As usual you can take this with a small grain of salt, but Forbes’ Mary Jane Irwin has heard from 3 highly regarded sources that Apple will be making the iPhone 2.0 firmware available for download noon EST, Thursday July 10th. The iPhone 2.0 firmware includes the App Store which will be the mecca for third party software on both the original iPhone and iPhone 3G. In case you are curious as to where the rumors started on this one, New Zealand will be launching the iPhone 3G at exactly 12 noon EST Thursday July 10th so the release of the firmware and App Store seems to fall perfectly in line with Apple’s plan.
There have also been reports from TUAW that iTunes 7.7 (which could include the 2.0 firmware) will be launching later this evening. While the TUAW rumors are more speculation than the Forbes’ details, we would not be surprised if the iTune 7.7 update did roll out tonight.