October 4 is the date set for Apple’s next media event, reports AllThingsD. New chief executive Tim Cook is expected to announce the product, iPhone 5. Steve Jobs resigned last month as he continues to battle health issue, leading to the promotion of Cook, who had been the company’s COO and Jobs’ right-hand man.

Internet rumours have suggested that the new model will have a slightly larger screen than the existing iPhone 4, and that it may include an NFC (near field communication) chip which would enable it to be used with payment services such as Google’s Wallet service, which launched in the US earlier this week. That would allow it to compete with Google’s Nexus S phone, released at the end of December, which contains an NFC chip, and other forthcoming phones from handset makers. Valued at $387.1bn, Apple is presently the biggest firm by market capitalisation on the US stock market, having swapped places with the previous largest, the oil company Exxon, since mid-August.

The name of the upcoming phone is still the topic of much debate.  Some claim that since the hardware update will be more minor, it will be dubbed the “iPhone 4S”.  Others claim that it will be named the iPhone 5, in honor of it being the fifth generation model.

As for the product itself, Apple’s new iPhone is expected to pack a faster processor, possibly an HSPA+ modem, and a larger screen.  The iPhone is also rumored to land on Sprint Nextel Corp.’s (S) U.S. network, possibly with a WiMAX 4G chip.

Viaupcom