Stories by: Al Sacco

Apple built excitement last week when it debuted two new iMac desktop machines, a new 13" MacBook, a revamped Mac Mini, and the touch-sensitive Magic Mouse, which ships along with the new iMacs. But about a week later, what it has built around that intriguing mouse is frustration.When Apple provided specifics on pricing and release dates for most of the products last week, it didn't mention that the Magic Mouse (designed to be employed not only with the company's latest iMacs, but also with any Bluetooth-enabled Mac) requires a specific software update. Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2 will reportedly support the Magic Mouse, but it's not yet available for download. Apple has not commented on when you'll be able to grab 10.6.2, though it's already been seeded to developers

Yesterday Palm released an update to its webOS mobile operating system for the Pre, v1.1.0. The new webOS packs a handful of enterprise-oriented features, like the ability to remotely wipe the Pre, along with a number of maintenance fixes and more. But perhaps most interestingly, webOS v1.1.0 also "re-enables" the iTunes sync feature that Apple blocked via its own software update earlier this month.That's good news for Pre users, since it's remarkably simple to use iTunes to sync media libraries to the Pre. However, it'll no doubt be short-lived and Pre owners will soon find themselves in the same iTunes-sync-less position they did last week, when Apple released iTunes v8.2.1, which blocked Pre syncing.

A new product from Phoenix Technologies, called Freeze, lets you use BlackBerry or iPhone Bluetooth to tell a PC that you're leaving the area and want it to lock up. When you return, Phoenix Freeze can also automatically unlock the machine so it's ready for you. However, it only works on Windows PCs, doesn't support 64-bit platforms, disables all other Bluetooth peripherals and seems to be a bit buggy for an official release. Phoenix Freeze for BlackBerry and iPhone

The weeks following the release of Research In Motion's first touch screen BlackBerry, the Storm 9500, were unfortunately filled with complaints from users, reviewers and critics alike regarding the extremely poor quality operating system that shipped with the device. And rightly so; RIM and Verizon Wireless rushed out buggy OS code that was simply not ready for prime time, in order to meet previously stated release dates.