Gizmodo confirmed that the official launch date for the iPhone version 2.0 will be June 9th. Already, current and potential iPhone users are getting excited about the advancements made to the most popular mobile phone of all time. One Apple executive actually described the launch as the “second coming” of the iPhone, and Apple is hoping that the launch will be a worldwide event similar in scope to the release of the original iPhone.

But is the iPhone 2.0 special enough to warrant this kind of unbridled excitement? Can it live up to the hype? Depending on your point of view, the answer is both yes — and no.

Without question, the greatest change in the new iPhone is its ability to take advantage of high speed 3G mobile Internet connectivity. The original iPhone was widely criticized for using slower Internet connection speeds, a move that was particularly baffling given that easy Internet surfing was one of the most hyped features of the iPhone to begin with.

Version 2.0 remedies this situation, by making the iPhone “3G friendly.” IPhone 2.0 users will be able to connect online at speeds rivaling basic broadband Internet, ensuring that the promise of the iPhone as an all-in-one phone, internet browser, iPod, camera and organizer could finally be realized.

Interestingly, the re-launch of the iPhone will take place simultaneously around the world — with none of that “gradually introducing the phone to new countries over the course of months” that we saw with the original iPhone release. One reason for this is the iPhone’s immense popularity in Europe, India and Australia.

So far, Apple has made deals with mobile phone carriers in more than 40 countries around the world to offer the iPhone to their customers. In some countries, Apple has even made deals with more than one carrier, allowing for competition and lower prices, although it must be pointed out that Apple did so only after being forced into these agreements by local anti-monopoly laws.

Particularly, European countries like Italy and France have pressured Apple to allow competing mobile phone carriers to offer the iPhone, the result of which has been a sharp decline in the price of monthly subscription fees.

Other than the inclusion of high speed mobile Internet access, the iPhone 2.0 is virtually identical to its predecessor. Sure, there are cosmetic changes, and the operating system has been updated to be more stable, with quicker access to media files and contacts. Otherwise, the 2.0 version is not a radical departure from the original.

Users who are heavy mobile Internet surfers are sure to be thrilled with the new version, but those who only use the Internet on their phone occasionally won’t notice many differences from the original iPhone.

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