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First the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg jumped the gun, publishing his online review of Apple’s new iPhone 3G on Tuesday night, more than a day before his usual Thursday column appears.

Then, about an hour later, the New York Times responded in kind, posting their own review, by David Pogue, on the NYTimes.com front page. Like Mossberg’s, Pogue’s review is datelined Wednesday, July 9.

About the same time (we’ve lost track of the sequence), America’s third national paper, USA Today, followed suit, posting a review by Edward C. Baig.

And so Apple (AAPL) fans eager to hear if the new iPhone is worth buying get their answer — or rather three answers — well before they have to decide whether or not to stand in line.

More @ Fortune

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off of the iPhone 18 months ago, the wireless establishment offered a smug response. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a Nokia executive sniffed that Apple’s new gadget merely validated his company’s strategy, and voiced his surprise to journalists that the iPhone didn’t use the latest 3G networks for fast data connections. “Overall, it’s very exciting for us,” he said, implying the mighty Nokia had nothing to worry about.

A year and a half later, as the iPhone 3G arrives, Apple’s (AAPL) rivals look a lot more flummoxed. The little gadget has catalyzed the wireless industry, boosting earnings for Apple and U.S. partner AT&T (T), and inspiring an avalanche of copycat touchscreen devices. Samsung has the Instinct, a chunkier, less elegant knockoff. Research in Motion (RIMM) is readying the BlackBerry Thunder. LG has the Dare and Nokia (NOK) the dubiously codenamed “Tube” phone. Each claims to best the iPhone in some feature or other – a better camera, say, or touch-feedback.

Read More @ Fortune