How does a launch day for next-gen iPhone 3G look like? Friday morning, Japan, hours before official 8 a.m. launch, the crowds take over the streets of Tokyo, wanting, waiting to get their hands on Apple’s sensation; Europe, 6:30 a.m., people are already waiting in line in front of the stores; but as they were still waiting, the iPhone3G had already made its debut in New Zealand, finding the first proud official in a matter of minutes.

Over 1,500 customers were already in front of Softbank Corp. in Tokyo early in the morning, undoubtedly Apple fans still hanging on to their laptop computers as the iPhone 3G was preparing to say “Konnichiwa!” And as if the crowds of customers weren’t enough, the packs of reporters and security guards in some places added up to their numbers.

You could see the excitement in their eyes as they were waiting, and as Softbank Corp president said, quoted by the Associated Press, “This is the year that the cell phones becomes an Internet-connecting machine. Today is that day that will make it real, and it’s a historic day.”

The new iPhone combines 3G networking, which is twice as fast as built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, iPhone 2.0 software and of course, hundreds of third party applications to turn the mobile phone into a pocket PC.

Customers will be able to take full advantage of the Multi-Touch interface, accelerated 3D graphics, built-in accelerometer and location based technology for an unprecedented experience, as Apple promised.

The iPhone 3G becomes available in 21 countries - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US – as of July 11, for the suggested retail price of $199 (8GB model) or $299 (16GB model). France will have to wait until July 17 to get its hands on the iPhone 3G.

But the wonder-phone is not coming alone, dragging 500 downloadable applications with it, under the name App Store. The applications will be available wirelessly and can be used immediately after being downloaded.

Some of the apps are free, while others will be charged to the user’s iTunes account. The 500 native applications cover a wide variety of categories, from games, business and travel, to news, sports and health.

The App Store was launched on Thursday, one day before the iPhone 3G, and is also available in iTunes running on Mac or PC, which syncs applications to the iPhone or iPod tough using a USB cable, Apple explained.

Not everything went smoothly this Friday though, as ComputerWorld reported some compatibility issues at Apple’s store in London, where customers had some activation problems. O2, the UK network operator, normally uses Internet Explorer to activate every new phone, which made Apple’s Safari quite useless that day. however, using IE didn't solve the problem.

As some customers nervously left the store, while others crowded at the entrance, frustration started to kick in. The only ones talking about it were, of course, the disappointed customers, while the store staff refused to give journalists any comments on the situation.

All in all, that shouldn’t ruin the day, as people in 21 countries get to witness today what Apple’s latest creation can do in terms of speed, accessibility and applications.