Back in January App Inventor made the transition from Google to the MIT Center for Mobile Learning. For those of you that were interested in using the product going forward, take note that the project has launched the MIT App Inventor Open Beta Preview, which opens the service to anyone with a Google account. [via theverge]

For the past two months, we have been conducting a closed test of the system for an increasing number of testers, and we’ve currently scaled to 5000 testers. Today, we’re taking the next step, and opening the MIT App Inventor service to everyone. All you will need is a Google ID for log-in (for example, a Gmail account).

App Inventor will now be suitable for any use, including running classes. But please be aware that this is the first time the system will be under load from a large number of users, so there may be bumps and adjustments as the load increases. For now, we suggest that you maintain backup copies of important apps, as we see how things go.