The volume of apps downloaded to Apple's iPod Touch saw a nearly 1,000% jump on Christmas Day, according to mobile app analytics firm Flurry. Overall, the App Store saw a 51% increase in downloads from November to December -- downloads only increased by 15% from October to November. Christmas also marked the first day that iPod Touch app downloads surpassed iPhone app downloads, which makes sense to the MobileCrunch blog because the iPod Touch is a more common gift than an iPhone. The Android Market, meanwhile, saw a 20% bump in app sales as well, sparked primarily by …

Following rumors that Apple will make a tablet-related announcement in late January, word is that company head Steve Jobs is thrilled with the forthcoming device. Apple is said to have trademarked the name "iSlate," but that doesn't mean it's 100% guaranteed to be the tablet's real name, writes Fast Company, noting that Slate Computing -- which it links to Apple -- also filed for the name "Magic Slate," "which chimes nicely with the naming scheme started by the recent Apple Magic Mouse." It's also looking more likely that the tablet's screen size will be 10-inches rather than 7-inches, …

Earlier this month, when AT&T swore to improve iPhone coverage for New Yorkers, no one expected the carrier to combat the data congestion issue by cutting off the supply of new iPhones. "AT&T has stopped selling iPhones to New Yorkers from its Web site, for unclear reasons," reports the Associated Press. The company hasn't explained the suspension, which started a few days ago. "I guess that's one way to solve the problem," remarks The Consumerist, which broke the story on Sunday. In a written statement, an AT&T spokesman told Consumerist that "We periodically modify …

December is typically top gift-giving season, but the tech and "platform" obsessed are all looking forward to January amid rumors that Apple is about to finally unveil its highly-anticipated tablet device. "The company has rented a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for several days in late January," reports The Financial Times' Tech Blog. "Apple is expected to use the venue to make a major product announcement on Tuesday, January 26th. Speculation that Apple is preparing to introduce a new tablet style computer has been building all year, and other reports now …

For the first time in 23 years, Pepsi will not be running its typically high-production value TV ads during the Super Bowl. Rather, the soft drink maker is planning to spread around over $20 million in a social media play on the Web, which it is calling The Pepsi Refresh Project. ABC News is calling Pepsi's decision to pull its advertising from the Super Bowl telecast and concentrate on its Social Media strategy "the largest and most visible showdown between broadcast media and the Internet to date." Pepsi represents one of the stalwarts, not just of the Super Bowl advertiser …

Mint.com, the popular personal finance site recently acquired by Intuit, is busy at work on an app for the Android OS, with a prototype being tested internally. ZDNET is guessing for a release before the end of the first quarter, but the Android app is sure to come out before a mobile Web version. The company stresses that due to the sensitive data it's accessing, it will not speed through app development and risk anything that would compromise the data. Mint is also working on beefing up the number of financial institutions that allow banking data to be accessed by …

By the end of the year, Google's Android mobile software could offer as many as 150,000 applications, according to Flurry, which studies applications and their use. "A lot of developers have come onto the Android platform because of efforts by Verizon Wireless, Motorola Inc. and Google to promote the system," Flurry CEO Simon Khalaf tells Bloomberg. Android currently offers more than 12,000 programs, while over 100,000 are available on Apple's site for its iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The company may have at least 300,000 applications by the end of next year, Khalaf said. Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones and …

Forbes takes a look at what could someday be the world's cheapest PC, and cost a mere $75. One Laptop Per Child, MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte's non-profit initiative to put educational laptops in the hands of developing world schoolchildren, is presently upgrading its XO computer, better known as the "hundred-dollar laptop." The new machine, known as the XO-3, is slated for a 2012 release, yet is apparently still more of a pipe dream than a product. "Early designs for the PC reveal a minimalist slate of touch-powered electronics that drops practically every feature of a traditional computer except …

The average person now spends about 13 hours online each month, according to a new report from Harris Interactive. Yet, online times differed greatly from demographic to demographic, and even person to person. Of the 2,029 adults polled by Harris, about 20% of adults are only online for two hours or less a week, while 14% are on for 24 or more hours a week. The report, which excluded time spent on email, are down slightly from last year, when users were online about 14 hours per week. Usage, however, was up from 11 hours per week in …

The Financial Times has new details regarding Apple's courtship of the major TV networks, including CBS and Walt Disney, to launch a subscription television service over the internet next year. The service is expected to be offered over Apple's iTunes digital entertainment store, which sells movies and TV shows, but does not offer them for a recurring monthly fee. The debut of the service is among other entertainment and news services that the maker of the iPod and iPhone could offer on the "tablet" computer it is widely expected to launch imminently. According to The Financial Times, Apple has contacted …