Just six months after debuting its tiny 3" x 3" x 1" Roku 2 streaming set top box, over-the-top video company Roku on Wednesday announced it had gone even smaller, and put its entire streaming set top box into a package the size of a USB stick which connects to a TV's HDMI port and communicates using the new Mobile High Definition Link (MHL) interface standard.

The Roku Streaming Stick, as it is called, will require no separate power supply, and will be controlled by the television's own remote control. Televisions that support MHL will be able to integrate Roku's streaming TV platform simply by plugging in the stick. With the stick docked, it will be just like having the Roku set-top box: it adds the Roku interface (and the 400+ channels it offers), Wi-Fi connectivity, and local storage to the TV it is used on.

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With even some budget computers now arriving with 1TB of storage, and perhaps more, drive space isn’t generally much of an issue these days. But we still get annoyed when we see software become unnecessarily bloated, grabbing vast amounts of hard drive real estate for no good reason. It’s lazy, and even if you have plenty of hard drive space left, will still slow down your searches, virus scans, defrags, and any other whole-drive operations.

Fortunately there are still plenty of projects that treat your hard drive with a little more respect, however. And there are few better examples of this than Wavosaur, a surprisingly full-featured audio editor that crams a vast array of functionality into a tiny 560KB executable, while refusing to clutter your system with anything else (no codecs, no DLLs, nothing dumped in your Windows folders at all).

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Developers David Sansome and John Maguire have launched the first stable release of their cross-platform, open-source media player. Clementine Player 1.0, which is based on version 1.4 of the Amarok media player, is designed to play both music stored on the user’s hard drive as well as provide access to a wide range of Internet radio stations.

Version 1.0 adds support for major internet music providers Spotify and Grooveshark, although premium subscriptions for each are required to use the service. Also added are support for Sky.fm and di.fm streaming radio stations, Global Search, support for playing audio CDs and more transcoder options.

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You may well have entertained the thought of using your computer to create music, but knowing just where to start can be a serious stumbling block. Unless you are already a musician, the majority of the music creation titles that are available are pretty complicated to use and can be very off-putting to anybody looking to get started. To help make things a little easier for you, we’re giving away a free copy of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Silver, worth $19.95, which can be used to create impressive musical works with loops, samples and more.

As anyone who has used MAGIX software will be aware, Music Maker 17 Silver is a delightfully easy to use program, but this does not make it any the less powerful. You are provided with a computer-based four track recording studio to work with, and while four tracks may not sound like much this is a versatile tool that lends itself to experimentation, and you will find that you are able to create something truly impressive quickly and easily.

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Blending multiple images of a scene into a single panorama is one of those tasks that might seem easy -- at first, anyway. After all, if you could just align one image over another at a point where they share some common feature then that’s the job almost finished. Right?

If you’ve ever tried to do this manually, though, you’ll know the reality can be far more complex. There are barrel distortion, vignetting, and many other camera and lens issues to consider. And you’ll need to take account of variations in image exposure, alignment, and the list goes on. Although, of course, if this seems too much like hard work, then you could just get the open source Hugin application to handle everything for you.

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Late December is traditionally the time of year to snap up a bargain in the post-Christmas sales, and there is no shortage of special deals to be found in the Downloadcrew Software Store. Take a browse through the store and you will find everything from security software to video editing tools -- there really is something for everyone. With huge savings of up to 83 percent off some of the best software available, you’d better hurry because these offers expire on December 31, 2011.

For anyone looking to watch videos on their computer, CyberLink PowerDVD 11 Ultra is a versatile media player with support for a huge range of video formats and discs, including 3D formats. You can save 45 percent off the MSRP when you buy the software for just $45. Also from CyberLink is CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Ultra which you can buy for just $69.95, saving 30 percent off the MSRP. This powerful program can be used to edit video, including 3D formats, and it comes bundled with a free copy of CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 worth $39.95.

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Can’t wait for the next major release of VLC Media Player? Desperate to squash an annoying bug? Not afraid of installing untested, pre-release software on your computer? Willing to become a guinea pig ? If the answer to all of these questions is “yes”, then VLC Media Player Nightly might be for you.

As its name suggests, this is the latest, untested version of VideoLAN’s popular cross-platform, opens-source audio and video player to roll off the presses. That means it’s untested, which makes it unstable, and as likely to throw up new bugs as old ones get squashed. If that doesn’t put you off, read on.

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Do you need a new photo for your Twitter or Facebook profile? Finding the right shot can be a challenge. And especially at this time of year, when festive overindulgences could mean you’re not exactly looking your best.

You could retouch any image with a photo editor, of course, but that’s a lot of work for often unspectacular results. So it might be easier to try Perfect365, an interesting tool that can give an in-depth makeover to the faces in almost any image, with a single click.

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Heck, you might score something even better.

Earlier this month, CyberLink unveiled the "I Am a PowerDirector" community site and contest to promote it. BetaNews readers get special consideration. In addition to the regular prizes, CyberLink will hold a special drawing giving away 10 copies of PowerDirector 10 to our readers who enter the contest. We told you so 24 days ago and want to remind you before it's too late to participate.

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Earlier this week I sold my Fujifilm FinePix X100, one of the best digital cameras I've owned, since buying my first in 1997. I gave up the delightful X100 for two reasons: I needed cash to pay for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus and because the Google phone is digicam enough for me. I'm not alone, based on survey data NPD released today.

NPD reports a 10 point increase in photos taken with smartphones and nearly corresponding number taken with digital cameras -- that 17 percent to 27 percent and from 52 percent to 44 percent, respectively, year over year. The data is for the United States. What about the nearly 30 percent remaining? Is film still that popular? I asked NPD. Nope. Camcorders and dumb phones account for the remainder. Well, tell that to Lomography!

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Despite having its own mobile platform to support, Microsoft is still understandably keen to keep its fingers in other pies, particularly those tasty iOS desserts. As such it should come as no surprise that there is an app that can be used to access the files you have chosen to store in the cloud in your SkyDrive from your iPhone, iPod or iPad. There is now no shortage of online storage services to choose from, but from the offset this is one that will prove popular with anyone looking to not only store files online, but to benefit from integration with other Microsoft services such as Hotmail.

SkyDrive itself is not all that new a service, but the iOS app is. This means that it is now possible to interact with your SkyDrive account in two ways. Not only can you access the files that you have already uploaded, you can also upload files whilst you are out and about. Ultimately this makes it possible to take photos with your iPhone camera and rather than having to email to yourself or sync with your computer, you can upload the images so that they can be accessed from any computer. This is also a great way to share images with others, but this can also be achieved by attaching them to an email from within the app.

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Most companies seem to think that offering beta versions for free is sufficient reward to encourage people to try them. CyberLink, it seems, have a different view. Or maybe they’re just being seasonally generous. Whatever the reason, if you participate in the beta program for their digital photo workflow tool, PhotoDirector 3, then you could not only receive a free copy of their media manager MediaShow 5, but you’ll also have a chance to win a shiny new Nikon D3100 DSLR camera, and could even receive a copy of the finished PhotoDirector 3 on its final release.

If you’re unfamiliar with PhotoDirector, then the current version provides an easy way to manage your images in libraries, tag them, search for the shots you need and apply a range of corrective options. And PhotoDirector 3 extends the program’s repertoire further by adding a number of very useful high-end editing tools.

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I must make an embarrassing confession. This morning I logged into my Last.fm account for the first time since June 2008. Has it been that long? Gads! I've really got to start using the service again. Is it a question of Last.fm irrelevance? Nah. Blame iTunes, which I gave up using a few months ago, and hassles with tagging songs. When I last used Last.fm Scrobbler for the Mac -- granted years ago -- there were, ah, issues. I'm on Windows now, where Last.fm and Microsoft are hug-a-beasts.

Last.fm emailed me today about a new service, which is what got me looking around again after being so long absent. Last.fm Discover is supposed to help you better discover independent music. Hey, I'm all for that. I was a deejay in my youth, back before the Federal Communications Commission deregulated radio and jocks had to pass a test to get one of three "Class" licenses.

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While the BBC’s iPlayer has been available to iPhone users for some time, until now it has only been through a web browser. The latest update to the iOS iPlayer app means that there is now an app that can be used to watch the programs you have missed from the BBC’s channels -- this brings the same option that has been available to iPad users who have been able to take advantage of a dedicate app for a number of months.

While most people will be happy to be able to watch programs at home using a wireless Internet connection, the new iPhone app also allows for broadcasts to be streamed over a 3G connection. Adaptive bitrates are used to ensure the best possible quality for your connection speed but the option of using a 3G connection opens up the possibility to incur hefty data charges nonetheless.

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Why keep those special moments to yourself, when you can share them with the people that matter most? There's Facebook, or even Google+, but what good is that when you're Skyping Claire Beauvoir in Brussels and you're in Washington, DC? Today, Skype 2.6 posted to Android Market, and its big new feature is sending photos and videos. Share and share alike. The new capability works over cellular data networks as well as WiFi.

"We've also improved battery life and video quality with Skype 2.6 for Android on devices using Nvidia's Tegra 2 chipset, which include amongst others; the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola XOOM and Acer Iconia Tablet. Now you can take full advantage of the big screen with better video quality than ever before", says Dan Chastney, Skype senior product manager.

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