MacRumors.com

9to5Mac points out that AT&T also announced a welcome piece of news for existing and future iPhone owners. AT&T now supports Wi-Fi "auto-authentication" in the 3.0 firmware. While iPhone customers have had free access to over 20,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots, accessing them required a somewhat cumbersome two-step authentication process using SMS. The new system will eliminate these steps altogether:

Auto-authentication allows iPhone users to seamlessly switch from AT&T's 3G network to an AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spot without being prompted. AT&T customers with qualifying iPhone data plans have unlimited access to the nation's largest Wi-Fi network -- more than 20,000 U.S. AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots.

The new process eliminates the previous two-step authentication, making it easier and faster for iPhone customers to connect to AT&T Wi-Fi. Auto-connect is established once a customer connects their iPhone to an AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spot the first time.

The new system is available starting today for all existing iPhone customers who have installed iPhone 3.0 and will also be available to iPhone 3G S owners.