Marvel Entertainment is offering THOR: Son of Asgard free for a limited time. I wouldn't recommend it for the iPhone, but if you like playing button mashing games on your iPad, then you may want to take advantage of this deal. The game normally costs $2.99.

Son of Asgard features an original story and script written by Marvel writer Bryan J.L. Glass, 3D Retina display graphics, art by Marvel artist Ron Lim and an original soundtrack created just for the iOS game. Players play as Thor as he defends Odin’s Kingdom of Asgard from Dark Elves, Trolls, Ulik and the Midgard Serpent. You can use Thor's hammer and summon lightning for powerful magic attacks to defeat the enemies of Asgard. The game also features many of Thor's allies like Sif and the Warriors Three.

Before the iPad mini became a reality, the Apple rumor mill had us believing there would be a shortage of the 7.9-inch tablet. But as it turned out, the 27-inch iMac is the hard to find Apple item this holiday season, not the iPad. Shipping times for the iPad mini are listed as "1 week" and the iPad with Retina display is readily available in the Apple Store. However, shipping dates for the 27-inch iMac have been pushed back into January. This means if you didn't already order a 27-inch model, there isn't going to be one under the Christmas tree this year.

It's just not Apple fans suffering this year, Google's popular unlocked Nexus 4 sold out in minutes after its release, and both the 3G and Wi-Fi Samsung Chromebooks have been doing disappearing and reappearing acts at random retailers for weeks. Luckily for Apple and Google fans there is still hope, even if it's slim.

The popular 1998 role-playing game Baldur's Gate is now available for the iPad in an upgraded and improved version made especially for tablets. The iPad version includes the entire Baldur's Gate adventure and the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack. There is also new content like three never before seen characters (two being $3 in-app purchases), and a new adventure entitled The Black Pits.

The official app description promises "80 hours of Epic RPG adventure", "over 100 spells" and "over 150 magical items". Plus in-app purchases for new player voices and portraits, and Gamecenter support.

Just last week if you were looking for an iPad YouTube app, most likely you ended up opening the site in Safari. Now everything has changed, as Google released an updated YouTube app that is optimized for the iPad and iPhone 5 displays. Now iPad users can enjoy the same features that iPhone owners have had in the stand-alone YouTube app.

The latest YouTube app requires iOS 5.0 or later and can be downloaded for free from the App Store. The app replaces native YouTube support, which Apple removed from iOS devices with the release of iOS 6. Along with optimizing the app for more devices, Google has also added some new features to the official YouTube app.

Apple's iPad and iPhone were the go to devices for Black Friday shoppers this year. More than three-fourths of all mobile traffic to online retailers during Thanksgiving and Black Friday was generated by Apple devices.

"The iPad dominated tablet traffic at 88.3 percent followed by the Barnes and Noble Nook at 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle at 2.4 percent and the Samsung Galaxy at 1.8 percent", according to IBM's 2012 Black Friday Report.

Kids aged 6 to 12 want an iPad for the holidays more than anything else this year. According to a survey conducted by Nielsen Wire, 48% of kids surveyed said they want an iPad, and 39% want a Nintendo Wii U. Apple's iPod touch and iPad mini tied for third with 36% of the vote, and the iPhone beat out other smartphones, gaming consoles and tablets with 33% of children's interest.

While the 4th generation iPad and iPad mini are readily available from Apple and other retailers, the Wii U is largely sold out across the U.S.. Holiday shoppers have been turning to third party sellers, and online tracking services such as whohas.it to find a Wii U console. Scott Moffitt, executive vice president of marketing at Nintendo of America, said Nintendo is doing everything they can do to ensure the Wii U will be on store shelves this shopping season. However, some are accusing retail stores of hoarding Wii U consoles for Black Friday sales. Either way, it looks like Apple products will be the much easier gifts to find and buy this year.

Both Sprint and AT&T are now offering the iPad mini and iPad 4 with LTE support at select Sprint and AT&T retail locations. Sprint is promising "attractive data plans" with no shared data. AT&T is offering its new Mobile Share plans which allows customers to add a tablet for just 10 dollars a month. The AT&T Mobile Share Data Planner can help you estimate if a shared date plan is for you. You can also visit ATT.com for a rundown of AT&T's no contract iPad plans.

“Our customers are increasingly connecting their devices to the mobile internet and our new Mobile Share plans allow them to add a tablet for just 10 dollars a month,” said Glenn Lurie, president, Emerging Enterprises and Partnerships, AT&T Mobility. “We’re thrilled to offer iPad mini to our customers on the nation’s largest 4G network.”

Sprint has announced it's now offering the iPad mini and fourth generation iPad with the choice of four data plans. All the plans are without contract, so you can cancel at anytime. Here are the plans:

• 300MB of data for $14.99 per month
• 3GB of data for $34.99 per month
• 6GB of data for $49.99 per month
• 12GB of data for $79.99 per month

“iPad mini and the fourth generation iPad, combined with Sprint’s 4G LTE network and our aggressively priced rate plans, offer customers an outstanding tablet experience,” said Fared Adib, senior vice president, Product Development, Sprint. “Sprint doesn’t put its customers on shared pricing plans like some carriers. With Sprint you get the best pricing for all the data you need without the worry of overages.”

Holding out for a Retina display iPad mini? According to supply chain sources in China, you could be waiting until next year. With the smaller iPad model just arriving this month, a report from SlashGear points to an annual refresh schedule for the smaller tablet.

The good news is that Apple is already working with suppliers to secure mass-produced 2048 x 1536 resolution 7.9-inch displays for the next generation iPad mini. These Retina-caliber displays clock 324 pixels per inch, and would be featured on the iPad mini 2 coming in fall 2013.

Tom Warren of The Verge has dusted off the old Xbox Surface rumor by claiming Microsoft is working on its own 7-inch gaming tablet to compete with the iPad mini and other portable gaming consoles. Warren said "multiple sources familiar with plans within Redmond" have confirmed earlier leaked specs were accurate, and the Xbox Surface will run a custom Windows kernel. The new device will also feature a custom ARM processor and high-bandwidth RAM suited for playing games.

According to Warren's sources, Microsoft will develop the Xbox Surface in-house while any future "Xbox 720" console will be handled by outside companies like Pegatron or Foxconn.

"We've learned that part of the Xbox Surface is being developed at Microsoft's offices in Silicon Valley. The software giant recently locked down several Xbox-related buildings, limiting employee access to the company's Interactive Entertainment Business division. The lock down is likely related to Microsoft's increased testing of the tablet, providing a way for other parts of the Xbox team to build games and software for the device. Providing the project doesn't get killed in favor of a full 7-inch Windows tablet, in the same way Microsoft axed Courier, expect to see the Xbox Surface debut ahead of Microsoft's future Xbox console."