Apple iPhone 5 event: live However, Mr Feroli says the upside could be even higher. "We believe the release of iPhone 5 could potentially add between 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points to fourth-quarter annualized GDP growth," he wrote. 12.22 Here's either an amusing talking point, or a deeply concerning insight into the modern age, depending on your point of view. An online survey (yes, I know) has found that more Britons (21 per cent) would take the day for an Apple product announcement than for a relative's birthday (18 per cent). Has anyone out there actually taken the day off for this? Given it starts at 18.00 I'd guess not. 12.07 The main man this evening will be Tim Cook, Steve Jobs' successor as chief executive of the world's greatest technology superpower. It'll be his second iPhone announcement, after the 4S, and he's also led the charge on the new iPad and WWDC. But a properly new model of Apple's biggest product will be his greatest test to date. Here' an excerpt from a short Telegraph profile of Tim Cook we published in March: Jobs died in October last year, the day after Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone 4S, and ever since Apple watchers have been looking for signs that the company is losing its way. One tech writer was alarmed by Cook's rumpled and untucked shirt and the fact that the new iPad has an "ambiguous" name. Certainly there are changes. Apple keynotes are no longer one-man shows as they were in Jobs's heyday. Marketing chief Phil Schiller and iTunes head Eddie Cue were among those sharing the stage during this one. But there doesn't appear to be anything to worry about. Cook's soft, Southern delivery is markedly different to Jobs's style but he shares the same confidence on the stage. Far from losing its way, he sought to make clear that the company has as clear a sense of direction as ever. And here he is: 11.50 There are plenty of you that get very annoyed by blanket coverage of Apple events. I can only advise you to read these statistics from Experian Hitwise, which monitors web traffic trends, and then have a day off the internet: 1 in every 1000 searches conducted in the UK last week (week ending 8th September) was for iPhone 5 • 25% of all online searches relating to the iPhone were specifically about the iPhone 5 • 42% increase in online searches for "iPhone 5" and a 68.3% increase in "Apple iPhone5" searches in week on week comparisons, both of which coincide with the 33.8% increase in searches for "iPhone 5 release date" for the same time period • There has been 19 times more searches for the "iPhone 5" than for last year's model the iPhone 4S this week alone 11.42 The hardest way to make an easy living, opined Mike Skinner of the The Streets, is being a pop star. Nonsense. It's live blogging an event that doesn't start for several hours. If we're going to get through this, we'll have to do it together. So let's go interactive. Apple launch events are of course famous for the "rabbit in the hat" moment, when the firm unveils something we weren't really expecting. That doesn't stop people speculating on what it might be though, so let's join in with a poll. What would you most like to see? What should be the surprise new feature of the iPhone 5 11.36 The pre-event leaks, at least in relation to new hardware features, seem pretty reliable and fairly complete this time. Running an enormous global supply chain in total secrecy is beyond even Apple's powers, it seems. Shane Richmond, the head of technology editorial at The Telegraph, who'll be at the event later, summed up the most significant changes we're expecting last week. Here's a selection: Leaked images and parts suggest a taller screen for the new iPhone but not a wider one. 11.32 Here's the latest scene where it's all going to go down, the Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco. Ominous. Those streaks of colour are actually stretched out app icons, which has been taken by some as confirmation that the iPhone 5 will have a taller screen. Huh. 11.30 Morning all, Williams on the line. Who's excited? Not yet? Fair enough. Sit tight though, because for the next few hours this is the place to come to ensure your knowledge of iPhone and Apple trivia is bang up-to-date. We'll be gathering news and analysis, pictures, predictions, and whatever else. Then, from 1800 UK time we'll be reporting live from Apple's showcase, with all the details of what promises to be, quite literally, a mobile phone. Rather an important one, granted.