Version 3.0 of iPhone software to debut next week

Next Tuesday in Cupertino, California, Apple will unveil iPhone software version 3.0, according to an invitation received by the Apple faithful today.

Apple's popular mobile phone is currently on OS version 2.2.1 (Build 5H11), which was an incremental update pushed out in the first weeks of 2009. The last major update -- one that would warrant its own event, like the one scheduled for next week -- was version 2.0, when the 3G iPhone was released.

Software version 2.0 included enterprise-friendly features such as Exchange Sync, MobileMe, Cisco VPN, batch e-mail deletion, and the ability to have multiple iCal calendars. But the item with the most resonance to be included in 2.0 by far was the iPhone App Store.

The combination of this week's announcements from Apple and rumors from Apple's touchscreen supplier that have come from overseas portend interesting things from Cupertino next week.