After Microsoft ended the Windows 7 Beta 1 downloads this week, reports of the appearance of a new leaked build quickly began to roll in. Users who didn't get a chance to download Beta 1 are now turning to BitTorrent sites to get the newer, leaked release.

Though reportedly "nothing major," the 7022 build is dated January 15, and includes Internet Explorer 8 RC 1. Windows 7 Beta 1 was build 7000.

Planning a foray into standalone retail stores is risky business for a tech company not named Apple, but if Microsoft's going to take its long-rumored shot, it could have done worse than David Porter, the former DreamWorks and Wal-Mart exec they've hired to do the job.

According to the Redmond company, Porter's first task will be to define the time frame, location and specifics for Microsoft-branded retail stores. Porter will report to COO Kevin Turner, and he starts work on Presidents Day (that is, Monday).

So begins a new day for the venerable YouTube, the popular video streaming site is testing downloadable videos which include both a free and a for-pay model.

Thai Tran, Product Manager at YouTube announced today in the site's official blog that YouTube is "going offline." That is to say, it is giving video owners the option to make their videos downloadable under the Creative Commons License. Also, the option to make the videos available through a Google Checkout purchase is being tested.

With an estimated 44% of all mobile phones sitting around unused, many handset and service providers are working to keep gear from landing in landfills. On Thursday, Sprint announced an initiative to, by 2017, recycle or reuse 90% of all mobile phones compared with annual wireless device sales.

Sprint did some polling and found that nine out of ten households had at least one dead or decommissioned mobile phone hanging around; Nokia, in an earlier survey, said the total number of inert handsets works out to 44% of all mobile phones ever sold. And phones, unlike some tech gear, can be wholly recycled into new products -- if they can't simply be refurbished and re-deployed. Still, more than 140 million handsets get tossed each year in the US, and most of them go to landfills.

Hard to imagine that Apple will be falling over themselves to celebrate this "celebrity" sighting, but a doozy in Al-Jazeera does have interesting implications for understanding how the Taliban has changed since the war started.

The Taliban is, of course, anti-everything worthwhile, and that includes technology. It's one thing for the wild-eyed leadership to have satellite phones and middling-quality videocameras, but overall, modern conveniences have been regarded as corrupting influences, and the general public is forbidden contact.

T-Mobile's G1 will be getting its first full-featured navigation system on February 24 when Telenav releases its GPS Navigator for Android.

First available directly through Telenav's site, the navigation software will hit the Android market shortly thereafter, when it begins offering for-pay apps.

Claiming that certain areas of the country are less ready than others for the switch to digital broadcast television, the FCC denied 123 termination notices from a list of 491.

"We have now reviewed the 491 termination notices filed by the stations intending to end analog service on February 17, 2009," reads a Federal Communications Commission public notice published yesterday (PDF available here). "We find that 368 of these stations may proceed with their intended termination of analog service on February 17th."

Don't call it a comeback: Despite a solid year of competitive pressure from Apple, Google, RIM and the like, the world's biggest mobile OS system got bigger again on Thursday with the addition of 14 companies to the Symbian Foundation.

The Nokia-run non-profit foundation, still working toward its goal of an open mobile platform, increases its roster to 78 in just eight months of existence. Members are committed to creating an open-source platform, and have access to Nokia's Symbian software royalty-free.

Though it took several days for it to decide upon the proper language, Mozilla today posted its final explanation about its status with respect to the European Commission's latest Microsoft complaint: an "interested party."

Today's admission from the makers of Firefox incorporates language the organization had been pondering as a response to questions from Betanews and others Tuesday, following uncorroborated blog reports that Mozilla was either suing Microsoft or that it was adding its name to legal action from the EC. Neither is the case, especially since the EC's action is not a lawsuit; and today, Mozilla explained that as carefully as possible.

After last week's rollout of plans to re-launch a line-up of Nuvifone smart phones -- this time together with Eee maker Asus -- GPS specialist Garmin has teamed with its partner on a new Web site for Nuvifone.

In its first week online, the site contains more details, including pictures, on the Nuvifone G60 product mentioned last week, along with an early description of a Windows Mobile-enabled model known as the M20.

RealNetworks announced yesterday that Verizon's V Cast Video service has transitioned over to the Real Helix media delivery system, in a move which puts Real in charge of two major carriers' multimedia platforms.

The short-form video on demand service has transitioned over to the platform upon which Cingular Wireless' Cingular Video was built. That service was later to be renamed "CV" (where "C" now stands for cellular) under the ownership of AT&T.

Apple is rumored to be readying an on-demand video service that would let users stream iTunes Movie and TV show purchases directly from iTunes servers for playback. The speculation springs from a report in Apple Insider, which proposes that such a service would benefit users by eliminating the need for local storage of media files.

According to Apple Insider, Apple is now putting the finishing touches on "iTunes Replay" for inclusion in iTunes 8. But the report also noted that it appears undecided by Apple whether or not it plans to charge for the service. Apple Insider does not cite any sources at Apple as the basis for the report. When Betanews attempted to confirm this information with Apple today, spokespersons were not immediately available for comment.

Users of Android-based G1 phones on T-Mobile can now access mobile entertainment channels from GoTV Networks, Inc. The fare includes music performances, events, news, charts, and interviews across musical genres such as rock, country, and hip hop.

To access the GoTV channels, G1 users need to download a GoTV software application from the Google Android Market. The GoTV channels are also available in either streaming or on-demand formats from multiple video Web sites as well as from Apple's iPhone Application Store, AT&T, Boost Mobile, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless (including Alltel, and Virgin Mobile), GoTV said in a statement this week.

With Larry Heck going aboard Microsoft this week, Microsoft has hired yet another Yahoo executive in efforts to make a larger dent in the search engine market versus industry leader Google. At Yahoo, Heck was in charge of a laboratory that developed algorithms for more accurate searches and ad targeting.

Although Microsoft announced 5,000 job cuts a few weeks back, its search arm is still hiring, and at least three of its recent key hires are from Yahoo. Others from Yahoo include Sean Suchter, hired by Microsoft in November, and Dr. Qi Lu, appointed president of Microsoft's online services group in December. In a new job slated to start within the next few weeks, Heck will report to Satya Nadella, a senior VP in Microsoft's online services unit.

In a statement to Betanews this afternoon, a Microsoft spokesperson refrained from explicitly denying that it would offer Windows 7 as a free upgrade to some Vista owners.

"Microsoft often explores options with our partners to determine product offerings," the Microsoft spokesperson told Betanews. "We are not announcing anything new at this time."