Serving as more proof that Microsoft isn't ready to put its Xbox 360 console out to pasture in favor of its unannounced but oft rumored Durango (Xbox 720) refresh, the Redmond software giant has put the call out for volunteers to test the next version of Xbox Live on the 360. This is the second time in two months that Microsoft has gone in search of beta testers, and though space is limited, the company said it's accepting "far more beta testers this time around."
Back in May, Canonical announced that shipments of PCs with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed were expected to crack 5 percent of the overall PC market this year. Part of that figure comes from the company's collaboration with Dell on "Sputnik," a project that slaps a developer-friendly, Dell XPS 13-optimized version of Ubuntu on -- you guessed it -- a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook, complete with all the driver kinks worked out. That project isn't quite ready for the mainstream yet, but Dell recently rolled out a sign-up sheet for developers who want to get in on Linux-licious Sputnik beta testing.
Nuance Communications, a major player in voice recognition software (think Dragon NaturallySpeaking) and the driving force behind Apple's Siri voice assistant, is making the most out of its Swype acquisition, which it purchased in October 2011 for more than $100 million. The latest Swype build, available now in beta form, is a four-in-one keyboard Nuance describes as "a revolutionary step forward in the way people communicate and input text on their mobile device."
Nvidia's rolled out its latest iteration of beta drivers, and these looks like a must-have for GTX 600-series owners. In addition to the usual performance tweaks and added SLI and 3D Vision profiles for GTX 400, 500 and 600-series cards, the GeForce 304.48 beta drivers pack in fixes for some troublesome problems that have been irking GeForce GTX 600 adopters.
The latest Firefox beta contains a feature that has been on the Mozilla support team’s to-do list for, well, “forever.” The “Reset Firefox” option is intended to help users avoid troubleshooting headaches and will be particularly handy when nothing else seems to work. What’s more, you can reset the browser without sacrificing your personal data with this one-click option. Hit the jump to find out how.
Attention would-be witch doctors and wizards: it's time to reschedule whatever you had planned for the weekend. Homework, quality time with your significant other and bleaching your grandma's teeth all take a backseat to your new to-list entry -- blasting demons and devils in Diablo III. Last night, Blizzard announced that the game would be free for all this weekend as part of a stress-testing open beta. Actually, you can start swinging your swords any minute now.
Depending on whose market share numbers you believe, Google Chrome is the second or third most popular browser on the desktop, by a hair either way. Now you can download Chrome on your Android smartphone or tablet, but only if you're running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It's available as a beta app in the Android Market, and just like the desktop version, Google said it focused on speed and simplicity.
Mozilla's rapid release schedule for its Firefox browser means there's always a new version just around the corner. To wit, almost immediately after rolling out Firefox 10 to the masses, Mozilla has made available the first build of Firefox 11 on its Beta channel. Firefox 11 makes it easier than ever to switch from Chrome, and if that's what you want to do, Mozilla's latest build will happily migrate your bookmarks, history, and cookies over from Google's browser.
Dropbox has a lot of things going for it, but if you use the cloud storage service with any regularity, there's a good chance you'll bang up against the 2GB offered in the free version fairly quickly. (Assuming that you don't Gmail account chain trick outlined in our Dropbox Cheat Sheet, that is.) If you're chafing at your no-cost bonds, the service is giving you an opportunity to add up to another 5GB of space absolutely free -- if you're willing to be a guinea pig, that is.
You're not a rookie on the Internet anymore so it's inexcusable to lock down your online accounts with weaksauce passwords. We're sure your girlfriend's fly, but using her name as a password is a poor security practice, and so is using any of the commonly recognized passwords out there, like 123456 and iloveyou, to name just two. If you're serious about security, you're using multiple passwords that are difficult to guess, which can also be difficult to remember. Symantec wants to help.
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