Apple let a silly game demonstration take center stage at WWDC in June, and it released a new framework with instructions on how developers could build physical game controllers. The two together led me to believe that an Apple sneak attack on living room gaming was imminent. Since then, two more elements have risen to the surface, and now I think the sneak attack is well under way.

Apple reportedly has pledged to fix a bug in iOS 7 that has been plaguing some users. This will be the second fix since the iOS 7 was released Sept. 18. The first was issued Sept. 20 to resolve a problem with the iPhone 5s fingerprint scanner. At least 16 iOS 7 problems have surfaced so far, including a bug that lets anyone bypass the iPhone's lockscreen.

The ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung may be more commonly fought in the courtroom than on social media, but Apple on Tuesday apparently made an exception following the publication of a report suggesting that Samsung may be artificially boosting the benchmark scores of its new Galaxy Note 3. "Shenanigans" tweeted Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of marketing.

Apple's new iOS 7 is making people sick -- literally -- based on complaints that have begun appearing on Apple forums. "The zoom animations everywhere on the new iOS 7 are literally making me nauseous and giving me a headache," wrote Ensorceled on one forum. "It's exactly how I used to get car sick if I tried to read in the car." Once a user makes the decision to update iOS, there's no going back to the previous version.

After Apple topped analyst expectations by selling more than 9 million iPhones in its opening launch weekend, it didn't take long for the Apple haters and naysayers to scramble for some negative spin: iPhone buyers are just cult fanatics, destined to buy the latest incremental update again and again until the rest of the world wakes up and realizes that Apple is just another fading tech company.

Apple on Tuesday launched a refresh of its iMac all-in-one computer with faster processors, communications and storage, as well as new graphics capabilities. The launch comes amid weak PC sales worldwide. So who would want a faster, better-connected desktop with advanced storage options and a massive hard drive? "Anyone who's a stone Apple PC user," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Just three days after its iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models hit store shelves, Apple announced Monday that it had sold a record-breaking 9 million handsets. In addition, more than 200 million devices were running iOS 7 as of Monday -- a mass upgrade that Apple called the fastest in its history. However, the iPhone 5s outsold its flashier counterpart by a factor of 3.4 times, according to Localytics.

Apple's servers were working overtime Wednesday as the new version of its mobile operating system, iOS 7, became available for download by the public. iOS 7 has a number of new features that should appeal to consumers who are fans of Apple's iPhone, iPod and iPad, but it also contains features to bolster the company's already strong position in the enterprise.

What we're seeing from Apple right now -- and how consumers respond -- will determine the company's future and shape our love for its products. It all hinges on the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Hyperbole? No way. Come on, you might be thinking, aren't the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c just incremental updates? How can you turn a mild evolutionary release into something so important?

Katy Perry's new song "Roar" is a hit, and so is her video, which has drawn in an impressive 70 million or so viewers. Those viewers have watched Perry cavorting about with the latest from Nokia -- the Lumia -- and not, it must be noted, something from Apple's product line. Is that significant? Well, it resonates when considered against a larger theme.

Apple usually trumpets preorder figures following the launch of a new iPhone, but it has maintained a deafening silence in the case of the iPhone 5c, sparking speculation that it is perhaps not doing too well in the market so far. That perception is being bolstered by reports that with its unsubsidized price in China being between $730 and $860, it is being shunned by Chinese consumers.

Apple's iPhone launch event Tuesday was a small evolutionary step in its already proven game plan for product lines: Create something excellent and new one year, beef up the feature set the second year, and maybe -- just maybe -- rethink the overall design and start again in the third year. There is also the option to throw some new paint and tires on the product to buy another year of sales.

Shares of Apple dropped more than 5 percent on Wednesday morning following the widely anticipated unveiling of the company's two new iPhone models the day before. Representing the steepest drop in the stock since April, the tumble was accompanied by a newly lowered "neutral" rating by Credit Suisse, UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The stock also fell an additional 2 percent on Tuesday.

Onward and upward, or so the executive suite at Apple is clearly hoping. Tuesday's rollout of the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s -- and their related features and design quirks -- came as little surprise to company watchers as Apple's product pipeline has long been prone to leaks and speculation.

At today's official iPhone launch event, Apple delivered five colors for the new polycarbonate entry-level iPhone 5c and introduced its new starship-grade iPhone 5s, which boasts a 64-bit A7 chip, all-new iSight camera with True Tone Flash, and a built-in Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Apple also announced the delivery date for the already pre-viewed new iOS 7: Sept. 18.

Sept. 10 has already been the focus of frenzied attention among those anticipating the next iPhone, but in the last few days another rumor has popped up as well. Specifically, Apple might also use its widely hyped event to announce an update to its Apple TV set-top box product, the rumors suggest. It all started when Apple received a shipment called "Set Top Box with Communication Function" last month.

Apple's new iPhone trade-in program has the potential to radically amp up Apple's control of its iPhone customer base and even has the potential to change how iPhones are sold. On the surface, it's just a play for customer convenience, a move to get a customer to walk back into a retail store and buy something. Fair enough. Definitely smart.

Just who killed the PC, anyway? For if it's not dead yet, it surely will be in a few years -- at least according to IDC, which now projects that worldwide PC shipments will fall by 9.7 percent this year, representing the largest market contraction on record. The market is expected to decline through 2014. Then, in 2015, IDC projects it will shift into single-digit modest growth.

One of the best things about Apple's iOS machine is how it churns out a new release every year that packs new features that most every old iPhone or iPad can use. Upgrades. You can count on something new from Apple even when you're not standing in line to buy a shiny new iPhone 5S or 5C. Other manufacturers push out updates too, but none are as good at it as Apple.

Apple's retail operations can be counted among Steve Jobs' "babies"; the stores' slick design and sales techniques are legendary in the industry for their per-square-footage sales. In 2012, Apple retail store sales outpaced Tiffany's by 40 percent. Apple is in no danger of following in the footsteps of, say, J.C. Penney or Sears, but its retail operations have shown some worrisome signs of decay.

Apple is preparing to debut a trade-in program that will allow customers to swap an old version of their iPhone for the latest version of the company's flagship smartphone, according to reports. Talk of the trade-in program for Apple's U.S. retail stores has been circulating since June. Staff training for the initiative is now apparently under way at some of the company's retail locations.

Apple fans are gearing up for the Big Event on Sept. 10 and -- drumroll, please! -- the introduction of its next iPhone. By now company watchers have agreed that the following is the likely go-to-market blueprint for Apple this time around: The company is introducing two devices -- one with its usual high-end features, sleek design and iterative upgrades; the other, a cheaper device.

I'm trying to stay excited about Apple's Sept. 10 iPhone-revealing media ceremony, but instead I'm settling into the notion that we'll have a gold iPhone and a bunch of plastic entry iPhone models in vague fugly colors. I should have been more worried when Apple's master of design, Jony Ive, showed off iOS 7 with a palette of pastels at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year.

"They just gotta have that gold," warbled Jose Feliciano in the theme song to the 1969 movie Mckenna's Gold, but those very same lyrics might well be the theme for recent media coverage of the forthcoming line of iPhones. Speculation is rife that Apple will include a gold-colored iPhone, or at least one with champagne-colored trim, among its new lineup.

What Carl Icahn has been doing with Dell -- and now with Apple -- is kind of like a protection racket. These were popular in the 1920s -- you paid the crime syndicate a fee if you wanted to say in business. I'm wondering if Icahn has found a legal way to extort money from companies in trouble. Icahn not only doesn't provide value for the "help" he gives -- he actually drains the firm's resources.

Apple shareholders rejoiced when noted corporate raider Carl Icahn tweeted that he'd taken a large position in the company and said it was undervalued. Its shares closed at $497.91 on Thursday, down 59 cents from Wednesday's close. However, that was up 96 cents from Thursday's opening price. Trading was volatile on Thursday, with prices climbing above $500 at least once.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison seems to think Apple is doomed now that Steve Jobs is gone. He essentially said so, publicly, to master interviewer Charlie Rose. He did it with a passively dramatic raising and lowering of his finger. My first reaction was that Ellison -- undeniably one of the most rigorous, ruthless and successful tech CEOs on the planet -- must not have known Steve Jobs all that well.

Apple has reportedly acquired Matcha.tv, a startup that closed its doors in May following its creation of an iOS app that offered a comprehensive overview of the content available on TV. News of the acquisition was first published in a Tuesday report that cited "a source with knowledge of the deal." Terms of the purchase have not been confirmed.

Uh oh, Apple. Carl Icahn -- the activist shareholder and spoiler of many corporate deals, the latest being Dell's attempt to go private -- has announced to the world that he has amassed "a large position" in your stock. This news came via a tweet from Icahn on Tuesday afternoon, touting not only his position in Apple but also his belief that the company is "extremely undervalued."

Content management systems like WordPress and Joombla have become popular targets for hackers in recent times because flaws in those systems can be leveraged for mischief across literally millions of websites. WordPress is running on some 73 million websites and Joomla some 35 million, so if you're a cybercriminal with a fresh vulnerability in your satchel, you can do some serious damage.