So what's the skinny? Anyone have more ideas than what's in this article??

Apple Inc. is planning to take the wraps off a new version of software for its iPhone Tuesday, and while the company -- as usual -- has given few hints, rumors of new features have surfaced online.

The company is holding a "sneak peek" event for journalists at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters to introduce the third generation of the iPhone software, plus the tools programmers outside Apple use to build applications for the device.

The current iPhone model, Apple's second, launched last summer and promised faster connection to the Internet.

Shaw Wu, an analyst for Kaufman Bros., wrote in a research note last Friday that he believes the company could add speech recognition and text-to-speech functions that would make the iPhone easier to use on the go.

Wu also mentioned the possibility of a new version of Apple's Safari Web browser for the iPhone and improvements to the iTunes App Store, which sells add-on programs for the device.

Some bloggers have posted rumors that Apple will add a copy-and-paste function, fixing a common frustration among users. Others speculate the company will add multimedia messaging, which lets people snap a photo and send it just like they would a text message.

Also on the list: the ability to power a laptop's Internet connectivity by tethering it to the iPhone, and a premium store to sell $20-and-up applications.

For Poly: Core Location will also finally make Turn-by-Turn GPS directions possible, although developers will need to sell maps separately as Google's free maps are not licensed for GPS mapping.

so far I'm very unimpressed with this announcement. Cut/Copy/Paste are the big things. Games where they can charge you now for additional things seem to be bigger news.

MacWorld live update bits and pieces update here!

http://www.macworld.com/article/139401/2009/03/appleevent.html

10:23 PT - JS: Big win. Every iPhone can be its own GPS nav system once 3.0 arrives. They're really checking all the boxes, aren't they?

10:22 PT - DM: Developers can also use Core Location as basis for turn-by-turn direction applications (score one for my wishlist!). GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell location. There is one catch however: bring your own maps. Due to licensing, they can't use built-in map tiles for turn-by-turn (that'll be Google's API license). But you can use your own maps.

Cut/Copy/Paste are the big things.

MMS is huge.

Yeah, just saw that announcement.

1:14 PT - DM: Brand new application. Voice Memos. Shows an image of a fancy microphone and a VU meter. You can use the built-in microphone or an external microphone; you can edit the memo by trimming it and share it via email or MMS.

In app purchase, new business models, P2P connectivity, accessories can now talk through the Dock, built-in Maps for developers, Push Notifications finally arrive, cut copy and paste, landscape mode for Apple apps, Messeges app for MMS. Voice Memo app for recording audio files, Calendar gets CalDAV, Stocks app gets more info, Search across all apps and iPhone OS gains Spotlight for certain items

iPhone 3.0 will ship this summer and will be free for all iPhone 3G owners. Original iPhone owners can use it too but not all features will be available. iPod touch owners can get the update this summer as well, but for $9.95.