Developers and people with access to developer accounts have already been able to try out the OS X Yosemite in beta form for more than a month, but soon Apple will make the beta version of its new OS available to a much wider audience. As promised at WWDC 2014, Apple will roll out a free Yosemite public beta release this summer, so anyone who’s interested in running Apple’s latest operating system on a Mac can test drive it before it’s released this fall.

The company told The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple that the public beta will be released on Thursday, July 24th.

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Smartphones have completely changed the ways we work and play, but a problem has developed over the years: there are so many features and so much functionality packed into these nifty devices that it is impossible for anyone to remember it all. As a result, many of the features we might find incredibly useful often go undiscovered. Here at BGR, we try to help as often as we can but offering tips and tricks of our own, and also by bringing things to your attention when other sites offer useful tips — and here’s one we couldn’t pass on sharing.

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Advertisements can certainly be annoying, but they’re not always a bad thing. Problems arise most often when ads are intrusive or irrelevant, and when they do more to pester us than inform us. In the case of Google Maps, ads can actually be quite helpful in many scenarios, and Google just announced a few changes for the ads it serves in its Google Maps mobile app that might actually enhance users’ experiences.

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Apple’s new operating systems for mobile devices and computers will not launch simultaneously, 9to5Mac has learned from sources familiar with the matter, but that’s not necessarily surprising, even though iOS and OS X will be tied together more than ever once iOS 8 and Yosemite are released.

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Following an extensive security report from an iOS forensic and security expert that questioned some of Apple’s iOS tools when it comes to the user’s security and privacy (see his questions in the image above), Apple has taken another step to address “backdoor” concerns on top of stating that it’s not working with anyone to include backdoors in any of its products.

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Among Android enthusiasts, the OnePlus One is easily the most desirable new smartphone of 2014 so far. It doesn’t have the 2K display from LG’s G3, the gorgeous metal build from the HTC One (M8) or the massive marketing budget backing Samsung’s Galaxy S5, but it’s a cutting edge smartphone powered by the highly hackable CyanogenMod software. What’s more, it’s shockingly affordable.

The only problem, of course, is that it’s still almost impossible to buy one. But thankfully, OnePlus just gave hopeful prospective One owners their best chance yet to get their hands on one.

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Remember the Motorola Skip? A tiny wearable smartphone accessory that can help you quickly unlock the Moto X and other 2013 Moto Droid handsets? Well, Motorola has devised a similar version of the Skip, but this time around it goes on your skin rather than on a piece of clothing. The company has partnered with VivaLnk, and started selling a temporary Digital Tattoo that can be worn on the user’s skin to quickly unlock the Moto X.

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Among the new features added to iOS 8 beta 4, Apple’s latest iOS 8 pre-release version that was released to developers on Monday, there’s nifty a new setting ready to handle roaming in the European Union, Cult of Mac reports.

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Watch Dogs is one of the best games of the year and a decent showcase title for the new generation consoles, but it still doesn’t stand up to the seemingly professionally doctored demo from E3 2012. What we saw two years ago was a game that looked more stunning than just about anything else on the market — the reality wasn’t quite as impressive. Now, just two months after the game’s release, PC modder Federico Rojas (aka TheWorst) has released the final version of his graphics mod for Watch Dogs on the PC, bringing the retail release up to speed with the pipe dream from the original demo.

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It’s no secret that Netflix to expand in additional European markets this year, but the company has never offered an exact rollout plan for the new countries it wants to conquer. Fortunately, in a new letter to shareholders spotted by Android Police, Netflix confirmed that its European presence will see a significant increase in September, when the movie streaming service will reach six new markets.

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