Apple’s next version of iOS, iOS 5, has been given a release date of the 12th October.  Revealed during WWDC 2011, iOS 5 is a major revision of Apple’s mobile operating system, introducing many new features and a variety of tweaks to existing ones.

The first hour of today’s special iPhone 4S event was dedicated to company performance and a refresher course on iOS 5.  You can read all about them in our original coverage, plus see a few in action in Apple’s own iOS 5 demo video.

As for the usual Apple facts and figures, here’s the latest:

• There are now 357 Apple stores worldwide.
• There have been 6 million downloads of Lion OS X 10.7, 80% more than Snow Leopard.
• More than 300 million iPods sold in the 10 years, with 45 million sold in the last year.  Half of which were to first-time iPod owners.
• iTunes is home to 20 million songs, has racked up 16 billion downloads, and is the number one music store in the world.
• Apple claim the iPhone has 5% worldwide market share.
• The iPad is the world’s top-selling tablet, claiming 3 out of every 4 tablets sold in the US.
• Apple has sold 250 million iOS devices and browsing figures show 61% ioS, 31% android and 8% other.
• There are 500,ooo apps in the App Store, with 140k for the ipad alone.  It’s the number one store for mobile apps and has seen 18 billion apps downloaded at more than 1 billion per month.

Apple also announced two new apps for iOS, Cards and Friends and Family.  Cards provides a printing and mailing service for your iPhone pictures, with printed and embossed cards being sent by Apple.  An iOS notification shows when the card is about to be delivered and the $2.99 US app has 21 designs to choose from.  Elsewhere in the world, it’ll cost $4.99.  It’s out on the 12th October.

Friends and Family’s function isn’t all that clear, but it sounds like a tracking app used to see where other people are located.  Apple promised simple privacy controls, a parental restriction and the ability to only temporarily turn the system on.