July 11. A day in the blogosphere and Twitter stream that will live in infamy. Otherwise known as the day the new iPhone is due to hit the streets. The past few weeks there’s been speculation all over the place. Today at 1 pm EST Apple made their announcement.

I’ve never seen so much overload of information in a short period of time. Post-announcement I realize Apple is damn smart. They’ve pulled off a major announcement with no press release and have everyone talking. Here are a few things they did that’s smart:

1. Well, they are Apple and pretty much have re-invented themselves over and over. Today they have a geeky-savvy (if that’s a word), loyal following. I have to say I own two iPods and am thinking of going Mac with my next computer.

2. Apple uses and creates buzz to their advantage. Having Steve Jobs make a major announcement at a pre-determined time gets everyone talking in advance and will continue to have everyone talking.

3. Instant karma. Apple’s site and all related sites were updated at the same time. The blogs went nuts. People went in search of news. I did.

What else would you add to the list? Why is Apple smart? Is this the biggest PR story the first half of the year? Nah…just one of many.