CrossReader

CrossReader is still in closed beta, but it is a promising content discovery tool for tablet and mobile devices. It can find relevant content for the page you currently reading, suggest in a non intrusive manner and allow to preview it.

You can watch their introduction video here.

They are funded by JVP Media and started with their idea 2 years ago.

Let's hope they will be out of private beta soon.

Opera Mini Beta - new Dimension

Opera is getting ready new beta for their Opera Mini, and you can be notified by email or on your IM when it is ready.

"Be the first to look at the next generation of Opera Mini, code-named Dimension! Sign up to receive an alert when the beta is ready for the world. You can leave your email address or one of your usernames for an instant messaging client.

People like you are actively shaping the Web and that's why it's so important for us to collect and act on your feedback." [via Opera Mini]

Deepfish for a try

Microsoft just released a limited public preview of Deepfish.

"Deepfish is a new type of mobile information browsing experience, aimed at preserving the rich layout and full form of documents on mobile devices while providing novel ways of effectively navigating that content on small screens. Deepfish's unique interface enables you to zoom in and out of page, quickly getting to the areas you are interested in without screen length after screen length of scrolling. And because the layout is preserved, navigation menus, lists of search results or news headlines, and other elements that might have been bent so thoroughly to fit the usual single column layout that they were no longer legible can now be browsed simply and easily. A consequence of Deepfish's multi-resolution approach to browsing pages is that it loads a thumbnail of pages initially and then only what is needed for more detail when requested or in the background as you browse the initial the view, resulting in substantially quicker load times for most pages." [via Microsoft Live Labs]

To really understand what they are talking about check the demo.

The preview is available for download now for Windows Mobile 5.0+ devices. There are a limited number of slots available, and they will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis.

System requirements:

• Device: Windows Mobile Smart Phone or Pocket PC.
• Operating System: Windows Mobile 5.0+
• Internet connection: Required.
• For Desktop setup: NET Framework 2.0, ActiveSync 4.0+ or Windows Mobile Device Center(WMDC) for Vista.
• Minimum Device Memory: 64MB Program Memory. Deepfish supports external storage when available.

Register and give it a try. They are waiting for your feedback.

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.

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.

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.

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.