We’re only just through the second week of January, but the number of software releases is just as fast as ever. There have been so many applications hitting the servers over the last seven days, we wouldn’t be surprised if you had missed some here and there. This is why we have put together this handy roundup to get you back up to speed.

If you want to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues, look no further than Skype for Windows 5.7.0.137 Beta. The latest beta version of this chat client fixes a number of problems that have been found, but Mac users have more to look forward to in Skype for Mac Beta 5.5. The latest beta includes an improved call interface that makes it easier to mute calls, add new people to a conversation, and share files and video.

Apple products are deeply entrenched in the creative world. Both Mac and iOS-based devices are the common tools among graphic designers, artists, music producers and composers, and yes, even journalists. (Especially journalists, don't even get me started.)

At CES 2012 this week, Samsung made a major appeal to "creatives" with the new Galaxy Note mini-tablet. In a large booth in a hallway outside of the show floor, Samsung set up caricature artists with Galaxy Notes, who were drawing passers by as musicians played in the background, using the Galaxy Note and the apps touchOSC and TouchDAW as a part of their performance gear.

If you missed the new Series 5 Chromebook at Consumer Electronics Show 2012, there's a reason. Samsung practically hid the thing, during an event of otherwise big, big announcements from the South Korean electronics giant. Disappointment is my reaction to the new offering, which, regrettably doesn't temp me back to using a Chromebook.

I asked my colleague Tim Conneally, who got up close to the new Chromebook in this video, for his reaction. "My first impression: it looks like a plastic MacBook". Ah, yeah, hasn't Samsung been having problems with Apple, fending off accusations of imitating products. Judge for yourself, from the photo and link to Tim's video. Doesn't the new Series 5 Chromebook resemble MacBook but donned in plastic?

Notebook PCs aren't the only thing getting slimmed down to razor-thin profiles in 2012. This year, there will be at least three Android-powered smartphones vying for consumer interest by being as thin as possible. So thin, in fact, that each calls itself the thinnest.

This trend started with the Motorola Droid RAZR in the fourth quarter of 2011, which Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said was the thinnest smartphone on the market.

The Chinese are clamoring for the iPhone 4S as it released across the country on Friday, but crowds at its flagship Beijing store became so unruly that law enforcement was called in to disperse the crowd and Apple was forced to halt sales of the the device in its retail shops.

According to press reports, "hundreds" of people began lining up for the device overnight in freezing temperatures for a chance to purchase the device. When the store failed to open at 7 am, some in the crowd became violent and began to pelt the store with eggs and yelled at employees through windows.

Digiarty Software Inc has launched the first public beta of an Android client of AirPlay It, its free media-streaming solution. The set of tools, which includes AirPlayit Server for Windows and Mac, allows users to stream media content from their computer to compatible mobile devices over WiFi, 3G and 4G networks.

Digiarty has also updated its iOS clients. Air Playit 1.8.0 for iPhone/iPod touch and Air Playit HD 1.8.0 for iPad both add support for CUDA hardware encoding on Air Playit Server to reduce CPU usage and reduce the server’s load on the host computer. The clients also now support multi-tasking background playback of music and allows the user to download music tracks directly to the mobile for playback later while offline.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show 2012 in Las Vegas this week, Finnish mobile phone leader Nokia debuted the Lumia 900, its first smartphone designed specifically for the United States market. We got to play with it quite a bit, and here's a runthrough of the device's strong points.

The Lumia 900 follows the same design ethic as the N9 and Lumia 800, with a single piece polycarbonate body, gently rounded sides and blunted top and bottom edges. Nokia has equipped the device with all the features that U.S. media and consumers complained were missing in the N9 and 800: 4G LTE connectivity, larger screen size, and a forward-facing camera.

While Samsung cut an imposing figure at the International Consumer Electronics Show 2012 with its huge flashy booth, the Korean electronics company managed to quietly display its upcoming second-generation Chrome OS devices without attracting tons of attention.

These new Chrome OS products include an updated Series 5 Chromebook which has 2GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD and a moderately faster CPU. It retains the smooth and ergonomic feel of the first generation Chromebook, but unfortunately also retains that device's somewhat cheap and plasticky feel. Samsung said the price will also remain the same.

While his wife's Twitter account was fake, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch's is indeed real -- and on Thursday evening his followers got some real talk on his feelings over the failures of MySpace. When the company bought MySpace for around $580 million in 2005, it was thought to be the gateway to expanding Murdoch's empire to the web. Remember at the time, MySpace was the leading social network and Facebook wasn't open to the public.

That was not to be. Almost immediately following the transaction, criticism began to build. Then upstart Facebook began to catch fire, eventually matching MySpace's traffic three years after the merger.

The chorus of opposition to Google's recent search changes grows louder, with Electronic Privacy Information Center urging the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into whether or not Google is violating users' privacy with the new feature.

Google settled with the FTC in March over its failed Buzz service, submitting to privacy audits for a period of 20 years as a result. EPIC is specifically concerned with personal data, photos, posts, and contact details being included in search results.

While there are a lot of claims made about how tablet computers such as the iPad could be used as complete replacement for desktop computers, there are a number of obstacles that get in the way of this. There are a number of mobile versions of well-known desktop applications available, but these tend to be far more limited than the software you are used to using and there is also the problem of transferring files between devices to bear in min. These are problems that OnLive Desktop can help with, providing iPad users with a fully functional version of Microsoft Office to work with.

This is not a standalone office suite, nor is it a remote access tool in the traditional sense -- rather it is something of an amalgamation of these two ideas. OnLive Desktop provides you with a Windows 7-style interface along with a remotely hosted version of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, which is a million miles away from the office suites that can be found in the App Store. Here you are working with a remotely hosted version of Office, which means that you have access to the full gamut of features.

As Opera has shown, mouse gestures can be a great addition to a browser, providing a simple way to move through your history, open and close tabs, reload pages and otherwise navigate around the program, just by making small and simple mouse movements.

The concept doesn’t have to be restricted to a single application, though. Download StrokesPlus and you’ll be able to use mouse gestures throughout Windows and all your installed software.

January is traditionally a tight month for finances after all of the expenses of Christmas, but it is also the time of year when there are great bargains to be grabbed. Head over to the Downloadcrew store and you’ll find all manner of great deals with huge savings to be made on big name software.

You may have decided to put yourself through a new health regime for 2012 and there’s no reason your computer shouldn’t be given the same treatment. Look no further than TuneUp Utilities 2012 [3-PC, 1-Year], which will help you to keep your system optimized and you can save 62 percent off the MSRP when you buy the software for just $18.95. Small businesses can make an even greater 75 percent savings when buying TuneUp Utilities Business Edition 2012 [5-PC, 1-Year] for just $19.95.

If you're writing apps for Android, or even thinking about it, Google has a new site for you: Android Design. Well, I think it's new. A blog post popped into my RSS feeds late this afternoon, but dated yesterday. So I can't say whence came Android Design.

Christian Robertson, the guy behind the Roboto font family used in Ice Cream Sandwich -- you know, Android 4.0 -- calls the new site "the place to learn about principles, building blocks, and patterns for creating world-class Android user interfaces. Whether you’re a UI professional or a developer playing that role, these docs show you how to make good design decisions, big and small". Heck, even if you're just an Ice Cream Sandwich user (gimme Galaxy Nexus), Android Design is worth your time.

I told you so. In summer 2009, I asserted that the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal was "Google's Christmas-in-July present". Reasoning: By Yahoo outsourcing search to Microsoft, Bing would cannibalize share from its partner rather than lead to the combined entity gaining against Google. Last month, Bing US search share nudged ahead of Yahoo, according to comScore. It's a setback for Microsoft.

Google remains the big winner in the search share wars with Microsoft. In June 2009, the month before the announced search outsourcing deal, Google share was 65 percent. Yahoo and Microsoft were 19.6 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, or 28 percent combined. In December 2011, Google search share was 65.9 percent, Microsoft 15.1 percent and Yahoo 14.5 percent -- for combined 29.6 percent. That's lower than November when Microsoft-Yahoo share was 30.1 percent. The point: Little has changed since the search deal was announced, except that Microsoft has cannibalized share from Yahoo.