Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.2 Monday, an update for Snow Leopard that fixes a Guest account issue that was wiping some users' home directories. Other issues addressed include Mail, printing, fonts, displays, MobileMe, networking, and more.

New games hitting the App Store to kick off this week include ANALOGretro’s 3D space shooter Star Rangers, ICS Mobile’s Air Force Supremacy, Coresoft’s World War II game Blood Beach, Connect2Media’s 365 Puzzle Club, and the ball juggling game Juggz.

Shares of RadioShack Corp. jumped more than 14% on Monday following news on Friday that the retail chain would begin selling the iPhone. In early afternoon trading, the stock traded at US$20.31, up $2.57 (+14.49%) on heavy volume of 12.1 million shares, almost twice the firm's daily average.

Electronic Arts on Monday announced its acquisition of Playfish, a social games developer known for Pet Society and Country Story on Facebook, along with other games available on MySpace, Bebo, Android, and Google. The company has one title in the App Store, Who Has the Biggest Brain? a brain training game.

The Deal Brothers found a deal on the Western Digital WD10EADS 1TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower Hard Drive for $84.99. This drive has a 32mb cache, and it ships for free.

Singapore's StarHub announced on Monday that it will begin selling Apple's iPhone before the end of the year.

Today TMO readers are debating what version of OS X an Apple tablet computer would run and what features it needs to be successful.

Apple rolled out a new credit and financing program ahead of the holiday buying season. The new program includes a Barclaycard Visa card and up to 12 months same-as-cash financing.

Apple launched a new service dubbed Reserve and Pick Up that lets customers shop at the online Apple Store and pick up their order at their local Apple retail store. Shoppers can place their orders now and pick them up between December 15 and December 24.

Owners of jailbroken iPhones in Australia are getting a bit of a surprise thanks to hackers that released a worm that "Rickrolls" them by installing a new wallpaper with Rick Astley's face. Only iPhone owners that hacked their iPhone to install unauthorized third-party apps and also failed to change their default password after installing SSH are affected, according to the security research firm Sophos.

Geeksuit announced the immediate availability of Client Folder Maker 3.5 on Monday. The update for the automated directory building application added support for Mac OS X 10.6, or Snow Leopard.

A special weekend show with tons of great info. Dave shares his initial thoughts on the Magic Mouse, then he and John dig into some more information about MacBook (and MacBook Pro) removable batteries, including what constitutes a "cycle" and dissecting AppleCare's battery replacement policies. Then its on to your questions and tips, and the geeks knock this one out of the park!

Apple released Apple TV 3.0.1 to address a problem with temporarily disappearing content on Saturday. Apple considered the update important enough to warrant sending owners an email on Saturday asking them to manually initiate the update process.

Apple is working on a UTMS/CDMA hybrid iPhone that would allow the company to offer the device through Verizon in the third quarter of 2010. The news comes through an analyst research note from OTR Global reported by AppleInsider, and is based on supposed leaks from Apple's Taiwan manufacturing chain.

Electronics retailer RadioShack announced on Friday that it will be offering Apple's iPhone in several of its stores starting in November.

Apple is scheduled to open up its first Apple Store in Paris, France Saturday, at 10:00 AM local. In typical high-profile fashion, Apple's new store is located in bowels of Le Louvre museum in that institution's Carrousel du Louvre shopping center.

If you are looking for a free dictionary for your iPhone then you're in luck! This week on Free on iTunes, Vern Seward takes a look at three of them: Dictionary!, WordWeb, and Dictionary.Com Dictionary.

In this week's assemblage of technical news debris, John looks at all kinds of failures, easy options for Barnes & Noble, U.S. DOJ, Apple's Time Capsule, iPhone hardware encryption, those who predicted Blu-ray would never catch on, and Microsoft's bad habit of hosing up their OS advertising.

New games now available at the App Store include the puzzle game Gravity Sling, the action title RocketBird, the arcade racer Ground Effect, and the self-explanatory Checkers!.

New Star Games on Friday announced the release of New Star Soccer 2010 for Mac and PC. It's the latest version of its series of games in which gamers create a soccer player and guide him through the ranks, managing every aspect of his career while also taking part in matches. Players decide everything for their character, from relationships with teammates and girlfriends to endorsement contracts and more.

Rosetta is a software technology that allows Intel-based Macs to run most, but not all, of native PowerPC applications. This How-to explains some details of using, enabling, disabling and status checking Rosetta.

iPhone game developer Storm8 has been sued for harvesting iPhone cell numbers on iPhones where its game was downloaded. The incident first came to light in August, when Storm8 acknowledged the issue and blamed it on an error that it said was then corrected. Michael Turner of Washington State, however, is now seeking class action status for a suit accusing the company of having violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

EA studio Mythic Entertainment on Friday announced that players will now have access to an expanded play trial, rather than a 10-day limit, for its MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR). New and returning players will have access to a new streaming client, cutting down time spent downloading the game, and will be able to progress their characters to level 10 while exploring two tier one Empire vs. Chaos zones.

Apple has apparently been testing prototype versions of the next generation iPhone with RFID support built-in. If true, the next iPhone hardware update could lets users interact with other RFID-enabled devices.

Nokia recently filed a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly infringing on patents with its iPhone lineup, but the mobile phone maker could potentially face a counter suit claiming it is infringing on Apple's patents, too

The rumor mill claims an 8GB iPhone 3GS is on the way in time for the holiday buying season. Today TMO readers are offering their take on that rumor.

Apple's own Phil Schiller said that the company's holiday product lineup is set for this year, but that's not stopping the rumor mill from claiming that an 8GB version of the iPhone 3GS is still on the way. No less that two unnamed sources are saying that AT&T will begin selling an 8GB iPhone 3GS for US$99 before Christmas

Apple began alerting customers on Friday morning that Apple TV-compatible versions of the iTunes LP albums they've purchased are available and ready for download.

Syncode announced the immediate availability of iTweetReply 1.2 on Friday. The update for the Twitter push notification app for the iPhone and iPod touch added the ability to automatically send Twitter search results to your iPhone.

Keeping track of everything you want to read online can be a real pain, especially if you're trying to keep track of articles and blog posts on the go. Instapaper solve that problem, and it's easy to use, too.

The smartphone market grew in the September quarter, despite the world-wide recession, with global unit shipments up 4.2% year-over-year to 43.3 million, according to research firm IDC. The company said that Apple saw its highest iPhone unit sales yet, though Research In Motion's BlackBerry also gained share in the global market. The research firm also said that Google's Android platform was reaching "critical mass" with the release of several new Android models and the release of Android OS 2.0.

EA’s studio Maxis on Thursday announced the release of Spore Islands, a new Facebook game based on the Spore franchise originally created by Will Wright, of Sim City and The Sims fame. The free 2D game puts player on their own island, where they can create and evolve their own creatures, as well as invite Facebook friends to live on their island.

Research In Motion (RIM) announced a stock buyback program following the loss of one-third of the company's value in the past six weeks.  The company's board of directors approved a plan that will take up to US$1.2 billion in company resources to repurchase as much as 21 million common shares at today's price.

Chillingo on Thursday released Jules Verne’s Secrets of the Mysterious Island for iPhone, leading a quartet of new App Store games.

Apple has been buying ad space on Google for people looking for help with downloading Windows 7. Google searches for "Download Windows 7" often result in an ad from Apple titled, "Upgrading to Windows 7?" The ad then advises users that, "There's never been a better time to switch to a Mac. Find out why." It links directly to Apple's site.

With BBEdit 9.3, a new terminal command has been added: bbfind. That's in addition to the previous commands: bbedit and bbdiff.  Here's a brief introduction on how to use these commands.

The Deal Brothers found a deal on the Apple MacBook Pro MB991LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop for $1410.00. This is a brand new system, and shipping is free.

Psystar is asking a Florida Court to say that its unauthorized Mac clone making business is legit and to force Apple to keep quiet about the whole deal. Apple and Psystar have been fighting in court in California, and now in Florida, over whether or not the little PC maker can hack Mac OS X and install it on PCs without Apple's permission.

Kensington's iPhone car mount kit lets you keep your combination iPod and smartphone in view when you are driving. It includes vent and windshield mount attachments, and based on Nancy Gravely's tests it does its job well.

Today TMO readers are talking about applications that can help them protect their kids from online threats and what they can do to monitor their computer activities.

It's OK to call Apple's iPhone the best phone ever, but not in the CNET UK offices. Instead, they dubbed the iPhone the worst phone ever, but also said it's the best mobile Web device and media player.

There's no doubt that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been instrumental in the success of the company known for the iMac and iPhone, and according to Fortune, he's the CEO of the decade, too.

Quapps Interactive announced the immediate availability of MagiCam 1.0 for the iPhone on Thursday. MagiCam is an app that lets users add effects and other objects to photos they take with their iPhone.

Matrix Knowledge Management introduced V Phone for the iPhone on Thursday. The application lets iPhone users make VoIP phone calls and send SMS messages over IP, too.

Developer Pierre-Alain Dorange on Wednesday released the arcade game MicroWar 2, which begins in the year 1984, when the original Macintosh shipped, and moves through computer history, pitting the player’s Mac against swarms of attacking PCs. The gameplay is akin to such arcade game classics as Space Invaders and Galaga.

Bare Bones Software announced Wednesday the release of BBEdit 9.3. This update includes improvements to the Projects feature, ctag data files, FTP/SFTP browsing, and the clipping system. Bare Bones has also introduced a new command-line utility called bbfind.

PlayFirst on Wednesday released Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal, a new hidden object game for Mac OS X. Set during the 1920s, the game puts players in the role of up-and-coming reporter Valerie Porter, who soon finds herself covering a major story: the death of starlet Scarlet Velour.

Digital Chocolate and Legacy Interactive released a quartet of new iPhone games between them on Wednesday, with the former publishing three – Carnival Games Live, Nightclub Fever, and Absolute Minesweeper – and the latter offering up one: the trivia game Bird Brain.

Equinux announced Wednesday the release of Seasons Greetings Vol. 2, a collection of Mail Stationery templates for sending holiday messages via Mail.app. The collection includes 22 different templates for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, and are available in English, French, and German.

Our tendency, based on other technologies, is to believe that our Apple accessories just keep getting better and better. However, Apple has had its share of hit and miss affairs with computer mice, and the Magic Mouse is no exception.

Microsoft is laying off another 800 workers starting today (Wednesday). Microsoft characterized the layoffs as being part of an earlier plan to reduce its work force by 5,000 people, but the newest round will surpass that original goal.

The Deal Brothers found a deal on the Western Digital Elements WDE1UBK10000N 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive for $99.99, including free delivery.

Out of the box, the Apple Magic Mouse has a smooth surface that hides its two button nature. On top of that, the default in System Preferences is a one button mouse. For those who prefer a classic two button mouse, here's how to fix that.

O'Reilly announced the immediate availability of Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac: The Missing Manual on Wednesday. The 584 page book by Barbara Brundage explains how to use Photoshop Elements 8's features as well as how to get the most out of Adobe Bridge.

Apple added a new section to its iTunes Store on Wednesday geared at highlighting movies with a musical theme. The section includes musicals, music-focused movies, concert movies and documentaries.

Macware announced the immediate availability of MacTuneUp 3.6 on Wednesday. The update for the disk utility application added Mac OS X 10.6, or Snow Leopard, support and improved performance on Intel-based Macs.

Adobe is saying it's Apple's fault that Flash isn't available on the iPhone. Today TMO readers are talking about whether or not the iPhone even needs Flash support.

Apple Corps, the company that manages The Beatles works, announced on Wednesday that it is releasing a limited edition USB drive with the bands complete album collection in MP3 and FLAC formats. The announcement marks the first time the Fab Four's songs have been legitimately available in electronic format, but they aren't available through Apple's iTunes Store.

Apple's iPhone and iPod touch App Store topped 100,000 available applications on Wednesday. The App Store is Apple's online service for third party iPhone and iPod touch applications, and has hosted over two billion app downloads so far.

SmileOnMyMac announced the immediate availability of DiscLabel 6.1 on Wednesday. The update for the CD and DVD label design application added the ability to import images from Flickr accounts.

SigFx Energy in Lewisville, TX sells a full line of cases for the iPhone 3G/3GS (and iPod touch) that have built-in batteries. I have been testing the X-type design which has a 1,200 mAh (milliamp-hour) smart battery. No power is drawn from the iPhone battery until the external battery is depleted. It's a keeper.

Behind all of Snow Leopard's glamor and the "under the hood" changes, someone has paid attention to some of the little things as well -- such as simpler directions and basic terminology. Nancy Carroll Gravley shares some of the features she's found in Snow Leopard that are easier to use and understand.

Parallels announced the immediate availability of Parallels Desktop 5 for the Mac on Wednesday. The new version of the OS virtualization application offers up to a three times performance improvement, and video performance that's up to seven times better compared to previous versions of the application.

Symantec is alerting Mac users to new Mac game called Lose/Lose that deletes files in the user's home directory every time the player shoots an alien ship. Destroy a ship, lose a file. What's more, the game's creator tells users exactly what will happen when they play, making the game something less than a trojan horse, but much worse than the art project he labels it.