betachannel
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Pocket invites you to try beta features, starting with recommendations
On the heels of last month's collaboration with Mozilla, Pocket has even more tools for you to try. In fact, the save-it-for-later repository wants you to test new features before they officially arrive in the app or on the web. Pocket's Beta Channel will give you a look at what the company has been working on and the chance to offer feedback. The program is available for Android, iOS and web versions of the software and there's already a new feature to put through its paces. First up for eager testers: recommendations. The tool puts a second feed next to the list of items you've chosen to stash, pulling in "top content from the billions of items saved to Pocket." The app then makes selections for you based on your reading habits so that the chances of you missing something good are drastically reduced. Recommendations is just the first feature that's coming to beta testers, so if you opt in, expect to see more new items soon.
Google Chrome launches new Beta Channel for Android
Google's announced a new Chrome Beta channel for its phone and tablet iteration. Google's desktop browser (on Mac Windows, Linux and Chrome OS) already has early access channels to new (and sometimes unstable) builds and now it's going mobile. Google promises updates, likely just as regular as the big screen version, and it'll be compatible with any Android device running version 4.0 or higher. Point your browser to the second source to sign up to the new dev channel.
Netflix plugin for ChromeOS hits v1.0.2, is an official release around the corner?
When Google Chromebooks started arriving without the Netflix streaming we'd been promised we were predictably bummed, but that may be rectified soon. While Chromebook owners attuned to beta channel updates first noticed an entry for a Netflix plugin last month, it still couldn't actually play movies and didn't appear on older, single-core Atom powered Cr-48 laptops. Fast forward to the present, where one of our friendly comment moderators, masterofrandom has spotted this updated v1.0.2 plugin lurking in the depths of his murdered out 12-incher. There's still no playback to be had, but we're figuring Netflix didn't update the version number past 1.0 because it's finally figured out the perfect queue management system. Chromebook owners or prospective owners (and by extension, Linux users) still awaiting Watch Instantly streaming -- your alert level is at Vermilion. [Thanks, masterofrandom]
