SAN FRANCISCO - Apple announced on Tuesday that it will hold a special media event on September 12, which is expected to see the launch of the company's new iPhone.

An invitation sent out by Apple reads "It's almost there" with the number 12 whose shadow forms a large number "5." The event will kick off at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater at 10 am local time on September 12.

The number "5" strongly suggests that the focus of the event will be the company's upcoming generation of iPhone which has long been called "iPhone 5" by media reports and Apple fans.

According to media reports, the new iPhone could be taller, switching from the current 3.5 inch display to 4.08 inch. It could also feature a fast processor and some redesigned accessories, like a smaller dock connector.

The Apple event comes one week after a Microsoft-Nokia event in New York on Wednesday. The two competitors of iPhone and iOS platform are expected to introduce the first Windows Phone 8 device, the latest joint phone efforts of the two companies.

On Thursday, Amazon will hold a media event in Santa Monica, California. The on-line retail giant is expected to debut its next generation tablet Kindle Fire.

Meanwhile, Apple is also reported to hold another event in October, at which it plans to introduce a smaller version of the iPad, vying for the market of smaller and cheaper tablets against devices like Amazon's Kindle Fire.