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Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares made gains on just about every day last week, opening Monday at $125.03 and reaching $129.62 (which was also the high for the week) by Friday's closing bell for a 3.7% gain on the week. Shares are at $131.83 as of this writing. The surge is no doubt due to a flurry of bullish reports from analysts in the days leading up to Apple's third quarter results call, which is tomorrow, Tuesday July 21 at 5:00 PM ET.

The iPod is still clinging to life, as Apple released its latest generation last Wednesday. In the brand's first refresh in two years, the sixth generation iPod Touch upgraded to a 64-bit A8 processor and an 8 megapixel camera. A 128GB model was added to the lineup and the device is now available in several new colors. The iPod nano and Shuffle are now available in new colors as well. The Touch starts at $199 for a 16GB model.

The App Store's latest promotion, "Amazing Apps & Games for 99¢," is currently running, but it will only be around for a limited amount of time. This is a good and affordable opportunity to discover apps for your iPhone or iPad that are normally priced well above a dollar. There are 24 titles available, twelve apps and twelve games:

Card King: Dragon Wars is the latest free-to-play trading card game to land on the Apple App Store. Released by Card King, Inc., a subsidiary of global gaming publisher CROOZ, Inc (Battlefront Heroes), Card King allows players to collect and grow more than 100 unique creatures to construct the ultimate battle deck. Each creature comes with their own battle spells, strategies and abilities that players can power-up and use to defeat other players in multiplayer matches.

Apple's manufacturing partners Samsung and TSMC have begun mass producing the A9 chip that will power the next generation iPhone, according to a report from Taiwanese tech newspaper DigiTimes. Though Apple reportedly issued last minute modifications to the chip layout that prompted both companies to rework the wafers, the launch timetable supposedly remains on schedule.