Weekend Wrap-up: iOS 7 beta 2, the Ouya launch and Square on the Web

For those of us who just have to live on the bleeding edge, this week brought good news in that Apple seeded beta 2 of iOS 7 to developers. This latest version, which is absolutely not intended for the end user (though many install it anyway), squashed a lot of bugs from beta 1 and also introduced iPad support. Unfortunately, beta 2 renders some apps, including Vine, unusable. Third beta’s a charm?

The Ouya game console also launched officially this week. The tiny $99 Android box sold out quickly on Amazon, though its retail availability at stores like Best Buy seemed spotty at best. I had to drive about 75 miles away to find a Best Buy that carried one, so take any news of retail sell-outs with a grain of salt.

And mobile payments processor Square is now on the Web! The company isn’t quite becoming the next PayPal, though — instead of facilitating website or person-to-person payments, Square is helping small businesses set up online storefronts that can accept credit cards. It’s a cleaner arrangement for all parties but it isn’t as flexible as other payment processing options.

Other items of note this week: Google might be jumping into the video game competition with Apple (and that’s bad news for the Ouya). Speaking of video games, Time Warner Cable inked a deal with Microsoft to bring 300 live TV channels to the Xbox 360, effectively turning Microsoft’s black system into an IPTV box. We also saw the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 line in the United States, and if you’re interested in wearable tech, Sony showed off its SmartWatch 2.

Thanks for stopping by and catching up with us. Tune in next Saturday afternoon for another wrap-up.