A few years back, Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz sat in on one of Steve Jobs’ keynote speeches, presaging a vital computer/caffeine partnership. It wasn’t long before those little iTunes download cards starting showing up on the Starbucks counter, and iTunes was featuring a specially designated iTunes + Starbucks feature. iTunes cards often feature music of the month and the download cards are for a full album. It’s saved a vast amount of space and made the search for music an entirely different experience. The larger the selection of iTunes cards, the more Starbucks will seem less like a coffee shop and more like a record store of the past. But that’s not the end of the story; it becomes even further intertwined when a third party comes into the mix.

Around the time of the launch of the first generation iPhone, Apple decided upon AT&T to provide wireless service. It was highly publicized that Apple was looking for a company that would allow them to get royalties off monthly cell phone payments on the iPhone. As we all know, Apple priced the iPhone at $599, with no savings by signing on for two years. Without a doubt, Verizon Wireless missed the boat here when they declined the opportunity to work with Apple, citing that they could make a phone of their own, without having to pay third party royalties. And so it evolved that Apple and AT&T teamed up to provide service for the iPhone.

Perspective consumers were dismayed when discovering that the device would be running on AT&T’s slower “EDGE” network, known for having notoriously abysmal data service. Add into the equation that 3G technology was already working and delivering close to Wi-Fi speeds. In preparation for the major launch of the original iPhone, AT&T prepared their EDGE network lines and markedly boosted speeds. Without a doubt, these preparations were all tailored for the iPhone.

Eventually, AT&T’s CEO (and rumors around the blogosphere) acknowledged the development of Apple’s next iPhone: the iPhone 3G. AT&T delivered again, by upgrading the EDGE network to 3G. Apple was now ready to release the iPhone 3G on the network.

Right before the announcement of the new iPhone 3G on June 9th, Starbucks was in hot water with T-Mobile, which initiated a lawsuit as a result of Starbucks’ sudden jilting of T-Mobile, in preference for AT&T. Starbucks was preparing to have iPhone/iPod Touch + Starbucks content and music ready for their Wi-Fi consumers. And who does Schultz choose for cafe wireless? None other than AT&T. The new AT&T wireless internet at Starbucks allows 2 hours of free internet when connected to a Starbucks Rewards registered card account. Registration is free, and has made a trip to Starbucks even more appealing.

There have already been a number of rumors about iPhone users receiving unlimited free Wi-Fi service inside every Starbucks. Now more than ever, the probability of the two products working in tandem seems a given. Apple, AT&T, and Starbucks are collaborating so closely these days that one can envision these three companies developing an even closer partnership to serve their niche consumers.

In Apple’s WWDC 2008 Keynote speech by Steve Jobs, he mentioned that Apple had sold out of iPhones–selling 6 million total. Immensely successful and potentially another great story for Apple. But there’s a downside for investors.

The downside in all of this iPhone news for investors is the simple fact that Apple hasn’t/won’t be selling the iPhone for close to two months by the time it finally releases iPhone 3G. I’m ready for it and most everybody I know is excited about the new $199 price point for the 8 GB model. But that won’t help investors in the latest quarter.

Apple is set to release this quarter’s earnings on July 21st, 2008. This will allow an initial number of iPhone 3G sales to be mentioned in the quarter. Without a doubt that should be a positive catalyst for Apple stock. But once again, Apple hasn’t been selling the iPhone for about two months by that point.

What does that mean for Apple’s quarter? Will we see record numbers once again? This all seems very uncertain and up in the air as of right now. Not to mention that Jobs’ health has continued to put pressure on Apple stock as of recently.

It’s here. You can now watch the 2008 Keynote Speech by Steve Jobs at WWDC. Now, consumers can actually see what everything looks like and what they have to look forward to coming out on July 11th.

The website for the video reads:

Watch Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveil iPhone 3G, the App Store, MobileMe, and more in his Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address from San Francisco’s Moscone West. See the video-on-demand (VOD) event right here, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.

Check out the video here.

Alright, the keynote is all done, but there’s plenty more to cover. The new iPhone ad is now available online at YouTube.com and we’ve posted it here. But we also wanted to focus on the idea that the keynote was nothing special (in a way).

By all means, Steve Jobs brought everything we wanted (except iChat video for iPhone). But he wasn’t able to surprise with anything. Even Snow Leopard, the other operating system, was expected to come out at this keynote. Nonetheless, we’re quite happy with the keynote and excited about Apple’s future.

Watch the all-new incredibly cool iPhone 3G AD:

The wait is over and WWDC 2008 is now gearing up. We’re constantly going to be giving our readers updates through this page.

Refresh this page for the latest/updated content. Also, scroll down for most recent activity!

WWDC 2008 - Keynote Speech by Steve Jobs

Keynote Speech Starts at: 10:00 AM Pacific

7:52 AM - 8:00 AM - Lines are forming and here are some of the pictures (courtesy of “rom”). Many of the major bloggers and news folk are arriving now.

8:30 AM - Inside shot of Moscone West shows covered banner. New product/idea coming?

9:21 AM - Line is moving into the Moscone West. 39 minutes until start.

9:35 AM - Line inside Moscone, all of them going up the escalator. 24 minutes to start.

9:50 AM - People are going into the keynote presentation hall.

10:01 AM - Al Gore is in the crowd! Greener products coming?

10:04 AM - Apple employees trying to get crowd settled.

10:06 AM - Keynote is starting! Lights are going down.

10:07 AM - Steve has taken the stage.

10:08 AM - Mentions, “52,000 attendees at WWDC 08.”

10:10 AM - Bertrand Serlet will be giving us a peak of the new OS X — Snow Leopard.

10:11 AM - Talking about enterprise as related to the iPhone

10:15 AM - A number of companies discussing their interest in iPhone 2.0 software. P.S. Apple Stores are down across the world.

10:20 AM - Demo is showing how to construct a UI in Interface Builder.

10:29 AM - Sega is showing Super Monkey Ball again, but now with over 100 levels. Playing through the last world, which demonstrates how well the tilt-control works. Available at the launch of the App Store for $9.99.

10:34 AM - eBay showing its auction application.

10:40 AM - Associated Press taking the stage. A “Mobile News Network.”

10:52 AM - MLB.com application shows today’s games with live, detailed scoring. It also includes real-time video highlights, which are delivered right after the play.

11:04 AM - Talking about push notification service for all developers.

11:07 AM - Steve has retaken the stage.

11:09 AM - iPhone 2.0 will be available in early for July. Free for iPhone owners, $9.99 for iPod Touch owners.

11:11 AM - If the developed application is less than 10MB, it can be downloaded through the cell network. Otherwise, it requires WiFi or iTunes.

11:14 AM - Now, something entirely new. MobileMe. Phil is on stage to demo.

11:18 AM - Something mentioned about Me.com. Phil’s talking Syncing automatically and wirelessly with all devices.

11:20 AM - Unbelievable looking Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Gallery applications. Photos are synched over the air too. iDisk integration is included as well.

11:28-11:29 AM - A 60-day free trial will be available along with the iPhone 2.0 software in early July. MobileMe replaces .mac. .mac subscribers will automatically be upgraded. Steve has retaken the stage.

11:31 AM - In the first year, 6 million iPhones were sold until Apple ran out several weeks ago.

11:32 AM - 1) 3G network support 2) Enterprise support 3) Third party application support 4) More countries (joking about unlocked iPhones in countries not officially supported) 5) More affordable

11:33 AM - Introducing the iPhone 3G.

11:34 AM - Even thinner, black plastic back, solid metal buttons, same gorgeous display, camera, flush headphone jack, and dramatically improved audio.

11:35 AM - 3G = faster data downloads, perfect for Safari and Mail. Comparing download speeds between 3G and EDGE. 3G finished in 21 seconds. EDGE finished in 59 seconds. 2.8X faster. Approaching WiFi speeds (WiFi scored 17 seconds). When compared to other 3G phones (Nokia N95 and Treo 750), the iPhone is 36% faster — and better looking.

11:38 AM - 3G has great battery life on iPhone. 300 hours of standby, 2G talk-time now has 10 hours (as opposed to 5), 5 hours of 3G talk-time (most phones only have 3 hour 3G talk time), 5 to 6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7 hours of video, 24 hours of audio.

11:39 AM - GPS support will now be a part of the new iPhone.

11:41 AM - With GPS, the iPhone can do tracking. A pulsating dot is moving across the Google map as a car drives down Lombard street.

11:44 AM - iPhone will expand to China, Japan, Australia, etc. 70 countries total.

11:45 AM - Now on to the final challenge — affordability. Started at $599 for an 8GB iPhone, now $399. The iPhone 3G 8GB will sell for… $199. $299 for the 16GB — a white version of this size will be available too.

11:47 AM - iPhone will be available in 22 countries on July 11th.

11:51 AM - Steve thanks the crowd and leaves the stage.

11:53 AM - It looks like that’s all folks. Have a wonderful day and thanks for tuning in! More to come on the website: MarketMatador.com

Refresh this page for the latest/updated content.

Readers of MarketMatador.com can look forward to a constant stream of live updates from WWDC (WorldWide Developers Conference) right here. Throughout Monday’s keynote speech by Steve Jobs you can stay tuned here for a feed of updates and the latest on Apple’s expected 3G iPhone. Updates will be on the homepage of MarketMatador.com on Monday, June 9th, 2008. Stay Tuned!

Coverage starts @ 10 AM (Pacific)

Direct Link to Live Updates (will become active when WWDC goes live on Monday).

Keynote speeches offer a hint as to where Apple is going and what they are just around the corner from releasing. They’re one of the most sought after videos released from Apple. Finally, users of iTunes can subscribe, for free, to the keynote speeches by Steve Jobs and other important speakers.

It’s been a long time coming, and for some reason Apple has continuously changed how they’ve delivered keynote speeches to viewers. They used to be live, but now people have to wait until the presentation is over to view video of the presentation.

Apple’s new keynote subscription function currently has a couple MWSF (MacWorld San Francisco) keynotes and the iPhone software roadmap (a great video that introduces the App store). Click here to go directly to the iTunes link. By subscribing to the podcast, you should also receive the WWDC keynote speech by Steve Jobs on Monday, June 9th.

It was hard to look past the markets more than 300 point decline due to jobless claims and oils $10+ leap per barrel in one day. But something was quite curious about Apple’s stock. It was down, and down more than $3 per share going into the WWDC.

While almost the entire market suffered losses, Apple should have been bought. We’re going into a weekend before the WWDC, when speculation will run rampant and more news will hit the street. Then on Monday, Steve Jobs will be set to take the stage in one of the most anticipated keynote speeches ever.

Set to release an updated 3G iPhone, possible operating system information (i.e. rumors about OS X 10.6 - Snow Leopard), information on a new .Mac platform, and a host of new revisions, Jobs is going to have plenty to show the street.