The iPhone update seems weak to have been one of the four main points of the MacWorld keynote. A couple of refinements to Google Maps and some minor eye candy on the home screen. Send SMS messages to multiple recipients – presumably put in at AT&T’s request. Some improvements to the iTunes service.
Apple delivered neither of the two improvements I actually wanted, a voice recorder and text cut-and-paste.
That there was no announcement of a 3G iPhone is not really a surprise. I expect that will be announced the day it is ready to ship. Just as a guess, it seems reasonable to expect it on the one year anniversary of the original product release, in June, or of the European release, in October. More likely October, since Steve Jobs said last September that 3G chipsets wouldn’t be power-efficient enough for his needs until late 2008.