Speculation about the Apple iPhone 5 release date continues and today we have further news on the launch times that have been reported recently. Also it seems more and more likely that the iPhone 5 will launch running the next major operating system, iOS 6, and we have some details of what enhancements that may bring to the iPhone 5.

We have previously questioned whether the next iPhone would release with iOS 6 and many insiders and analysts now believe strongly that this will be the case. Most people who follow developments for the upcoming iPhone will have heard of the two distinct release time frames that have been bandied about, summer or fall. Until recently some felt a summer release could happen after an unveiling at Apple’s WWDC in June but the main consensus seemed to be that a fall release was more likely, around a year after the launch of the iPhone 4S.

However, last week there were reports that Foxconn was hiring huge amounts of workers in preparation for an iPhone 5 coming in June, according to a recruiter. The pendulum then swung back once more to a summer release. Today though, Kotaku has published an article that disputes this once more. Apparently South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper has reported that it asked another Foxconn employee, a head of human resources, about an iPhone 5 release date and was categorically told that Foxconn had now received the order for a release around October. When then asking for Foxconn’s head of publicity to also comment the paper was informed that the person was on vacation and no comment was forthcoming. Intriguing stuff then and once again the speculated release date seesaws back and forth.

Although the release date for the iPhone 5 is still up in the air it does seem probable that iOS 6 will bring certain improvements. Whether the next iPhone comes in the summer or the fall we reckon it’s highly likely we’ll see iOS 6 released around WWDC in June, or at least unveiled. Previously we’ve told of signs that Apple employees in Cupertino were testing this out on devices there and also told of key features that some would like to see from the next operating system. These included third party widgets on the notifications menu, a different keyboard offering such as Swype, more launch shortcuts and even computer control. Now IBTimes, sourced from iOS 6 News Blog, reports that iOS 6 is also likely to bring upgrades to Siri, Apple’s voice recognition system, as well as an improved interface.

Although many current iPhone 4S users enjoy the benefits of Siri, it has to be said that for others the advantages have not been so clearcut and indeed this has led to lawsuits being filed by some who felt that Siri’s capabilities were overplayed in publicity. Not all of the functions of Siri were available in all regions and many people also complained that the voice detection was not accurate enough to cope with their accents. Therefore the idea that a major upgrade to Siri will come with iOS 6 certainly makes sense and many would argue that it is a necessity.

IBTimes tells how the upgraded Siri might be able to be activated simply by a shake of the phone and that voice commands could also be utilized for navigation, searching websites and sharing on social media. Another aspect likely to be further enhanced is Siri’s intelligence, further improving how the voice recognition system is able to analyze connotation and meaning.

Of course we have to point out that this is all unconfirmed as yet, as is everything else we think we already know about the iPhone 5. However apart from the new OS other specs and features widely anticipated for the next iPhone are a larger display, better battery, an A5X or A6 processor, LTE connectivity and most recently we also heard about the possibility of face recognition and unlock.

We’d really like to hear your views on the iPhone 5 and particularly what improvements you’d like to see from iOS 6? Maybe Siri is less important to you than other advances that you’d like to see? Let us know with your comments.