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Google is reportedly set to transform GMail into a social hub. The move will bring an additional screen to the GMail service that would broadcast status updates and link shares from contacts. Google hopes that users will be able to quickly integrate the new social aspect into their digital lives, just as GChat and GMail have become essential communication tools. The move finds Google competing directly with Facebook and Twitter.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook eReader is finally slated to hit stores this week. Customers will be able to purchase the Nook at Barnes & Noble retail stores nationwide, where it had previously only been available online. Now that the Nook is widely available the eReader-tablet wars are set to heat up.

An update to the Google Android based Motorola Droid will bring multi-touch functionality to the smart phone. A similar upgrade brought the touch-screen, pinch-to-zoom feature to the Nexus One last week. The upgrade, which is deemed by analysts to be essential, makes the Droid a much more attractive offering for Verizon Wireless customers.

The New Orleans Saints victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday’s Super Bowl garnered the highest ratings in the history of the big game. Nielsen is reporting that an estimated 107 million viewers tuned in for the game.

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Shortly after the Academy Awards nominations were announced, Avatar was uploaded to multiple torrent sharing networks. Insiders noted that the high quality torrent may have come from a screener sent to members of the Academy. While Hollywood studios have often branded pirate fans as the source of leaks, the incident may confound evidence that many illegal downloads are directly related to industry insiders.

Were you to busy eating chicken wings during the Big Game to catch the commercials? No problem, as the broadcasted ads are now being hosted on CBSSports.com. CBS uploaded the advertisements immediately following the Saints victory. One of the biggest commercials slated for the water cooler is Google’s search ad, one of the first from the search giant.

While many were busy watching the Super Bowl, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced a war against Twitter. The dictator began prepping new laws that would regulate what Venezuelan citizens were allowed to post on Twitter, which he considers a “tool of terror.” A similar situation is also happening in Mexico, where the government is considering regulating social networks.

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Just as everyone is getting used to the latest layout, Facebook has begun testing a new redesign. In a move that could delight users who preferred old Facebook designs, the social network is now moving services that lay inside the Application tab, to the sidebar. The new design many prove to be more instinctively navigable.

Months after Sirius XM launched its popular iPhone app, the satellite radio company is making its service available on BlackBerry’s. While the app is free to download, users must already have a subscription to Sirius XM. The app is available for free to users with a $13 online plan and an additional $3/month for subscribers who listen over its line of satellite radio devices.

A German woman watching a beach webcam helped save the life of a photographer. The unkown photographer “had become lost after walking onto ice off St Peter-Ording to photograph a sunset,” however, flashes from his camera were visible to a woman watching the sunset on a webcam set up on the popular beach. The woman alerted authorities, who found the man adrift after losing his sense of place on the snow covered sea and shore.

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As the tablet wars heatup, Fusion Garage announced that its new Joojoo offering will ship by the end of the month. The controversial touch-screen tablet, formerly known as the CrunchPad, is 12″ and, unlike the iPad, will support Flash. One of the biggest selling points for the Joojoo is that with a 720P screen and HD Flash capability, users will be able to seamlessly stream content from Hulu and other video networks.

In other tablet news, Amazon purchased touch-screen company called Toucho yesterday. Toucho specializes in flexible, multi-touch screens that could potentially transform the Kindle into a more powerful tablet. (Think, SuperKindle!) Analysts believe the purchase is a signal that the next line of Kindle’s will not only feature color screens, but force-sensitive color screens.

A new text service is set to offer patients the ability to text a doctor for medical advice. Currently in beta, and only available to health care professionals and the media, Truth On Call will allow patients to text a question or symptom to a group of Doctors, whose responses will be culled together. While the service will cost $50 per question, it hopes to crowd-source answers from Doctors around the country, in order for patients to determine the best way to treat an illness or ailment.

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Last night was the scheduled premier of the final season of Lost. However, a sneak preview of the mysterious show was held Monday night in Hawaii and someone in attendance recorded the show and subsequently posted it on a torrent sharing network. The file was downloaded over 25,000 times, with plot lines and twists published on Twitter. Another example of consumer’s taking control of their media.

Major educational publishers are teaming with electronic book software company ScrollMotion to bring textbooks to the iPad. While McGraw-Hill and Education Media & Publishing Group are aligning their interests to cater to students using eBooks, so is Kaplan, the SAT-prep company. Bringing textbooks and test-prep courses to electronic books may not only be a great way to help students, it could also enhance learning through interactivity, which has been touted by educators for over two decades.

As it attempts to compete with the iPhone, Google announced that the Nexus One now features multi-touch capability. The company is also working to correct 3G issues that have been plaguing users. Google hopes that the multi-touch enabled Google Maps, as well as other apps, will help steer users toward the Nexus One and away from the iPhone.