After an all night wait for some, Apple has finally released the 3.0 Firmware upgrade for the iPhone and iPod touch. It was scheduled to be released last night around midnight (or at least that’s what everyone was hoping for), but Apple has kept us waiting almost 12 hours after the expected release time. Midnight in California would be 2am here in CST, the scheduled time. I’m downloading at approximately 1pm here, 11am in California at the Apple headquarters. I’m hoping their servers hold out until the download is complete but it seems to be doing pretty well so far. I will update with a few screenshots after installing 3.0.
If anyone wants to check the current version released, someone has designed a handy tool that pulls data right off the Apple server to check the current version: http://1strule.org/iPhoneFirmware.php. It may not be much use now that 3.0 has gone public, but it deserves a link for the effort.
Update: It seems Apple may have beefed up their servers a little for the millions wanting to download, or maybe I got to be the first lucky few to connect, but I downloaded the 230mb in about 10 minutes. That was before I got the network connection error after I forgot to turn off ESET Smart Security. If you’re getting an error downloading iPhone updates, turn off ESET before the download finishes and it should finish and verify successfully.
Update: “dude, this is cool!” 3.0 contains stereo Bluetooth capability as promised, meaning ALL sounds coming out your iPhone can be played on a stereo. Pandora, your iPod, even the keyboard clicks as I write this can be played on my stereo! If you’re having trouble with the connect to iTunes screen, keep trying. Apples servers are swamped right now. Try and catch ‘em during a break. Otherwise, get on at 4am. 
