Each week, we round up our most significant stories from the past seven days, mostly because the powers that be refuse to let us write about the biggest news from the week ahead. This week, we covered App Store drama, iPad 3 rumors, and a typical slew of Mac advice.

With the rumor mill abuzz with news of an impending iPad 3, we've already started getting press releases from case manufacturers. While we all wait for what promises to be another exciting chapter in the world of Apple tablets, your Macworld staff has been hard at work collecting a brand new batch of great cases that you can use today.

Some parents of autistic children see benefits from the use of apps and technology; however, experts raise concerns.

Apple's new Siri commercials are a little too comprehensible, the designer of the Mac has an unusual Steve Jobs souvenir, and one Google acquisition apparently came with some guts.

A German court has thrown out a Motorola Mobility patent lawsuit against Apple, breaking a recent run of courtroom successes for the company.

Large portions of the western half of the U.S. do not have access to 3G or faster mobile broadband service, according to a new map released by the Federal Communications Commission.

The App Store offers so many new offerings each week (as well as updates of old favorites) that it can sometimes be difficult to track them all. That’s why we're starting The Week in iOS Apps, to highlight some of the best offerings of the past few days.

It’s been almost 12 months since Thunderbolt made its debut on the 2011 MacBook Pro. In that time, just a few dozen Thunderbolt products have shipped, to the disappointment of users eager to take advantage of the fast connection.

As patent infringement lawsuits continue to pile up in the mobile industry, Google, Apple and Microsoft appear to be trying individually to reassure regulators and standards bodies that they won't use their patents to build a monopoly, experts said.

Google is planning to enter the home entertainment market with a Google-branded wireless device that streams music within a house, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The white MacBook was still alive, but now it's dead for sure; the Air Force wants a little or a lot of iPads; and one of Steve Jobs's associates told the FBI that he was deceptive and manipulative, but that he would whole heartedly recommend him.

Sony's new CEO says the company needs to move on from its hardware roots.

Kodak, which filed for bankruptcy last month, is killing its digital cameras business and plans to focus on printing in an effort to save money.

Google is at odds with Apple, Microsoft and Cisco over the licensing and litigation of patents.

The bottom line: If you own an iPhone for 18 months and decide to resell it, you will get more money for it than any other comparable Android or BlackBerry smartphone.

Hasbro realized that iPhone owners won’t want to put down their devices to play Nerf Lazer Tag. So the company is now combining iOS devices with the game.

Reports on AllThingsD and The Loop suggest that Apple may be planning to launch the iPad 3 at a March event, which Dan Moren thinks lines up pretty well with the pattern to date.

The changes Samsung Electronics has made to the Galaxy Tab 10.1N are enough to no longer infringe on Apple's intellectual property rights, a judge has ruled.

Hackers claimed to have stolen internal data from Apple supplier Foxconn and leaked the information online, apparently as prank and not in response to media reports of poor working conditions at the electronics manufacturer's factories as had been reported earlier.

Version 3.1 of the crowd-sourced traffic and navigation app for iOS adds the ability to report traffic incidents and calculate routes using voice commands.

Here's a sobering statistic: With a 40- to 45-hour work week, many Americans spend about 25 percent of the year on the job and 2,000 hours sitting at a desk. A simple workstation tune-up can make you a lot more comfortable.

The first iTunes Match royalties have arrived, and they're music to artists' ears. Elsewhere, one pilot's lawsuit against his airline may not have enough lift for takeoff, and an iOS-based social network apologizes for getting just a bit too social.

Amid widespread concern about its new privacy policies, Google is now facing criticism over an offer to give users Amazon gift certificates if they reveal their Web activity.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, asking a court to force the agency to take action against Google.

Just as it enjoys an initial surge of popularity, a new social networking site called Pinterest is also experiencing its first bout of controversy.

On Wednesday, Tapbots expanded its Twitter client Tweetbot's reach by bringing it to the iPad, and updating Tweetbot for iPhone to version 2.0 at the same time.

Apple sold 267,000 Macs in the UK in the final quarter of 2011, increasing its share of the PC market in that country to 9.1 percent.

Sprint says it sold 1.8 million iPhones between October and December 2011, of which roughly 720,000 were new customers, but the cost of subsidizing Apple's smartphone raised the company's losses during the fourth quarter.

Google plans to remove online certificate revocation checks from future versions of Chrome, because it considers the process inefficient and slow.

Apple is hosting a live performance by Paul McCartney on February 9 on iTunes and Apple TV. Could this be a harbinger of future live content from the company?

This week's roundup of accessories includes ways to use your iPhone or iPad with either your hands or your feet. Or without either, if you choose.

Olympus's new Micro Four-Thirds camera is based on a wish list from photographers in Japan, and the result is an interchangeable-lens model that shoots quickly, withstands water, and boasts outstanding maneuvers in the dark.

Earlier this week, Apple published a note on its developer site warning developers not to manipulate the App Store rankings, or employ services that do so. But is such manipulation really avoidable? Or is it just a side effect of the App Store's huge volume of apps.

The Pentax Optio WG-2 GPS and WG-2 have new low-light-optimized CMOS sensors and 1080p video capabilities to go along with their front-facing LED lamps.

On Tuesday, Apple released three EFI firmware updates that enable Lion Internet Recovery on some 2010 iMac, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models.

Apple continues to try and port OS X to every chip, up to and including those delicious chocolate tortilla ones, Siri keeps bugging Wolfram Alpha for information, and it looks like your used music files will clutter your iTunes library until the end of time.

Canon's new line of Pixma printers allows wireless printing from your iOS device.

As part of an ongoing effort to recover from a downward spiral, Yahoo said on Tuesday that four board members, including its chairman, will step down.

Nevercenter has released CameraBag 2 for Mac, offering even more photo filters and editing controls.

Pass the buffalo wings and the iPad.