Apple yesterday invited members of the media to a September 12 event in San Francisco for what is expected to be the debut of a new-generation iPhone.Email invitations bore the cryptic message, "It's almost here," and a large number "12" casting a shadow that appeared to be the number five, suggesting that the event would spotlight the long-anticipated iPhone 5.Leaks and rumors portray the new iPhone as having a larger touch-screen than its predecessor and that it will be available by the end of the month.

Demand for what is being referred to as "iPhone 5" is likely to be hot, with analysts convinced that many people in the market for handsets have put off purchases to wait for the latest offering from Apple."While our checks indicated consumers are delaying iPhone 4S purchases in anticipation of the iPhone 5, we anticipate an LTE iPhone 5 with a new hardware form factor will result in record iPhone sales," Canaccord Genuity brokerage firm said in a note to investors.

Apple shares rose to US$674.18 then shed a few cents to US$674 in trading that followed word of the event invitations.Samsung mobile phones remained the most popular in the United States with 25.6 percent of the market but third-place Apple gained ground to claim 16.3 percent as of the end of July, according to industry tracker comScore.LG ranked second with 18.4 percent of the US mobile phone market.

Apple is expected to launch the miniature iPad later this year, with analysts saying it could allow the company to again best its global rivals despite the death last year of visionary founder Steve Jobs.

滬江英語快訊：據(jù)國外媒體報(bào)道，美國東部時間星期二早晨，蘋果官方正式向媒體記者發(fā)出邀請函，確認(rèn)將于9月12日在舊金山市芳草地藝術(shù)中心舉行特別媒體發(fā)布會。該邀請函內(nèi)容很簡單，僅寫到：“It’s almost here.”除此以外，函中沒有更多的文字內(nèi)容。但一個數(shù)字“5”的倒影，卻是讓人浮想聯(lián)翩——這或許就暗示了此次發(fā)布會將是有關(guān)蘋果新一代智能手機(jī)iPhone 5的發(fā)布。

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