote, Trulia and Zillow have already integrated it into their Kindle Fire apps. The API currently features interactive maps and customized overlays, and is now a part of the Amazon Mobile App SDK. It’s early days yet for the mapping service and we’re sure it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of the one from Mountain View, but this does mean a further step toward differentiation from the Big Goog. Let’s just hope this turns out better than iOS6 Maps and no one comes to regret it.

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Source: Amazon Mobile App Distribution Blog

Engadget

MediaPortal posts 2.0 alpha media hub and new remote apps, teases 1.3 beta with Titan

MediaPortal posts 20 alpha and new remotes, teases 13 beta with Titan

Home theater PC owners only just recovering from their turkey or tofu comas will have some updating to do — MediaPortal has been busy. The experimenters among us will most likely want to jump straight into the promised MediaPortal 2.0 Alpha Autumn, which carries new visual layouts and video backgrounds, a news plug-in and a party-friendly music player. New versions of remote tools like aMPdroid, MPExtended, WebMediaPortal and WifiRemote bring their own slew of upgrades, such as HTTP Live Streaming in MPExtended or a “what’s new” interface in aMPdroid. We’ll readily admit that our eye is most drawn to the yet-to-be-launched MediaPortal 1.3 beta’s addition of the Titan skin you see up above: going beyond what we saw in October, the extra-polished look goes a long way towards accommodating newcomers and the style-conscious. We’re still waiting on publicly accessible 1.3 beta code, but everything else is waiting for open-source media hubs at the included links.

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Via: Missing Remote

Source: MediaPortal (1), (2), (3)

Engadget

Social Discovery Platform At The Pool Emerges From Beta With Funding, A Redesign & Users In 50 Countries

Logo500Back in July, we introduced you to At The Pool, a Los Angeles-based startup that thinks you could use some new people in your life. Said another way, the company is social discovery network that aims to be the anti-Facebook (and anti-Twitter for that matter). Rather than connecting you to people you already know, At The Pool is on a mission to introduce you to people you’ve never met before, offline, taking the potential awkwardness out of the equation by matching you based on your interests.
TechCrunch

Firefox 17 heads out of beta, officially drops support for OS X 10.5

Firefox 17 heads out of beta, officially drops support for OS X 105

We’ve just seen an update to Firefox for Android, but that’s not the only revision that Mozilla has had in the works. Today also sees the release of version 17 of the desktop browser, which brings with it a number of changes and one noticeable omission. The latter is a lack of support for Mac OS X 10.5 (a.k.a. Leopard), which Mozilla first announced last month — those on Leopard can of course continue to use Firefox 16, they just won’t receive any updates. Otherwise, you can expect a new “Awesome Bar” with larger icons, more than 20 promised performance improvements and a new click-to-play functionality for dealing with outdated or potentially vulnerable plug-ins. Also receive the bump to version 17 is the Extended Support Release (or ESR) version of the browser, which disables the automatic updating to cause less headaches for those dealing with mass deployments. You can find the full change log at the source link below.

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Via: WinBeta

Source: Mozilla

Engadget