CES is coming in early January, but contrary to popular belief, it isn't just about gadgets. A lot of software vendors make the trek to Las Vegas to show new and updated versions of software for just about every platform.

With the app stores for Apple, Google, and Windows exploding with new offerings over the course of 2012, we think this year's CES will have more new and updated software on hand than ever before.

As the in-house software editors at CNET, we have put together a list of predictions for this year's CES, from the probable to the vaguely possible. Check back in early January to see if our predictions for software bore any fruit or fell flat.

Apps to control your everything The Google Glass-wearing daredevils at this year's Google I/O Conference showed us that software can run anywhere and on pretty much anything. You can wear it on your wrist or face, and you can even interact with it in your kitchen appliances. At CES, we fully expect developers to run with this idea, as they blitz conference-goers with newly reinvented household wares, like scales and baby monitors, all with software baked ri... [Read more]

Coming soon to a Firefox near you: opening a link directly into a new private-browsing window.

Big changes to Firefox's "porn mode" -- the private-browsing feature that turns off recording cookies, history, and temporary files -- landed today in the Firefox Nightly build.

When it reaches the general public a few months from now in Firefox stable, the feature will allow you to run the private-browsing feature in a new window, without closing your regular instance of Firefox. This pulls the browser up to parity with Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Opera. Safari doesn't open private browsing into a separate window.

Related stories:

• Mozilla to developers: Come build apps for Firefox OS
• Chrome gains a mobile foothold -- on Android only
• Play with Firefox OS in your desktop Firefox

Firefox's project manager, Asa Dotzler, stated in the blog post announcing the changes that the update was no mere code change but took 19 months of planning because they "red... [Read more]

With GTA Radio for Android, you get all the great Grand Theft Auto radio stations without having to buy the games.

Playing the new Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on my iPad (it's coming soon for Android) made me nostalgic for other GTA games. Not so much for the gratuitous violence, but for the radio stations that have become a hallmark of the series.

Indeed, these in-game stations play not only a huge variety of commercial tunes (in GTA IV alone, you'll find everything from Count Basie to Genesis to Kanye West), but also some crackling DJ banter and hilarious fake ads. (The Public Liberty Radio station is bust-a-gut funny.)

If you've ever wished you could listen to those stations without having to fire up your game console, now you can. GTA Radio puts Grand Theft Auto's radio stations on your Android phone.

This free app streams stations from Grand Theft Auto III, Liberty City Stories, Vice City, Vice City Stories, San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto IV. Not all the stations from GTA IV are available yet, but the developer says more are comin... [Read more]

Microsoft and Apple are fighting a behind-the-scenes battle over App Store revenue sharing, The Next Web reports.

Apple is currently blocking any Microsoft SkyDrive updates in its App Store until the software giant agrees to share revenue generated through its application, the site reports, citing sources who claim to have knowledge of the disagreement.

Microsoft currently offers its SkyDrive storage app to iOS users. The company rolled out the ability for users to purchase more storage from within the application. However, upon doing so, Microsoft decided that it wouldn't share 30 percent of the revenue generated through those transactions with Apple, leading to the kerfuffle.

Apple's App Store has clear policies on revenue sharing. The company takes 30 percent of the revenue generated from app purchases. Apple also requires that developers who use in-app purchasing share 30 percent of that revenue with it.

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Bakery Story (iOS, Android) is a cute and simple interactive social networking game along the same lines as FarmVille. It's part of a series of "story" games made by the same studio (TeamLava), and just like FarmVille, it can become extremely addicting.

Look upon my works, and despair... at how much time I have.

In Bakery Story, players open their own bakery where they can create and sell an assortment of sweets, desserts, and beverages in exchange for money (coins). The process of creating a confection is nothing more than a few taps, after which the player must wait a certain amount of time before the item is ready. Every food or drink has a different timer attached to it, so players can plan their menu based on how much time they have available to play. For the impatient or the rich, this time-consuming process can be skipped with the aid of some real-life cash bought in-game in the form of diamonds. The types of food you're able to cook are based on your level! New recipes are unlocked each time you move up to anoth... [Read more]

Security suite vendor popularity in Opswat's latest report.

Microsoft Security Essentials may not have done well in recent independent tests, but it's now the global leader in security suite market share for the first time since it debuted in 2009, says Opswat's latest study.

Opswat gauges usage by looking at the software installed on computers running their AppRemover program. The data came from more than 150,000 computers.

When asked about the differences between Opswat's numbers and research and analysis firm NPD, Opswat marketing manager Elisse Lockhart wrote in an e-mail, "Our data looks at all applications installed on machines and aggregates various versions of products, so that can include people who are using very old applications. I believe NPD's report only looks at new sales, so they would capture more of the upcoming products than the software that people already have installed."

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Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, two high-profile programs used by graphic artists with a discriminating eye, now support Apple's high-resolution Retina Displays.

The new versions are being distributed through Adobe's new Creative Cloud subscription, which costs $50 per month for a 12-month commitment but is being boosted by a promotional price of $30 per month for a 12-month commitment to prime the Creative Cloud pump.

The idea behind Apple's Retina Displays, which are offered on iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Pros, is to use pixels small enough that the human eye can't distinguish them, removing pixelated edges from letters and making photos crisp. Apple charges a premium for the feature, however, and its benefits aren't visible on many Web page graphics and with a lot of software not updated for the technology.

Photoshop and Illustrator, though, are on the supported list now for Creative Cloud subscribers, who can get the new versions by clicking on choose Help then Updates. That's certainly welcome news for the many designers who use Macs and who didn't enjoy seein... [Read more]