Hey guys and gals, Just in case you hadn’t noticed, Apple has made the iPhone 3.0 highlight event online for all of you to watch and enjoy and wish you had that iPhone 3.0 firmware update already!

You can watch the live event at apple.com

Enjoy! and remember to follow us on twitter! We’re @iphonedashhacks

Apple highlighted the iPhone and the upcoming iPhone 3.0 firmware update today in a live event in the Apple campus in Cupertino, CA. Some of these features are freaking awesome!

• In-App Purchasing: Allows developers to sell additional content from within applications. Highlighted uses include magazine subscriptions, eBooks, additional levels and items for games.
• Peer-to-Peer Connectivity: Find other devices running the app via Bonjour over Wi-Fi of Bluetooth. Good for gaming, but also other applications for sharing data.
• Third-Party Accessory Apps: Allowing accessory manufacturers to create applications to interface with their hardware accessories.
• Push Notification: Rather than using background processes that hamper battery life, utilize third-party server to push badge, text, and audio alerts from applications.
• Turn by Turn: Apple will allow developers to use CoreLocation for turn-by-turn GPS directions.
• Cut, Copy and Paste: Available across all apps. Shake to undo or redo.
• Landscape keyboard: Available in all key applications, including Mail.
• MMS: Picture messaging now available.
• Voice Memos: Record notes, lectures, interviews, etc.
• Spotlight Search: Available across all applications. Systemwide search available from main home screen by flicking to the left.
• A2DP Bluetooth: Support for stereo bluetooth headsets.

You might notice that tethering is no where to be found in that list, it was addressed in the Q&A section of the event. Apple is building the client side of tethering into OS 3.0, but cooperation from carriers is also required in order for it to be offered.

The iPhone 3.0 update is available to all registered iPhone Developers as a free beta today and it will be fully released this summer. Shame that Apple dropped the details on this amazing update and are making us wait a couple of months before it releases! This update will be free to all iPhone users and as always, it will be $9.95USD for iPod Touch users.
Some of the above features will sadly not make it to the first generation iPhone (iPhone EDGE/2G) because of hardware limitations. The features that wont make it include, MMS and stereo bluetooth. So if you got an iPhone 2G go upgrade! Apple also revealed that bluetooth support can be activated for the second generation iPod Touch.

Apple has posted an iPhone OS 3.0 Preview page listing a few of the highlights. A video of today’s media event will also be posted to the page later today.

- sources:
macrumors.com
apple.com

Digg.com’s Kevin Rose has a great track record on being right about rumors, including Apple iPhone rumors . During a live taping of Diggnation, Kevin Rose revealed details about the expected “Copy and Paste” functionality in the upcoming iPhone 3.0.

From MacRumors:

According to Rose, to invoke Copy and Paste, you simply double tap on the word, and a magnifier bubble will appear with two quotes that you can drag around your selection. Once you make your selection, you can copy, paste or cut. Rose has been accurate in the past with details about upcoming Apple product revisions. As well, we have also heard that Copy and Paste will be arriving in 3.0 alongside a much improved homepage/springboard with the ability to organize in categories.

While BoyGeniusReports claims that the upcoming highly anticipated iPhone firmware 3.0 will have features everyone has been craving for since the launch of the iPhone, yeah, you know what I’m talking about right? Right, MMS, Tethering via USB and Bluetooth, and copy/paste — No mention of A2DP or Flash

MMS will allow users to send photos not only via email but via SMS which would be awesome, while tethering will allow you to share your iPhone’s internet connection (3G or EDGE) with your Mac or PC.

Thirdly, Macworld’s John Gruber gives us an interesting report which is labeled his iPhone 3.0 “wish list”

First, a new home screen app (a.k.a. SpringBoard), designed from the ground up for a system where users have a few dozen or more extra apps installed. Managing dozens of apps on the iPhone today is simply a pain in the ass. Second, maybe an answer to the question of where the background notification API is you know, the one we were told at WWDC to expect a few months ago, but which we haven’t heard a word about since. And maybe pretty please, Mr. Forstall, with sugar on top copy and paste.

We have good reason to believe that we may see some of those features in the new iPhone firmware. A revised Springboard (Home screen) could allow us heavy iPhone users to have more applications and have them better organized, and that would be awesome! The push notification solution would be helpful if you use instant messaging a lot.

Apple will reveal what’s really in the iPhone 3.0 software update tomorrow at 10AM Pacific. Stay tuned!