INBOX:THE LAUNCH DATE of the next generation of iPhone is now all but officially confirmed as being June 9th, when Steve Jobs will stand up in front of the Apple faithful at its annual conference and work his magic.

So what do the pundits think they know will be contained in the new iPhone. So far they are 99.9 per cent sure it will be 3G, enabling much faster web surfing speeds. If it wasn't, there would be hell to pay and Apple's stock would drop like a stone. So that appears to be a banker.

What is less clear is the other new features. Some speculation has it that "iPhone 2.0" will have GPS Satellite Navigation, something available a year ago on the Nokia N95, and probably a more powerful camera with video conferencing facility.

There is even a view that it may have a TV tuner for live video, though this is unlikely. What is certain it that it will have the same, strangely alluring touch interface which set the cat among the handset makers' pigeons last year.

The one handset maker most worried about the next generation iPhone is business phone maker Research In Motion (RIM). Its Blackberry handset took the business world by storm a few years ago - earning the name "Crackberry" for its addictive properties - but the iPhone is being looked at lovingly by business people as an interesting alternative which can also entertain its owner during those long-haul flights, and a few long-haul meetings.

So RIM has pulled out the stops and announced the impending launch of the "BlackBerry Bold", a new touch-screen smartphone. This will be the first in its class to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world, as well as integrated GPS and Wi-Fi.

Sporting a "full" web browser like the iPhone, it will have something the latter won't have, a Qwerty keyboard. Coming in black and chrome with a stylish leather-like backplate, it will also compete with the iPhone in the style stakes.

Its next-generation 624 MHz mobile processor should make the unit pretty fast, and it will include 1 GB on-board storage memory with the option for more via a memory card slot which will support the upcoming 16GB microSD/ SDHC cards. But it will have to join the queue. Sony Ericsson won't be left out of the game with full-facia touchscreen interface for its new Xperia handset coming later in the year. Then there is the Nokia "Tube" iPhone-a-like handset out in the autumn and the Samsung i900 all joining the fray.

The Bold may even have com-petition from its unannounced cousin, the rumoured RIM "Thunder", another big-screen iPhone "killer".

Of course, the copycats simply add more grist to the iPhone's mill. After all, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.