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Open source and cross platform messaging client Instantbird version 1.0 has been released today. Instantbird is based on Pidgin's libpurple protocol library and Mozilla's Firefox technology. It supports all major messaging services and have an extension system for adding extra functionality, themes etc. Instantbird does what it says plus its portable, neatly tucked inside a tar archive. You just need to run Instantbird script.

Robert and his team are all set to develop an indie handheld gaming console which will run a number of indie games. The device will support 2D games only and will run a custom developed embedded Linux firmware. nD will have its own Game Store which will allow users to download games from the device itself and well as from a PC game store. The SDK will be released soon in upcoming days and is based on open source gaming standard - SDL. But developers are told that they actually can start making and compiling games on Windows, Mac and Linux using a 320x240 resolution.

PlaneShift is a free and open source MMORPG for Linux featuring a 3D virtual fantasy world. Unlike many other MMORPG's, there are no surprises of premium content in PlaneShift which will limit your gameplay or unbalance the game. There are no limitations in skills, ranks, abilities, items you can gain with your free account. There are no time limits or additional constraints. PlaneShift is Open Source for the client and server code, so everyone can contribute to its development. In future, the game will focus on the reproduction of a real world with politics, economy, improving the artificial intelligence of non-player-characters etc.

Firefox 5 has been released today as the part of its Rapid Release Program. There are lots of under the hood changes in this release that improves overall performance, speed, stability and security for the World's second most popular web browser. With Firefox 5, a new web based add-on builder has also been released which is currently in beta stage.

Vapor is a cross platform steam chat client written in C# which allows you to chat with your friends on Steam. It does not have any other feature but is useful if you want to stay in touch with your friends while using Linux distributions. Vapor Client is developed by VoiDeD using a free and opensource project SteamRE that implements networking using SteamKit2 library. Both Vapor and SteamRE are work in progress and new features will be added in future.

In SpaceChem you combine atoms to form molecules and move, grab, rotate them over a pair of circuits. You have to try to fit different types of actions for each level to get everything in tandem between both the circuits. On each of the circuit, you get a Waldos, a helper which executes the command you lay down on the circuit path. The ultimate aim is to create a reaction where the final result is creation of a chemical substance. The game contains over 50 mind twisting puzzles. Fans of chemicals, alchemy and periodic tables will find this game to be highly fun.

OpenClonk is the successor of the shareware game series Clonk and thus inherits many features of it. The project is developed by a community of Clonk enthusiasts and former Clonk developers.In 2009, RedWolf Design agreed to put the game engine's source code under an open source license, the ISC license. Since then, OpenClonk has introduced many new features like 3D Models, improved controls, zooming camera, revamped HUD etc.

Disper-indicator for Ubuntu provides a simple user interface for Disper display switching utility. Disper-indicator detects which monitors are currently connected to the computer and provides options to enable single screens, clone or extended screen configurations for systems having NVIDIA Cards. Disper-indicator is based on Disper, an application written by Willem van Engen that lets you add and remove display devices.

Charlie, an Indie game developer from UK, makes fun score oriented arcade shooters. Under the name of Charlie's Games, he has released some nice games for Linux, two of them are now available in software center - Irukandji and Bullet Candy Perfect. These are quite addictive shoot 'em up games, perfect for netbooks.

William and Glenn @ Podcast 17 recently interviewed Gabe Newell, Founder/Managing Director of Valve Software on their latest Episode. In this episode, Gabe talks about difficulties in having a Gaming Client for Linux and trade-offs Valve have to make while taking development decisions for different gaming platforms.

Popular puzzle game 'Braid' is the newest addition to Ubuntu Software Center, available in purchase section. First released for XBox Live in 2008, Braid has been highly rated by game reviewers and was also the part of Humble Indie Bundle 2. Braid treats your time and attention as precious, and it does everything it can to give you a mind-expanding experience. All gameplay is based on time manipulation. You journey into worlds where time behaves strangely; observe, learn from, and then master these worlds.

OSD Lyrics shows lyrics for currently playing song in Karaoke style on your desktop and is compatible with various media players. OSD Lyrics can download lyrics from the network automatically and saves them for any future playbacks.

Helena The 3rd is a new fun action platformer for Linux inspired by good old NES game, Blaster Master. The game innovatively combines 2D and 3D environments where you control a high-tech tank blasting your way through challenging levels and hordes of enemies. The core gameplay is very similar to blaster master and those who have played the original NES version will quickly notice its resemblance to the classic. However, Helena The 3rd takes you to a neatly designed 3D world with its own new gameplay elements.

Naev is a 2D space trading and combat game, taking inspiration from the Escape Velocity series.You pilot a space ship from a top-down perspective, and are more or less free to do what you want. As the genre name implies, you’re able to trade and engage in combat at will. Beyond that, there are an ever-growing number of storyline missions, equipment, and ships and a large galaxy to explore. The game is highly addictive and you will hooked to it for hours. Over 30 committers have been working on the game for last one year giving us a perfect release. Kudos to the developers.

LibreOffice 3.4, the second major release form The document Foundation, has been released today with many new features and fixes. Most notable of which are improved integration with GTK+ themes and improved text rendering.

Ubuntu 11.04 'Oneiric Ocelot' Alpha 1 has been released today. The major focus for this release has been bringing in full Gnome 3 stack and porting required applications to GTK3/PyGI. Unity and Unity 2D has been updated with bug fix releases. Almost all of the Gnome 3 stack has landed except few packages. Ubuntu 11.10 features Linux kernel 2.6.39 and gcc 4.6 compiler.

Sigil is an open source, multi platform WYSIWYG e-book editor designed for editing e-books in ePub format. The application has an impressive list of features that allows you to do basic as well advanced editing. Sigil also comes with easily accessible documentation. The project is gearing towards a version 4.0 release bringing new features, interface improvements and fixes over last the stable release. The current version is 4.0RC1 (released April 22) which is as good as stable. This is a must have application for users who work on editing/writing e-books.

Here is yet another instance where Linux systems are being used for producing complex graphical effects in entertainment industry. This time Rockstar games, who gave the world Grand Theft Auto series used Linux systems (OpenSUSE/SUSE Linux) in rendering real life facial expressions to the characters in their game L.A. Noire (released on May 17th). Again, KDE is used as the desktop environment.

A System running Fedora with KDE SC 4 was spotted on 'Doctor Who Confidential' episode broadcast this saturday in UK. It is great to see that large organizations like BBC are using Linux systems for production. The footage starts at 32:00 where Animation supervisor Neil Roche is talking about animation effects showing us a system running Fedora.

Miro 4 has been released with a long list of new features and fixes. Miro with version 4.0 aims to be a complete media suite and has come a long way from a being podcast/digital content service. Probably the most exciting features are inclusion of Music and App Stores.Miro 4 looks very similar to iTunes and is targeting android user base. It wants to provide same functionality to android users which iTunes is providing to iDevice users: sync music, share music, install apps etc. Miro is completely free, open source project made by non-profit organization. Read on for new features.