We close out another week of bargains with three deals. First us is a number of iPods, starting at $149 for an 8GB iPod touch. Next is a fun accessory for either an iPod touch or the iPhone. You can pick either a CTA Digital iPhone/iPod touch steering wheel or a digital steering wheel with a suction cup stand. Finally, AT&T offers a refurbished first-generation 3G iPad with 16GB for $329.

Along the way, we also check out some iPad cases and Mac software. As usual, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Cult of Mac has learned Apple could be scheduling secret employee meetings with retail staff on May 28th between 8 and 10am. Is this just pre-WWDC preparations, or something more?

In addition to unveiling a display today that could give the iPad 3 a Retina Display, Samsung has just debuted a new foldable AMOLED display that could be used to make your next iPad fit into your pocket, your next iPhone an iFlipPhone.

The courts smacked Apple down today in a suit against Kodak, and it could cost Cupertino up to $1 billion in licensing fees.

Adding insult to injury, the ITC judge also ruled one of Apple’s patents invalid.

Sean Power, a Canadian tech consultant and author, recently had his MacBook stolen along with some other valuables in his bag, including his birth certificate and cell phone. Using a free piece of software, Sean was able to track down his belongings and organize their safe return with the help of a bunch of friends on Twitter… and we can tell you how to do the same if it happens to you.

Wondering who the mysterious patent troll suing indie devs for using Apple’s own in-app purchasing system is? We still don’t know, but we can add another company to the list of patent houses suing iOS devs… this time not for in-app purchases, but for upgrade links.

Amazon.com has just stopped all sales of MobileMe. It’s almost as if they know something’s coming that could blast their recently unveiled Cloud Locker music streaming service out of the water. There’s an iCloud on the horizon.

If you thought Android would be the choice of the pin-stripe business crowd, think again. Turns out the iPhone is the pick for the cubicle, as well as the art studio.

“A club to make them do what we want.” That’s the way one Google executive described the gauntlet device makers must pass to get Android certification. So much for being “open.”

The lead developer behind the popular Mac dock replacement DragThing and the fantastic iOS scientific calculator app pCalc is about to be sued for patent infringement because his software uses Apple’s own in-app purchasing mechanism. And he’s not alone.

Not only will the lawsuit delay the latest update to the free version of pCalc, pCalc Lite, it may just be the opening shot in an IP war, not just against Apple, but against the devs who dare to sell their software on the App Store.

Microsoft, HTC, Nokia and Sony Ericsson have teamed up in Europe to send Apple a message: no one can own the term “App Store,” and they’re willing to join forces to prove it in court.

“iPhone 5 — First Exposure!” “Apple iPhone 5G Exposed!” These might be the barker cries popping up on your Facebook feed this morning, promising an exclusive look at the new iPhone. But just as you shouldn’t necessarily trust the man outside the local rundown gentleman’s club shouting “The most beautiful girls, girls, girls in the world, world, world are inside!”, don’t expect an early glimpse at the iPhone 5 if you click one of these links. It’s a big scam.

I loved Tweetbot in my review and I firmly believe it’s one of the nicest Twitter clients to grace our iPhones, however, when it first launched it was lacking some features that we are looking forward to in future updates. One of those features is landscape view, and thankfully this comes with the Tweetbot 1.1 update that’s just hit the App Store.

Samsung is preparing to launch a new 10.1-inch display next week which will boast a resolution of 2560 by 1600, making it the first ‘Retina’ display to be announced for tablets. But will it be making its way into the iPad 3?

Available for free in Cydia is a nice little tweak called “Stampr”. It integrates into the stock Camera application, and basically adds a timestamp into your photos. 

Ok, we’re a little baffled why this dude is pulling out an iPad in this sitch. Last-minute conditions-check? Confused about the term “surf the web”?

What’s pretty clear though, is that the blindingly yellow G-Form iPad Extreme Sleeve case ($60) he’s peeling off his iPad is now shipping. We love talking about this case; partly because we’re fascinated with the extreme-sport-derived protective material it’s made from, and partly because we’re mesmerized by the crazy videos G-Form keeps releasing to demonstrate the Extreme Sleeve’s protective ability — which seems formidable.

Right now, it’s only available (thankfully, also in black) from G-Form directly.

I love the soft tappity-tap of popping out an email, text, IM or 348-page novel on my iPhone’s virtual keyboard. Some people, though, prefer banging around on actual keys.

For them, then, NUU’s new MiniKey might make sense (currently $80 at Amazon): It’s a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard/case with a frilly feature list that includes backlit keys, text-editing shortcuts and a power-saving function that puts the little guy to sleep by severing the BT connection after a lapse of activity; start typing again and voila, it reconnects.

It looks like Microsoft’s plan to beat Apple in the retail space by building their own Microsoft Stores right across from mall-based Apple Stores is paying off: Microsoft’s successfully chased Apple out of its space in the Bellevue, Washington shopping mall.

It’s something of a pyrrhic victory, though. Apple’s just moving to the second floor of the mall to a larger retail space. Directly overhead, overlooking Microsoft’s store, where it will literally be living in Apple’s shadow. If there was ever a time to LOL, this is it.

Looking for a new camera with the look and power of a DSLR, but in a smaller digicam footprint? You might want to check out Panasonic’s new Lumix G3 Micro Four Thirds.

Apple’s stock is as good as gold, right? Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean that it’s value can’t be manipulated. Writing for Fortune, Philip Elmer-DeWitt makes a shocking accusation: Apple’s share price is being manipulated by a mysterious cabal who are “pinning” the stock below its strike price and no one seems to be doing anything about it.

If you can imagine an iPad the size of Apple’s largest iMac, with the iOS multi-touch interface plus the power of OS X, then you can imagine the next generation of computing.

You’ll use it tilted at an angle on your desk like a drafting table. Or, you’ll tilt it up for TV or presentations, or flat for using it as a table. Or you’ll use it as a coffee table or a kitchen counter top. The point is: You’ll use it.

Apple has a gazillion patents for their version of this technology. Microsoft has already promised a consumer version of Surface. The third generation of desktop computing (after command line and GUI generations) is coming.

But Google has already announced the operating system for their giant desktop multi-touch PC of the future.

Bungie, the previously Mac-exclusive game developer who defected to the arms of Microsoft to release the best-selling Halo series, is making a new game… and it’s probably coming to iOS.

For years, an unassuming Microsoft Research scientist named Bill Buxton has been collecting gadgets that have informed today’s landscape of technology. Now his collection is on display at the the Computer-Human Interaction conference in Vancouver, and what do you know? A large number of them seem to have directly inspired many of Apple’s most iconic products and innovations. If only they’d done the same for Microsoft.

Amazon is preparing a tablet of their own to compete with the iPad, and no lesser a higher-up than CEO Jeff Bezos has all but confirmed it.

We start the day with a deal for the iPhone and two for the iPad 2. First up is a dock cradle charger for the iPhone 4. The unit a line-out portand charging/syncing for the phone. A USB sync cable is not included. Next is a TPU Case for the iPad 2. Finally, we also check out an anti-glare screen protector for the iPad 2.

Along the way, we also talk about several other gadgets for the Mac crowd and more, details all of which can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” pag right after the jump.