Steve Jobs

Tim Cook is ready to host Apple's big iPhone event tomorrow at 10am PT, 1pm ET, but will the redesigned iPhone 5 and Steve Jobs be making an appearance? Word is Jobs is too sick to attend, and recent evidence points to the iPhone 4S being Apple's next device, not the rumored iPhone 5 with "teardrop" design.

Both the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 have been popping up in random carrier and store inventories. A 16GB Sprint Apple iPhone showed up in a questionable Radio Shack leak, and the German carrier Vodafone added an 8GB iPhone 4 and three iPhone 4S models (16GB / 32GB / 64GB) to their website.

Those unnamed "sources close to the situation" are at it once again, this time telling John Paczkowski of All Things Digital that new Apple CEO Tim Cook, will be announcing the iPhone 5 on October 4th.

Actually... They told him Apple will be holding a big media event on October 4th, we all just assume it will be to unveil the iPhone 5.

Sorry if I can't get excited about an unconfirmed report about the iPhone 5 possibly being announced, but after so many months of misleading rumors, and such a long wait, I rather skip the press conference and just know an actual release date. Apple fans are hoping that the lag time between the big event and the iPhone 5 launch will be short, but I'm not getting my hopes up just in case. However, it would be kind of crappy on Apple's part to throw Cook to the wolves by forcing him to announce the iPhone 5 won't be ready until 2012. I'm guessing if Apple plans to hold a spectacle for their next generation device, they also plan to release it soon.

Steve Jobs has stepped down as Apple CEO and Tim Cook was named as his replacement. His abrupt resignation shocked Apple fans, but there is no reason to start digging Apple's grave yet. Cook has been handling day-to-day operations at Apple since Jobs took medical leave in January, and Jobs will remain with the company as Chairman of the Board and an "employee."

Jobs hasn't retired or dropped dead, and your iPhone or iPad isn't going to self-destruct. I'm not sure what the future has in store for Apple, but as long as Jobs has breath in his lungs, he's not going to allow it to derail. Jobs wrote in his resignation letter, "I look forward to watching and contributing to [Apple's] success in a new role." So don't start writing his obituary yet!

Below is the official press release/announcement, Job's resignation letter and new CEO Tim Cook's letter to Apple employees.

We're in a global economic recession, right? You wouldn't know it from looking at the latest iPhone sales statistics. Apple's stock jumped six dollars to $158 per share after the company announced its revenues for the third quarter.

Total revenue was $8.3 billion, leaving Apple with a net quarterly profit of $1.2 billion. According to Tim Cook, the Chief Operating Officer, "Apple can’t keep up with demand in the 18 countries where the 3GS model is now sold, a situation that won’t change in the short term."

Apple has seeded iPhone OS 2.2 beta 1 firmware to developers for "compatibility testing." Along with the new firmware they have also released iPhone SDK build 9M2611 beta. Most of the speculation circles around a few key features that were missed in the 2.1 upgrade. Of course, it seems Apple had its hands full with connectivity issues and a long list of usability problems that had to be addressed first.

Regardless of Apple's NDA it seems that one screenshot was leaked of definite improvements to the MobileSafari browser. The menu bar will more closely resemble the desktop version, placing the URL field and search field next to each other on the same line. The latest Webkits include JavaScript improvements that should also be released with 2.2. No word on whether or not the phishing vulnerabilities in MobileSafari and Mail will be addressed along with this cosmetic change.