Apple unveiled the iPhone for the UK set to launch in November early this morning. It seemed to go off as a pretty humdrum event that basically just went over the details: O2 is the carrier, all the same features as the U.S. version, price at 269 pounds (a bit less than the original $599 U.S. price in dollars), but most notable was perhaps something not announced: no 3G technology. Yes, the European versions of the iPhone will use turtle-speed EDGE as well – at least for now.

The Street has a report today claiming the 3G iPhone is very much in the works and should be ready for release by Q1 2008 (sometime about 6 months from now) in the U.S. Steve Jobs keeps claiming (as he did again this morning) that 3G is just not a viable option for the iPhone right now because it simply drains too much power too quickly (cutting battery life by a couple hours). I’ve found the battery life of the iPhone to be very good, and quite honestly if the 3G chip was going to drain 2 hours off that life, I think I would opt for the EDGE network, which has shown considerable improvement in speed since launch week.

So now the question is if they solve the battery conundrum will I buy a 3G iPhone next year, so soon after buying the EDGE one? Well if the newly launched (at TechCrunch40) service Mint, can really save me $1,000 by maximizing my finances, signs are pointing to possibly – if there are some other upgrades as well, which is probably inevitable.