Facebook planning new messaging app with self-destruct function

It's beginning to look a lot like Facebook will launch another mobile messaging app, one which destroys your communiqués after a certain amount of time.

The rumour fell out when All Things D gave its sources a festive shake; they say that the app will hit before the year is out, allowing users to set how long their messages and shared photos are accessible for.

Once that time period is exceeded, the photo, message or video will disappear from view and your correspondent will no longer be able to access it.

Secret squirrel

It's a lot like the functionality of Snapchat, an app which has become the sexting app of choice given its messages' impermanence; its makers are no doubt quaking at the thought of Facebook stomping into Snapchat's domain.

Facebook already has a selection of stand-alone mobile apps that are available separately from the traditional Facebook app.

These include a Messenger app that it recently updated on Android to allow people who don't have Facebook accounts to use it - the sources gave no indication of whether or not this more salubrious messaging app will be locked to Facebook account holders only.

If the insiders are right, the new Facebook app will hit app stores by the end of the year.

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Sony Xperia E release date set for February 2013

The weather outside may be frightful but Carphone Warehouse's fire is proving delightful for the Sony Xperia E, which looks set to hit the UK retailer in February 2013.

Announced earlier this month, the budget Android phone is yet to receive an official UK release date from the Sony stable, but Carphone has it pegged.

While Sony Germany has priced the Jelly Bean handset at around €159 (£130), Carphone hasn't seen fit to speculate on an exact UK price just yet.

Budget bean

The handset isn't exactly going to set early adopters' hearts aflame, but the cash-strapped might be tempted by its 3.5-inch HVGA screen, Android Jelly Bean, 1GHz processor and 3.2MP camera.

While the February 2013 release date remains unconfirmed, Sony has committed to a Q1 2013 release date so it's pretty feasible.

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Of course, its release date fanfare may be somewhat overshadowed by the biggest phone show of the year, MWC 2013, also taking place in February

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iPad 5 release date, news and rumors

Though Apple fans were surprised by the announcement of the iPad 4 during Apple's recent big event, one expert predicts the company will turn around and release a thinner, lighter iPad 5 in early 2013.

During the event, Apple announced a host of new products, including an iPad mini along with the fourth generation full-sized iPad. But according to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI Securities, that might not be enough to fend off Microsoft's new Surface tablet.

Kuo wrote in a note to investors, reported by AppleInsider, that Apple may feel pressured to launch a 9.7-inch iPad 5 to cement its lead in the tablet business.

"Though the iPad mini is expected to be successful, we think launching the lighter, thinner 9.7-inch iPad as quickly as possible matters more for Apple strategically," Kuo wrote.

On Nov.19, Digitimes reported that the iPad 5 release date would be "around the middle of 2013."

The Surface surfaces

The Surface may challenge Apple's tablet dominance as Microsoft tries to move into the post-PC world.

Championing the new touch-friendly OS, Windows RT, the Surface boasts a 10.6-inch screen and is pretty light and thin. It can also be magnetically attached to a keyboard/cover for a more laptop feel.

Microsoft's Surface might just have the mojo needed to wrestle the tablet crown from the iPad. But according to Kuo, Apple is looking to hedge its bets.

iPad 5 features

Considering the iPad 4 is the same weight, thickness and price point as its predecessor, it's very possible Apple is looking to produce a slimmed-down version.

Apple did give the iPad 4 a new A6X processor system-on-a-chip, which claims to be twice as fast as the last iPad.

It also gained the new lightning connector and better LTE support. But that's all the new features iPad fans will get with the fourth-gen tablet.

Kuo expects Apple to pack "GF DITO" (or GF2) touchscreen technology into the speculative iPad 5. GF2 is already used in the new iPad mini, which helps to make it 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than its bigger brother.

On 14 December, Macworld cited a report in Digitimes that claims that one way Apple will reduce the weight of the new iPad will be by using one LED light bar instead of the two that are found in the current iPad (and that were first introduced in the iPad 3). Macworld points out that this would also mean that the iPad 5 would consume less power and could therefore run on a smaller, thinner battery.

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Dell officially says goodbye to smartphones

Dell is quitting the smartphone business more or less for good, according to a report Thursday from Forbes.

Jeff Clarke, Dell's vice chairman and president of Global Operations and End User Computing Solutions, dropped the news Wednesday at the Dell World conference.

China became Dell's lone remaining smartphone market earlier this year when the Round Rock, Texas company stopped selling its smartphones in the U.S.

Now even China will have to live without Dell smartphones, and Clarke reportedly said Dell won't re-enter the smartphone market any time soon.

Building a business on Android

Dell smartphones are a thing of the past, partly because "it needs a lot of investments to really be successful," Clarke said.

The Android business, according to Clarke, is a "content play," meaning it's more about what you can sell on top of smartphone hardware than the hardware itself.

"Amazon is selling books and Google is making it up with search," he said. "So far we couldn't find a way to build a business on Android."

Hello, Windows tablets

Dell is reportedly in the fifth year of a transformation phase, with aims for now to focus on Windows tablets and laptop/tablet hybrids like the XPS 10,XPS 12 and Latitude 10.

These latest Dell devices all run Windows 8 or Windows RT.

But Clarke wouldn't leave it at that, perhaps ensuring his own words wouldn't come back to haunt him - "It doesn't mean we're not looking at Android."

"You should come and see what's in our labs," he added.

If Forbes doesn't take you up on that offer, Mr. Clarke, TechRadar will be waiting by the phone

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