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Windows 10 test uses Cortana's voice search to sift through your files
“Hey Cortana, opening marketing deck,” and “Hey Cortana, open budget Excel from Anthony” are two examples, along with ‘find recent files” to pop up the last few items you’ve accessed.
Photoshop for Apple’s M1 Macs is available in beta
Adobe has released the first beta release of Photoshop for Apple Silicon.
Steam Playtest makes it much easier to beta test PC games
Steam has served as a digital game store on PC for many years, but managing test groups, demos and reviews has generally relied on a system of demos and key distribution that leaves plenty of holes for scammers and other bad actors. Now Valve has launched Steam Playtest, so that developers can invite people and control access directly via the Steam store page for their game. Valve writes that this isn’t meant to replace Early Access beta testing, and can even be used alongside it, but unlike Early Access, this feature is free to use for developers and customers and doesn’t support sales.
Microsoft is putting Skype's seamless 'Meet Now' calls in the taskbar
In the pandemic, video calling has exploded but one of the original names in the space has been slow to capitalize. While Zoom is now a household name, Skype is not seeing the same bump in reputation and use. Microsoft’s internet calling service tried to rectify that earlier this year by activating Meet Now, a Zoom-like feature that lets hosts set up and share a free meeting with just three clicks — no one has to install anything or sign up for an account.
Microsoft tests a Windows 10 setup screen that asks how you'll use your PC
The Windows 10 setup experience could customize the initial settings for gamers, families or creatives.
Microsoft starts taking 'Flight Simulator' VR beta sign-ups
Microsoft and Asobo have started taking sign-ups for a closed 'Flight Simulator' VR beta test.
‘Apex Legends’ cross-play beta arrives on October 6th
'Apex Legends' cross-platform play arrives in beta form on October 6th.
Apple's latest iOS 14.2 beta adds a built-in control for Shazam
Apple's testing a new Control Center toggle for Shazam in iOS 14.
Edison's new email service lets you block senders before they hit your inbox
Edison Software, the company behind the popular Edison email app (that recently had a serious bug) has unveiled a new privacy-focused email app called Onmail.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can try xCloud in beta today
Ahead of the September 15th launch, Microsoft is releasing its game streaming service xCloud for Android in beta today at 9AM. Right now it’s only available in preview form for Xbox Insiders, but today, any Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to access the beta version of the Android app from Google’s Play Store.
The macOS Big Sur public beta is now available
You can try out big updates to Messages, Maps, Safari and more.
Google is beta testing a new emoji shortcut bar for Android
The new feature will let you quickly tack on ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ to try and make up for ruining a persons day. Or drop a when it's time for another Zoom happy hour, without having to open a separate emoji keyboard. Sure, it might sound minor, but considering just how reliant we've become on picture-based communication, any shortcut is a huge help.
'Hyper Scape' open beta is available on PC today
Ubisoft's battle royale shooter 'Hyper Scape' is now in open beta on PC.
Microsoft simplifies its Windows Insider testing program
Windows Insiders can now choose between Channels instead of rings.
Android 11 beta is now available for OnePlus 8 devices
The first non-Pixel phone that can try out the beta version of Android 11 is the OnePlus 8 -- but you'll have to erase all of your data to install it.
Dropbox is testing a password manager
Dropbox has started beta testing a minimalist password manager on Android called Dropbox Passwords.
The Android 11 beta launch event has been postponed
Google's launch of the Android 11 beta has been pushed back again.
You can now use your Canon camera as a Mac webcam
Canon recently unveiled a utility that lets you use many of its cameras as webcams, but to the disappointment of locked down Mac users, it only worked on Windows. The company has now rectified that omission with the release of the EOS Webcam Utility Beta on macOS.
Facebook's latest experiment is a collaborative music video creation app
Collab allows you to record a segment of original music and then add other community-created clips to create a song.
Valve starts inviting players to 'Artifact' Beta 2.0
The company released a signup page to Artifact Beta 2.0 on Friday, tweeting that everyone is welcome to sign up, though players of the original game will get priority. Over a year ago, Valve released Artifact, which was heralded as the company’s answer to Blizzard’s Hearthstone.