Opera 9.2 Beta

Opera 9.2 Beta was released today (March 28, 2007).

"Here's your first look at Speed Dial, a brand new way to get to your favorite sites. Speed Dial opens in any blank tab to give you immediate access to your favorite sites." [via Opera Labs]



Other related news: "Adobe has announced Creative Suite 3 where Opera is used by several components as a rendering engine". [via Opera Desktop Team]

Read the changelog and download a copy to test.

Skype 3.2 beta for Windows

Skype 3.2 beta for Windows is available from today. If you’re adventurous and an experienced Skype user, download now.

Here are the most significant changes in this version.

Send Money with PayPal

You may have heard Niklas talking about this just last week at the VON conference down in San Jose. We have also referred to this feature previously. And now it’s finally out as part of this beta.

It’s very easy to use. Both the sender and receiver just need to have a PayPal account. The receiver may also create the account later after you have already sent the money.

This feature is subject to PayPal limitations — you need to be in countries where Paypal supports respectively sending or receiving money. If you use it to send money to someone who cannot receive it, the funds are returned to your account or credit card, so it’s fine and no money is lost.

See our user guide for more information about how exactly to use this feature.

You may also say that Skype is now your PayPal contact list. PayPal itself didn’t have a contact list feature. And now all your PayPal send/receive transactions can happen right within Skype.

Video snapshot

Do you have a webcam and you thought it would be great to shoot your profile picture with it? So that even if you didn’t use video, people could still see you. Previously, you needed to use some other program for this and shoot the picture and move files around and resize and crop and save in different formats and do all these many little things until you finally got your picture to Skype.

So we thought… why not have this capability right within Skype itself? Now you can take your picture with your webcam and use it as My Picture in Skype, saving all this trouble. Just click “Personalise”, “Change your Picture” and “Take video snapshot”. After you shoot the picture, you can resize it and select a part of it that you wish to use. See the user guide for more info and instructions.

Easier account access

If you use our paid products, you may have some Skype Credit, Skype Voicemail and one or more SkypeIn numbers. You may have made several purchases and called various numbers with SkypeOut. From time to time, you may want to review your history or even buy new things. You previously needed to go to Your Account on the web to do all this. While you can still do it this way, there’s an easier method now available. Just click the “View Account” button in Skype and see all the essential information right in Skype. You can then do more transactions right within Skype, or when necessary, we will automatically take you to the relevant part of our website or shop.

Import contacts from more sources

Not everyone is on Skype yet — but you can help them get to it. We had Import Contacts previously available, but it could only import from Outlook and Outlook Express before. In this version, we have added support for importing from Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail. You will need to enter your account info for importing the contacts.

Importing contacts may help you find out that your friends are already on Skype, just not in your contacts yet. When the importer has downloaded your contacts from the various sites, it does an intelligent search on the Skype network to see if these people are already on Skype. They often are, and so you don’t need to pursue them to download Skype or anything — you can just add them to your contacts right away. But if they are not on Skype yet, you can send them an e-mail to invite them to Skype straight from Import contacts wizard.

If you’re an experienced user and want to try out Skype 3.2 beta now, download it here. See also this page for information about how to report bugs and give us feedback.

[via Skype Share]

Fusion Beta Program

Fusion is a code name for VMware Desktop Virtualization for Mac and recently entered second beta.

"VMware's desktop virtualization for the Mac, codename Fusion, allows you to run any PC application on your Intel-based Mac. Fusion's Cocoa-native user interface is designed from the ground up to make running Windows or other x86 operating systems side-by-side with Mac OS X simple and painless."

What's new in Beta 2

Experimental 3D graphics: The rumors are true! You can now play select DirectX 8.1 games in a Windows XP virtual machine. See the release notes for details.

Rollback: Take a snapshot of your virtual machine configured just the way you like it, so you can quickly roll back to that ideal state whenever you need to, with a single click.

Run Microsoft Vista on your Mac: Want to run Vista on your Mac? Run Vista Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate 32-bit or 64-bit editions side-by-side with Mac OS X.

Improved networking support: Full support for AirPort networking with seamless switching between wired and AirPort/Wi-Fi connections.

Improved ability to add virtual hardware: Add virtual hard drives for more storage capacity, add up to ten virtual network interfaces to support private and public networks, and keep an eye on your laptop's battery level from inside your virtual machines.

Beta 2 also includes scores of improvements that make it faster, more reliable, and easier to use. See the release notes for more details.

If you are a Mac owner, you can download and try Fusion Beta 2.

JAJAH Dynamic Buttons - private beta

JAJAH is a new type of phone company. Like Skype they provide free or very cheap phone calls, but they do this with your current landline or cellular phone.

JAJAH's new service is Dynamic Buttons.
With JAJAH Dynamic Buttons you can finally receive calls, text messages, voice messages and emails without revealing any personal data.


The key benefits:

• Your phone numbers and Emails address are not visible tp anyone. If you change number or location all your buttons aimply auto-update.
• You can dynamically set your availability for each channel (call, voice mail, text message, Email)
• You can create multiple buttons that behave differently to perfectly fit your needs in a specific situation.
• You can spread your JAJAH Dynamic Buttons not only by placing HTML code snippets but also by using a specific URL that leads directly to the respective button.

They are currently signing beta testers, so join the private beta or sign in to get free phone calls.

Gran Paradiso one more time

Only a week ago I have posted about Firefox 3, and a new alpha verion has just emerged.

Some of the new features in Gran Paradiso Alpha 3:

• Support for animated PNG (APNG)
• Support for <link rel="offline-resource">, that will allow offline browsing

Read the full release notes and get your self Firefox 3 Alpha.

Intype: Code editor in alpha stage

Intype, a TextMate inspired code editor for Windows (recently successful run under Wine on Linux).

Intype is still in early development and marked as alpha, but already looks great and has enough functions to make one using it.

The guys behind Intype state that the program will not be free, but I hope that beta testers will receive some "bonus". A lot discussion is in the forums about found bugs and feature requests, and looking at the Offtopic forum reveals a community of dedicated users/testers.

The responses for found bugs and feature requests are quick and to the point. Updates released frequently, and the program is pretty stable - juts try it.

Some more video products

First one is Zannel, that is currently in beta. They allow to view an share pictures and videos from mobile phones (wap enabled). The content can be viewed by the community and get voted.

"Create your own channel and broadcast it to friends and audiences everywhere." - sates their site.

Join Zannel beta launch and help to make Zannel into the best mobile sharing community it can be. Your input can make all the difference, so please let them know when you come across something that isn't working quite right. Just use feedback link on their pages to submit bugs.



Another beta is Vlip.

They allow recording your self from their website with a simple webcam and share your "vlip" with the world. Others can reply to you with a their own "vlip", thus making it like an offline video conversation.

You can also embed any vlip in your site (link not working in Firefox, only IE) or just email it. Even the about is a vlip (see below).
Leave them your feedback on this webpage, or use the link on their site if you are using IE (again no luck for Firefox users, like me).

RayV seeks beta testers

RayV is a US based startup, with corporate office in NY and an R&D center in Tel Aviv.


About the company:

"RayV is about changing the way we perceive TV.
We developed proprietary internet protocols forming a generic grid network, enabling anyone to broadcast LIVE TV to an unlimited amount of concurrent viewers at zero cost."

What are they doing:

"RayV is bringing choice to the TV experience.
Just imagine, instead of viewing a news footage of a big network, you could actually watch and listen to people who are living the moment, somewhere in the world. Imagine watching a live football match from the Coach's angle, a live rock concert on the other side of the globe, or even your friend’s wedding you couldn’t attend."

This is a young company that you can join as full time employee, but also as a beta tester. If you want to apply use their online form. You will only be required to enter your name and email, and verify the Captcha.

Firefox 3 and Community Beta Program

Firefox 3 a.k.a Gran Paradiso has moved to alpha 2 and is available for download for testing purposes only, great news for us.


The main changes in Gran Paradiso is the use of Gecko 1.9 engine and Cairo graphics system, and it is finally passes ACID 2 test. It means that Firefox 3 will be a truly new version, comparing to version 2 that was an upgrade to Firefox 1.5. This also means that there will be a lot of bugs and testing Firefox 3 will greatly help it development.

For more Firefox 3 details check this review.

Those who will install and test Firefox 3 should use the report tool for reporting broken websites. In addition general feedback can be sent to mozilla.feedback newsgroup directly or using the form on this webpage.
Mozilla developers encourage testers to turn on Talkback. Talkback reports give them really valuable data on which crashes are the most serious, and how often people are encountering them.
And of course dedicated testers should join the QA team: Mozilla QA has a page dedicated to ways to get involved with helping. You don't have to be technical and being involved is good for people wanting to get more familiar with Mozilla and Firefox to contribute to the project.

And to the second part of the story:

Just opened Firefox Community Beta Program. This program goal is to ensure continued improvement in the quality of Firefox 2.

"During the run up to Firefox 2, we released beta builds and release candidates for wide testing and feedback as part of a community beta program. Anyone who downloaded and installed these pre-release versions of Firefox became part of this beta program and was automatically updated to the Firefox 2 final release.
To ensure continued improvement in the quality of Firefox 2, we are now applying the same program to our security and stability release process for Firefox 2. Starting within the next 24 hours, everyone who participated in the beta process will be offered a pre-release version of the next security and stability update." [via developer.mozilla.org/devnews]

If you are not already part of the commuity beta program, you can check Mozilla Developer News for more information on how to join the program.
If you are and if you aren't, report any problems or issues at Mozilla community feedback web site.

Jetico Personal Firewall 2 beta

Jetico is well known personal firewall manufacture and scores very high in firewall tests. Their firewall is not for the average Joe, but if you always use expert and advanced modes this is your firewall. Being a free product is a big plus too.

Jetico Personal Firewall (JPF) was first released over three years ago and the second version entered public beta just before 6 month. From the number of the releases of the beta and after reading the release notes, it looks now safe to install and test the beta.

Those who decide to test the firewall can use dedicated forums for version 2 to report bugs, get support and use the knowledge base.

Version 2 discontinued the support for Windows 9x/Me, so if you are using Windows XP and above give JPF2 a try test.

ReSharper 3.0 EAP now open

If you are a Microsoft .NET developer, you must heard of ReSharper by JetBrains.

"ReSharper is undoubtedly the most intelligent add-in to Visual Studio 2005.
It comes equipped with a rich set of features that greatly increase the productivity of .NET developers. With ReSharper you get intelligent coding assistance, on-the-fly error highlighting and quick error correction, as well as unmatched support for code refactoring, unit testing, and a whole lot more. All of ReSharper's advanced features are available right from Visual Studio."

Today, JetBrains announced Resharper 3.0 early access program (EAP). EAP is pre-beta, but testing it you can try some of the new features that will come in version 3.0.

Download is available combined with a changelog. New builds announced in a special newsgroup and in a special forum. Discussion related to ReSharper EAP is held in another special newsgroup and forum. Bugs can be vied and submitted online. Registration is required.

Beta test stage of World of Warcraft Armory

World of Warcraft, a well known massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series.

Recently they started beta testing the World of Warcraft Armory.

"The Armory is a vast searchable database of information for World of Warcraft - taken straight from the real servers, updated in real time, and presented in a user-friendly interface. Since the Armory pulls its data from the actual game servers, it is the most comprehensive and up-to-date database on the characters, arena teams, and guilds of World of Warcraft in existence."

The Armory webpage contains a link for sending errors, that will open your default email client with predefined subject and body. There is also a dedicated forum thread that all the feedback and suggestions should be posted there.

Add some fun to beta testing - test World of Warcraft Armory.

Beta testing Opera Software

Opera is a small, but a well know and an excellent web browser maker.

These days Opera concentrates on building web browsers for phones and different devices. Opera powers Nintendo DS , Nintendo Wii and Sony Milo.

Opera has a dedicated site for beta testing. Unfortunately only desktop versions can be beta tested - Windows, Linux and Mac. There are forums and newsgroups for each OS, but only Windows version has a dedicated beta forum and newsgroup. Also the weekly builds are available freely on the Desktop Team blog.

Opera for Nintendo Wii is not beta tested but is available for download from the Wii Shop Channel for 500 Wii points. Final version will be released at the end of the month.

Beta Testing Kaspersky Lab Products

Kaspersky Lab is a well known developer, producer and distributor of information security solutions. Kaspersky Lab provides products that protect information from viruses, hackers and spam for home users and enterprises and offer consulting services and technical support.

From their site:
"Founded in 1997, Kaspersky Lab is an international information security software vendor. Kaspersky Lab is headquartered in Moscow, Russia and has regional offices in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Japan, China, Korea, Romania and the United States. Further expanding the company's reach is its large partner network comprising over 500 companies globally.

Our products are certified by West Coast Labs and regularly receive awards from leading IT publications and testing labs. In 2003 we received the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status for Security Solutions. Kaspersky Lab is also a proud partner of SUSE and Red Hat. Experts from Kaspersky Lab are active in IT associations such as CARO (Computer Antivirus Research Organization) and ICSA (International Computer Security Association)."

Kaspersky Lab has a dedicate page for beta testing http://www.kaspersky.com/beta and also forums for each product that currently in beta testing.

When you register only your Full Name, Company and Email are required. Also you should select whether you want to participate in quality assurance surveys or not.
After filling the form you are sent to their FTP server to grab the beta product installation and the activation key.

Kaspersky Lab doesn't promise any benefits for participants in the beta testing, nor the ability to use the beta product for the infinite time. All the programs in beta stage stage are available for testing. The most popular products are the Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Kaspersky Internet Security.