That’s the latest in a long line of rumours about the next-gen iPhone, sparked by analysts who believe El Stevo simply must have something groundbreaking to announce in his June 9 keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apple is remaining tight lipped as ever, but with this incessant chatter on the vine it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Aussies will skip over the 2.5G iPhone that was released on Europe’s GSM networks late last year and go straight to the 3G version when it arrives.

The June 9 date is the latest in a string of rumours that point to the imminent release of a 3G iPhone. Stocks of the original iPhone are running so low in Europe and the US that Apple would struggle to meet demand – usually a sure sign that the company is launching a new model. Earlier this month, Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg said he expected the 3G iPhone to launch within 60 days – although he later backtracked and pointed out that was just speculation on his part, not inside knowledge.

But even if Jobs does unveil a 3G iPhone, does that mean we’ll see it in Australia straight away? We like to hope so, given that Australia has one of the most developed 3G networks in the world, but there’s no guarantee – especially with European carriers baying for 3G handsets.

The key will be which carrier Apple partners within Australia. Telstra chairman Sol Trujillo dodged questions about the iPhone at the CommsDay Summit in Sydney earlier this month, and the national carrier’s early advantage – the fact that it’s the only carrier to use the 2.5G EDGE technology employed on the original iPhone – would be negated by the launch of a 3G version.

More recently, Optus has emerged as a possible partner, based on rumours that its parent company, SingTel, was moving to tie up deal with Apple to supply the iPhone Asia-wide.