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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Chrome Extensions gallery taking shape, landing page now invites devs]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/chrome-extensions-gallery-taking-shape-landing-page-now-invites/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/chrome-extensions-gallery-taking-shape-landing-page-now-invites/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/chrome-extensions-gallery-taking-shape-landing-page-now-invites/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/google/" rel="tag">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img hspace="4" height="262" border="0" width="580" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/chrome-ex-asdfdsf.jpg" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">If you're trying to get an extension gallery for your web browser off the ground, it's important reach out to developers. After all, they're the ones who will be creating the snazzy addons you plan to showcase.<br /> <br /> So it's not surprising to see the change which took place in the <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/Chromium/">Chromium</a> nightly build recently. When you visit your extensions page and click the link to browse the gallery, you won't see the "coming soon" puzzle piece anymore.<br /> <br /> Instead, you'll be asked to sign in with your <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/Google/">Google</a> account and then whisked over to the developer dashboard. Google offers the following explanation to clarify what you're looking at:</div>
<blockquote>
<div>The Google Chrome Extensions gallery is currently in limited beta release to allow developers to upload their extensions. If you are a developer, you can upload your extension here. If you are looking to find and install extensions, please check back here soon!<br /> </div>
</blockquote><strong>Are you a developer?</strong> If so, the add button will allow you to upload your project. The developer agreement offers a few words about the gallery itself:<blockquote>
<div>The Gallery is a publicly available site on which Developers can publish Products for distribution and use in connection with Google Chrome. In order to publish Products on the Gallery, you must acquire and maintain a valid Google account.</div>
</blockquote>Most of the agreement is pretty standard redistribution/liability/takedown-related policy, though it does reveal that Chrome users will be allowed to rate extensions on the Gallery site. I think we expected that, since you can do it on the <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/Firefox/">Firefox</a> add-ons site.<br /> <br /> The full gallery policies are available on <a href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/intl/en/program_policies.html">this page</a> in case you plan on submitting an extension.<br /> <br /> It's apparent that the push is on - it's just a matter of time before the Chrome Extensions Gallery opens its doors to the public.<br /> <blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/chrome-extensions-gallery-taking-shape-landing-page-now-invites/">Chrome Extensions gallery taking shape, landing page now invites devs</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:15:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/chrome-extensions-gallery-taking-shape-landing-page-now-invites/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19251658/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/23/chrome-extensions-gallery-taking-shape-landing-page-now-invites/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>chromium</category><category>extensions gallery</category><category>ExtensionsGallery</category><category>google chrome</category><category>GoogleChrome</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:15:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hot on the heels of Flash 10.1, Microsoft unveils Silverlight 4 beta]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/hot-on-the-heels-of-flash-10-1-microsoft-unveils-silverlight-4/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/hot-on-the-heels-of-flash-10-1-microsoft-unveils-silverlight-4/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/hot-on-the-heels-of-flash-10-1-microsoft-unveils-silverlight-4/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/microsoft/" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><object data="data:application/x-silverlight-2," type="application/x-silverlight-2" width="512" height="384"> <param name="source" value="http://channel9.msdn.com/App_Themes/default/vp09_10_20.xap" /> <param name="initParams" value="deferredLoad=true,duration=0,m=http://ecn.channel9.msdn.com/o9/learn/videos/Silverlight4-Overview-WhatsNew/Silverlight4-Overview-WhatsNew_kit.wmv,autostart=false,autohide=true,showembed=true, thumbnail=http://channel9.msdn.com/App_Themes/default/vp09_10_20.xap, postid=507210" /> <param name="background" value="#00FFFFFF" /> <a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=124807" style="text-decoration: none;"> <img src="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=108181" alt="Get Microsoft Silverlight" style="border-style: none"/> </a> </object></div>
Microsoft has been busy churning out news at PDC09, already having announced the arrival of Office 2010's public beta and Internet Explorer 9.<br />
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Not to be done by Adobe's recent unveiling of Flash 10.1, Microsoft has taken the wraps off Silverlight 4 beta. A few of the key changes in the new version include support for Google Chrome, performance gains up to 200% over Silverlight 3, and multi-touch support.<br />
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Silverlight's Deep Zoom has also been turbo-charged with hardware acceleration. v4 can also tap into your webcam and microphone, and local recording capabilities have been added. Microsoft hopes Silverlight 4 will allow developers to go beyond the browser and create rich desktop applications -- another salvo at the Adobe camp.<br />
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There are a slew of additions and enhancements aimed at developers, network administrators, and kiosk environments -- you can check a complete listing out in the <a href="http://www.silverlight.net/getstarted/silverlight-4-beta/">offical release announcement</a>.<br />
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Can't see the video embed in this post? You need to get your hands on the Silverlight plugin, I reckon. Runtimes are available for Windows and Mac <a href="http://silverlight.dlservice.microsoft.com/download/F/6/5/F653F7FD-AD4D-411D-8B1F-9C4B1BD69881/Silverlight_Developer.exe">here</a>.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/hot-on-the-heels-of-flash-10-1-microsoft-unveils-silverlight-4/">Hot on the heels of Flash 10.1, Microsoft unveils Silverlight 4 beta</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:45:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.silverlight.net/getstarted/silverlight-4-beta/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/hot-on-the-heels-of-flash-10-1-microsoft-unveils-silverlight-4/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19245063/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/hot-on-the-heels-of-flash-10-1-microsoft-unveils-silverlight-4/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>beta</category><category>browser</category><category>microsoft</category><category>plugin</category><category>silverlight</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:45:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Office 2010 beta for Windows and Windows Mobile now live]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/office-2010-beta-for-windows-and-windows-mobile-now-live/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/office-2010-beta-for-windows-and-windows-mobile-now-live/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/office-2010-beta-for-windows-and-windows-mobile-now-live/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows-mobile/" rel="tag">Windows Mobile</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/office/" rel="tag">Office</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/microsoft/" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="0" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/dlmsoffice20101.jpg" /></a>Microsoft has finally made downloads of <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx">Office 2010 beta</a> available, for both Windows on your desktop and <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/nov09/11-18PDCKurtDelBene.mspx">Windows Mobile 6.5</a>. Project 2010, Visio 2010, and SharePoint Server 2010 are also available on the Office 2010 download page, and you can get the mobile version of Office via the Windows Mobile Marketplace. Microsoft says the portal for all things 2010 is <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/2010/">http://www.microsoft.com/2010/</a>, but the first live download links I've found are <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx">right here</a>.<br />
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Because we apparently need social networking in every app these days, one of the things Microsoft is pushing about Office 2010 is the new Social Connector, which "brings communications history, business collaboration and social network feeds directly into Outlook, with support for Windows Live and SharePoint Server." LinkedIn has been announced as the first social network that will plug in to this new feature. <br />
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More on Office 2010 soon, as Microsoft is getting ready to demo it at their <a href="http://microsoftpdc.com/">Professional Developers' Conference</a> as I write this. Happy downloading! <br /><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/office-2010-beta-for-windows-and-windows-mobile-now-live/">Office 2010 beta for Windows and Windows Mobile now live</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:25:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/office-2010-beta-for-windows-and-windows-mobile-now-live/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19244853/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/office-2010-beta-for-windows-and-windows-mobile-now-live/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>microsoft</category><category>office</category><category>office 2010</category><category>Office2010</category><category>social connector</category><category>SocialConnector</category><category>windows mobile</category><category>WindowsMobile</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jay Hathaway]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:25:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Windows 7 taskbar previews to be disabled by default in Firefox 3.6]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/windows-7-taskbar-previews-to-be-disabled-by-default-in-firefox/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/windows-7-taskbar-previews-to-be-disabled-by-default-in-firefox/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/windows-7-taskbar-previews-to-be-disabled-by-default-in-firefox/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div style="text-align: center; "> </div>
<div style="text-align: center; "><img border="0" hspace="4" vspace="4" width="580" height="354" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/ff-thumbs-saddfasdf.jpg" /></div>
Those of you running Firefox on Windows 7 who were excited when taskbar previews landed, get ready for a little disappointment. It looks as though getting Aero features ready in time for the release of Firefox 3.6 is no longer part of the game plan.<br />
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It was already known that jump list support won't be arriving until later on. After a lengthy discussion on Bugzilla, the decision was made to disable Firefox 3.6's other Windows 7 integration feature.<br />
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The code is still there in 3.6b3pre, so you can still enable thumbnail previews in your <strong>about:config</strong>. The general feeling is that too many users were still seeing the spinning up circles and not actual thumbnails. <br />
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The general perception is that Windows 7 enthusiasts would be OK with simply flipping the switch themselves. <br />
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Ultimately, this move is about Firefox devs addressing more critical issues now so that 3.6 can be released. They'll have plenty of time to perfect the feature in future minor updates to 3.6. For now, the priority needs to be on getting 3.6 final out the door.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/windows-7-taskbar-previews-to-be-disabled-by-default-in-firefox/">Windows 7 taskbar previews to be disabled by default in Firefox 3.6</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/windows-7-taskbar-previews-to-be-disabled-by-default-in-firefox/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19244260/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/windows-7-taskbar-previews-to-be-disabled-by-default-in-firefox/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>aero</category><category>firefox</category><category>tasbkar thumbnails</category><category>TasbkarThumbnails</category><category>windows 7</category><category>Windows7</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Chrome Extensions gallery draws nearer, coming tomorrow?]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/chrome-extensions-gallery-draws-nearer-coming-tomorrow/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/chrome-extensions-gallery-draws-nearer-coming-tomorrow/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/chrome-extensions-gallery-draws-nearer-coming-tomorrow/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/news/" rel="tag">News</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/google/" rel="tag">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img width="580" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="261" border="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/sdafsadf.jpg" alt="" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">It's no secret that <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/google-to-show-off-chrome-os-thursday-release-it-in-2010/">Google is hosting a highly-anticipated Chrome OS preview event tomorrow</a>. You're probably also well aware of the fact that an official, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/15/google-preparing-to-launch-chrome-extensions-gallery/">Google-powered Chrome extensions gallery</a> is in the works. This morning, a small but noteworthy change took place at <strong>https://chrome.google.com/extensions</strong>.<br /> <br /> What used to be a redirect go the good ol' index at google.com (or your regional version) has now been replaced with a "coming soon..." tease and puzzle piece image which matches the one added to Chromium's new tab page on Sunday.<br /> <br /> Coming soon, eh? Why not announce it at the big event on Thursday?<br /> <br /> While news of the official extension gallery opening would no doubt be dwarfed by anything remotely Chrome OS-related tomorrow, it certainly seems like a good time to open the doors. It would help build more buzz for the browser and keep Google fans charged for the upcoming preview release of Chrome OS.<br /> <br /> Not that they need help on that front. Chrome OS has somehow already built a rabid fanbase and no one who isn't involved has even seen it yet.</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/chrome-extensions-gallery-draws-nearer-coming-tomorrow/">Chrome Extensions gallery draws nearer, coming tomorrow?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/chrome-extensions-gallery-draws-nearer-coming-tomorrow/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19244298/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/18/chrome-extensions-gallery-draws-nearer-coming-tomorrow/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>chrome os</category><category>ChromeOs</category><category>extensions</category><category>google chrome</category><category>GoogleChrome</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Adobe Air 2 goes beta, adds tons of new features, sucks a whole lot less]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/adobe-air-2-goes-beta-adds-new-features-sucks-a-whole-lot-less/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/adobe-air-2-goes-beta-adds-new-features-sucks-a-whole-lot-less/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/adobe-air-2-goes-beta-adds-new-features-sucks-a-whole-lot-less/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/linux/" rel="tag">Linux</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/adobe/" rel="tag">Adobe</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div style="text-align: center; "><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dmz0UqtCyQc&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dmz0UqtCyQc&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div>
We've had a love-hate relationship with Adobe Air since it arrived on our desktops. Ram-hungry apps had us seeing red. Still, a few killer apps helped drive adoption - apps like TweetDeck, Times Reader 2.0, and DeskTube. As Air continued to develop, it got leaner and meaner and now version 2 has arrived in beta. Adobe Air 2 is now here, and it's ready to get down to business.<br />
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Air 2 features a number of tweaks, updates, and feature additions. For starters, the Air 2 ships with Flash 10.1 beta - which adds GPU acceleration support and so far seems to kick my CPU's ass less often. Air 2 also boasts tighter integration with operating systems and can now access certain mass storage devices like USB flash drives, digital cameras, and flash memory cards. Air 2 can also tap into your computer's microphone.<br />
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Webkit has been updated, as has the SquirrelFish Extreme Javascript engine. Those two changes combine for a reported 50% gain on <a href="http://www2.webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9/sunspider.html">SunSpider benchmarks</a>. There's also added multi-touch and gesture support and better printing and networking (including the ability to listen for incoming socket connections). Got a gigantic display? Air 2 supports a maximum window size of 4095x4095 - a 42% increase, though likely not one you'll benefit from at home.<br />
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Processor usage and memory consumption have been addressed, with many Air apps reporting about half the CPU utilization of Air 1. TweetDeck on my system is using about 20Mb less RAM. More efficient use of my hardware? Now <em>that</em> you can enjoy at home.<br />
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For more details about Adobe Air 2 check out the embedded clip of Kevin Lynch's presentation from MAX or <a href="http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/air2/">head over to Adobe Labs</a>, where you can also <a href="http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/air2.html">download the new version</a>. Downloads are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.<br />
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<div align="left" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px;"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div>
So far, the Air 2 beta feels like a major step in the right direction for Adobe. As more developers begin taking advantage of the possibilities now available and optimizing their apps for the new version, you may just see some pretty cool things happening on Air 2.<br />
<br />
[via <a href="http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/rchristensen_air_2.html">Adobe.com</a>]<br type="_moz" /><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/adobe-air-2-goes-beta-adds-new-features-sucks-a-whole-lot-less/">Adobe Air 2 goes beta, adds tons of new features, sucks a whole lot less</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/rchristensen_air_2.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/adobe-air-2-goes-beta-adds-new-features-sucks-a-whole-lot-less/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19242392/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/adobe-air-2-goes-beta-adds-new-features-sucks-a-whole-lot-less/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>adobe air</category><category>AdobeAir</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Once again, Microsoft puts a download page live with no downloads to back it up]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/once-again-microsoft-puts-a-download-page-live-with-no-download/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/once-again-microsoft-puts-a-download-page-live-with-no-download/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/once-again-microsoft-puts-a-download-page-live-with-no-download/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/office/" rel="tag">Office</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/microsoft/" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><img width="580" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="317" border="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/greenshot_2009-11-16_13-24-14.jpg" alt="" />.<br />
<div align="left">There's been plenty of buzz today about the Office 2010 public beta. Download links have gone live for Technet and MSDN subscribers, but as for the general public - they're left browsing yet another Microsoft tease.<br /><br />Head over to the Office beta download page, and you'll see three links to chose from. Pick any one you like. The result's the same, a redirect to a page that says "Hey, Office 2010 beta is coming soon!" I guess that's fine, right? I mean, it's not like anyone clicking a download button would expect 1) direct access to a download or 2) a form they can fill out to get at the files.<br /><br />Now, I don't run a big fancy website like Microsoft's, but is it really that hard to keep pages like this offline until the files are available?<br /><br />The good news in this is that yes, the public beta is coming soon. It'd be nice if that landing page actually had "coming soon" buttons instead of shiny green "download" buttons. That seems like a distinction which is important to make.<br /><br />As a bonus, it might save your servers having to deal with 12,000,000 page refresh requests.</div>
</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/once-again-microsoft-puts-a-download-page-live-with-no-download/">Once again, Microsoft puts a download page live with no downloads to back it up</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:45:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/once-again-microsoft-puts-a-download-page-live-with-no-download/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19241619/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/once-again-microsoft-puts-a-download-page-live-with-no-download/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>beta</category><category>download</category><category>fail</category><category>office 2010</category><category>Office2010</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:45:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mozilla's Weave browser sync add-on for Firefox hits beta]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mozillas-weave-browser-sync-add-on-for-firefox-hits-beta/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mozillas-weave-browser-sync-add-on-for-firefox-hits-beta/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mozillas-weave-browser-sync-add-on-for-firefox-hits-beta/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://mozillalabs.com/weave/2009/11/16/first-beta-of-weave-sync-add-on-now-available/"><img width="527" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="478" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/greenshot_2009-11-16_13-47-51.png" /></a><br />
<div align="left">I've been using <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/MozillaWeave/">Mozilla Weave</a> to keep my Firefox profiles synched across different machines and platforms for quite some time. Today, Mozilla Labs has announced that the add-on is finally ready for official beta testing.<br />
<br />
Version 1.0b1 is out now and available for installation. <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10868">Version 0.8 is still listed in the Firefox add-ons directory</a>, but it should install the newest release. If you're already running Weave, just head to your Firefox add-ons and check for updates.<br />
<br />
What's new in the latest version? More speed, a simplified interface, and smarter syncing in the background. Weave's settings screen is nicely integrated into the Firefox options menu, so there's every chance we'll see it integrated in a future version of Firefox - like its Labs cousin <a href="http://www.getpersonas.com">Personas</a>.</div>
</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mozillas-weave-browser-sync-add-on-for-firefox-hits-beta/">Mozilla's Weave browser sync add-on for Firefox hits beta</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://mozillalabs.com/weave/2009/11/16/first-beta-of-weave-sync-add-on-now-available/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mozillas-weave-browser-sync-add-on-for-firefox-hits-beta/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19241660/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mozillas-weave-browser-sync-add-on-for-firefox-hits-beta/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>add-ons</category><category>addons</category><category>extensions</category><category>firefox</category><category>mozilla</category><category>sync</category><category>synchronize</category><category>weave</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Office 2010 Beta 2 download leaks to torrent trackers]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/13/microsoft-office-2010-beta2-torrent-download-leaked/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/13/microsoft-office-2010-beta2-torrent-download-leaked/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/13/microsoft-office-2010-beta2-torrent-download-leaked/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/office/" rel="tag">Office</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/microsoft/" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><img width="531" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="399" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/o2010-as-dfa-sfas.jpg" /></div>
It's been a little while since Microsoft had leaked bits distributed on torrent trackers by -- shall we say enthusiasts?<br />
<br />
Everything is cyclical, though, so I wasn't totally surprised to find reports of the updated Beta 2 of Microsoft Office 2010 making a public appearance on one of the more popular torrent sites.<br />
The torrent is labeled as build 14.0.4514.1009, which matches up with what some testers have already received directly from Redmond. It certainly looks like the real deal, though nothing is certain when you download from anyone other than the original source. NeoWin is also reporting that while a product key is required, technical preview keys seems to be working just fine.<br />
<br />
The public beta is due to arrive sometime next week, though at this point it looks as though Microsoft will probably have no shortage of "unofficial testers" to gather send-a-smile data from.<br />
<br />
[via <a href="http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/11/13/microsoft-office-2010-beta-build-leaks?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+neowin-main+%28Neowin.net+Main+News%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader">NeoWin</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/13/microsoft-office-2010-beta2-torrent-download-leaked/">Office 2010 Beta 2 download leaks to torrent trackers</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/13/microsoft-office-2010-beta2-torrent-download-leaked/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19236227/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/13/microsoft-office-2010-beta2-torrent-download-leaked/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>beta</category><category>leak</category><category>leaked</category><category>office 2010</category><category>Office2010</category><category>torrent</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Google Chrome for Mac will hit beta by December]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/google-chrome-for-mac-might-be-ready-by-december/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/google-chrome-for-mac-might-be-ready-by-december/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/google-chrome-for-mac-might-be-ready-by-december/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/google/" rel="tag">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10395708-264.html"><img border="0" align="right" vspace="4" hspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/chromemacdecember.jpg" /></a>OS X browser geeks, start salivating ... Reports from around the web are saying that Google's Chrome browser might get a finished Mac version in about month. <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10395708-264.html">Stephen Shankland at CNET </a>has been vigilantly monitoring the Chrome development mailing lists, and some talk about Chrome's new extensions UI reveals that the Mac launch is scheduled for early December. <br />
<br />
Chrome 4 for Windows is in Beta already, while Mac and Linux only recently got their first developer previews. Since the highest-profile new feature in the Chrome 4 Beta is browser actions (Chrome's equivalent of Firefox's add-ons), developers are getting their extensions ready for launch. Apparently, a product manager for Chrome <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/chromium-extensions/browse_thread/thread/3706990eb0eec0fe?pli=1">posted a message</a> advising developers to switch to the new browser actions system so they'd have more time to get their code in shape for a beta launch in "early December."<br /><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/google-chrome-for-mac-might-be-ready-by-december/">Google Chrome for Mac will hit beta by December</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/google-chrome-for-mac-might-be-ready-by-december/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19235660/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/google-chrome-for-mac-might-be-ready-by-december/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>beta</category><category>browser</category><category>chrome</category><category>google</category><category>mac</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jay Hathaway]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kiosk mode added in Chromium nightly build]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/developer/" rel="tag">Developer</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/google/" rel="tag">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/" rel="tag">Open Source</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><img width="580" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="363" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/asdfsadoiasg-asg-asgda.jpg" /><br />
<div align="left">Developers have a number of features they still want implemented in Google Chrome. In a recent nightly build of Chromium, one that I've seen requested numerous times on the official mailing lists has finally landed.<br />
<br />
Kiosk mode has arrived in Chromium, though it's an awful lot like full screen mode. In fact, Mohamed Mansour says as much in his note on the source: "Kiosk mode will just hide the status bar and initially set it as full screen. "<br />
<br />
You're left to your new tab page and bookmarks bar to navigate. As in full screen mode, control-L doesn't bring up an address bar, nor does hovering near the top edge of the browser. That's something I'd like to see addressed in future builds.<br />
<br />
If you've been waiting to see what kiosk mode in Chrome would look like, <a href="http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/snapshots/chromium-rel-xp/">grab a current build from the Chromium server</a> and append the <strong>--kiosk</strong> command line switch.</div>
</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/">Kiosk mode added in Chromium nightly build</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19233975/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>chromium</category><category>google chrome</category><category>GoogleChrome</category><category>kiosk mode</category><category>KioskMode</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mozilla launches Jetpack Gallery, restart-free pseudo add-ons now available]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/mozilla-launches-jetpack-gallery-restart-free-pseudo-add-ons-no/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/mozilla-launches-jetpack-gallery-restart-free-pseudo-add-ons-no/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/mozilla-launches-jetpack-gallery-restart-free-pseudo-add-ons-no/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://jetpackgallery.mozillalabs.com/"><img width="580" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="269" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/jetpacksav-asg-as.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/Jetpack/">Jetpack</a> is certainly an interesting project, and the fact that it brings no-restart add-on-like functionality to Firefox is awesome.<br />
<br />
Today, Mozilla announced the launch of the <a href="http://jetpackgallery.mozillalabs.com/">Jetpack Gallery</a>. It is to jetpacks what the <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/">Firefox add-ons site</a> is to traditional add-ons. Up until now, Jetpack users had pretty limited options for finding packs - <a href="https://wiki.mozilla.org/Labs/Jetpack/In_The_Wild">a single page of descriptions and links maintained by Mozilla</a> and a community-powered assortment at <a href="http://userscripts.org/jetpacks">Userscripts.org</a>.<br />
<br />
At the Jetpack Gallery, you can search for jetpacks and browse by tag. The assortment is still quite limited, though submissions will likely begin flowing in now that the doors have officially opened.<p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/mozilla-launches-jetpack-gallery-restart-free-pseudo-add-ons-no/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Mozilla launches Jetpack Gallery, restart-free pseudo add-ons now available</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/mozilla-launches-jetpack-gallery-restart-free-pseudo-add-ons-no/">Mozilla launches Jetpack Gallery, restart-free pseudo add-ons now available</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://jetpackgallery.mozillalabs.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/mozilla-launches-jetpack-gallery-restart-free-pseudo-add-ons-no/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19233688/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/mozilla-launches-jetpack-gallery-restart-free-pseudo-add-ons-no/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>firefox</category><category>jetpack gallery</category><category>JetpackGallery</category><category>mozilla labs</category><category>MozillaLabs</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Boxee media center to hit beta next month]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/boxee-media-center-to-hit-beta-next-month/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/boxee-media-center-to-hit-beta-next-month/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/boxee-media-center-to-hit-beta-next-month/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/linux/" rel="tag">Linux</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/06/boxee-alpha-for-windows.jpg" alt="Boee Alpha" /></div>
Media center application <a href="http://www.boxee.tv/homepage/">Boxee</a> has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/17/technology/internet/17video.html">grabbed a lot of headlines</a> over the past year or two, and for good reason: Boxee provides Mac, Linux, and Windows users with an excellent solution for watching internet video on a TV. While web browsers were generally designed for viewing text and images with video thrown in as an afterthought, Boxee was designed to look and feel more like a consumer electronics application that you can navigate from the couch with a remote control. <br />
<br />
Boxee can access online video from services including Hulu, Joost, and BBC's iPlayer. You can use it to enjoy audio and video podcasts. And you can access local media stored on your hard drive. <br />
<br />
But despite all of its features, Boxee is still alpha software. That's going to change next month. Boxee is set to l<a href="http://blog.boxee.tv/2009/11/06/unveiling-the-boxee-beta-in-nyc-on-dec-7th/">aunch the first beta version</a> of its software at an event in New York on December 7th. I suppose the day will continue to live in Infamy, although I doubt that decades from now we'll still be talking about it as the date that Boxee went beta.<br />
<br />
The new version will have a new user interface, improved navigation, a user-controlled queue, and a new TV and movie search function among other changes.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/boxee-media-center-to-hit-beta-next-month/">Boxee media center to hit beta next month</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://blog.boxee.tv/2009/11/06/unveiling-the-boxee-beta-in-nyc-on-dec-7th/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/boxee-media-center-to-hit-beta-next-month/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19226602/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/boxee-media-center-to-hit-beta-next-month/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>boxee</category><category>boxee-beta</category><category>media-center</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brad Linder]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Google Chrome 4 hits beta, includes bookmark sync]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/google-chrome-4-hits-beta-includes-bookmark-sync/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/google-chrome-4-hits-beta-includes-bookmark-sync/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/google-chrome-4-hits-beta-includes-bookmark-sync/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/google/" rel="tag">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/11/bookmark-sync-and-more-speed-in-latest.html"><img border="0" align="middle" vspace="8" hspace="8" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/11/chromebookmarksync40.jpg"  alt="" /></a><br /></div>
The latest Windows version of Google Chrome, version 4.0, is <a href="http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/11/bookmark-sync-and-more-speed-in-latest.html">now in beta</a>. It's reportedly a scorching 30% faster than the current release, and it includes a bookmark syncing feature that's been floating around in the developer preview version of the browser for some time. <br /><br />Activate bookmark syncing on each of your computers, and Chrome will automatically synchronize any changes to your bookmarks across all your machines. It's made possible by the magic of XMPP, which also powers Google Talk. Sound good? Go ahead and <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/chrome/beta/">download Chrome 4.0 Beta</a>.<br /> <br /> This beta version of Chrome is also notable for what it leaves out: extensions support. According to <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10389178-264.html">Stephen Shankland at CNET</a>, Google is reworking the extensions interface for Chrome, so that feature is disabled for now. Shankland also tracked down some news on the upcoming Chrome Mac Beta. The team working on it has been instructed to fix all their high-priority bugs by the end of the week, and it looks like getting the Mac version out is near the top of Google's to-do list.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10389178-264.html">CNET</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/google-chrome-4-hits-beta-includes-bookmark-sync/">Google Chrome 4 hits beta, includes bookmark sync</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/11/bookmark-sync-and-more-speed-in-latest.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/google-chrome-4-hits-beta-includes-bookmark-sync/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19220305/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/03/google-chrome-4-hits-beta-includes-bookmark-sync/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>beta</category><category>bookmarks</category><category>chrome</category><category>chrome 4.0</category><category>Chrome4.0</category><category>google chrome</category><category>GoogleChrome</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jay Hathaway]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Remember the Milk task manager exits beta in meaningless gesture]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/remember-the-milk-task-manager-exits-beta-in-meaningless-gesture/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/remember-the-milk-task-manager-exits-beta-in-meaningless-gesture/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/remember-the-milk-task-manager-exits-beta-in-meaningless-gesture/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/productivity/" rel="tag">Productivity</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web/" rel="tag">Web</a></p><a href="http://www.rememberthemilk.com/"><img width="183" vspace="16" hspace="4" height="275" border="0" align="right" alt="Remember The Milk" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/10/rtm-iphone.jpg" /></a>Four years after the service opened to the public, popular web-based task manager Remember The Milk is finally <a href="http://blog.rememberthemilk.com/2009/10/goodbye-beta/">out of beta</a>. What does that mean? Nothing really.<br />
<br />
The company isn't going to start charging for access to its core services. And the developers aren't done adding and refining features. It's just that after four years, the Remember The Milk team decided the product was probably robust enough to remove the beta label... you know, kind of like <a href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/gmail-leaves-beta-launches-back-to-beta.html">Google did with Gmail</a> not too long ago.<br />
<br />
Of course, companies like Google and Remember the Milk have stretched the meaning of the beta label beyond any semblance of recognition. Once upon a time, if you were using a beta product you knew it was a pre-release version that hadn't been extensively tested and which may be unstable. These days, alpha is kind of the new beta, although some companies still release public and private beta versions of software that <em>are</em> still untested and unstable. Since there's no regulator tasked with enforcing alpha, beta, and other labeling rules, the words have kind of lost their meaning.<br />
<br />
Still, congratulations to the Remember the Milk team on reaching four years!<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/remember-the-milk-task-manager-exits-beta-in-meaningless-gesture/">Remember the Milk task manager exits beta in meaningless gesture</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://blog.rememberthemilk.com/2009/10/goodbye-beta/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/remember-the-milk-task-manager-exits-beta-in-meaningless-gesture/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19216491/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/remember-the-milk-task-manager-exits-beta-in-meaningless-gesture/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>beta</category><category>remember-the-milk</category><category>task-manager</category><category>tasks</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brad Linder]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Blinkx launches a mediocre music search engine]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/blinkx-launches-a-mediocre-music-search-engine/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/blinkx-launches-a-mediocre-music-search-engine/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/blinkx-launches-a-mediocre-music-search-engine/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/audio/" rel="tag">Audio</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/search/" rel="tag">Search</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web/" rel="tag">Web</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://music.blinkx.com/"><img hspace="4" height="311" border="0" align="top" width="580" vspace="4" alt="Blinkx Music" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/10/blinkx-music.jpg" /></a></div>
Online video site Blinkx is branching out into music with the launch of <a href="http://music.blinkx.com/">Blinkx Music Beta</a>, a search engine for online music videos. The front page is simple enough. You're greeted with a search box, a list of top artists, and the ability to click a letter to see results starting with A through Z. You can search for artists, albums, or songs.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the search index is pretty sparse. There are a number of songs, artists, and albums that return no results. And the search engine's not that intelligent. While a search for <em>Coldplay</em> returns a fair number of results, searching for <em>Cold Play</em> or <em>Caldplay</em> results in a "no results matching your query" message. So you'd better not include a typo or not know the proper phrasing of your favorite band name. Heck, on a whim, I tried searching for <em>Hootie and the Blowfish</em> and got zero results, which normally wouldn't upset me in the least. But <em>Hootie &amp; The Blowfish </em>actually did return results.<br />
<br />
Blinkx doesn't host the videos on its own site. Instead, when you click on a song you'll be taken to the page where the video rests, whether it be on YouTube, Last.fm, or another site. A Blinkx toolbar hangs out at the top of the screen to take you back to where you started or let you begin another search. <br />
<br />
A fairly large number of videos I did find were cellphone recordings shot at concerts rather than professional music videos.<br />
<br />
That's the bad news. Here's the good news: the Blinkbox online video service keeps getting better. I got an email today letting me know that Blinkbox had <a href="http://www.blinkbox.com/TV/Browse/WatchFree/BBC?utm_source=email&amp;utm_medium=crm&amp;utm_campaign=221009">added a number of BBC TV shows</a> which are now available to watch for free including episodes from the first two seasons of the original (William Hartnell) <em>Doctor Who</em> as well as episodes of <em>The Young Ones</em>, <em>Hustle</em>, and <em>The League of Gentlemen</em>. <em><strong>Update:</strong> It's just been pointed out to me that Blinkbox (which I mistakenly referred to as Blinkxbox at first) is not actually related to Blinkx. I'm still excited about the BBC content though. </em><br />
<br />
[via <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/27/blinkx-launches-not-quite-ready-music-jukebox/">VentureBeat</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/blinkx-launches-a-mediocre-music-search-engine/">Blinkx launches a mediocre music search engine</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://music.blinkx.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/blinkx-launches-a-mediocre-music-search-engine/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19211571/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/blinkx-launches-a-mediocre-music-search-engine/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>blinkx</category><category>blinkx-music-beta</category><category>blinkxbox</category><category>music-videos</category><category>online-video</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brad Linder]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Panda Cloud AV beta 3 boasts faster scans, inches closer to RTM]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/panda-cloud-av-beta-3-boasts-faster-scans-inches-closer-to-rtm/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/panda-cloud-av-beta-3-boasts-faster-scans-inches-closer-to-rtm/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/panda-cloud-av-beta-3-boasts-faster-scans-inches-closer-to-rtm/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/security/" rel="tag">Security</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows-x64/" rel="tag">Windows x64</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://blog.cloudantivirus.com/2009/10/26/beta3-available-for-download/"><img width="520" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="354" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/10/cloudav-beta3.jpg" /></a><br />
<div align="left">When our list of <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/24/six-free-antivirus-programs-made-for-your-windows-7-system/">six free antivirus apps for Windows 7</a> went live over the weekend, Panda's Cloud AV made the list. While it boasted the best detection rates of any of the available options, it's still in beta testing - so I can't really recommend it for use by the average user just yet.<br />
<br />
Panda's plugging away though, and a full release could well be just around the corner. Beta 3 has just been made available for download and it fixes a number of bugs and performance issues. The latest release also boasts improved scanning performance (the biggest knock against previous versions) and lower resource utilization.<br />
<br />
In addition to updating the app itself, Panda is also hard at work on a new web site. Sign up for a CloudAV account, and you'll have access to forums as well as "other free services which [Panda is] still building." I'll be talking with Panda <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Security CEO Juan Santana and Senior Research Advisor Pedro Bustamante next week to learn more about their plans.</span><br />
<br />
An account is now required to use the app, but as <a href="http://blog.cloudantivirus.com/2009/10/26/beta3-available-for-download/">Pedro informed one leery commenter</a> "It's just a unique identifier that is tied to the Tech Support Forums to be able to provide better support. You can use a throw-away mailbox to activate it[...]"<br />
<br />
Panda Cloud Antivirus beta 3 is available for download now<span style="font-size: 10pt;"> at <a href="http://www.cloudantivirus.com/en/">Cloudantivirus.com</a>. If you're using it - or tried it out and switched - share your thoughts in the comments!<br />
</span></div>
</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/panda-cloud-av-beta-3-boasts-faster-scans-inches-closer-to-rtm/">Panda Cloud AV beta 3 boasts faster scans, inches closer to RTM</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/24/six-free-antivirus-programs-made-for-your-windows-7-system/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/panda-cloud-av-beta-3-boasts-faster-scans-inches-closer-to-rtm/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19211314/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/panda-cloud-av-beta-3-boasts-faster-scans-inches-closer-to-rtm/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>cloud antivirus</category><category>cloud av</category><category>CloudAntivirus</category><category>CloudAv</category><category>malware</category><category>panda</category><category>trojan</category><category>virus</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lee Mathews]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mozilla Raindrop: don't call it another Google Wave]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/23/mozilla-raindrop-dont-call-it-another-google-wave/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/23/mozilla-raindrop-dont-call-it-another-google-wave/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/23/mozilla-raindrop-dont-call-it-another-google-wave/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/e-mail/" rel="tag">E-mail</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/productivity/" rel="tag">Productivity</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://labs.mozilla.com/raindrop/2009/10/22/introducing-raindrop/#post-1"><img vspace="8" hspace="8" border="0" align="middle" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/10/mozillaraindrop1.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
The lead designer for Mozilla Messaging describes Mozilla's new communication tool, <a href="http://labs.mozilla.com/raindrop/2009/10/22/introducing-raindrop/#post-1">Raindrop</a>, this way: "Raindrop is not another email client. We started from scratch with fresh ideas about what a communication application should be ... " Sound familiar? That's the same promise we heard from Google Wave a few months ago. Raindrop is similar to Wave in some ways, but it takes a completely different approach to dealing with integrating different kinds of communication into one service.<br />
<br />
Raindrop's main goal is to separate personal conversations from bulk email that's less relevant to you. To that it, it pulls out all of the notifications you get from various web services, as well as messages from newsgroups, and sorts them into separate places. It also brings in Twitter, and separates out replies and direct messages. Other social networks will eventually be integrated, and the UI is still in the draft stages, but Raindrop looks pretty promising for a version 0.1 product. It's not as hard to get your head around (or "revolutionary," depending on who you ask) as Wave, but its focus on the problem of bulk vs. personal communication might make it more useful to the average Internet joe. <br />
<br />
[via <a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/10/22/2224214/Mozilla-Messaging-Unveils-Raindrop">Slashdot</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/23/mozilla-raindrop-dont-call-it-another-google-wave/">Mozilla Raindrop: don't call it another Google Wave</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://labs.mozilla.com/raindrop/2009/10/22/introducing-raindrop/#post-1>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/23/mozilla-raindrop-dont-call-it-another-google-wave/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19206546/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/23/mozilla-raindrop-dont-call-it-another-google-wave/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>mozilla</category><category>mozilla labs</category><category>mozilla messaging</category><category>MozillaLabs</category><category>MozillaMessaging</category><category>raindrop</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jay Hathaway]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[CloudApp: Terrible name, useful little app.]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/cloudapp-terrible-name-useful-little-app/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/cloudapp-terrible-name-useful-little-app/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/cloudapp-terrible-name-useful-little-app/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/productivity/" rel="tag">Productivity</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web/" rel="tag">Web</a></p><img width="244" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="224" border="1" align="right" alt="Cloud App" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/10/cloudapp-icon.jpg" />There's been a lot of buzz about cloud computing over the last year or two as more and more applications (<a href="http://gmail.com">email</a>, <a href="http://www.zoho.com">Office</a>, <a href="http://www.evernote.com/">note-keeping</a> and so on) move to the web. Then, a little over a month ago, I started seeing a lot of buzz surrounding something called <a href="http://getcloudapp.com/">CloudApp</a>. <br />
<br />
A more generic sounding name, I could not imagine. All I could tell from the "OMG CLOUDAPP!!" tweets was that there was a new app named CloudApp, that beta invites were being issued soon, and that a lot of people were very excited about receiving an invite. I'm not sure anyone knew any more about it than I did other than "OMG IT'S IN THE CLOUD[TM] " and "OMG IT'S AN APP" and "OMG CLOSED BETA INVITE ONLY". <br />
<br />
Three possibilities crossed my mind: <br />
<ol>
    <li>Sociological study of the feeding frenzy surrounding beta invites and tech buzz words.</li>
    <li>Twitter phishing scam</li>
    <li>(remote possibility) an actual app.</li>
</ol>
Possibility #2 was confirmed in my mind when I saw the following tweet:<p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/cloudapp-terrible-name-useful-little-app/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>CloudApp: Terrible name, useful little app.</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/cloudapp-terrible-name-useful-little-app/">CloudApp: Terrible name, useful little app.</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/cloudapp-terrible-name-useful-little-app/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19204751/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/22/cloudapp-terrible-name-useful-little-app/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>cloudapp</category><category>preview</category><category>url-shortener</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Heerema]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Waveboard is the first Google Wave client for OS X]]></title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/waveboard-is-the-first-google-wave-client-for-os-x/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/waveboard-is-the-first-google-wave-client-for-os-x/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/waveboard-is-the-first-google-wave-client-for-os-x/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/social-software/" rel="tag">Social Software</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.getwaveboard.com/"><img hspace="8" border="0" align="middle" vspace="8" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2009/10/waveboardapp.jpg" /></a></div>
The good news is that there's now a Google Wave desktop client for the Mac. The bad news is that it's not yet that much better than the web interface or a Fluid app. The app is called <a href="http://www.getwaveboard.com/">Waveboard</a>, and it looks quite promising, although it's still in its early stages. In case a prototype for Wave on the desktop isn't cool enough for you, there's also an iPhone app in the works.<br />
<br />
Waveboard offers a handful of features that you won't get by running Wave in Fluid. It alerts you to changes in your waves using a badge on the dock icon, and also supports Growl notifications. It also allows you to copy a link to a public wave so you can share it with others. Any wave links you run across in your browser can be set to open in Waveboard by default. True, the look of Waveboard is still identical to the Wave web interface, but the additional features at least start us down the path toward an awesome desktop version of Wave.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/waveboard-is-the-first-google-wave-client-for-os-x/">Waveboard is the first Google Wave client for OS X</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.getwaveboard.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/waveboard-is-the-first-google-wave-client-for-os-x/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/19203743/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/waveboard-is-the-first-google-wave-client-for-os-x/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>Google Wave</category><category>GoogleWave</category><category>Waveboard</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jay Hathaway]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>