Download-the-windows-7-sp1-public-beta-right-now

It’s hard to imagine that Windows 7 could get even better but Microsoft is steadily working towards the first service pack. The beta of course comes first and is now available for public consumption. The 1.2GB pack fixes a bunch of bugs along with adding a few new features geared towards enterprise users.

Of course since SP1 is still in beta, you’re kind of on your own as far as technical support goes. Well, there’s always Google, but Microsoft isn’t going to help much. So if you’re curious what Microsoft has improved and don’t mind installing a beta service pack on your machine, hit up the link and let the fun begin.

Microsoft-adds-Facebook-to-Outlook

Washington - Microsoft added Facebook to Outlook on Tuesday, giving users of its popular email program the ability to view status updates, pictures and wall posts from their friends on the social network.

Outlook now lets email users view the profile picture and activity of their Facebook friends in a box called the "People Pane".

"You can view your social network as you look through your email to stay connected with your friends, family, and colleagues," Paco Contreras Herrera, a group product manager for Microsoft Office, said in a blog post.

Microsoft integrated two other social networks, MySpace and LinkedIn, into Outlook in February using what it calls the "Outlook Social Connector".

"The Outlook Social Connector doesn't add another social network into the mix; rather it offers busy people the convenience of accessing them in Outlook," Contreras Herrera said.

"We expect more partners down the line," he added.

Outlook 2003 and 2007 users can download the latest version of the Outlook Social Connector from the Microsoft Download Centre while Outlook 2010 users can get it through Microsoft Update.

Swiftkey beta brings new keyboard, world class predictive text to Android

The software and language engineers at Swiftkey have been toiling on this app for the past two years, and at long last, it's being made available for precisely nothing to anxious Android users. Hot on the heels of Swype's own beta, the Swiftkey beta is now available to download directly from the App Market, and once installed (along with language packs of your choice), it can be used in place of your stock Android soft keyboard. We've never been the biggest fan of Google's factory keys, and while we still feel that Swiftkey's letters are a tad on the skinny side, it's definitely an improvement. But that's not where the magic's at -- this software has an uncanny ability to guess what your next word will be, and it actually looks at your prior SMS list (if allowed) in order to "learn" how you converse. In our early tests, we're pretty darn impressed, and yes, it's definitely worth the $0.00 price tag. Get your download on right now, or hop past the break for a video demonstration if you still need convincing.

White House's electric-vehicle production campaign

Today
HUD Secretary Sean Donovan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will launch ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles in New York City.

Thursday
President Barack Obama will visit LG Chem-Compact Power's new plant site in Holland.

Thursday
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will visit Celgard in Charlotte, N.C., where a $49-million advanced-battery and electric-vehicle grant is helping the company expand its manufacturing operations and build a new plant.

Thursday
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will visit Baker Equipment in Richmond, Va., which is converting conventional gasoline vehicles to propane.

Friday
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will visit Delphi Automotive Systems in Kokomo, Ind., where an $89-million battery-manufacturing grant is helping Delphi expand.

Friday
Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari will visit East Penn Manufacturing in Lyon Station, Pa., where a $32-million battery manufacturing grant is helping the company expand to manufacture battery technologies for hybrids.

Friday
White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley will visit SBE in Barre, Vt., where an $8.5-million battery-manufacturing grant is helping the company build an $18-million plant that produces "power ring" capacitors.

Facebook launches panic button for child safety

London: Social networking website Facebook has agreed to adopt a panic button aimed at improving the online safety of its younger users, a child protection group said on Monday.
The launch of button, which follows a long campaign by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), will allow children and teenagers to report suspicious behaviour and get help, advice and support about staying safe online.
The application is particularly aimed at users aged 13 to 18 and will appear on their profile page when they add or bookmark the button, CEOP said. “We know from speaking to offenders that a visible deterrent could protect young people online,” said Jim Gamble, chief executive of CEOP, adding that the button should provide reassurance to parents whose teenagers use the site.
Pressure to introduce such measures intensified towards the end of last year after 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a man posing as a teenager whom she had met through Facebook.
“Together we have developed a new way of helping young people stay safe online,” Joanna Shields, Facebook’s vice president for Europe, Middle-East and Africa, said of the link-up.
“It is only through the constant and concerted efforts of the industry, police, parents and young people themselves that we can all keep safe online.”

Solar Plane Takes off for 24-Hour Test Flight

An experimental solar-powered plane whose makers hope to one day circle the globe using only energy collected from the sun took off for its first 24-hour test flight Wednesday.

The plane with its 262.5-foot (80-meter) wingspan left Payerne airfield in Switzerland shortly before 7 a.m. (0500 GMT; 1 a.m. EDT) after overcoming an equipment problem that delayed a previous attempt, the Solar Impulse team said.

Clear blue skies mean the prototype aircraft will be able to soak up plenty of solar energy as it flies over the Jura mountains to the west of the Swiss Alps.

By midmorning pilot Andre Borschberg was cruising at 9,850 feet (3,000 meters), trying to avoid low-level turbulence and thermal winds that are frequent in the mountains.

He will take the plane to an altitude of 27,900 feet (8,500 meters) by Wednesday evening, when a decision will be made whether to continue through the night using solar power stored in its batteries.

"The goal of the project is to have a solar-powered plane flying day and night without fuel," said team co-founder Bertrand Piccard, adding that this test flight — the third major step after its first 'flea hop' and an extended flight earlier this year — will demonstrate whether the ultimate plan is feasible: to fly the plane around the world.

"This flight is crucial for the credibility of the project," said Piccard, a record-breaking balloonist whose father and grandfather also accomplished pioneering airborne and submarine feats.

The team had hoped to make their 24-hour test flight last week when days in the northern hemisphere were even longer, allowing the plane's 12,000 solar cells to collect even more energy before attempting to coast through the night.

But there was a problem with a key piece of communications equipment, forcing the team to keep the plane on the ground while modifications were made. Every aspect of the aircraft is monitored by engineers on the ground, with much of it fed onto the team's website and Twitter page.

Borscherg, the plane's sole pilot, will decide by 8 p.m. (1800 GMT; 2 p.m. EDT) whether to continue through the night. If he goes ahead, the plane will slowly descend to 4,920 feet (1,500 meters) before midnight, where Borschberg will stay until attempting a dawn landing. 

Piccard, who achieved the first nonstop circumnavigation of the globe in a balloon, the BreitlingOrbiter III, in 1999, said that, if successful, the next step will be an Atlantic crossing. That will be done in a second, lighter prototype, involving new challenges and dangers, he said. Although the goal is to show that emissions-free air travel is possible, the team has said it doesn't see solar technology replacing conventional jet propulsion any time soon. Instead, the project is designed to test and promote new energy-efficient technologies.

Reliance ADA Group welcomes RIL's broadband entry

NEW DELHI, INDIA: India's Reliance ADA Group, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, hailed Reliance Industries' (RIL) entry into the broadband market and said it was looking forward to providing services to RIL and other broadband services providers, a company representative said in a statement.

Reliance Industries, controlled by Anil's long-estranged brother Mukesh Ambani, on Friday said it would buy Infotel Broadband Services for $1 billion.

Infotel is the only firm to win broadband spectrum in all 22 zones in India in an auction that ended on Friday.