The internet has been whipped into another frenzy, as Apple sent out invitations to an iPhone event for the 4^th of October, presumably to launch the much anticipated next iPhone - or iPhones if Al Gore is correct.

According to the guardian, the company sent out cryptic invitations to the media yesterday, confirming the rumours that it would host an iPhone event early in October, at its headquarters in San Francisco. The announcement comes almost a week after Al Gore let slip that new iPhones would be released in October.

Of equal importance to the launch itself is the fact that it is widely expected that it will be led by Tim Cook, Apple’s new chief executive officer after Steve Jobs resigned last month. This would mark Cook’s first public appearance, and being at the helm of a high profile launch would go a long way towards establishing himself as the new face of the company in the eyes of the public.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the event is expected to be a bit more toned down as compared to Apple’s past launches, comprising of a “more intimate gathering” of journalists. However, Stacey Delo from the Wall Street Journal  added that this didn’t mean the announcements would not be large nonetheless. She pointed out that Apple was facing greater competition from Google’s Android, with an increasing number of handsets adopting the Android platform.

Enhancements expected on the iPhone include a larger screen, camera improvements, and a voice reminder feature, where one could speak into the phone reminding themselves to perform a certain task and then receive an SMS prompt.

Additionally, Cook was expected to provide an update to the recent news that the company was scaling down on iPad 2 production.