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Elite: Dangerous beta 2 coming September 30
Those cockpits weren't meant to look fresh off the factory floor forever; it's time to take Elite: Dangerous' ships out for another tour of duty. Frontier announced that beta 2 for Elite: Dangerous will begin on September 30th. This round of testing is being promoted as a great improvement on the last, with combat ratings, reputations, 500 new star systems, and the Lakon Asp Explorer ship added to the mix. The team is still on track for a late 2014 release for the space sim, but in the meanwhile Frontier is giving away free copies of the original Elite as part of the franchise's 30th anniversary celebration. [Source: Frontier press release]
The Crew revs up for second beta test on August 25th
Gas up those cars and wipe down the upholstry, because the second beta test for The Crew is set to begin on August 25th and end on August 29th. Ubisoft promised to hand out more keys for this second round of closed beta testing, saying that players will now be able to register for it through Steam if desired. You can get into the beta by pre-purchasing The Crew prior to the start of this next test, having played the first beta test, or snagging one of the new keys. Ubisoft announced that there will be no NDA for the beta later this month. According to a new infographic, over 237 million miles were driven during the first beta test, in addition to 387,113 police chases and over a million skill challenges attempted. You can view the full infographic after the jump.
Elite: Dangerous prepares for beta 2, official app release
With Elite: Dangerous' first beta test now a thing of the past, it's time for the team to reflect and prepare for the next round of hot plasma space action. In today's newsletter, the team reports that it saw players from 122 countries in beta 1, with 4.2 million light years travelled collectively. The devs are working hard on beta 2, saying, "The key areas of focus for development now is extending the online mission system to deliver a compelling experience, the accessibility of the game for those that haven't been intimately involved in its evolution like our alpha and premium beta backers, and of course vast quantities of new content, polish, and optimizations." In other news, the official app for Elite: Dangerous will be available soon on the iTunes Store with an Android release to follow. Also, players excited for the game can get together at FantastiCon in the UK on August 16th, where Elite will be shown on the Oculus Rift and the team will be there to hobnob with fans.
GamersFirst kicks off APB's second open beta
In case you missed it, APB Reloaded's second beta phase kicked off yesterday. The version 1.5.2 update "contains the biggest changes to missions, matchmaking, skill rating, and district recommendation to date," according to the latest GamersFirst dev blog. Bjorn Book-Larsson has a few words of wisdom for residents of San Paro in terms of 15-minute patching-related disconnects. GamersFirst is working "round-the-clock" to isolate issues and come to terms with bugaboos that don't necessarily crop up prior to a large-scale player influx. The latest Reloaded dev diary also contains detailed info relative to all the matchmaking and threat level changes, as well as a bit about cheating statistics and upcoming Nvidia support. Finally, there's a blurb about future servers, and gamers in Russia, Hong Kong, and Australia can look forward to dedicated shards before long.
iOS 5 beta 2 blocks Gevey SIM Unlock, brings photo album curation to iDevices
It's only been a few days since Apple released iOS 5 beta 2, but we've already received a bevy of tips from developers who've spent some quality time with the update and uncovered a few of its more salient features. Here are some highlights. It looks like Apple has blocked Applenberry's Gevey SIM software, which allowed users to unlock devices running iOS 4.3 or iOS 5 beta 1 without having to jailbreak. (Read) According to Dev Team member MuscleNerd, iOS 5 beta 2 can still be jailbroken using the RedSn0w 0.9.8b1 tethering tool, released earlier this month. (Read) The beta refresh also brings a few tweaks to iOS 5's notifications system. Traditional alerts and reminders now pop up on the lock screen in larger typeface, alongside their appropriate icon. If left unattended, the notifications will eventually be added to the Android-like banner menu, at the top of the lock screen. (Read) Users can now create and curate photo albums directly from their iDevices, though the feature isn't without its quirks. A tipster informs us that photos added to new albums remain in the original collection, as well. If you migrate an image from one album to another and delete the original, both pics will disappear. The next beta release might be issued over the air. When a tipster checked for updates on an iPad running beta 2, he received a "No updates were found" message, suggesting that users may be able to find future refreshes without syncing their devices with iTunes. (Screenshot after the break.) Update: We're hearing from many of you that the gallery functionality was actually a part of beta 1. But, you're encouraged to continue enjoying it here, in beta 2. [Thanks to everyone who sent these in]
Apple releases Xcode 4 GM. Again!
Apple has just posted another GM seed (number 2 if you're keeping count) of Xcode 4. Build 4A304a is ready for you to download, install, use and love. You need to be a paid member of either the iOS or the Mac dev programs to access this build. Now, if Apple would only get around to, you know, releasing Xcode 4..., it would make life ever so much more interesting. Be aware that if you are beta testing Lion, you will need to download and install the separate Lion-specific tools. Xcode 4 GM is built for Snow Leopard. A tip of the developer's cowboy hat to Morgan for telling us about the re-release
iPad camera apps discovered in iOS 4.3 beta, nobody surprised
Oh look, even more evidence that the next generation iPad will be equipped with cameras. The image above showing the three new iPad apps was discovered in the iOS 4.3 beta 2 by MacRumors. To be effective, the iPad's Camera and FaceTime apps would require both back- and front-facing cameras just like the iPhone 4. The Photo Booth app is new to iOS but already ships on Macs running OS X -- it could, presumably, use either camera to record snapshots (with filters) and video. And really, at this point, with such overwhelming evidence the only surprise would be for Apple to announce a new iPad without a camera.
Windows Live Essentials 2011 gets another Beta release, Facebook and Flickr video integration
Just a quick note, true believers: If you've been all over the Windows Live Essentials 2011 Beta that's been making the rounds (and who hasn't?) you might want to keep an eye on those updates. And if you're not? Hit that source link, 'cos Microsoft has done gone and refreshed aforementioned beta, as of 11 am (Pacific time). If you're brave enough to take the leap, you can look forward to: Facebook Chat Integration in Messenger, Bing Maps Geotag integration in Photo Gallery, and Flickr video publishing in Movie Maker, according to the kids at ZDNet. So what are you waiting for? Go, get!
iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 2 busts loose
You've got to be one of the cool kids that shelled out a Benjamin to get into the iPhone Developer Program to get access, but if you're already a card-carrying member, it looks like you've now got a green light to download beta 2 of the iPhone SDK for OS 3.2. We don't know what's new, changed, or removed, but presumably, most of the updates would center around the sundry changes Apple has made to support the iPad in the latest version of its mobile platform -- so drop us a line and let us know what you find, alright?
iPhone OS 3.1 beta 2 released (update: disables tethering, enables AR?)
Unless you have a developer account with Apple, don't bother plugging your iPhone into iTunes -- we promise you're not going to have access to it -- but devs can now get their grubby paws on beta 2 of iPhone OS 3.1. We'll let you know if we see anything crazy, like usable Gmail, true background applications, or a notification UI that doesn't make you want to throw the phone against a very hard surface at high velocity.Update: Looks like Apple has closed the door on hacks that enable tethering in this release -- at least for AT&T according to early reports.Update 2: We've just been informed that beta 2 also introduces what appears to be a public API for manipulating live video. Devs are still testing the capabilities but it could open the door for augmented reality applications like Layar to come to the iPhone 3GS.
Pages and pages of Aion "Beta 2" screenshots available for viewing
The Korean closed beta of Aion has silently moved along to its second stage, and AionSource has been able to share a great wealth of new screenshots with those of us on the outside. The game has always managed to impress with its visual style, and the new screens show off various locations in the sci-fi/fantasy MMO (which runs on Crytek's CryEngine 1, the game engine from the Far Cry series, for those that are interested in that sort of thing).Looking at the pictures, we can't help but be reminded of the previously discussed aerial aspect of the game, with player characters frequently shown well above ground level thanks to their trusty wings -- well, we hope that they're trusty, as we don't want to live in fear of deadly plummeting carcasses. Even still, we're anxious to find out when the rest of the world will get to give Aion a try.
Final beta date revealed for MMORTS Saga
Developer Silverlode Interactive issued a press release revealing the date for the final beta phase of Saga. The MMO real-time-strategy game will open up Beta 2 on December the 11th, with players from Beta 1 being offered places first, and the rest on a first-come first-served basis after signing up.The press release also explains a little about Saga's business model, which will be microtransaction based, with players purchasing 'booster packs' that have new units and spells to use, and a subscription fee will not be charged. We have not covered this game before, so a quick visit to the homepage's FAQ was necessary to learn a bit more. It is basically what you would expect from an MMORTS -- an RTS with a persistent world. The world is based on traditional fantasy (dwarves, elves, spells etc.) and you will be able to trade troops with other players. In-game activities include building armies, cities and kingdoms, taking over new lands, and multiplayer questing.If you want to be considered for this last Beta phase, visit the sign-up page and create your account.[Via IGN]
Beta Beat: Parallels puts beta 2 goodness in stockings
Mere days before the big sleigh ride, Parallels has kicked out Beta 2 of the next Parallels Desktop. This build features improvements to Coherence mode, Boot Camp compatibility, USB2 high-speed support (no audio/video in, but HDs and printers are OK), CD burning, Coherence mode app-docking and hide/show integration... busy busy busy.The beta support forum at Parallels is pages deep with issues and caveats on the first round of the beta, especially with respect to Boot Camp partition support. Apparently the bug that prevented use of FAT32-format volumes has been corrected, but please proceed with caution; you can track issues with the new build on this thread. Owners of the current PD release can use existing activation codes with the beta, and newbies can request a trial key.[via MacTech]
Microsoft releases Windows Vista Beta 2 to public
If you've been wondering what all the fuss was about ever since Microsoft announced a successor to Windows XP back in July of 2001, and weren't up all night downloading beta operating systems like we always seem to be, you might have missed the fact that Microsoft has released the Windows Vista Beta 2 to the public as a free download yesterday. Developers have already been spending some quality time with the build, and it looks like things are finally coming together for Microsoft -- but there are still plenty of compatibility woes, interface oddities, and just plain sluggishness in the OS. Some of the "change for change's sake" has a few reviewers riled up, and Vista is really not recommended for consistent exposure right now. But hey, it's free. There are a limited number of Beta slots, and once they're gone they're gone, so we recommend moseying on over before you miss out on the real deal and have to hit your local torrent tracker. You'll need a DVD burner to create an install disc of Beta 2 and the Release Candidate 1 when it comes out -- signing up for the beta gets you both -- or you can give Microsoft $10 for shipping and production costs and they'll send you the goods in 2 to 4 weeks (by which time they'll surely be readying the release of the next Vista beta build).[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
