Apple out to renew iPhone frenzy at age 10
With Apple set to unveil its newest iPhones, a key question for the California tech giant is whether it can recapture the magic from its first release a decade ago.
The keenly anticipated media event Tuesday will be the first in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's new "spaceship" campus in Silicon Valley, evoking the memory of the company's late co-founder and iconic pitchman.
Jobs introduced the first iPhone on January 9, 2007 and set the stage for mobile computing -- and an entire industry revolving around it. The first devices became an instant hit as they went on sale on June 29 of that year.
Apple as usual has revealed little about the September 12 event in Cupertino. Invitations provided the date, time, location and a message that read: "Let's meet at our place."
The timing, however, is in sync with Apple's annual unveiling of new iPhone models and comes as rivals field fresh champions powered by Google-backed Android software.
Eyes are on Apple to dazzle as the culture-changing firm seeks to retain its image as an innovation leader in a global smartphone market showing signs of slowing and as Chinese rivals close ground.
Chinese smartphone colossus Huawei passed Apple in global smartphone sales for the first time in June and July, taking second place behind South Korean giant Samsung, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research.
Samsung last month unveiled a new model of its Galaxy Note as it seeks to move past the debacle over exploding batteries in the previous generation of the device, and mount a renewed challenge to Apple's flagship devices.
Other makers are also scrambling for market share, including Google, which is expected to soon unveil a second-generation of its flagship Pixel smartphone.
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