Rather than wait for Facebook’s big announcement on Tuesday, Web watchers are trying to predict what the social giant will unveil. TechCrunch’s Alexis Tsotsis is putting her money on Messenger for the iPad. “While my colleagues are hearing that this ‘what [they're] building’ is a ‘big deal’ -- as in a ‘phone’ or a slew of ads and other improvements -- I’m hearing that one of the products that could be announced is Messenger for iPad.”

In a sign that Apple could be losing its grip on mobile supremacy, the company has reportedly cut its orders for components for the iPhone 5 due to weaker-than-expected demand. “It comes as [Apple] has been facing greater challenges from Samsung Electronics Co. and other makers of smartphones powered by Google Inc.'s Android operating system,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

Following the widely celebrated return of Google Maps to the iPhone, The New York Times looks into Google’s broader success filling Apple devices with apps. “Google has become one of the most prolific and popular developers of apps for the iPhone, in effect helping its competitor make more appealing products,” NYT writes. Why work so hard to make a rival’s gadgets more appealing? Quite simply, “There is an enormous market of avid iPhone users [Google] wants to reach.”

Tongal, which crowdsources video ad assignments for big brands, has raised $15 million from Insight Venture Partners. “Tongal links writers, directors, actors, social media experts and other creators with brands,” VentureBeat writes. “Among the brands that have participated are Lego, Pringles, McDonald’s and Axe.” Tongal says the funds will go toward scaling its operations.

As Groupon’s stock experiences an unexpected rebound, TechCrunch delves into the daily-dealer’s latest growth initiative. Groupon Payments -- which TechCrunch calls the company’s “dongle-based Square/PayPal Here competitor” -- has just been added to its Merchants app for Android handsets. The change “will give Groupon a much better crack at critical mass for the payments service,” TechCrunch predicts. 

Amid soaring popularity for tablets and smartphones, holiday-season sales of personal computers fell for the first time in more than five years, reports Reuters, citing new data from tech tracker IDC. Adding to the PC’s problems, “Microsoft Corp's new Windows 8 operating system failed to excite buyers,” Reuters writes. “The slump caps a miserable year for PC makers.” 

Yahoo this week altered its search engine function so users can more easily search for Flickr images tagged with the Creative Commons license. “Now [users] have the option of selecting a ‘Labeled for Reuse’ filter that will only show images Flickr users have indicated are available under various types of Creative Commons attribution licenses,” PCMag.com reports. The change should encourage users to share more photos online. 

Contrary to reports, Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing, is denying any plans for a cheaper iPhone. “Every product that Apple creates, we consider using only the best technology available,” Schiller told to a Chinese newspaper, this week, reports The Next Web. That said, Apple is known for its strategic secrecy, and Web watchers have come to expect the unexpected from the company. 

Hoping to make the Web a faster, friendlier place for all, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is hoping to make Wi-Fi “bottlenecks” a thing of the past. “Speaking with Gary Shaprio at CES, Genachowski revealed that he's been working with the DoD and other government agencies open up more bandwidth for WiFi,” Engadget reports. “ 

Next week, the Wikimedia Foundation is planning to officially launch Wikivoyage -- a “travel wiki,” which, among other information, hopes to offer travel guides and up-to-the-minute information on lodging, transportation, food, and nightlife. As Skift reports, however, this non-commercial effort is drawing intense criticism from commercial rivals. “The already-hammered travel guidebook publishers and startups [are] looking at this new giant free project as a threat to their existence.”