Ubuntu 13.04 Beta Released

The final beta of Ubuntu 13.04 has been made available for download.

Also shipping alongside it are betas for all of the official Ubuntu spins, including the newly anointed Ubuntu GNOME and Ubuntu Kylin projects.

Key features new to Ubuntu 13.04, and available in this beta, include:

New shutdown and session exit dialogs
A new sync menu for Ubuntu One
Faster, more performant Unity
New interface animations, including window snap
Scroll-switching of open windows from Unity Launcher
For details of precisely what has changed between Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04 you can view our development coverage by using the Raring Ringtail tag.

Getting Ubuntu 13.04 Beta

If you’re running daily builds of Ubuntu 13.04 you don’t need to do anything special to get the beta – as long as you’re up-to-date, you’re using it.

Ubuntu 13.04 is scheduled for release on April 25th. It will come with a reduced support cycle of only 9 months. Support for it will end in January 2014

A release candidate of Ubuntu 13.04 is due for release on April 18th.

Download Ubuntu 13.04 Beta 2

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Ubuntu To Become The Official OS Of China

Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu have announced that they will be officially affiliated with the Chinese government to bring a new Ubuntu based OS to the Chinese population.

In a recent blog post on the Canonical blog, they went on to explain that Ubuntu Kylin (the official name of the new OS) will go way beyond just a version of Ubuntu with Chinese language packs installed. The blog post went on to say:
“Ubuntu Kylin goes beyond language localisation and includes features and applications that cater for the Chinese market. In the 13.04 release, Chinese input methods and Chinese calendars are supported, there is a new weather indicator, and users can quickly search across the most popular Chinese music services from the Dash.”


This isn’t just a one off release, it’s going to be a completely separate version of Ubuntu that is designed specifically for the Chinese market. Much like Kubuntu, or Xubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin will have on going development separate from the core Ubuntu build. The blog post goes on to say…
“Future releases will include integration with Baidu maps and leading shopping service Taobao, payment processing for Chinese banks, and real-time train and flight information.
The Ubuntu Kylin team is cooperating with WPS, the most popular office suite in China, and is creating photo editing and system management tools which could be incorporated into other flavours of Ubuntu worldwide.”

This is a very big move for Canonical and Ubuntu as a whole. We all know how huge China are, and for the Chinese government to push an official Ubuntu build onto the population can be nothing less than an amazing bonus for the Linux world.

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LG Reported to be Working on its own smartwatch and a Google Glass-like Project

Apple, Google, and Samsung are all rumored to be building their own smartwatches, LG becomes the latest manufacturer to reportedly join the fray. According The Korea Times.

LG is currently developing both a smartwatch and another wearable computing device described as something similar to Google Glass. It wouldn't be the first time that LG developed such a product — back in 2009, the company showed off a "watch phone," which came with a full GSM radio built-in for voice calls. This rumored new product would be more along the lines of the Pebble and other speculated smartwatches, with the ability to sync with your smartphone and check messages or other notifications.

The watch is reported to run on Android, which fits considering the company's heavy focus on Google's OS — but there's also a chance it'll run the new Firefox OS that was shown off in detail at MWC last month. While it would certainly make sense for LG to be exploring wearable computing options, the timing of this rumor helps put LG in the conversation alongside consumer technology's giants — smartwatches from Samsung, Google, and Apple are probably the biggest rumor in technology right now.

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Google reported working on its own smartwatch!

Reports claimed that Google's Android unit is working on a smart watch. With Samsung confirming that it is working on a smart watch and rumors about Apple's "iWatch" continuing to circulate, it appears that the three companies are set to battle in a new mobile device segment.

The report unsurprisingly suggests that Google views the smart watch as a more mainstream wearable accessory than the Google Glass project that has garnered significant attention in recent months.

While Glass is being created in its X Lab, home to experimental “moonshot” projects such as the self-driving car, Google’s smart watch is being developed by its Android unit, according to a person briefed on the project, to act as an extension to the smartphones using that operating system. The project is separate from Samsung’s efforts, the source said, although there is no indication of when it might launch.

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Google Anounces Google Keep a new Cloud Service

Google Keep, the newly announced service from Google which allows users to quickly jot down notes, voice memos with transcription support, reminders, checklists, ideas or anything else including photos to keep track of important things that matter.

Your notes and data are safely stored on Google Drive and synced to all devices for anywhere access.

 

Google Keep allow the user to
Keep track of your thoughts via notes, lists and photos
• Have voice notes transcribed automatically
• Use home-screen widgets to capture thoughts quickly
• Color-code your notes to help find them later
• Swipe to archive things you no longer need
• Turn a note into a checklist by adding check-boxes
• Use your notes from anywhere - they are safely stored in the cloud and available on the web

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