SAN FRANCISCO — Apple fans are amped. The computer and gadget maker is expected to announce a new, more powerful version of its wildly popular smartphone this week — more than a year after it unveiled the iPhone 4.
Last week, Apple Inc. emailed invitations to a media event at its headquarters in Cupertino on Tuesday morning. The invite says “let’s talk iPhone,” implying the normally secretive company intends to show off the latest version of the device. In the past, Apple has typically introduced a new iPhone during the summer, but this year it was expected to hold off until the fall.
It has been 15 months since Apple began selling the iPhone 4 last June. The first iPhone was revealed in 2007, and the phone’s signature slick looks, high-resolution screen and intuitive software made it incredibly popular from the start (the rollout of Apple’s iTunes App Store in 2008 helped, too). In addition to gaining millions of fans over the years — 39 million iPhones were sold just between January and the end of June — the iPhone and its large App Store have sparked fierce competition from smartphone makers such as those using Google Inc.’s Android software, which was first rolled out in 2008.
Beyond the iPhone itself, the Tuesday event is anticipated as Apple’s first major product unveiling in years that won’t be led by Steve Jobs, who resigned from the CEO post in August after being out on indefinite medical leave since January. The Apple co-founder is now its executive chairman. And though Mr. Jobs did emerge from medical leave twice this year to present Apple’s innovations — most recently in June to show off its new mobile software and iCloud content storage service — his successor, Tim Cook, is expected to take the lead this time.
Though not nearly as recognizable as Mr. Jobs, Mr. Cook, formerly Apple’s chief operating officer, has been running Apple since January. For years, he has been in charge of Apple’s day-to-day operations, and he has long been seen as the natural successor. He also served as Apple’s leader for two months in 2004 while Mr. Jobs battled cancer and again for 5 1/2 months in 2009 when Mr. Jobs received a liver transplant.
Perhaps more important to Apple fans than who is presenting is what the company will reveal on Tuesday. A new iPhone is expected to have a number of changes, the biggest of which will likely be under the hood: the inclusion of Apple’s latest iOS mobile software, iOS 5, which has been slated for release this fall.
IOS 5 will include things such as wireless device setup and content synching and beefed-up camera, email and Web browsing apps. A new service called iMessage will allow iOS 5 users to send text messages to each other over Wi-Fi or wireless carriers’ data networks, while a folder called Newsstand will corral newspaper and magazine app subscriptions in one place to make it easier to find them. When it comes out, the software will also be available for Apple’s iPad, iPhone 4 and 3GS and the two most recent generations of the iPod Touch.
A new iPhone is also expected to include Apple’s forthcoming iCloud service, which will store content such as music, documents, apps and photos on Apple’s servers and let you access them wirelessly on numerous devices.
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