Microsoft .NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 2012 release candidates ready

Listen up, developers: it’s time for a new round of Windows programs. In addition to sending out the release preview for Windows 8, Microsoft has published release candidates for Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5. Both are available free, presumably until the completed programs are shipped, and can be used to create working applications under a Go Live licence. Click here to download Visual Studio, and here for .NET.

In addition to the new web tools and Metro UI guidelines in Visual Studio, Microsoft says that it’s “added features, improved performance, revamped the UI, streamlined setup, made it easy for you to move from Beta to RC, and more” since the last beta. Since this build has taken a surprisingly long amount of dev time, it’s been officially renamed from Visual Studio 2011 to 2012 – seems about right, since we’re halfway into the year anyway.

The Team Foundation Sever is getting a bit of love as well, with the added ability to use SQL backups during the initial setup period. That should shave a small but considerable amount of time out of regular workflow. Both builds are considered release ready, so while there may be a few bugs still lurking about, you should be able to use them as prime time resources. Just don’t get too attached if you’re not ready to pay up when they go gold.

[via eWeek]

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Archos Child Pad ready to hit the market

So your little one has been hankering after you for a new tablet, considering how you do your very best to prevent him or her from coming anywhere near your iPad each time you come home from work? You know the drill – as much as you want to let your kid enjoy some games on the iPad, you know that he is still trying to get his body’s co-ordination right, so walking or running around with the iPad in hand is not exactly the best idea, since a slip of the fingers or a fall would mean a crying child and the very high possibility of a broken display – not something you can afford right now, what with austerity measures being introduced just about everywhere else.

Apart from purchasing an old, first generation iPad from someone else, you might as well go all the way and deliver a tablet that has a specific target – the little ones. There is just something about Alvin and the Chipmunks being revived, where their past three movies actually combined to rake in more than $1 billion from box office receipts alone. I know, this is no Avengers, but it is still quite the achievement for a trio of high pitched chipmunks that would make for a decent meal for select jungle tribes out there. Enter the Archos Child Pad that has an Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 theme in place.

This unique Archos Child Pad will come in a compact and lightweight design, not to mention run on a 1GHz processor, accompanied by 1GB RAM while having Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the operating system of choice. Pretty neat, since that would mean not having to loiter around and keeping your fingers crossed for an operating system update which might not even arrive in the end.

To make sure that your kids love it to the max, it will feature special Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 content like behind-the-scene clips, images from the movie, wallpapers, and even an online game. If they want something more feathery, there is always the pre-loaded Angry Birds game to keep them occupied, and as a parent, you will be pleased to know that this $129.99 tablet comes pre-loaded with a 6-month parental control application for child-safe web browsing. It boasts of a redesigned interface that features colored icons and folders to deliver direct access to games, apps and books, and has 4GB of internal memory to get you started.

Press Release

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Sphero, The Robot Ball You Control With Your Phone, Is Getting Ready To Roll Into Your Home

Robotic balls and smart phone controls - Sphero is ready to make a big splash this holiday shopping season.

Orbotix has the hottest set of robot balls out there, and it’s finally showing what they really look like to the public.

The Boulder-based startup recently released photos and video of the final form of Sphero, a mobile glowing plastic ball that you can remotely control with any iOS or Android phone via Bluetooth. More than simply a robot ball, Sphero is a new kind of gaming platform.

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