Apple whets appetite for new product with invites to California launch event
Tech company announces mysterious event at the venue that launched Macintosh computer
Apple gadget lovers hungered for the "next big thing" after the company fired off invitations to a mystery unveiling on September 9.
Fuelling rampant speculation regarding what the company has in store was the fact that the event announced on Thursday will be held in the same performing arts centre in Silicon Valley where late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh computer in 1984.
Flint Centre for the Performing Arts, on a college campus near Apple's headquarters in the California city of Cupertino, has greater seating capacity than venues the company has traditionally used for media events.
Images of the centre posted online showed that a construction project seemingly related to the Apple event was taking shape behind white walls as tall as the building.
A security team guarded the scene.
"Clearly, putting the event in a larger venue and erecting some mysterious building sends cues it is something dramatic and important," Forrester analyst Frank Gillett said of Apple's preparations.