iPhone 5, October 4.

There’s no more conjecture about the date of the iPhone 5 announcement, with Apple today sending out invitations to the press for an event on October 4.

Actually, I shouldn’t make the call that it’s to be named the iPhone 5. It might be iPhone 4S, or it might be iPhone Cedric. We’ll know next week.

---

---

Apple used four iPhone app-style icons in the invitation, one of which was the Phone icon, with the ‘1 missed call’ bubble (see the graphic from the invitation copied below). Some are suggesting that this points to only one iPhone to be launched, rather than the rumour that Apple is to announce a two-phone approach, being a budget iPhone and a top-end iPhone. This, along with the following rumours about the iPhone 5 we will know next week:

• Running the A5 processor, as per the iPad 2.  New iPhone rumour strength: probable.
• An improved 8 megapixel camera. New iPhone rumour strength: probable.
• Being blocked from going on sale by Samsung. New iPhone rumour strength: possible. There’s probably still Australian lawyers out there who would like a slice of the ongoing ‘you copied my homework’ action.
• A new, larger 4 inch touch screen. New iPhone rumour strength: probable.
• A move away from the boxy form factor, switching to a tapered shape, thicker at the top of the phone, and progressively slimmer moving toward the bottom. New iPhone rumour strength: possible, particularly if you give any credence to the leaked pictures of new cases from third-party manufacturers.
• A built-in hand dryer for more comfortable and accurate portable gaming. New iPhone rumour strength: very low. I just made that one up.
• Overcoming the reception issue of the iPhone 4 by a new antenna in the iPhone’s Apple logo? New iPhone rumour strength: who knows. This rumour is via a patent filing Apple made last year. Read more at Apple logo to become an antenna?

If this follows previous launches, it’s likey that the iPhone – let’s keep calling it that for now – will go on sale almost immediately after the media event. The question this is, when will it go on sale in Australia? With the iPhone 4, we had to wait until 2 months after the launch in the USA. With the iPad 2, the gap was down to 2 weeks.

It is also unlikely that the iPhone 5 will be able to run on Australia’s upcoming 4G network. That may well have to wait until the next iPhone release. I hope to be wrong on this point.

So, all will be revealed next week. Have you been holding out for the new iPhone(s)? Have you left Apple world and switched across to Android phones? Or have you phones running the new Windows Phone 7 in your sights, or indeed the Nokia N9 and its ‘one is the loneliest number’ MeeGo operating system? Is there a new feature you’d like to see on the iPhone 5 – leave a comment below in the Leave A Reply section.