Yahoo's alpha beta

Yahoo just rolled out a new search engine called alpha that is currently in beta. This story probably would not be mentioned here unless the name of the new service: alpha beta - that is surpisingly similar to this blog's name: alpha beta 3.

Sign up for GameTap's Beta Test

"AOL is seeking beta testers for TimeWarner's GameTap network, which provides on-demand access to games of old such as Asteroids and Zork. The service frequently adds new features such as customizable controller mappings, and needs a team of testers to provide feedback." [via BetaNews]





To apply, visit GameTap's beta site and use the password: CoralSea. Fill out GameTap's beta application with as much detail as possible. Not everyone who applies will be accepted, and your answers will be used to determine your qualifications for beta testing.

Goggle Desktop on Mac

Today Google released Google Desktop for Mac users. The long waited release is in beta and is available for download for you, Mac owner.

More Mac stuff from Macs inside Google Blog.

Box.net needs beta testers

Box.net provides secure online file storage and sharing functionality, serving files to millions of people around the world. Box.net's unique platform allows personal and commercial content to be accessible, sharable, and storable in any format from anywhere.

"We’re about to launch an all new Box widget that has many additional Professional and media-friendly features. We’d really like some help beta testing the feature - it shouldn’t take much time, and could be a lot of fun." [via Box.net Blog]

Here’s the ideal beta tester for them:

1. Has their own website or blog
2. Uses Box to distribute files to 10+ people regularly (can be family, friends, colleagues) or, uses Box to collaborate with a group of people
3. Willing to be quoted in Box literature

If you’d like to help test their product, just send an email to aaron@box.net

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.