Today at 10am Pacific Apple CEO Steve Jobs will deliver the World Wide Developer Conference 2008 keynote from the Moscone Center in San Francisco.  Without any chance for doubt, he will be unveiling the next-generation, 3G data-capable iPhone.  Further demos the “iPhone 2.0″ firmware and SDK-developed apps are also expected, along with a demonstraion of the iTunes App Store.

A specific, late-June availability date for all of the above can be expected from today’s keynote.

“iPhone 2.0″ and the open SDK are poised to utterly change the landscape of mobile gaming.  This is a big day, folks.  Follow the event (auto-refresh text feed + photos) at MacRumorsLive.com.

We previously covered Demiforce’s unique puzzle game called Trism. Trism fully utilizes both the iPhone’s touchscreen and accelerometer to allow users to line up game pieces. When a three-way color match is made, the matching triangles disappear and other triangles fall in the direction of gravity to fill the void. The first Youtube video showed some early gameplay. Demiforce has posted a new video today demonstrating a few key features of the game:

The features listed include:

• 3 Game Modes: Classic, Timed, Puzzle
• 22 different achievements to find
• Online scoring. See how you compare to others around the world.
• Free demo to be available
• $4.99 Price

Demiforce is aggressively pricing their first game at only $4.99, and hopes to release it as soon as the iTunes App Store opens.

Apple’s Back to School promo this year is expected to kick off on June 3rd, 2008. Last year, the annual promotion offered college students a free iPod ($199 value) when buying a qualifying Mac (basically, any Mac except the mini).

This year, Apple’s promo is expected to be their biggest ever… and we’ve heard this means an iPod touch ($299 value) will be given for free to qualifying buyers.

If true, this means Apple’s Touch OS X platform is going to absolutely explode in marketshare over the next 3 months. Along with the 3G iPhone, which is widely expected, every college student buying a Mac this summer will also be getting a device capable of running applications off the iTunes App Store.

Developers should take note at the potential audience Apple is building.

It’s True: Details at Apple

As most anyone who follows iPhone news is surely aware, a new iPhone which uses 3G data (as opposed to EDGE) is expected to arrive soon.  All signs from the rumor mill point to a June 9th announcement at Apple’s WWDC conference.  We can’t wait.

3G isn’t the only thing expected from the soon-to-be newest member of the iPhone family; rumors point to a true GPS, as well.  And then there are all the software advances that the “iPhone 2.0″ firmware will bring to the equation.  But it’s another rumor that has particularly piqued our interest.

There is talk of Apple licensing haptic feedback technology from Immersion for integration into future touchscreen devices.  Palluxo claims that a source within Apple indicates that the two companies met twice last week to discuss the matter.  What’s more, Immersion announced last week that former Apple exec Clent Richardson has been appointed President and CEO of the company.

As Wikipedia defines it,

Haptic technology refers to technology which interfaces the user via the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations and/or motions to the user. This mechanical stimulation may be used to assist in the creation of virtual objects (objects existing only in a computer simulation), for control of such virtual objects, and to enhance the remote control of machines and devices (teleoperators).

An obvious reason that Apple is pursuing this technology is the criticism the iPhone receives for the lack of tactile response associated with its on-screen keyboard.  With integrated, localized haptics, the iPhone (or other, future touchscreen device) could provide a real tactile feedback experience with each keypress, and from the particular screen region where the keypress took place.  This would obviously be a true user interface win for the iPhone, but the benefits would not end there…

Immersion’s technology is behind the rumble feature of Sony’s new DualShock 3, a game controller some critics consider to be the best designed controller ever devised.  The potential for the use of localized haptics in gaming is immense.

It’s worth reiterating that the next generation iPhone that’s only weeks away may not include this technology, but it seems clear that before long the iPhone’s cold, glass screen will sport a great deal more character.