Well, Apple has officially sent out invitations to the media for their scheduled media event next week, October 4th, at Town Hall in Cupertino, California (headquarters of the fruity tech company).

The speculation around the interwebs is that the new iPhone could come in two variants – an iPhone 5, and an iPhone 4S. Whatever the result, we can be sure of one thing: Apple is set to innovate this high-profile competitive market once again. A few things we could expect from next week’s announcements:

• iOS 5 availability – the next version of the software powering the stylish devices, initially announced earlier this year at WWDC ’11.
• The “teardrop” form factor of the iPhone, ushering in a new era of industrial design for the most stylish smartphone on the market.
• Assistant – a new, artificial intelligence tool for scheduling and organising appointments on your iPhone, augmented by new hardware and iOS5 improvements.
• A faster processor – perhaps the A5 chip.
• Improved Retina display, taking the brilliant resolution up a notch.

Apple will seek to push the boundaries of the concept of the mobile phone, yet again causing their competition – Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, Samsung (and, by extension, the Android OS) and, of course, Nokia – to fumble in their trail-blazing wake.