Certain blogs and technology news websites even dredged up patent applications filed by Apple in an attempt to make the best informed guesses about the iPhone. Other, slightly obsessive, technophiles photographed the plain brown boxes which may or may not contain the enigmatic handset leaving Apple distribution centres.

With such a online buzz about the gadget it is unsurprising to learn that this years WWDC had 5200 attendees - a full sell out. Several blogging sites offered live blog feeds from inside the conference teasing readers with thrilling snippets of news and cheeky pictures presumably sent via soon to be replaced mobile phones and PDAs.

It was 10am US time, 6pm UK time when Steve Jobs took the stage to address the audience of elite techies and die hard Apple fanatics the ranks of whom included Al Gore, forty-fifth vice president of the US. With such an eager crowd spread before him Jobs was no doubt acutely aware how far his company have come since the dark days of the Apple Newton and the hockey puck mouse.

Jobs teased the audience announcing that iPhone is now a wing of the Apple business separate and distinct from Mac and music. He continued to torment the masses for over a hour with news not directly related to the new iPhone, fortunately this news was highly exciting in its own right.

A new OS X called Snow Leopard was announced and the iPhone 2.0 software was extensively showcased. iPhone 2.0 is not to be confused with the iPhone 3G handset, the 2.0 is just new software that will be available for the existing iPhone and the iTouch as well as the all new iPhone 3G.

Jobs described the new software as being broken into 3 distinct parts. Enterprise (allowing direct competition with the likes of Blackberry), the SDK (which will allow third party applications to be easily created/added) and new user features (essentially correcting old mistakes such as the inability to bulk delete messages and lack of Office support).

The SDK seems to be Apples next big thing, with a host of impressive applications for the iPhone and iTouch showcased by their developers, it promised to add a whole new dimension to the already impressive iFamily. Judging by the demonstrations it will doubtlessly allow legions of bedroom software developers to create the applications of their dreams and encourage novices to try their hand at software design.

More professional software offerings came from the likes of Sega who announced a totally tilt operated version of their popular Monkey Ball franchise and eBay launched an auction monitoring application.

It was not just the big name online companies who demoed new applications. The SDK was downloaded by over 250,000 people and so it allowed independent companies and even individuals to showcase the softwares potential. A location aware social network called Loopt was launched which marks the user and their friends on a map showing their locations.

Several 3D games, sports results and news feeds, virtual instruments and medical applications were also demonstrated to a wowed audience. All of these applications will eventually become available through the planned appstore, which will be essentially iTunes for programmes.

In true Apple style Jobs appears to have done his market research well. Aware that Blackberry and Palm are dominating the business side of the market due to their better support for e-mail and office applications, the Apple development team created Enterprise.

A leading Mac blogger attending the conference described the new software as Unbelievable looking Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Gallery applications The package was tested by, according to Jobs 35% of fortune 500 companies. This massively improved e-mail support works with windows active sync but the reactions from the WWDC crowd implied its faster and vastly better looking, with syncing between e-mail, calendar and contacts happening in seconds.

At 7:24pm UK time the announcement turned towards iPhone with Jobs charting the success of the current model. He also explained how restrictive potential customers found the first iPhones pricing and pledged to address that with the new iPhone model, the iPhone 3G.

The new model boasts browsing speeds up to 36% faster than those of the previous model thanks to the added 3G functionality The brushed aluminium back has been replaced with glossy black plastic (no sign of the speculated zircon based ceramic casing). The touch sensitive display and camera remain the same and the headphone jack is now flush, replacing the unpopular recessed version seen on the first iPhone. GPS has also been added, allowing tracking and navigation and official support for 70 countries was announced.

Now for the important bit, price. Initially the 8GB handset cost $599 (around 290GBP). The equivalent 3G model will cost only $199 with UK service provider O2 offering it for free with certain tariffs!

A 16GB model will also be released and will be available in glossy black or white costing only $299 with UK customers expecting to pay around 160-175 GBP upfront subject to an 18-month contract. This is a revolution, the majority of people who have something negative to say about iPhone usually go straight for the price and the lack of 3G support. With these problems addressed there seems little reason for iPhone 3G not to take the world by storm in a manner its predecessor never quite managed.

Its not all positive however, the iPhones camera with its lamentable two megapixel capabilities remains unchanged and some would argue that the previous aluminium back is better looking than the new black plastic. It is also worth keeping in mind that so far, the iTouch and the iPhone have not followed the iPod route of coming in a rainbow of colours. It would be no surprise if Jobs was keeping a range of technicolour iProducts under his hat for now, perhaps waiting for a Christmas release. This is merely speculation however.