The beta wasn't a beta. That was just a glorified marketing strategy. They got nothing new out of the beta that they didn't know already.
Some poor coder or programmer are sat their coding their arses of all the while telling anyone who would listen that such and such isn't ready, or won't work, or we're fundamentally broken or 'I can't get that to work with that, it's impossible'.
I feel sorry for those guys, and up against corporate twattage, they've done their best. The fault lies with those at the top who make the desicions to chase the short term profit and not the long term growth. They are effectively asset stripping these franchises. We are the assets, and they are stripping us for as much as they can get before patience finally runs out.