Apple and AT&T have been making preparations for the launch of iPhone firmware 3.0. Here is a list of the changes and preparations that have been noted:

• The new MobileMe Find My iPhone feature has been live this past week.
• Push Notification support is beginning to appear in the App Store. Tap Tap Revenge [App Store] specifically has been updated to provide push notifications.
• The iPhone 3G S Firmware 3.0 has already appeared on Apple’s servers. This firmware is specifically for the new iPhone 3G S (iPhone2,1) so is not recommended to be installed on older iPhones.
• AT&T has posted a FAQ (PDF) about the iPhone 3G S and comments on MMS and tethering:

Later this summer, as part of the 3.0 software, AT&T will make multimedia messaging (MMS) available at no extra cost to customers with a text messaging bundle. And, in the future, AT&T will offer tethering capability for iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3G.

• The iPhone 3.0 re-download charing message has been removed and was a bug according to AppAdvice. Re-downloading apps in 3.0 should be the same as the current firmware ( which means free).

In addition, there have been a couple of YouTube videos have appeared walking through the features of the new iPhone 3.0 operating system. Video 1 , Video 2

The firmware will be officially released June 17th

ZDNet reports firmware 3.0 for iPhone will add support for a multi-core processor iPhone that may be coming up soon. (in the near future, perhaps?) Apple has not yet detailed publicly what firmware 3.0 will add and won’t add.

In speculation, this rumor may be true, Imagination Technology announced the PowerVR SGX543 – A multi-core GPU that could be suitable for iPhone. Apple, being an investor in Imagination Technologies, could easily access these new PowerVR SGX543 multi-core GPUs for the iPhone in the future. Apple currently uses a less powerful of Imagination Technology’s PowerVR GPU on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

However, the likely candidate for the new iPhone’s CPU is a derivative of the ARM Cortex A9 multi-core processor. The ARM Cortex has excellent power efficiency, well ahead of Intel’s Atom offerings. Apple appears to be an ARM architectural licensee and their acquisition of P.A. Semi has brought low-power chip design expertise into the company.

- source: blogs.zdnet.com