The iPhone 5 could feature some fairly minor hardware upgrades that make it capable of running the headline element – an Assistant app that you'll command using voice controls.
The app is basically a mega-organiser, using all kinds of elements of the handset to keep you on track.
According to 9to5Mac, it will use Nuance-powered speech-to-text software that we already know is in iOS 5 to allow you to make commands without ever touching the handset.
Integrating with other apps will enable you to set up reminders and meetings that automatically go into your contacts' calendars, or find directions to a specific location without you having to physically open the Maps app and tap in your desired end point.
Ruining pub quizzes forever
It will also come with Wolfram Alpha integration, with the computational fact engine able to answer your trivia questions automatically – no more Googling at the pub quiz, you'll be able just to hold your phone out near the question master and enjoy your ill begotten answers.
The Assistant details have been eked out by 9to5Mac using snippets of code and information from insider sources; the site also reports that older iterations of the iPhone won't be able to make use of Assistant as it'll require an A5 processor – something that the next iPhone has been heavily rumoured to have.
The all-singing all-dancing Assistant certainly sounds feasible to us and, although it's software based, if it requires as-yet unannounced hardware like that A5 processor, we can see why Apple wouldn't have included it in the iOS 5 unveiling in June.
With 4 October the most highly suspected launch date, we may have just a week to go until we know for sure.
From 9 to 5 Mac
Simply can't wait another week with nary an iPhone 5 snippet to go on? Check out what we'd like to see in our dream iPhone 5:
