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Well, we weren’t “wrong” yesterday, just off the mark by about 12 hours or so. As of approximately 3:15 a.m. EDT, iTunes 7.7 is now appearing in Software Update.

This is the description from the download screen:

Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home - a free download from the App Store.

Thus far, I can’t find any specific UI changes or option settings, so I’m assuming that the elusive “Applications” menu item will appear as soon as the App Store launches.

We’ll post more details as they become available. For now, I’m going back to bed in the hopes that my BlackBerry’s blinking lights won’t keep me up.

That’s right, just a little while ago we stumbled upon the MobileMe setup website. On this website, you can find the setup to a Mac, PC, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Below you can find a link to it, so far nothing we didn’t already know is shown here. Only a couple of hours left till the MobileMe is 100% running.

[MobileMe Setup Page]

Thats right, it looks like what we reported earlier is true. .Mac server is now officially down, looking like MobileMe is rolling out very soon. And with Gizmodo reporting earlier you can download the MobileMe Preference Panel, found there. Now we can wait and see what happens!!!

[.Mac Website Down]

The offer, which runs through August 31, will allow customers to add the $30 package to any in-market voice plan. Rogers said 6GB of data should be sufficient to view 35,952 web pages, exchange 157,286 emails, or watch 6,292 minutes of YouTube videos each and every month.

In addition, the carriers said new iPhone 3G customers will have the choice to select from existing Rogers voice and smartphone data plans with additional features to best suit their needs, or from the previously announced value bundled plans specifically for iPhone 3G.

Meanwhile, existing Rogers Wireless customers can keep their current voice service plan and select a separate data plan to meet their needs, or choose from other plans after checking their individual upgrade eligibility.

In anticipation of Friday’s launch, both Rogers and Fido also announced plans to open the doors of select retail stores across Canada in advance of regular hours. Starting at 8:00 a.m., customers will be able to purchase the new iPhone 3G at special launch day events to be held at six Rogers Plus stores across: Toronto (112-10 Dundas Street East), Montreal (1015 rue St. Catherine Ouest), Ottawa (690 Bank Street), Halifax (Unit 265, 7001 Mumford Road), Calgary (5244 Falsbridge Gate, NE), and Vancouver (2097 West Broadway). Fido will hold a similar event at its flagship store at 1004 rue St. Catherine Ouest, Montreal.

Customers attending the launch day events at any of those stores will be treated to a free early bird breakfast and have a chance to win prizes, Rogers and Fido said.

iPhone 3G will also be available at participating locations across Canada during regular store hours, including select Rogers Plus, Rogers Video, and Rogers Wireless retail locations and at the following specially selected authorized Rogers Wireless dealers: WirelessWave, TBooth and Wireless etc. A complete store listing is available here.

Alternatively, Canadians can also purchase iPhone 3G online at www.rogers.com and through Rogers’ customer service at 1-888-764-3771.

Due to anticipated high demand, Rogers says there will be a limit of two iPhone 3Gs per customer.

Walt Mossberg | The Wall Street Journal

• iPhone 3G “is much, much faster at fetching data over cellphone networks” than the original version.
• Overall, the new phone “mostly keeps its promises.”
• Surfing the net was typically between three and five times as fast on AT&T’s 3G network. In Washington and New York, 3G speeds ranged between 200 and 500 kilobits per second compared to 70 and 150 kbps on EDGE.
• With 3G enabled, the iPhone 3G’s battery drained much more quickly in a typical day of use than the battery on the original iPhone.
• Apple has greatly improved the iPhone’s audio. The built in speaker is much louder for music and speakerphone conversations, but the phone produced an echo when used with the built-in Bluetooth system in Walt’s car.
• Exchange ActiveSync works well and setup takes just minutes. Any changes made on the iPhone are reflected instantly in Microsoft Outlook. Email is also pushed to the phone instantly.
• While iPhone Software v2.0 allows for both personal and Exchange email accounts to function simultaneously, synching Exchange calendars and contacts will erase any personal calendars and contacts.
• A side benefit to 3G coverage is that it improves voice coverage: “At my neighborhood shopping center, where the first iPhone got little or no AT&T service, the iPhone 3G registered strong coverage.”
• AT&T, however, still has spotty network coverage in major metropolitan areas: “In New York City, riding in a taxi along the Hudson, one important call was dropped three times on the new iPhone. Finally, I borrowed a cheap Verizon phone and got perfect reception.”

Edward Baig | USA Today

• “No equal among consumer-oriented smartphones.”
• Baig’s corporate data (through Exchange) was a “relative cinch” to setup and works well.
• 3G isn’t accessible in parts of northern New Jersey, highlighting the at times spotty coverage of the faster network.
• Most websites take 10 to 30 seconds to load through 3G, which is a lot faster than on EDGE (which often takes an extra 30 seconds or more).
• The phone feels “perfectly comfortable” in the hand courtesy of the plastic back.
• Apple confirms that the plastic should improve reception versus the original’s aluminum.
• The journalist is “impressed” by the accuracy of GPS, but says the phone begs for voiced turn-by-turn directions.
• Audio quality is better overall, particularly the speakerphone; headphones are of course still better.
• Parental controls actually remove icons outright from the home screen; they don’t just block access.
• You’ll still want to charge the phone about once a day if used regularly.
• Old iPod accessories meant to charge over Firewire circuitry (such as a Belkin car kit) don’t work; iPhone 3G still only recognizes USB.
• Overall: an “enthusiastic thumbs up.”

David Pogue | The New York Times

• The “gracefully curved” back feels better in the hand than the original iPhone.
• Call quality takes a “gigantic leap forward” and is “crystal clear” on either end of the call; few other phones rival it.
• Apple: the GPS receiver’s antenna is too small to replicate turn-by-turn navigation of a full unit.
• Like with most GPS devices, a ‘canyon’ effect from downtown buildings can block reception.
• Battery replacement will still cost $86.
• Examples of third-party apps: iCall for VoIP calls over Wi-Fi, G-Park for position-based parking, and Urbanspoon for picking a random nearby restaurant by shaking the phone.

Included are some rough and dirty notes on: the build number of iPhone Software v2.0 gold master, iPhone 3G sales to Apple store customers unaware of their upgrade pricing eligibility, in-store activation times, FamilyTalk plans, and more.

• The build number of iPhone Software 2.0 shipping on iPhone 3G handsets that will go on sale Friday is ‘5A345.’
• The model number of the 8GB iPhone itself is ‘MB709LL.’
• As mentioned previously, Apple retail employees will not be able tell whether an existing non-iPhone AT&T customer is eligible for upgrade pricing before beginning a new iPhone 3G purchase transaction, so customers should determine this on their own first. However, customers unsure of their upgrade status can still upgrade to iPhone 3G at Apple retail stores. Once a purchase transaction for these customers has begun, Apple’s EasyPay handheld systems will indeed tap AT&T’s account database at a certain point to determine the price to charge the customer for the iPhone hardware. The customer just won’t know ahead of time unless they check their account status online, go to an AT&T store, or call AT&T customer service.
• The actual activation of an iPhone 3G through the modified iTunes app Apple and AT&T will use takes less than 30 seconds. A credit check takes about 5 minutes and the remainder of the process that includes picking a plan takes less than 5 minutes.
• The majority of customers signing new 24-month contracts with AT&T should be prepared to possibly have their existing rollover minutes reset to the number of monthly minutes included with their new iPhone 3G plan. This is standard practice for AT&T and it’s possible it will carry over to iPhone upgrades.
• AT&T’s 4000 minute ($259.99) and 6000 minute ($359.99) FamilyTalk plans are somewhat pointless and AT&T reps have confessed to almost never selling these plans in favor of the Unlimited FamilyTalk plan ($259.99) or breaking down a two-line FamilyTalk plan into two individual plans.
• The $30 Unlimited Text Message plan for FamilyTalk plans is the only text message plan that can be shared across all FamilyTalk lines. FamilyTalk subscribers can still purchase the 200 ($5), or 1500 ($15) text message plans, but must purchase those plans on a per-line basis. They cannot be shared.
• Customers will have to accept AT&T’s terms and conditions using a signature capture device in AT&T stores (and likely Apple stores as well).
• An unconfirmed report suggests that the UK’s Carphone Warehouse was expecting 50,000 iPhones on launch date but will now receive just 5500 8GB models and 3500 16GB models. Staff were reportedly told to expect an average of 12 iPhones per store, down from the average of 80 for the original iPhone launch. A large delivery of iPhones is expected in 10 to 14 days. O2 has also warned its customers of weeks-long iPhone shortages.
• Some rough photos of an activated iPhone 3G are included below, though BGR has posted a more visually appealing gallery of an inactive unit being unboxed. [Mirror at Gizmodo]

The complete message from O2 Sales Director Stephen Shurrock, obtained by AppleInsider, apologizes for the surge that knocked out its systems for ordering the Apple device and that it was the ratio of demand to actually supply that was to blame.

The company’s early registration page wasn’t just a notification service but a way passing on demand estimates to Apple, according to Shurrock: the users signed up at the site gave O2 reasons to ask for larger iPhone orders ahead of July 11th. With the number of registrants quickly spiraling out of control, however, it soon became clear that there would be many more orders than iPhones once advance purchases were an option.

“To put it in context we had over 200,000 people expressing interest and only a very small proportion of that number of devices available,” he says. “Faced with this dilemma, we made it clear in the communications that to be fair to all customers the orders would be managed on a first come first served basis, as stock was limited. The response was so great that the online store completely sold out of iPhones within just a few hours.”

Even with 250 times the performance capacity and backups in place, the online system collapsed after it received as many as 13,000 orders per second. “We just weren’t prepared for this unprecedented level of demand,” Shurrock adds. “No website is.”

Still, actual in-store supply may raise the most concern for O2 subscribers. Although the July 11th retail debut the next best chance to get an iPhone, each shop will have just a “few dozen” phones and is likely to run out quickly; with new stock coming in only once a week, the UK company isn’t certain that it can accommodate everyone on launch.

“We are confident that over time we will start to get sufficient volume to meet demand, but it is likely that stock will be in very short supply for some weeks to come,” Shurrock says.

The supply problems online and at retail are largely credited to the 22-nation simultaneous launch of the iPhone, which O2 says will spread stock thin. However, Apple retail head Ron Johnson has tried to allay concerns and says his company’s goal is to always have stock — which O2’s Shurrock says will be more prevalent at Apple’s own retail locations.

Speaking to Bloomberg on Tuesday, Apple retail chief Ron Johnson offered some clarity on how his retail staffers will service droves of queued iPhone 3G hopefuls this Friday, how long each activation will take, and what kind of supply stores will have on hand.

A list of data points from Johnson’s interview follow:

• Apple Specialists should be able to activate customer accounts with AT&T within 15 minutes. “Our expectation is that in 10 to 15 minutes, you’ll be set up and ready to go,” Johnson said.
• Each of Apple’s 185 US-based retail stores aim to handle about 100 customers an hour.
• Apple Specialists will take 30 customers at a time from the line, bring them inside the store, activate their iPhones, then repeat.
• While Apple aims to make sure the activation process is a quick and painless process, it will also take care not to rush customers during their buying experience. “We’ll spend as long as it takes with our customers to make sure they’re happy with the phone,” Johnson said.
• On the issue of supply, Johnson said: “[There's] pent-up demand because we haven’t had phones for a while. Our goal is to always have enough supply for every customer.” Readers can read into that what they will…
• “To make sure customers aren’t buying handsets to resell overseas or modify them for use on unauthorized wireless networks, Apple will require customers to pay with a credit card and supply a Social Security number so the device is activated immediately.”
• Apple has no current plans to offer the iPhone 3G through its online store, Johnson said.

Apple has issued emails and updated its iPhone pages with new information regarding iPhone 3G launch day procedures. Meanwhile, the first sets of unboxing photos are appearing on the Web now that demo units have started to arrive at retail stores around the world.

All Apple Stores opening at 8:00 a.m.

“Apple Retail Stores will open early this Friday to help you get set up and get going with your new iPhone 3G,” the company said in an email to US customers this morning. The same message confirmed that Apple Specialists will be on hand to offer a “Personal Setup” that will help you choose your phone model, select a rate plan, and prep your new handset so that it’s “ready to make calls, browse the web, and receive email right on the spot.”

What you’ll need

Separately, Apple updated its iPhone websites with information on How to Get Ready for the new iPhone 3G and What To Bring to Apple (or AT&T) retail stores when you’re ready to purchase. Much of the information on these pages echoes information published (1, 2, 3) by AppleInsider in recent days.

For instance, Apple says that in order to purchase iPhone 3G, you will need to have a credit card, your social security number, a valid government-issued photo ID, and your current wireless account number and password or PIN (if you’re new to AT&T).

“Current and new iPhone users who now receive or will receive service under a corporate account and wish to purchase iPhone 3G need to contact AT&T directly,” the company added. “Also, if you want your Phone to access your business email account, check with your IT manager first.”

Official iPhone 3G accessories

A list of official Apple-made iPhone 3G accessories is now also available, and includes the iPhone 3G Dock, existing iPhone Bluetooth Headset, Apple USB Power Adapter, iPhone Bluetooth Travel Cable, Apple Dock Connector to USB Cable, iPhone 3G Universal Dock Adapter 3-Pack, and iPhone TTY Adapter.

First unboxing photos

Meanwhile, photos of the first iPhone 3G unboxing have appeared on the Portuguese-language iPhonePortugal website just as a set of in-store display photos hit the Swiss website Gadget O’Mac.

Given that the neither the iPhone nor its packaging have changed much compared to the original iPhone, the photos are not particularly revealing.