We suspect that this will be the last big announcement before the actual iPhone 3G launch tomorrow – the 2.0 firmware is live.

The iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw file can only be downloaded via this direct link to Apple’s server at the moment, though it will obviously show up in iTunes at some point today or tomorrow.

We've successfully installed the 2.0 firmware on an iPhone that was running the jailbroken 1.1.4 firmware. As long as you back up your iPhone before the upgrade (which is automatic with an iTunes sync), you won't lost anything on the iPhone and the process even preserves Safari shortcuts on the Home screen. The upgrade does remove any applications that were installed on a jailbroken iPhone, of course.

You can see a video of the new firmware in action after the cut. 

OK, we admit it, even we’re getting a little excited by the stream of iPhone 3G news that’s breaking today. Following the launch of the iPhone 3G-ready iTunes 7.7 and the iTunes App Store earlier today, the latest is a photo from Carphone Warehouse showing some iPhone 3G stock being delivered. Not the biggest news of the day, but still a little bit exciting, no?

We’ll be charitable and assume that a) that isn’t Carphone Warehouse’s only stock allocation and b) there are more than 40 iPhone 3G boxes on that pallet…

Apple released iTunes 7.7 earlier today and just after we wrote a piece explaining that, no, it doesn't include the iTunes applications store, Apple goes ahead and launches the iTunes application store!

The application store lists 546 applications at the moment, including games, ebooks and a mix of utilities (including both mobile Facebook, MySpace and Twitter apps). There's also a free eBook reader called eReader, courtesy of FictionWise. There are 137 free applications at the time of writing, but prices range up £17.99. Some apps are rather ambitiously priced too, particularly when you consider that they can be downloaded for free on a jailbroken iPhone. 

With just one day to go before the launch of the iPhone 3G (yes, we know most of you are probably sick of hearing about it by now), Apple has made iTunes 7.7 available for download...

O2 has published an iPhone 3G update ahead of tomorrow's 8.02am launch, apologising for the pre-ordering chaos and giving details of its current stock levels.

The key promise is that, "all customers who want iPhone 3G will get one by the end of this summer," which is a deadline that's already passed, judging by yesterday's weather in London...

Still, if you are planning on standing outside a store in the inevitable drizzle tomorrow morning (or just breezing into an out-of-town stockist later in the day when the fuss has died down, O2 has some useful information to avoid disapppointment – read them, and its apology for the pre-order shambles, after the cut.

The first laptop bags designed to pass through US airport X-Ray machines are starting to appear.

Skooba has sent a pre-production design of the forthcoming 'Checkthrough' over to Engadget. The surprise is, that after all the fears that the bags would be pocket-less wonders, it actually looks pretty conventional,

As well as a mobile phone pouch on the shoulder strap, it gets two, large external pockets. X-Ray friendly measures include a fold out laptop enclosure without any buckles, straps or extra pockets, as per the requirements of America's TSA. It also has a see-through panel so contents can be quickly inspected.

All of which should mean travellers won't have to get their laptop out of their bag when they go through security in the US. Anyone up for a petition to have them accepted here too?

[Engadget]

Elonex is on a bit of a roll at the moment. As well as the UK's first sub-£100 laptop, the ONE, it's recently announced a deal to give away its WebBook UMPC free with Carphone Warehouse mobile broadband contracts.

Now it's cooked up a ONE successor, the ONEt - 't' for 'traditional', perhaps, because it eschews the underpowered original's 'chunky' screen for a more conventional get-up that stashes the innards beneath the keyboard. Click through for more.

No, that headline isn’t a joke – UK mobile operator O2 is busy telling would-be purchasers of the iPhone 3G to take scans of their most sensitive personal documents and bank cards and email them through to the company.

Some customers today received an email from O2 asking them to provide additional information. They are urged to do so quickly under pain of having their order delayed. We know this because it happened to one of us.

A non-geographic (ie, costly) 0870 telephone number is provided for customers to call – 0870 4444713. This is not the usual O2 customer contact number and is answered in a different way to other O2 numbers. It doesn’t Google reassuringly, either. Once answered, the caller is told they are being transferred to an attendent: the phone then rings and rings. And rings some more. We let ours ring for 45 minutes before wising up and calling the main O2 contact number for guidance.

Frustrating enough so far... but then the situation descended into security farce. More after the cut.

Despite sounding like a Siberian correctional facility, the Agliz 10 is actually a ruggedised tablet PC designed to laugh in the face of hazards that would flatten lesser laptops.

The XP powered handheld can survive in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius, to plus 60 degrees - just your average July day in the UK, then.

Tested to military standards (that's MIL-STD-810F, for those who are interested) it can withstand dust, water and '26 drops from 3ft', which makes us wonder what happens on the 27th plummet. Click through for the full specs:

More observant types may have spotted the Eee PC 904 among the myriad of netbooks in our last Asus article . Asus has now officially confirmed the existence of this new netbook – and confirmed both its price, and that of its other new models.

The Eee PC 904 is essentially an Eee PC 900 in an Eee PC 1000’s body and it’s aimed at people who want a low-cost laptop with a large(ish) keyboard. It uses the Intel Celeron-M 900MHz processor rather than the Atom chip of the 901 and 1000, but it also has an 80Gb hard disk rather than an SSD. You can see the full specification and price breakdown after the cut.