The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is well known for big technology launches from the most powerful brands in the business. But the event attracts a wide range of smaller developers and manufacturers, and some of the most interesting products are often found at the fringes of the huge show halls. You're guaranteed to find some of the quirkier products there and this year we're expecting to see lots of new developments in the app market. Starting us off is the iGrill, a cooking thermometer that uses Bluetooth wireless networking to link to an app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

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Capcom's Dead Rising 2 has been a big hit with the staff of Computeractive. Many a relaxing evening has been spent strolling around the Vegas-inspired Fortune City wielding a variety of fearsome home-made weapons against its zombified inhabitants. Now Capcom has released a new episode to download and play from the Xbox Live Arcade, priced at 800 Microsoft points, or about £6.50.

Dead Rising 2: Case West takes place just after the events of the main game - although that's slightly misleading as the ending of Dead Rising 2 varied depending on your performance.The game opens with hero Chuck Greene being rescued by the main man from the original (and very disappointing) Dead Rising, Frank West.

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Owners of Apple iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices should wend their way to the iTunes Store to grab the 12 Days of Christmas app.

The app will offer a free download every day from Boxing Day until 6 January

Once the app has downloaded, it will prompt you to allow it to send you notifications when each day's free download is available.

The line up of downloads is unknown, but Apple stated that it would include songs, episodes of TV shows, movies, ebooks and apps.

If you decide to download the offer of the day, then Apple will suggest similar material and apps for purchase. So it's a marketing push but there's no obligation to buy and with 12 free downloads up for grabs, we reckon Apple's 12 Days of Christmas app is worth a download.

When the weather outside is frightful, it's an ideal opportunity to spend some time on the computer - and what better way to while away the snowy hours than a good computer game. Today's latest titles can cost a fortune, though - and many require a powerful, modern PC to play at all.

Thanks to the internet, though, it's possible to buy some fantastic older games for almost no money at all. Most will run happily on older PCs that run Windows XP, and as they're ready to download there's no need to stomp through the sleet to the shops.

Here's our pick of ten classics, all available to buy online now. Each costs less than £10, and will run on Windows XP. A word of warning, though: many of these prices are Christmas special offers, so don't hang about!

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Much as technology is a wonderful thing, the amount of jargon that surrounds it is at times baffling. Every year there's more jargon for all the new inventions and innovations. This almost never-ending feed of technological neologisms can make understanding just what is going on mildly bewildering. So, as 2010 draws to a close, we take a look over the top pieces of tech jargon of the year.

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Every few issues in Computeractive we write about changing or replacing the graphics card in a desktop PC, and we have to explain that there are two types of slot for these to fit into: AGP, used in older PCs, and PCI Express x16, in newer ones.

But a picture can be worth a thousand words, so here are some images to help you pick the right one.

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I recently attended a seminar on the issue of online paywalls. The debate centred around the future of newspaper and magazine content online with the key question being: what to do about paywalls? Indeed, 'paywall' has become something of a buzzword, a tidy way of defining online content that requires subscription and payment to access. But is the word fit for purpose?

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