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The iphone has really taken off this year, but even more than the iPhone itself, the App store, which launched just over a year ago has seen massive success; But with over 50,000 apps to choose from which ones are the best. To give you some help I have listed the top 10 here. These Apps are definitely worth putting on your phone.

• Slacker Radio – With this application all you need to do is fill in an account with the name of an artist or song, along with a genre of music you like and the app will build a playlist for you.
• Hey Where Are You – This app allows you to share your current location will chosen friends and family.
• Textfree Unlimited – This app does what it says on the tin, and offers free text messaging.
• TweetDeck – This works the same as its desktop counterpart, by allowing multiple columns as well as separating user groups.
• Flight Tracker – This allows you to get real time information about arrival and departure times, which is especially useful at this time of year, if you are going to be picking up family and friends from the airport.

This year has seen a massive rise in social media. Everyone from celebrities to Joe Bloggs have been using it to tell the world what they are up to and to spread the news, so it seems right that the big news story at the end of the year has to do with social media.

For the past 4 years the Christmas number one has always been the single released by that years X Factor winner, but after a massive Facebook campaign Rage Against the Machine have beaten this years’ winner (Joe McElderry) to the top spot.

This is a massive achievement considering how many people watch X factor and the fact that the Rage Against the Machine single was only available online and not in the shops. This only goes to show how powerful social media is and we will no doubt see it used even more over the coming year.

Computer games are always a popular choice as presents for Christmas, and with the introduction of the Nintendo Wii and DS, these games are great for the whole family whereas previously the market was geared more towards males.
So what are the most popular games for girls this Christmas?

• Wii Sports is popular as it is an interactive game which exercises the whole body rather than just your thumbs.
• High School Musical, making the cut – This game allows user to feel part of the movie, by writing songs and becoming part of the show.
• Lastly puzzle games are always a popular choice so why not try out brain training.

The new Aliens vs Predator game released recently was banned a few days ago due to it exceeding the maximum MA15+ rating. Now it has been refused classification, it basically means the game cannot be made commercially available in the country.

“Initial submission of Aliens vs Predator has been refused classification by the Classification Operations Board of Australia”

Sega are currently investigating the possibility of appealing the decision. We are also likely to see a slightly less-violent version of the game for Australians. I can’t imagine how disheartening it must be for a Game developer to put in all that work and then have it refused at the last minute due to something like this.

One of the biggest games next year (2010!) is due to be the next installment of the Halo series.

The game is set as a prequel, setting up the stage for Halo 1-3 and ODST. It will be a pretty interesting addition to the story provided that they actually put some effort into making the game and not just churning out another one in the series…

On the 5th November, there were some rather fuzzy looking screenshots that were leaked, which pretty much proves that the game is almost completed.

Either way, there will be millions of XBox owners who are eagerly awaiting the next installment.

I am a big fan of Gradn Turismo and I have heard that next years Grand Tursimo will have actually body damage on all cars. This brilliant game for me has been missing this basic feature for a while now but I have always loved it as I really think it is a brilliant game.

I am not too sure when this game comes out as it should of been out before the Christmas period but it is not out yet.

I think that I read somewhere that the next version will be out at about the turn of the year so  I cannot wait.

At the start of any new series there is always a new prediction games that comes out to be played to see if you can win your  millions and next year is going to be the same. We are already half way through the FA Premier League season and we will be looking forward to the next year of Formula 1.

There are not that many formula 1 games out there where you can predict the finishing position of formula 1 races and seasons but next year I have heard there will be a couple coming out.

I cannot wait for next season it should be brilliant.

The American market is poised for one of its biggest spending sprees of recent years. Online gaming expenditure is set to hit the staggering height of 5 billion dollars over the Christmas period. Considering that the world is going through one of its worst recession in 15 years the American toys market is going stronger and stronger.

This news about the American market means that hopefully we are starting to come out of the recent recession. I wonder what great video games will be released next year, I am sure there will be a new version of Grand Turismo and other huge titles.

We are coming close to the time of year when on Christmas day you get sucked into playing a board games with family members. It is normally a Trivia game that is played or even scrabble but sometimes if there are kids there you can even play a game of Hello or even Phase 10.

I always enjoy games near Christmas as it brings the family together a bit more. I recon this year I might end up playing a good game of phase 10 with the family but if I end up playing Scrabble I will definitely not win.

We are now coming up to Christmas and I am wondering what will be bought as the this years top toy or game. Every year there are loads and loads of board games sold to the masses and this year I really think that this will continue to be the same. I recon that this years game will be a board game rather than a computer game.

I have became a huge fan of scrabble which is supposed to still be one of the best selling board games of all time. I recon Scrabble will be a surprise game this year.