I know there are a lot of people who enjoy small mobile phones, but I hate them. Obviously, depends how small they get, but when they sacrifice the size of the keys for the sake of making it all smaller, that's when we're talking about a phone I won't use unless a Desert Eagle is pointed at my head. As we all surely know, the iPhone has no keys, and - if you ask me - its size is where it should be. Considering this, a smaller iPhone seems more of a joke, than a rumor with chances of turning into reality, but here's what people are talking about already...

... pretty funny, don't you think? These are no new rumors, since more than a year ago, there were rumors about an upcoming iPhone Nano, maybe even an iPhone Shuffle, as you can see above. I don't have to tell you the image is showing some virtual mockups, do I? Anyway, back then, this was more of a funny rumor than it is now, although I still don't believe it.

According to an article in London's Daily Mail, "Apple is about to launch a 'nano' version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for Christmas.

The product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain's Telefonica. 'This will be a big one,' said an industry source." Wow! Sounds almost believable, don't you think?

While these guys are right to say the iPhone is too expensive to claim even the smallest part of the pay-as-you-go market, they also forget that, in the long run, the iPhone 3G brings a lot of money to Apple and the carriers working with them from the subscription fees, so the cost of the device has nothing to do with it.

It all ends with a pretty hilarious statement - "One expert suggested the nano phone would have a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialed from behind." Sure, and you won't have to charge it, just shake it well before making a call!

You know what's the best part of this article? The image with the chick holding the iPhone! Other than making a few jokes related to the above... we won't get to see any "iPhone Nano" this Christmas, I can bet on that!

If you take a short break and look around, the only logical conclusion regarding Apple's wonder is that the iPhone proves to be a safe bet for those providing services and products connected to it, or at least that's what the recent past is showing. Don't worry, I am not going to talk about any gloomy forecasts for the coming years because, according to the latest reports, Apple is building iPhones at an incredible rate. Since shortages are still noticeable in most Apple stores, I don't think this is a bad idea, but if I look at the numbers, I almost get the chills...

Why "the chills?" I am thinking about a little scenario - somebody knocks at my door, I open, and I find out my new iPhone is ready. The only problem is that I don't want an iPhone. No problem - a gun to my head, a pen in my hand, and an offer I can't refuse in front of me, ready to be signed. Ta-taaa! Now, I am one of those many new iPhone owners! Don't take this seriously, I was just joking...after all, Apple is set to build 40 million iPhones a year, not 1 billion!

Hey, don't worry, it's "only" 40 million, so if you're working for one of Apple's competitors in the smartphone market, you won't lose your job...yet! Just think about the fact that the goal for the first year of existence of the iPhone was of about 11 million units, so going up to 40 million is nothing less but impressive.

This is no official statement, but sources from Foxconn, close to Apple's direct knowledge of build numbers, is claiming the facilities alloted to Apple's handset are already working "above current full capacity." If this proves to be true, we may get a lot of iPhones around pretty fast, and probably with more problems than before, but let's hope Apple will manage to keep quality and quantity in balance!

At last, here you have some more numbers, to see the big picture better: 1 million iPhone 3Gs sold in the first 72 hours, with the iPhone being currently on sale in 23 countries, with no less than 20 more expected to be added to the list on the 22nd of August, and another 30 by the end of the year! These being said, that 40 million figure doesn't seem so big anymore, don't you think?

Exactly when I was thinking about grabbing a beer, playing some music as loud as possible and enjoying a nice afternoon, something hit me right between the eyes. Don't worry, I am alive and kicking, no harm was done, only that I just found out that some time must pass until I'll finally be able to forget about the iPhone 3G and AT & T. What about them? Well, we'll leave the new iPhone aside for now, because there's nothing really new about it, just same old problems, of which the greatest one is the fact there are not enough units available to satisfy the demand yet, and we'll move on to AT & T and its exclusive iPhone rights in the US.

Nothing is perfect, so the iPhone 3G or AT & T's services aren't perfect either, but it seems those disappointed with the later should move out of the US...or wait a few years. Why? I am no seer, obviously, but this is, unfortunately, as official as possible, because it comes right from AT & T, as we're going to see right away...

In an interview published in USA Today, AT & T chief Randall Stephenson said they were "betting on Jobs" back in 2005, not on the handset, but it all proved to be a smart move, in the end. When talking about iPhone 3G and AT & T, Stephenson said "it's all about wireless." Hopefully, soon it's going to be "all about 3G," too, because there are still a lot of areas without coverage.

To make a longer story short, especially since most terms of the deal are not going to become "public domain" anytime soon, it's enough to say no other carrier will be able to get near to Apple's iPhone in the US until 2010. That's it! Like or not, if you want the iPhone, you'll also have to take the AT & T pill.

So, will you move out of the US until 2011, or not? After all, there are excellent iPhone 3G subscription plans in Hong Kong or Australia... so you don't have to live with the iPhone 3G and AT & T until 2011, don't you think?

I know a lot of people that are not crazy about games at all, not even playing Solitaire or Zuma, but when I say "Atomic Bomberman," their eyes go brighter, their faces suddenly are flooded by a very large smile, and they usually ask only "when" and "where," ready for another Bomberman blast feast. Atomic Bomberman was released over a decade ago, being the first original Bomberman game for Windows, and the second one for the PC in its league, after Dyna Blaster, released in 1992. If you missed those games, but especially if they bring back pleasant memories each time you hear their name, today I have to tell you about a blast from the past available for today's Apple iPods...

The good news of the day is that, if you are looking to have a Bomberman blast party, Hudson Software can help. Following the same "storyline" of previous games - you're playing a robot bored of working in a bomb factory, so he tries to run...using bombs to remove obstacles, obviously! Anyway, this is not a clone, since there are some very interesting mini-games added, as you're going to see right away...

Basically, the game has 20 levels you need to finish to complete blasting your way to the outside world but, unlike Atomic Bomberman, after every five levels left behind, you get to play bowling, a whack-a-mole style game, and one that has you jumping over bombs.

Now, the final part - if you're eager to bring back those Bomberman blast days, you should know the iPod version is priced at $4.99, and works with the iPod nano (3rd generation), iPod classic, and 5th generation iPod. If you want to get it for your Nintendo DS or PSP, just look around, and you'll also find those, too. "Enjoy your new Bomberman blast days," what else can I say? :)

The iPhone is an amazing platform to develop for, and the fact that Apple opened it to the outside world created incredible opportunities for other companies. Before the App Store became functional, it was nothing but darkness and silence, and now there are plenty of things to available so anyone could get plenty of color and sound on the iPhone without having to hack it. The interesting news is that, only a few weeks after the iPhone 3G managed to sell 1 million units in the first two days, and Apple sales are stronger than ever, a software producer managed to jump the 1 million downloads fence on App Store!

The name of the company is Tapulous, and the mastermind behind it is the ex-Delicious-Monsterer Mike Lee, who has surrounded himself in a veil of secrecy since leaving Wil Shipley and the others. Obviously, Tapulous is not a one-man-show, since the team also includes former Jabber employee Thomas Muldowney, iApp-a-Day's Sean Heber, and Tristan O'Tierney, widely known for his work at Yahoo!.

The "small, beautiful apps, with a focus on bringing people together," as Lee says, coming from Tapulous, include Tap Tap Revenge ("the sequel to the much ballyhooed Tap Tap Revolution"), Twinkle (a Twitter client), and Collage (a realtime collaborative art/photo sharing software), but more are expected to drop by in the near future.

Here's a small excerpt from the Tapulous Blog:
"Over the last few days of our March To A Million album giveaway we posted winners to the front page of Tapulous.com — 136 in all before the million-user cutoff. In case you missed them, they’re listed below. You weren’t one of them? As a special thanks to our first million users and to everybody else who signs up for a Tapulous Profile this weekend, we’re giving away another thousand albums. Choose any music you like from Lala’s collection of more than 5 million songs - Rihanna, Coldplay, Miley Cirus, Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, Pussycat Dolls - they have it all! On top of that, every Tapulous member gets 100 free web songs at lala.com! All together, that’s a TON of free music."

I got nothing else to say but "impressive!" Congratulations, Tapulous!