Trillian Astra handing out Beta invites- FOR REAL

Despite my love for Digsby and all the nasty comments from my fake Trillian Astra release April Fools prank in 2008 I was excited to learn that the Curelean Studios is handing out beta keys for the Windows Beta of Astra right now. If you go sign up you’ll get an invite instantly!

I had asked to be notified in the past but just resigned up and before I could switch to my Gmail tab I had recieved the download token.

Sign up for Trillian Astra Now

Via Lifehacker

Firefox Mobile aka Fennec coming in September


Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

The Crave blog is reporting that Fennec the mobile version of Firefox is set to be debuted in September with a beta release in late 2008! I am extremely excited by this news since the desktop version of Firefox continues to be the best browser for my needs.

The Surprising news is that due to the licensing and restrictions on both the iPhone and Google’s Android phone, you won’t likely be seeing Firefox running on either! This leaves all of the love to Windows Mobile and Symbian devices which is fine by me!

The only problem I see ahead for the mobile version of Firefox is that it is coming into the game late. Opera should have it’s latest release of Opera Mobile browser out by then and the newcomer Skyfire whose latest update makes for a very robust browser will be even farther along. I’m not saying I won’t be downloading the beta on day 1, I just that I hope Mozilla brings its “A game”. While I was waiting around for Trillian to release Astra, I found Disgby, and unless Astra can somehow print money or bend the space time continuum its release won’t be a big deal.

Trillian Astra Is Released!

This morning Cerulean studios announced that Astra the next iteration of Trillian’s popular instant messaging program has been released!  This is roughly 2 years after Trillian Astra was first announced.  Trillian had recently been relegated to the same vaporware status of Duke Nukem Forever but in a move to prove critics wrong they have chosen today the 4 year anniversary of Google’s Gmail unveiling to announce Trillian Astra, brought to you by Google free of charge!

I have been waiting for Trillian which has inking support for tablet use for quite some time and had not been able to get in to the beta but now I can enjoy the full version for free.  I caught this news tidbit when a draft posting on the Trillian blog was made public last nite!  The mistake was quickly corrected but Google has made the announcement and Astra is available for Windows, Mac, iPhone, and a web interface.  One really cool aspect of the partnership is that the chat logs will be indexed in Gmail for anyone you are a contact with and searchable through Gmail or the web interface!  This feature can be turned off but it will undoubtedly be a great benefit for pulling up a meeting time, address, or lost weblink.  What are you waiting for?  Go download Trillian Astra now.