Apple Inc rolled out a new line of redesigned Mac computers on Tuesday, hoping to build up sales momentum for its biggest business heading into the all-important holiday season.

Sporting new features such as touch-based mice and edge-to- edge glass, Apple hopes to sustain the fast-growing sales of its computers. Allaying initial worries about its premium pricing, Apple’s Mac business has been surging despite a recession that has pinched consumer spending.

Mac unit sales — the largest single contributor to Apple’s revenue — leaped 17 percent in the quarter, far outpacing the PC market. That helped Apple blow by Wall Street forecasts on quarterly earnings and revenue. Its shares rose 5 percent to $198.99 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

Apple has reportedly tweaked the way its iPhone is coded in an effort to freeze out users who jailbreak the company’s handsets.

It’s understood that when Apple ships new iPhone 3GS phones, they’ll come loaded with a “bootrom” that defends against the 24kpwn exploit used by the Dev-Team and individuals to jailbreak artificial restrictions built into the popular smartphone.

Indeed, the Dev-Team warned iPhone users last week to hang fire on installing the latest iPhone OS.

More recently, the group’s hacker MuscleNerd has confirmed that for the time being a normal jailbreak of the phone would be impossible, following the loss of the 24kpwn exploit.

Users jailbreak their handsets in order to install unsigned Apple Apps on their iPhone. The Cupertino-based company has watched world dog enjoy the exploit for the best part of this year.

But the next batch of iPhone 3GS units to arrive in-store are expected to come with code that prevents the jailbreak.

All of which will probably lead to another exploit being discovered, although with each Apple patch, the jailbreaks have turned from a gush to a trickle.

For the past month, some Mac OS X users have been reporting their personal data missing after logging into their guest accounts, and Apple now says it’s working on finding a fix.

“We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix,” an Apple representative said in a prepared statement Monday.

It’s the first time Apple has said it is looking into the issue. In early September, a handful of Mac users reported the issue on Apple’s discussion boards. The problem, when it occurs, goes like this, according to CNET’s MacFixit: when logging into the guest account on their Mac first and then logging into their regular account, some users are finding all their data to be missing and their accounts completely reset.

iPods in Europe are about to get a lot more quiet. Regulators have released a new set of standards governing how loud portable music players can go, and that means the default max volume is going take a big dip from where it currently sits.

The European Commission’s new policy will require iPods and other MP3 players to have a default maximum volume of 80 decibels. That’s considered a “very loud” level by most sound rankings; anything above that mark can be potentially dangerous. Presently, most MP3 players go as loud as 115 to 125 decibels.

For some fun comparisons, we turn to the U.S. National Institute On Deafness And Other Communications Disorders (apparently, every shorter agency name was already taken). According to the, er, USNIODAOCD:

• 80 decibels is equivalent to the level of noise you’d hear on a busy city street;

• 90 decibels is lawnmower-like loudness;

• 110 is as ear-shattering as a loud rock concert;

• 120 to 130 matches the level of an airliner taking off — or, in less technical terms, “GET USED TO PEOPLE ALWAYS HAVING TO SHOUT AT YOU!”

Novell on Monday will offer a kit for developers to build Apple iPhone and iPod Touch business applications using Microsoft’s .Net Framework instead of the Apple-designated C or Objective-C languages.

Leveraging Novell’s Mono runtime for running Windows applications on non-Windows systems, Novell’s MonoTouch 1.0 is a commercial software development kit that lets developers utilize code and libraries written for .Net and programming languages like C#.

Apple rolled out the world’s smallest music player — and the first music player to talk to you — the new iPod shuffle, priced at $59 with 2GB of storage. Consumers can also opt for a 4GB shuffle for $79.

At the other end of the spectrum, Apple launched the new iPod nano, complete with a video camera, microphone and speaker. That means music fans can shoot video, view it on their nano, and upload it to YouTube.

Taking a page from the Microsoft Zune playbook, the new nano also features a built-in FM radio with live pause and iTunes tagging, as well as a built-in pedometer. Live pause lets iPod nano users pause and resume playing FM radio shows. iTunes Tagging lets users tag, preview and purchase songs they like when they sync with iTunes. An 8GB nano sells for $149 and a 16GB model for $179.

Apple also rolled out a new iPod touch lineup with a starting price of $199. The iPod touch is similar to an iPhone without the calling capabilities. It offers a multi-touch user interface, a 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a built-in accelerometer and speaker.

The Walkman outsold the iPod in Japan last week for the first time in four years, handing Japanese electronics giant Sony a rare victory over arch-rival Apple, a survey showed.

Sony’s share of the Japanese market for portable music players stood at 43.0 percent in the week to August 30, ahead of Apple which had 42.1 percent, according to the Tokyo-based marketing research company BCN Inc.

Sony has had a tough time in recent years in the face of the huge popularity of the iPod and other rival products such as Nintendo’s Wii.

BCN said Walkman sales were benefiting from an expanded product lineup and more affordable prices.

The iPod has also been a victim of Apple’s own success because some people are buying the iPhone — which doubles as a portable music player — instead. Sales of the iPhone are not included in the survey.

But Sony’s victory was bittersweet because overall sales of portable music players are on the decline in Japan, BCN said.

Sirius XM Radio unveiled a dock on Wednesday that lets iPhone users listen to premium satellite radio programing, including shock jock Howard Stern, a feature missing from previous iPhone software.

The $120 XM SkyDock turns Apple Inc’s iPhone or iPod Touch into a satellite radio receiver.

The dock, which will go on sale in the next few months, is powered through a car’s cigarette adapter. It comes with technology that eases installation by tapping into the car’s radio system. It also allows users to flag songs they hear and buy them via Apple’s iTunes software.

Apple announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard will go on sale Friday, August 28 at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple’s online store is now accepting pre-orders. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard® users for $29.

Remember that old saying the customer is always right? Well, in the future that saying might be “the customer is always right, unless their iPhone says otherwise.” A patent filed by Apple has been uncovered for a “customer abuse detection system” that would allow technicians to tell if you’ve been too hard on Apple devices like your iPhone or iPod.

Possible instances of customer abuse could include immersing your device in liquid, exposing it to extreme temperatures, dropping it, or tampering with the device’s internal circuitry. Although the patent didn’t specifically mention it, I’m sure running over your iPhone with a motorcycle would also set off the abuse detection system.

Whenever abuse occurs, the detection system could store a digital recording of the event in the device’s memory. Then, using diagnostic tools, technicians could find out how you’ve been treating your iPhone or iPod. If you’ve been too hard on your device, Apple could be in a position to argue your warranty is void, and that you are not eligible for a free repair or replacement.

Apple’s upcoming Snow Leopard upgrade currently occupies two of the three top spots on Amazon’s software top seller list. The pre-sale prices are $29 for a single computer and $49 for a 5-user family pack.

Microsoft occupied the same two spots last month when it was pre-selling the Windows 7 Home Premium edition upgrade for $50 and the Professional edition for $100.

There’s a profound difference between the $29 Apple is charging, and Microsoft’s $50 offer: Apple’s price won’t expire.

That same Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade will now set you back a solid $120. While one might ask why Microsoft would need to lower its prices when its current prices are more aggressive than what they asked for Vista. I have the answer; Consumer’s expectations have changed.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked Apple and AT&T to explain the decision to reject an application developed by Google for the iPhone.

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said “inquiry letters” were sent on Friday to Apple, AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the United States, and Google.

“The Federal Communications Commission has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment,” Genachowski said in a statement.

He added that in sending the letters the FCC wanted to get “the facts and data necessary to make the best policy decisions on behalf of the American people.”

The FCC move comes after Google said a Google Voice application for the iPhone was rejected by the iPhone App Store and related applications were removed.