Poking Your Friends On Facebook 

The self-destructing messages may remind users of Snapchat app for Android and iOS. Following this pattern, Poke can send a text, photo or video message that expires after 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds. Once the clock runs out, the message is deleted from the phone and erased. From my point of view, this app is useless, I can't imagine somebody spying on his/her phone, just to catch the new pokes coming, but probably there are loyal users for Snapchat. One more thing to be added, the app received media accusations for allowing explicit photos or videos.

Comparing with the original Poke idea, the app is also a friendly way to say Hello, without actually typing anything, but the iPhone app says Hello by sharing content with multiple people in private.

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Archos 97 Titanium HD, French Touch 

First of all, Archos 97 appearance will make you think of iPad, but it's not an Apple creation, it's a pure Android tablet designed for HD performance, protected by a titanium design. Apple prefers to embrace a more conservative 4:3 format, while the latter prefer the multimedia-oriented widescreen panels. However, French consumer electronics company twins the two points of view, creating an Android tablet with an iPad 4-like display.

Archos 97 Titanium HD tablet features a 9.7-inch IPS display with 10 point multitouch and a resolution of 2048 x 1536. It's enhanced by a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory, alongside a microSD card slot that can extend the storage capacity to 64GB. The tablet runs on Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.), plus OfficeSuite Viewer 6 and Archos-branded Media Center suite, creating even links for your tablet to connect with a TV. Unfortunately, the so far magical tablet includes decent cameras, a 5MP back-facing camera with autofocus and a 2MP front-facing one.

Archos didn't provide any pricing information at the time of writing this article, but I'm positive it won't surpass Nexus 10 or similar affordable Android tablets.

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[Rumor] New IPad Mini With Retina Display

Since it's one of the few Apple products, missing the fabulous Retina display, it makes sense for the tech giant to manufacture the next generation iPad mini with a higher screen resolution. Much more, iPad mini’s competitors boast screen resolutions close to iPad 3 Retina display, so Apple should hurry and erase this difference.

Unfortunately, whenever Apple improves something, you should prepare your piggy bank, since you will deal with a higher price point. In addition to retina display, the new iPad mini is predicted to be less heavy and will probably include processor upgrades. In order to support such resolution and ensure rapid performance, Apple will need to utilize a high-end application processor with advanced graphics, such as dual-core Apple A5X or A6X. Such chips are more expensive than the current A5 system inside iPad mini, forcing the standard price to raise.

According to rumors floating around the release, it seems that iPad mini 2 or whatever it would be named, would be launched before the Easter holiday. Apple can use the boost, but doesn’t absolutely need it, since sales for the current version are doing well in US and Asia. DigiTime has already reported that they supplied enough components to produce as many as 4.5 million iPad Mini units in both October and November. They anticipate a similar level of supplies for December and expect those supplies to remain steady in the first quarter of 2013. If Apple keeps this up, the company should be able to ship more than 24 million units by the end of March. Unfortunately, iPhone 5 couldn't reach a similar performance, since the new smartphone disappointed investors during its initial weekend on the market, being sold in only 5 million units.

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Last-Minute Shopping Tips 

If you wish to find a suitable tablet in the nick of time, online stores might not be the perfect solution, although they claim. Before placing an order, take in account the possible delay due to weather conditions or the purest out of stock situation, it's quite frustrating to promise a gift and not to have it for Christmas. I'm not saying you should rush for big stores, where everybody queues in a feverish impatience, but stores from your neighborhood might help you out, not to mention that the seller knows your face and you can easily reach an agreement, if you change your mind.

If you haven't already bought the tablet that your relative or friend wants for this holiday, the following cool tablets for home and office might help you avoid a shopping dilemma. As I warned you, shipping is going to be the biggest problem faced by last-minute tablet shoppers. Orders placed online Saturday or Sunday probably won't ship until Monday, which is the very December 24. Anyhow, if you are determined to try your luck, shoppers like you were extremely interested by Apple iPad 2 ($399) and Retina iPad ($499). Apple lists both in stock and available for immediate shipping on its website, the same situation occurs on local retailers such as BestBuy or Target, reporting a good supply of Apple's full-size tablet in their stores. Next in row, as most wanted tablet type is iPad Mini, unfortunately your family probably won't open it until the morning of December 25^th, since stocks aren't numerous at all.

Last-Minute Shopping Tips 

If you are interested by Android based gadgets, Google Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 are cheaper than iPad and quite reliable. Unfortunately, Google lists only one variant of the Nexus 7 as available, while the rest are sold out. Even if you order the ultimate 16GB Wi-Fi Nexus 7, it won't ship for one or two weeks, while Nexus 10 ($399) is actually completely sold out. The Nexus devices aren't available in stores, so you will have to wait for your turn on the online platform.

Microsoft recently expanded the availability of its Surface model, including Best Buy, with immediate shipping. On the other side, Amazon sells its Android tablets directly on its website and through retailers all over the world, being one of the easiest to find gadgets. The low prices are a hot point too. The Kindle or Kindle Fire could be a decent substitute for the Nexus 7 itself. As in the case of Amazon, Barnes & Noble sells its Nook tablets online and in partner retail stores. The tablet is officially available for immediate shipping on Barnes & Noble's website, but there were some delays reported on forums, so pay attention.

If you don't care about having a Nexus-branded tablet or a Kindle or Nook, there are plenty of other tablets available running Google's Android platform, such as Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Tab 10.1, Acer Iconia, Lenovo IdeaPad, Insignia Flex or Asus Transformer.

I couldn't end this article without wishing you good luck with your shopping!

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Street Fighter X Mega Man Announced For PCs 

Christian Svensson, SVP of Consumer Software at Capcom, its producer, said that the game was created as a platform for the most dedicated gamers worldwide. Although his words sound great, in fact you will be a little bit disappointed by Mega Man's appearance. The only positive fact would be the return itself of the Blue Boy Wonder inside a game, that will feature eight bosses from the Street Fighter universe, with players having to traverse the levels in classic Mega Man style and then face the bosses. Unfortunately, the visuals are designed into a retro tone, but if you are interested, the game will be launched on December 17th exclusively on PCs.

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Google Starts Charging For Business Apps 

The move shows a fresh focus by Google on sustaining the infrastructure of small businesses. In this area, Google's project competes with Microsoft's Office software and Exchange email service. Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president in charge of Google Apps, said that the company wants to provide small businesses a dedicated customer support, something only paying customers currently get. In this case, new customers from this area could say they don't want customer support at all, but Google didn't take in account this scenario. After all, it's unfair: if you are a new customer to pay for something that millions of people who already use it, to continue to get it free.

Google Apps, part of a technology trend known as cloud computing, includes a custom email address, Google Docs and Google Drive online storage. For the past year, any business with more than 10 software users paid $50 per person a year for the service. It's not a fortune, but for small business might be a heavy mission to carry on.

Why Google is so keen to implement this fee? Over the past year Google generated around $1 billion from the sale of Google Apps. Google is positive that more than five million businesses use Google Apps, though the vast majority has fewer than 10 users and so they use the free version, which the company has to transform into a revenue source, in order to obtain more profit.

All in all, the scenario will go like this: individuals wishing to use the company’s web apps like Gmail or Google Docs, should register for a free personal account, while businesses will now have one paid version to use, Google Apps for Business (a premium app), which features 24/7 customer support, a 25GB inbox and a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee with no scheduled downtime. Other versions of free Google Apps, such as Google Apps for Education and Google Apps for Government, won't be affected. For the moment, I would say.

This isn't the first time, when Google charges its old free services. Last year, Google began charging businesses such as mobile app makers accessing Google Maps more than 25,000 times per day. This year, Google began charging retailers seeking to be included in its Google Shopping service. According to rumors, Google's recent moves to charge free services were partly influenced by Apple's business model, the iCloud online software.

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Good Deal: Barnes & Noble Nook E-Reader For $79 

Unfortunately, this is the company's entry-level reader, it doesn't have the backlight feature that lets you read in the dark. It can be suitable for children or users, who don't care that much about this detail, so place your orders as soon as possible (with this price promoted, in two day the gadget will be out of stock). Nook Simple Touch is available at Barnes &Noble retail stores and third-party retailers such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy.

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Apple And Google, Friends Or Foes?

Given the competitive nature of their relationship, the idea that the two giants could come together to do business sounds a little weird. Still, this is no exception, after all a group consisting of Apple, Microsoft and Research In Motion (the Canadian manufacturer of Blackberry) joined forces to buy Nortel Networks Corp.’s more than 6000 patents for $4.5 billion last year. So, the idea of waving $500 million dollars for a patent portfolio is normal, in the end.

Believe it or not, if it's true they teamed for this cause, Kodak's portfolio is a bargain. According to rumors, Kodak’s patents are estimated between $2.21 billion to $2.57 billion, so Google and Apple know exactly why they are making the effort to support each one's presence nearby.

Apple And Google, Friends Or Foes? 

Things are still complicated, although it's obvious that two giants try their luck together, rather than allowing Kodak to drive up the price up by pitting them against each other. Concretely, they’re putting on their friends-enemies hats in order to produce the joint bid. It’s also a good move, considering the old patents acquisition of both companies, for instance Google paid a ridiculous $12.4 billion for Motorola, including its 20,000 patents.

The reason why Kodak is selling its patents is because of the obvious bankruptcy, which it filed for in January after listing $5.1 billion as profit and $6.75 billion in debt. So, Google and Apple are helping to facilitate that exit of the 132-year-old photography giant.

Now, the big question is what will they be doing with it in the end of the story? The patents for sale appear to be connected to the capture, manipulation and sharing of digital images. Google might use them, since it bet all its cards on Samsung Galaxy Camera, but Apple is too proud with its photo abilities on iPhone and iPad, would it include one of these patents?

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Microsoft Opens Its Social Network 

Honestly, its name makes me leave the page on the spot. I know everybody wants to sound trendy, by Socl doesn't make me think of getting socialized, although that was the major idea. Users are invited to build visual collages of their search results and share them with others users, similar to Pinterest's mechanism.

The idea might be catchy, since online galleries never get old, but Bing as base for this social network is almost suicide. Firstly, it's used by Facebook, so I'm starting to believe Microsoft wants to grab some of Facebook users. Secondly, if somebody, who doesn't use it and wants to upload from Firefox or Safari, what should Microsoft say? Rejected? I don't think it's so strong to say it, not now when the company has some financial headaches to deal, starting with Surface medium sales.

Microsoft Opens Its Social Network 

Socl, no matter its destiny, it has been in private beta test mode for a year, aimed mainly at students. Inside the global version anyone with a Facebook or Microsoft account is able to sign up. Socl was developed by Microsoft as a research project focused on the future of social experiences and learning, in other words it won't be a direct rival to Facebook or other social networks. In a world, where every big company depends on ads revenues, I doubt Socl won't function similarly to Facebook.

Socl combined ideas of Montage (a photo collage app) and Kodu (game programming), as far as I can notice. Socl brings image search to prominence. A new navigation bar helps users create posts more simply and to find elements like common interest pages. Next, users can create parties, where participants can create playlists, watch videos and chat together from inside the site.

Why do I have the feeling, Socl won't manage not even to surpass Google+?!

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Samsung Galaxy Camera Confirmed For Verizon 

All in all, Samsung Galaxy Camera is a smarter sharp shooter, combining features of a smartphone with the optics of a professional camera. It's bigger than a regular camera, but this won't bother you that much, since it can be rotated for easy access on Google+ for instance. Much more, it connects to a cellular data network, so you can email and share photos anywhere you have wireless coverage. Obviously it runs Jellybean, since it's a new gadget and so you will have access to powerful photo editing apps (for cropping, reducing red-eye and adding vintage effects right on the camera) and a touch-screen keyboard for typing captions, whenever sharing photos on social networks. Similar to all Android smartphones, enhanced with vocal assistant, the Galaxy camera also has a handy voice-control function, check it, it will help whenever you want to take a picture in two seconds.

The specifications list also includes a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm chip, a huge 4.8-inch TFT display with a 1280×720 resolution, a 16MP sensor, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

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