iPhone opens on Thursday?

Press has been invited this coming Thursday at Cupertino's HQ to get a pitch on Apple's plan for iPhone's software. SDK for sure and maybe more? like support for Corporate email servers, Microsoft and Lotus Notes?
Apple has been beaten down over the past 3 months with some analysts fearing the gold time for iPod to be behind and iPhone's 10M mark to maybe not happen. Worst, the number of cracked iPhone to be higher than expected, meaning the revenue coming from exclusive country telcos to not bring as much as planned.
Apple is a master in Marketing in general and PR in particular. I can't make the link between Cook's reiteration in confidence about the 10M units sold and this week announcement.
Apple has always started with a closed environment and high price strategy when launching a product. Prices have dropped earlier than planned, 2 months after July launch. Time for an open platform, earlier than planned too?
Isn't it the fastest and most secured way to get to the 10M mark?...