Yesterday, the Apple iPhone celebrated its first birthday, but it wasn't just that, because June's end arrives with more than just this in Apple's backyard, as we're going to see right away. Even more, there are only 11 days remaining until the official release date of the iPhone 3G, so this summer is really going to be hot for Apple and all the fans of the Cupertino-based company out there!

Ok, so let's take them one by one. First, the anniversary. Well, what would you like to know about the iPhone? Originally released on the 29th of June, 2007, Apple's first mobile phone managed to sell no less than 5 million units so far, probably even more than 6-7, I lost the count, to be honest, but it's not the numbers. The iPhone 3G will come with a great price, although missing some features we were all expecting, but I guess that can be fixed in some future version...

Just in time to consider it a gift for the iPhone, Apple also released the 8th Beta version of the iPhone SDK, available in the iPhone Dev Center. The new release comes with a complete set of tools for creating iPhone and iPod Touch applications. <-125x125 Button - right->This Beta is fully compatible with iPhone 2.0 final, and must be used to build and sign any application, which can only be done if you're a member of the iPhone Developer Program, of course. Anyway, if you only want to play with the SDK for now, downloading it is free, so no problem for beginners!

At last, you should also be aware that the 8th Beta of the iPhone SDK requires the pre-release version of iTunes 7.7. I know, it may sound strange, but that's it - you can wait for the final version, or get busy now, and assume the risks.

Once again, "Happy Birthday, beloved iPhone!" If you didn't have your Apple cake yet, there's still time to go for it. More than yesterday's event, I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be "the year of the Apple," so why not celebrate every day? ;)

The Mac platform is (still) a long way from the PC, and I am not talking about the operating system here, or the ability to customize it from the hardware point of view. In the last years, overclocking became a practice so popular with PC users, that even hardware manufacturers started to come up with factory overclocked video cards, or unlocked processors. Of course that overclocking has its risks, but you can minimize them by using the right hardware and, sometimes, the right software, as it happens with the Mac Pro. Yes, you heard that right, the Mac Pro can be overclocked, and a software tool has just been released for this purpose!

With the help of the ZDNet Germany team, "Mac Pro overclocking" is no longer a dream! The ZDNet Clock Tool allows you to easily push Intel-based Mac Pros higher than their default speeds, and so far, recent systems using Xeon processors have been reported to reach 3.24GHz from the 2.8GHz default speed. I know it's not as much as some PCs can reach, but let's remember that Mac Pros come with a standard cooling system that is probably the one limiting the overclocking possibilities.

The interesting part is that this software tool, apart from simply pushing the CPU higher, also increases the system bus and memory speed as a result, but since the Mac Pro uses only memory with error correction, an excessive overclock won't end up with wrong data written on the hard drive, as it happens with some PCs pushed beyond the decent limit.<-250x250 Square - right->

Unfortunately, nothing is perfect, because the current version of this software overclocking tool works by loading a kernel extension that pushes clock speeds up after the system starts, and without it, the Mac Pro would get back to stock speeds as soon as the system is rebooted.

While I wouldn't recommend ZDNet Clock Tool to those who just got their Mac Pro,  I can imagine that, in a few months, this software will reach a level where overclocking a Mac becomes much easier and risk-free than now. Anyway, I can't imagine Apple agree with overclocking its computers, at least for now, so if you overclock a Mac Pro, something blows up, and they catch you...then it's "bye-bye, warranty..."

With a very small chance of saying something wrong, I can claim that China is the fastest growing country in the world. While things are cooling down in most areas of the planet, they keep going high, and the environment has to pay a heavy toll, but that's a sad truth I can't do much to change. Considering this incredible growth, it's no surprise that Apple will have one store opened there this summer, expected to be ready just in time for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

<-234x60 Half Banner - left->Apple's first Chinese store was shaped as a plan some time ago, but now everything is official - the location is Qianmen Street, a half-mile avenue at the south end of Tiananmen Square, currently just out of an impressive renovation, worth $40 million. Utilities have been improved, the street is now paved with green and white marble, a tram line has been reintroduced, buildings are now restored to their 1920-1930 appearance, and the existing Opera House has been rebuilt. Wow!

The Apple Store will be located on this street, now the second pedestrian-only shopping street in Beijing, expected to soon feature 300 shops, with over 800,000 square feet, including international retailers like Starbucks, Adidas, and our beloved Apple, of course.

According to various architecture sources, the Apple Store in Beijing will blend in with the other buildings in the area, instead of going along with the standard storefront designs used so far by the Cupertino-based company.

Come on, come ooooon! Two more weeks...and then, the iPhone 3G can unleash its magic all over the world, but it won't be that easy on your pockets, in the long run. Anyway, you will have the consolation of using probably the best mobile phone for browsing adult sites, and if you're not into such things, well...there are a lot of things left to do with the iphone 3G, don't worry! Now, let's get to the iPhone 3G plan pricing we have just found out...

The countries we have info on are Canada, Sweden, and Norway. To be honest, when I see such pricing, I wonder why not simply get an iPod Touch and forget about the iPhone, but I guess not everyone is using the mobile phone a few minutes per month, as I do. <-180x150 Small Rectangle - left->Well, if you're in one of the countries I just mentioned, it's good you know what to expect, but I am sure these prices should give everyone and idea about the price range of the iPhone 3G plans all over the world.

Since I placed that image before the previous paragraph, we'll start with Canada. Oh, Canada! I envy everyone in Canada, and not for the pretty good plan they will get with the iPhone 3G, but for the temperatures they usually have in summer - considering the hot summers we had lately, it should be clear this is not my favorite season! Anyway, let's leave weather aside and get to the iPhone 3G plan pricing in Canada, shall we?

The entry-level plan offered by Rogers Wireless in Canada is priced at $60, and offers 150 daytime voice minutes, 75 text messages, and 400 MB of data, while evening and weekend minutes and visual voicemail are unlimited for all plans. The most expensive plan is worth $115, and you will get 800 voice minutes, 1GB of data, and 300 text messages with it.

In Sweden, TeliaSonera offers service plans starting at $50, going up to $145. The cheapest plan offers 250 minutes, 250 text messages, and 250 MB of data, while the $145 one comes with 1000 minutes, 1000 SMS messages, and 1000MB of data, and allows you to get the 16GB iPhone 3G for only $130, as long as you sign a 24-month contract.

At last, we have Norway, and Netcom's offer for future iPhone 3G owners. Things look like this - there are 3 plans available, from $80 to $221, with the "Small" plan including 100 minutes, 100 SMS messages, and 100 MB of data each month, while the "Large" plan comes with no less than 10 times the above.

These being said, I'll leave you do the math. If the iPhone 3G is worth the price or not, that's what you should decide, because it seems the 2-years price is somewhere around $1500...

What could be wrong with a company that usually repairs iPods? Obviously, there are a lot of things that could be wrong with such a company, but to make things more clear, what could be wrong with a company repairing iPods to end up in a court of law, facing Apple's lawyers? It seems that Apple has problems with the name, once again. Come on, those guys are supposed to repair iPods, should they choose "Tomato Mechanic" as company name???

What Apple did was to start a lawsuit against the iPod Mechanic, a small iPod repair business based in Michigan. The accusations are pretty simple - Apple claims that Nicholas Woodhams, the man behind iPod Mechanic, misused Apple's "iPod" and "Pod" trademarks on his company's website, and for the name itself, of course.<-120x240 Vertical Banner - left-> According to Apple, Nicholas was asked to stop using the name of the media player back in 2006, and he agreed to drop the iPod Mechanic name by January 2007, and park the ipodmechanic.com domain by March. Until now, none of these happened, and the iPod Mechanic website is still working like a charm as we speak.

To make it all even worse, Nicholas is also accused of fraud, because he convinced Apple to send him free components, one example being his exploitation of the iPod shuffle Advance Replacement Program in 2007. The story is a bit more complicated, but I even noticed customer complaints about iPod Mechanic, one of them being available here.

As usual, I am sure the truth is somewhere in between, but I am amazed - as always - by how Apple hags on to these trademarks, even when doing such things is completely lame...