iPhone 5 Release Date: Launch Event Invitations Point to 'Voice-Recognition' Feature
Apple confirmed Tuesday that an iPhone-related news conference will be held Oct. 4 – where the company is expected to unveil its latest flagship model, the iPhone 5.
Invitations for the event are labeled: “Let’s talk iPhone.”
Information regarding date, time, and place of the press briefing were presented on four iOS icons.
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"In the past, Apple has used its invitation to include cryptic hints as to what it will announce," Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a letter to investors.
"The phrase on this year's invite, 'Let's talk iPhone,' may be a simple play on words, but may also refer to new speech-based features for the iPhone,” he added.
The iPhone 5 is rumored to have a voice-control system known as the “Assistant” and 1GB of RAM, tech news site TUAW wrote.
According to the report, upgrades of the new iPhone include an A5 chip, 1GB of internal memory, and an 8-megapixal camera.
"With every new version of iOS Apple has previewed most of the new features, but has reserved some hardware-specific features for the hardware announcement," said Munster and Andrew Murphy, also an analyst for Piper Jaffray, in an investor note released Tuesday.
Munster and Murphy added, "We believe one of the unannounced features of iOS 5 may be voice-recognition technology leveraging Apple's April 2010 acquisition of Siri, a voice-recognition app and service.”
According to analysts the iPhone 5 is expected to sell for $199 to $299 dollars and an updated iPhone 4 could also make it onto retail shelves for a price as low as $99.
Apple’s iPhone shipments are also predicted to increase 81 percent compared to last year’s numbers Piper Jaffray stated.
Apple has sold over 110 million iPhones worldwide since the launch of the highly demanded cell phone.
The Oct. 4 event will be CEO Tim Cook’s first since Steve Jobs resignation last month.
