iPhone 3.0 Will Be Unveiled on March 17

Apple has just announced that iPhone 3.0 -- the next version of the system software for this smartphone -- will be unveiled on March 17.

This will not be the day the new version is released; instead, Apple will be giving an "advance preview" of what will be available later.

What's In iPhone 3.0?
At this point, exactly what's going to be unveiled is mostly still a mystery. Apple is generally fairly good at keeping details on future products under wraps, and this is a good example.

In the absence of reliable rumors, all that's left is speculation. Much of this is centered around long-asked-for features.

At the top of most people's list is Cut and Paste functionality. The iPhone's competitors and critics love to bring up that this model is missing what many consider a very basic feature.

Another possibility is the long-awaited support for Adobe Flash. This is highly requested feature from users, and last month Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen announced that Apple had asked his company to create a version of the Flash player for the iPhone.

A Flash player is on virtually all desktop PCs, but has only been slowly creeping onto smartphones. Devices without it aren't be able to easily view many web sites, as these depend on Flash for navigation. In addition, popular sites like Hulu, Fox on Demand, and NBC.com require a high-performance Flash player to view their videos.

Other additional features that might be part of iPhone 3.0 include support for MMS messages and data tethering.

Looking Ahead to a New Model
Apple is expected to introduce a new version of the iPhone this summer. If it follows its previous practice, this device will debut with the iPhone 3.0 software, and an update for the current model will be released shortly thereafter.

Although Apple calls it the iPhone Firmware, it is also the system software for the non-smartphone version of this device, the iPod touch.