Hasta La Gadget!

Windows Phone 8 users are getting a bit of good news today, as the Nokia Drive+ beta has opened up for all WP8 users in the US, Canada, and UK. Nokia Drive+ is Nokia‘s shot at turn-by-turn navigation, but the service offers a lot of other features that are worth paying attention to. Previously, the app was exclusive to those using a Lumia 810, 820, 822, or 920.

Now it would seem that Nokia is a bit more comfortable with where the app is at, opening the floodgates to Windows Phone 8 users in those three countries listed above. Keep in mind, though, that Nokia Drive+ is still in beta, so therefore might be a little rough around the edges in some places. Just as well, Microsoft and Nokia would like feedback on the app as development continues, and users can share their thoughts by tapping the in-app feedback tab.

In addition to turn-by-turn navigation, Nokia Drive+ offers offline maps and speed limit warnings. The app will still alert you with those speed limit warnings even when you aren’t using it for turn-by-turn navigation, which is quite handy indeed. You’ll be able to tell Nokia Drive+ to avoid things like dirt and toll roads if you wish, with the app switching to night mode automatically and thus making it easier to see the screen at all times.

There’s no word yet on when Nokia Drive+ will roll out of beta, or if the beta will become accessible to users in other countries. In any case, if you’ve got a Windows Phone 8 device and you’re living in the US, Canada, or the UK, you can grab the app from the Windows Phone 8 Store today. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information on Nokia Drive+!

[via ZDNet]

Nokia Drive+ beta opens to all Windows Phone 8 users in US, Canada, UK is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Elder Scrolls Online is set to launch sometime this year, and there are some players who understandably skeptical that the game can satisfy series fans. Just the same, there are some players who think that the this is finally the multiplayer game so many Elder Scrolls fans have been asking about for years. Regardless of which camp you fall in – skeptic or believer – ZeniMax Online Studios has issued a call for for beta testers, so you can net a chance to test out a pre-release build of the game.

The beta is of the closed variety, which means that you’ll need to sign a non-disclosure agreement to participate. There isn’t any word on when the beta will officially kick off, which means that it might be a little while before players find out if they were accepted. While you won’t know if you got in right away, there is a little sidebar that pops up on the side of the application that gives you an idea of your chances of being accepted as you fill in information. You probably shouldn’t take that assessment as truth, but it’s a nice feature to have anyway.

Today also saw the release of a new cinematic trailer for the Elder Scrolls Online, this one coming in at nearly six minutes long. Being a cinematic, the trailer naturally doesn’t show any gameplay, but instead a massive battle scene. The battle is certainly impressive, but at this point, we have a feeling that fans are craving more gameplay footage. In any case, have a look at the latest Elder Scrolls Online trailer below.

If you’re interested in signing up for the closed beta, you can head over to the Elder Scrolls Online official site to do so. Keep in mind that there are a lot of people looking to sign up, so you may not be able to submit your application right away. Did any of sign up for the Elder Scrolls Online beta today?

[via Eurogamer]

Elder Scrolls Online closed beta registration opens as new trailer drops is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While we can’t speak for everyone, SimCity‘s urban construction triggers fond memories for more than one of us — mostly the small thrills of building our first arcologies or getting statues in our honor. A chance to feed our nostalgia (and megalomania) is coming quickly with the advent of EA’s beta for the SimCity reboot. Windows users who register before January 20th will get one hour’s worth of game time to use between January 25th and 28th, along with an opportunity to provide feedback on bugs and play balancing. It’s an almost cruel tease when we know we’ll have to wait until the final version’s March 5th launch to play more, or to play on a Mac, but we’ll take the beta offer when many of us haven’t seen a ‘pure’ SimCity game for a decade.

[Thanks, David]

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Comments

Via: EA (Facebook)

Source: SimCity

This week the folks behind the fantastically useful app AirDroid have made their AirDroid 2 app available to the public in a Beta test. This app is made to connect you to your Android device via a browser window on a different computer. Since this is done through a web browser, your imagination is the limit for what machines you’ll be able to do this with!

This new version of AirDroid makes the entire process available in a less restricted manner, no longer limiting you to the same wireless network to gain access to your Android device. Once you’ve got the AirDroid 2 app loaded on your Android smartphone or tablet, you’ve only to head to a pre-defined web address on your desktop machine (or Chome OS machine, if you’re feeling frisky), and scan a QR code with your Android device.

This initial connection does appear (at the moment) to need you to have the device on the same local network, but all indications point toward you being able to be in a different state connecting in for Find Phone once you’re ready to go.

While you’re able to access quite a few different phone-based app connections from this interface, it’s by no means top-to-bottom comprehensive at the moment. You can make a phone call, send an email, read your email, play music, look at your photos, and browse your files. Send text messages, and browse the movies on your phone. There’s no movie player on this system, so you’re limited to downloading and uploading files to your desktop’s own file system to view the videos, but you can see one-frame previews so you know what you’re getting.

Remote Camera photo examples via Samsung Galaxy S III (fixed focus only):

You can take screenshots with this setup, but you’ll need to have Root access on your smartphone – which is strange since there are a variety of ways to do this with the newest versions of Android, but we must assume AirDroid aims to work with all devices, not just the newest generation (Ice Cream Sandwich and forward).

A collection of apps have been submitted to AirDroid that are able to work through this interface, several of them rather interesting games. You can work with Stunt Car Challenge, Zombie vs Cannon, Kingdoms & Lords, and Sponny: your Funny Talking Friend! The biggest name in the AirDroid-compatible list of apps appears at the moment to be Echoer – learn more about the full version of Echoer from back when it hit the whole world back in April of 2012.

The current version of AirDroid is available on the Google Play app store right now – we wrote about it originally back in December of 2011 when it was included in our very own Ten Android apps for your new smartphone or tablet for the 2011 holiday season.

If you’re looking for the Beta version of AirDroid 2, you’ll want to head over to the AirDroid Chrome user sign-up right this minute. If you’re ready to take the plunge with the APK, you can do so with the file here, posted via Android Police from AirDroid’s developers: http://airdroid.com/invite/airdroid_v2.apk – you’ll have to copy-paste the link as we’re not all about posting direct links to files that could change at any moment – do so at your own risk!

AirDroid 2 Beta Review : remote camera access and Find Phone for Android is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While you’ll likely be able to speak to and be understood by most of your electronics in the distant future, here in the present Google’s Chrome browser updating with a new Web Speech API is still considered a big deal. This feature is coming today to Chrome Beta, that being the perpetually beta pre-final release iteration of the web browser, here bringing speech recognition to any app whose developer wishes to integrate it in-browser.

This release is made to bring on everything from game control to text dictation – you’ll no longer have to type outside your browser with systems like Dragon Dictate to keep your fingers in check – though they might just adopt Google’s friendliness here, too. This release of Chrome beta doesn’t automatically recognize speech from the browser itself, but through apps and webpages that’ve already taken advantage of the API.

Above you’re seeing Google engineer Glen Shires speak about how the Web Speech API works in one of its simplest forms. If you’re interested in using the webpage shown in the video, you can do so here: Web Speech API Demonstration. If you’re interested in working with Google’s software here for the near future as a developer, you’ll be able to do so with Chromium Blog’s set of links – so many your head will pop off!

This voice recognition functionality is currently only being presented for the desktop version of Google Chrome web browser. You are able now, on the other hand, to get Android Google Chrome web browser Beta releases through their new beta channel. If you do install a beta release, mind you, you’ll be doing so of your own accord, complete with Google’s warning that the release is not final and may not act as you think it might.

Let us know if you’re integrating Google’s Web Speech API into your app or webpage via the comments below or our tips email you’ll find in the upper portion of the SlashGear homepage. We want to know you!

[via Google Chrome Blog]

Chrome Beta integrates speech recognition is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.