Apple iPhone 5 launch in California generates buzz (VIDEO)

Expectations ran high that Apple would unveil its new iPhone 5 in Cupertino, California and central London on Tuesday, according to media reports.

Invitations had reportedly gone out for "a special event" that said "Let's talk iPhone."

Shareholders and analysts were even expecting a "cameo appearance" by Steve Jobs, who earlier this year made way for Tim Cook to become Apple CEO, Reuters reports.

NBC predicts that the iPhone 5 will be "thinner, smarter, faster, sharper, better" than the iPhone 4.

It should come with new IOS 5 software which will include things such as wireless device setup and content syncing, email and Web-browsing apps, and it is expected to include the iCloud service.

Other predictions are that it will have a bigger screen and built-in voice recognition software.

Sixteen months after the introduction of the iPhone 4, a survey found that up to 41 percent of North American mobile phone owners planned to buy the new iPhone, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The London Evening Standard also reports that Apple may launch a cheaper version of the iPhone 4.

According to Reuters, a cheaper model "tailor-made for the fast-growing Asian market" would provide growth possibilities for Apple.

The iPhone 5 would arrive in time for the crucial Christmas shopping season, and help ward off competition from phones based on Google's Android operating system, which according to Reuters "led the U.S. market with a 43 percent share, Nielsen data show. The iPhone was No. 2 with 28 percent."