The first thing to remember about Apple’s iPhone 3.0 special event, announced last Thursday and scheduled for Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m PT), is that it has been billed as “an advance preview.” The company is holding the event for journalists at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters to introduce the third generation of the iPhone software, plus the tools programmers outside Apple use to build applications for the device.

Here are some predictions on what this glorious day may bring: First of all, the Copy and Paste feature. Kevin Rose is at it again with his wild and wacky Apple predictions. On a Facebook post yesterday Rose confirmed his copy and paste prediction, according to the iPhone Blog. He also said he'd heard a third rumor, but refused to tell us what it is because he had conflicting sources. Secondly, the new App Launcher would do us all a favor.

Others speculate the company will add multimedia messaging, which lets people snap a photo and send it just like they would a text message. Also on the list: the ability to power a laptop's Internet connectivity by tethering it to the iPhone, and a premium store to sell $20-and-up applications.

And returning to some not-so-very relevant details, the key development is that the new operating system, called 3.0, will enable developers to add new, unexpectedly advanced features. Examples given so far include attaching a blood pressure cuff to the iPhone and tracking readings over a period of time that can be sent directly to a doctor. Other new capabilities include Bluetooth enabled multi-player games and adding higher-level game packs to applications a user already owns.