Pros have long had access to Google Maps Engine if they need to highlight anything from local stores to natural resources. Today, Google is catering to the rest of us would-be cartographers with a beta for Google Maps Engine Lite. The web service lets everyday users draw objects and import locations for their own reference, whether it’s plotting favorite hiking trails or pinpointing worthwhile places on an upcoming vacation. Map makers can stylize the maps and share them with others, if they like — the Lite label mostly limits users to “small” spreadsheet imports and a maximum of three data sets for comparisons. As long as you can live within those prescribed boundaries, you can try the slimmed down engine right now.
Via: Google Lat Long Blog
Source: Google Maps Engine Lite
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BitTorrent announced last month that it was working on a file-syncing dubbed Sync, and it’s now debuted a public beta of a somewhat complimentary file-sharing service called SoShare (previously announced in an alpha state as simply Share). The hook with SoShare is that it will lend you send huge files (up to 1TB) for free in a single data transfer, which is handled through the BitTorrent browser plug-in. What’s more, while you’ll of course have to sign up for an account to send the files, the recipients of the file don’t necessarily need an account themselves; you can simply make a public link available or send an email notification (they will need the browser plug-in though). Those files will remain active for 30 days unless you choose to have them expire sooner. Hit the source link to sign up for the beta if you’re interested in trying it yourself.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Next Web
Source: SoShare, BitTorrent Blog
Related Posts:Question by Amelia: How long will it take to get my Music Beta invitation? Ok, so I just saw the video for the new Music Beta by Google. I requested an invitation, but I’m still really excited and I don’t want to wait. If you have any idea how these invitations work, please tell me. How do they decide if I get an invite or not? Why do I need an invite? How long will it take for me to get my invite? How will I recieve my invite? Thanks alot.
Best answer:
Answer by RobertoIt is unknown at this point what is the criteria as well as how long people would need to wait. Its only available in the US. I’ve heard of individuals getting an invite within hours. However, others have been waiting for a lot longer. I’m guessing there is a huge waiting list. The invitation will come via email. Invitees will be granted space for 20,000 songs on Google’s servers, and will be able to access them remotely from any computer or Android device.
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Hawken Beta 2 is here and the good news is I get onto a server every time, this is the game at 1024 by 768 with would you believe ultra detail on textures and high detail on the environment all running from just an Intel HD3000 powered i7 Lenovo X220 T running Windows 8 of an msata ssd… Today we go hunting with the Sharpshooter. Notice how it comes into its own when exploiting elevation .. watch out though you make clearer target for your enemies too when perched on your sniping platform. Now if i could jam radar whilst doing this or cloak…now there`s an idea. I played using the ST1080 hmd and the Cinemizer OLED .. and it`s pretty awesome wait till head tracking comes along …Beta 2 is running a little slower than Beta 1 for me although I can get in a game every time which is to be applauded..more to follow Video Rating: 5 / 5
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Back at the beginning of the month, when Evernote 5 for Mac launched in beta, the app’s creators warned users that they could suffer data corruption, data loss and other such indignities if they tried out the unfinished software. If you chose to wait, you probably made the right call: just two weeks later, a final, more stable version of the note-taking app is live in the Mac App Store. All told, version 5 has 100-plus new features, with some of the bigger ones including: a left pane showing tags, shortcuts and recent notes; a redesigned note list; and a predictive search feature called Type Ahead. It’s free, so you don’t have much to lose by checking it out (unless, of course, you find subtle UI tweaks enraging). Or, if you’re really that cautious, we’ve embedded a short “What’s new?” video after the break.
Continue reading Evernote 5 for Mac exits beta, is now live in the Mac App Store
Filed under: Software
Evernote 5 for Mac exits beta, is now live in the Mac App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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SugarSync’s popular cloud sharing app just got a complete web and desktop makeover. Version 2.0 beta is now available in desktop, web and Android app flavors, bringing a handful of new features to subscribers on multiple platforms. Mac and Windows users will have direct file system access to all of their cloud content, letting you transfer documents and other data without launching the app or web interface. You’ll be able to store files within individual folders, and you can hop over to the activity feed to see a list of items in the order they were added, making it easy to locate a file transferred recently.
A new search tool indexes all of your remote content, while also letting you locate files stored locally on computers and other devices. You can also drag and drop files to specific contacts or to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, without any need to copy and paste a download link. Apps will be available for Android at launch, and while BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian and Windows Phone users will need to hang tight for now, they’ll still be able to use previous versions alongside 2.0 in the meantime. As always, you’ll be able to sign up for a free 5GB account, with paid monthly plans ranging from $ 5 for 30 gigs to $ 40 for a monster 500GB plan. Grab the new version now at the source link below.
Filed under: Storage, Software, Mobile
SugarSync releases version 2.0 beta with new UI, drag-and-drop sharing and cross-device search originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Valve’s hardware beta is apparently getting underway ahead of schedule, as a recent 4chan group interview with company head Gabe Newell revealed that the beta’s already in user testing. Moreover, Newell says that three different controller prototypes are in circulation. He echoes Valve hardware engineer Jeri Ellsworth’s words from earlier this year, saying controllers are yet another step in Valve’s journey with Steam from desktop PC to living room. He also says that the options currently available simply aren’t good enough. “The reason we’re doing controllers is we didn’t think there was enough interesting innovation going on.”
We’ve yet to see any of Valve’s hardware prototypes, but the last word was it shouldn’t be too long before they’re ready for consumption … in one form or another. Be sure to let us know if you spot one!
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
Valve’s Newell says three different controllers are in hardware beta, already out in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft is already screwing it up. Microsoft can’t win. Windows 8 is sunk. Seriously: to read the headlines this last week you’d think Microsoft wasn’t still one of the premier tech manufacturers in the world. While I would agree that it faces a number of challenges, both from Apple and its own OEM partners, Windows 8 will thud into the landscape with more a bang and much less than a whimper.
What we are witnessing, for better or worse, is the wholesale restructuring of the Windows paradigm. Just as Windows 95 changed the way we thought of computers (at least for those of us who focused primarily on PCs), Windows 8 will force us all to rethink what it means to run a Windows program and work within the paradigm set by this new interface. Most early users note that they feel like absolute novices when first using Win8 and that the change is too jarring. I’d wager, however, that the average user will simply take it in stride. Why? Because change, for at least most of the last decade, has been a near constant in the user experience game.
In truth, Microsoft can get away with his massive change for one simple reason: there is no such thing as an “old, familiar interface” anymore. Consider, for example, Windows 7 itself. Although the standard paradigm holds, there are plenty of odd, tacked on design elements that appear and disappear. When you run a game on a PC, Windows is all but gone, replaced by a full-screen experience of the designer’s choosing. Apps have their own design elements that aren’t related to Windows. Even OS X users now have full-screen interfaces for many popular apps. Dashboards pop up everywhere with clocks and widgets galore. In short, UIs are a hodgepodge in the first place. Users honestly won’t care if that hodgepodge appears in a set of colorful boxes on a screen or in a virtual machine running a 10-year-old shell.
This isn’t Microsoft BOB vs. Windows 98. This is a tweak. Our minds, I believe, have become so malleable to new interface techniques that they are considered beneficial tweaks and not offensive changes.
Consider the cognitive burden associated with iOS. After a short period of “You can’t multi-task!” the clear benefits of a single state interface became clear. As long as those interfaces were persistent i.e. you left mail, entered maps, and came back to the same screen you left mail, the perception of multi-tasking was maintained.
The same holds true of Windows 8. Those live tiles offer a bit of information – the tip of the iceberg, if you will – and a richer interaction underneath. Multi-tasking is more like multi-screen-tasking and the odd “dumps” back into Windows Vista will become less and less common as new apps appear. In short, we’re moving from a desktop environment to a more mobile one. Apple has tried to do this with LaunchPad (and they’ve consistently failed) but Microsoft is betting the farm on this new design.
What will happen? The early adopters will complain, OS X fans will gloat, and end users will begin experience Win8 on the new PCs they buy over the holiday. Average users will, in the end, find the Word and Excel icons and maybe run an alternative browser. All of the odd quirks – the “gems” that allow you to move back home and to share information with a click – will become more transparent and fade into the background. Windows, in short, will go back to being the leading desktop operating system and iOS may or may not follow suit with more unique interface paradigms.
Could I be wrong? Could my resigned optimism be misplaced here? Sure, but on the whole we have experienced so many shifts – from text interfaces on phones to rudimentary graphical UIs to the modern iOS and Android OSes we’re dealing with today – that UI is no longer static. Rather than looking at a monolithic whole – a great, dark rock called Windows – we are dealt a continuum of interface aspects that may or may not appeal to us immediately but will inevitably change as Microsoft’s user base changes. In short, Windows is now and will be henceforth always in beta. It may be a little jarring for the purists, but I doubt many users really care.
MediaPortal is a rare veteran spinoff of XBMC — a testament to its fan base, but also a sign that it needs a fresh coat of paint. A new 1.3 beta might offer just what home theater PC users have been looking for to keep the front end relevant, at least in the short term. It carries a much more contemporary (and less Windows Media Center-like) skin with minor tweaks to the layout and overall interface. CableCARD support also makes its overdue appearance, although the lack of official CableLabs approval keeps the software from recognizing any copy-protected shows. Don’t fret if those additions aren’t enough, however — we’ve been given a hint as to what the long-in-development MediaPortal 2 will offer through a pair of videos. The clips are largely top-level overviews, but they allude to mobile tie-ins, events, extensions, more skin support, video backgrounds and news. With an Autumn Build of MP2 available “right around the corner” for viewers, it might not be long before we learn what those new additions are like through first-hand experience.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD
MediaPortal posts new beta with new look and CableCARD, teases bigger sequel (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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For all of the many directions Ubuntu One’s cloud storage has gone, it hasn’t headed the Mac’s way. Official clients have been the province of Linux devotees (naturally, Ubuntu is recommended) and their Windows friends across the aisle. A newly available Mac beta puts all three major desktop platforms on an even keel, very literally — the OS X port is almost identical to what you’d get in Linux or Windows, including a few rough points where other interface concepts clash. Still, the Ubuntu One test build has a handy Mac-specific menu bar item, and it’s one of the few cloud options that will natively support both the Ubuntu box in your den and the MacBook Pro in your bag. Grab your copy at the source link if you can deal with a few unfinished elements.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Ubuntu One reaches Mac in beta, completes the cloud storage circle originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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