One week and counting. Apple and AT&T will jointly begin selling the long-awaited iPhone next Friday, June 29th. In case you’ve been away, perhaps fighting computer bugs on the International Space Station, or celebrating the Summer Solstice on Titan, the largest of Saturn’s moons, the iPhone is…

A mobile phone. A widescreen video iPod that also displays your photos. A 2-megapixel camera. An internet connection device with desktop-class email, the same Safari web browser used by Macs (and now Windows), Google Maps, and YouTube videos. All controlled by a revolutionary multi-touch user interface (similar to the one used by the Saturnians you visited on Titan – well, sort of).

Anyway, the iPhone has been shrouded in secrecy since it was announced back in January. Only a handful of people outside Apple have actually held the thing, and those tech pundits lucky enough to receive one to evaluate and be ready at launch with a comprehensive review have been more tight-lipped than Al Hirt playing “The Flight of the Bumblebee”.

Here’s what we know. The iPhone will come in two models, which differ only in the amount of flash RAM memory they contain. The flagship 8 GB model will be priced at $599. A 4 GB model will set you back $499. While the latest round of TV ads initially announced that a 2-year contract with AT&T (the sole service provider) would be required, that part of the ads was removed the day after they first aired. Hmmm. AT&T sources say that all the actual plan information will be revealed sometime before the launch next Friday.

iPhones will go on sale only at Apple’s and AT&T’s branded retail stores and online stores. No, Virginia, “Fred’s Cellphone Paradise” in the local strip mall will not carry them (at least initially). According to Apple, iPhones will go on sale at 6:00 PM local time next Friday. Yes, we New Englanders will get them before Californians. Nanny nanny boo boo.

Apple and AT&T stores will actually close their doors around 4:30 or 5:00 PM, restock and reconfigure with iPhones and colorful displays, and reopen at 6:00 PM. While the atmosphere at our local outlets (yes, the Cooks Corner AT&T store should have iPhones in stock) may be somewhat subdued, the big city stores are going to experience (as we used to call it in the military) a “goat-rope”.