Another day, another round of Apple speculation. Investment bank UBS said in a research note to clients today that Apple will launch a next-generation 3G iPhone sometime during mid-year 2008. The new 3G iPhone HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) platform will include a “new systems solution” from German chipmaker Infineon, including a digital baseband controller, power management unit (PMU), and radio frequency (RF) module.

Hopefully we’ll get some more information about this next week at the iPhone SDK event on March 6th, but it’s likely we might not hear anything until Apple’s annual WWDC (Worldwide Developer’s Conference) in early June. One thing’s for sure, the hype around an upcoming 3G iPhone is likely to fire up excitement around the iPhone as much as the initial launch did last summer.

It looks as though Mr. Jobs is seeking to give Apple’s shareholders a much needed boost in their stock valuation, because Apple has certainly been on a roll this week. Yesterday Apple released iPhone/iPod Touch firmware version 1.1.4, and today Apple has announced a special “iPhone software roadmap” event for next Thursday March 6th. Which means that we will FINALLY have some details available regarding the SDK.

Also, and this excites me about as much as the SDK, Apple is expected to announce “some exciting new enterprise features,” which to me means corporate e-mail support via Microsoft Exchange syncing — the one feature I’ve been longing for since June.

Apple today released the latest firmware update for the iPhone and iPod Touch, version 1.1.4. The released is slated as a bug fix and there aren’t any new features included. One might speculate, though, that included in this update is the necessary architecture for the upcoming SDK — which is supposed to come some time this week but is likely delayed well into March. Of course, Apple has released yet another update while I’m away on business, so I won’t be able to update until I get home Thursday night.

One of the biggest fixes for me personally is the SMS ordering. Since the 1.1.3 firmware update in January there has been an annoying issue regarding the order in which text messages are displayed in a conversation. Another fix that makes life easier involves Safari tabs. When browsing multiple sites your other tabs would go blank to white screens and when attempting to go back to that tab the page would require a re-load. Word is this has been fixed as well. Other fixes being reported are improved Bluetooth connectivity and a better functioning camera.

Now if we could just get that SDK…

As you are undoubtedly aware, yesterday the US Navy launched a missile from the Pacific Ocean in an effort to destroy a malfunctioning satellite. Whether or not this was a legitimate attempt at destroying a faulty satellite or an anti-satellite weapons test remains up for debate, but what seems to be pretty certain at this point is that it was destroyed.

Lucky for us we live in technological age where everything everywhere is recorded on video. So, without further adieu, here is some video footage released by the Defense Department of the missile taking off from the Navy ship and intercepting the satellite:

According to a study published in the Daily Mail, millions of humans are facing a significant risk of meltdown due to the tremendous rate at which we speed through life. Psychologists fear that unless we make some drastic changes we face serious damage not only to our relationships but also to our health as well.

The study cites examples such as people hurrying through their evening meals in less than ten minutes, and some individuals rushing through sex in two minutes. The psychologists claim that society has reached a point where humans are living at a crazy pace and demand instant gratification.

“There is a real danger people are heading for meltdown unless we slow down and realise that there are only so many hours in the day in which to get everything done.”

I couldn’t agree more with this quote, however I don’t necessarily think you can blame the everyday people slaving through daily life. We have been conditioned to act like thoughtless androids whose purpose is solely to accomplish a task. Our fundamental values, innate human values, have been twisted around by those controlling our societies. Rather than putting emphasis on the importance of personal relationships and taking the time to enjoy our lives on this beautiful planet , we’re taught that being monetarily successful is all we need to achieve happiness.

I encourage you to take a moment and reflect on what you can do to garner more enjoyment out of your stressful life. Cancel something last minute and take the free time to relax and reflect on life, you just might find yourself valuing something you lost long ago.

For a long time I’ve been wanting the ability to blog from my iPhone, but with poor Safari support for the WordPress admin panel that had always proved too difficult. However, a few days ago I stumbled across a plugin called “wphone” that is a pretty fully functional WordPress admin built for the iPhone. I’m not sure of the link off-hand, but just do a Google search for wphone and you’re certain to find it easily.

As far as this blog is concerned, now that I have the ability to do so be on the lookout for future posts from my iPhone, which apart from their likely short and sweet nature, will be recognizable by their posting in the “moblog” category.

Also, for my non-WordPress fellow iPhone bloggers, Google has the ability to post to your Blogger account from your iPhone, so that might be worth looking into for you.

Now, back to my Stella…

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s the time of year again, when committed women get excited with anticipation and committed men scratch their heads in an effort to devise some sort of romantic scheme to win over the hearts of their better halves once more. Single women are likely to drink their sorrows away, only to regret tonight’s decisions tomorrow morning. And single men, well, I think today’s goal for them is pretty much the same as any other day.

Last year I wrote about how we ought to appreciate the women who keep us committed men in line. I quoted the phrase that “behind every great man there’s a woman kicking his butt,” and while I certainly do not claim to be a great man, there is definitely a great woman kicking my butt.

So to my one and only Carin, or as I like to say Carina Katarzyna Kozłowska , thank you for being ever wonderful, I love you!

A group of New Yorkers recently pulled off a stunt in Grand Central Station whereby they essentially “stopped time.” A pretty unique stunt and definitely entertaining to see the reaction of other people. Check it out: