Apple's next iPhone, iOS 5 and a possible new iPhone carrier in Sprint could all be topics of the company's Oct. 4 event.
We
know one thing: Apple is hosting an iPhone-themed event Oct. 4 at its
Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.
Beyond
that, speculation abounds about Apple's plans for moving its smartphone
franchise into the future. For weeks, increasing chatter suggested Apple was
gearing up to reveal the next iPhone, which the media has dubbed "iPhone
5." According to a recent report by
AllThingsD,
whose sources accurately called that Oct. 4 event date, Apple CEO Tim Cook will
take the stage to introduce the device.
At
this point, various news outlets seem to agree that the next iPhone, whatever
its name, will include Apple's more powerful A5 processor, an 8-megapixel
camera and perhaps an overall redesign.
The
bigger question is whether Apple plans to unveil one iPhone or two. In
September, former Vice President Al Gore, a member of Apple's board of
directors, reportedly
told
a conference about "new iPhones coming out next month."
His
use of the plural refueled rumors that Apple plans on releasing a line of
lower-cost iPhones, with an eye toward combating the midmarket Android devices
that have swallowed up a sizable portion of the mobility market in recent
years.
One
reason for Android's strength is its presence on multiple carriers, something
Apple could counter during the Oct. 4 event by announcing that Sprint is
joining Verizon and AT&T as iPhone carriers in this country.
Following
previous rumors that Sprint would carry Apple's next iPhone, Piper Jaffray
analyst Gene Munster estimated that such a move would boost the smartphone's
overall sales by 6 million units. A Sprint iPhone would also leave T-Mobile as
the only major U.S. carrier without an Apple phone in its portfolio, unless
AT&T manages to complete its planned T-Mobile acquisition in the face of
federal scrutiny. (T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, has offered
the iPhone for years in Germany.)
Apple's
next line of mobility devices will certainly run iOS 5, a major upgrade to the
company's mobile operating system. New features include boosted
interoperability with Twitter and a Newsstand application that consolidates
e-periodical subscriptions. Apple is also launching an iCloud service, which
will sync user content across various iOS devices via the cloud.
Apple
could use the Oct. 4 event to announce new iPods. The company usually reserves
a September event for unveiling revamps to its multimedia-player line,
something that didn't happen this year.
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