14 DAY TRIAL // The code-savvy bunch at Mojang has officially launched the “Minecraft Redstone Update Pre-release,” a beta-grade version of the 1.5 Minecraft update for OS X.
Minecraft 1.5 Redstone Update Pre-Release adds the Redstone Comparator (which can be used in Redstone logic), the Hopper (which collects items and moves them to containers), the Dropper (similar to Dispensers), and the Activator Rail (which activates TNT Minecarts).
Other new additions include: Daylight Sensor, Trapped Chest, Weighed Pressure Plate, Block of Redstone, Nether Brick, Nether Quartz and ore, Block of Quartz (with half blocks and chiseled variants), and a couple of new commands: /scoreboard and /effect.
Furthermore, containers and mobs can now have custom names, and you can drag-place items over slots, as a result of an inventory redesign. All this and much more can be found in this pre-release update (full changelog here).
Mojang promises to roll out the final update next week, on Wednesday, March 13.