iPhone 6 launch: Apple set to unveil new smartwatch alongside brand new iPhone

The tech world is preparing for the first glimpse of the new iPhone 6 as Apple is set to unveil the latest generation of it's best-selling smartphone.

Apple, which has sold more than 500 million iPhones since it was first launched in 2007, is also expected to use tonight's event to unveil a new version of the iPad tablet.

Apple's current iPhone versions - the iPhone 5s and 5c - are the two best-selling smarphones in the UK, but the firm has been under increasing pressure to introduce new innovations to the technology market.

Members of the press invited to tonight's launch - held at the Flint Centre in Cupertino, California - are also hoping to see the firm's first venture into the wearable technology field with a smartwatch - expected to be called the iWatch.

Despite the outright success of the current iPhone models, competition from Android devices such as Google, Samsung and HTC has seen the company's market share slip in recent years.

According to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), Android devices made up more than 80 per cent of the smartphone market share in the second quarter of 2014, based on the number of units shipped. Apple's mobile operating system iOS, that runs on iPhone, had 11.7 per cent.

Apple has continued to post regular profits, with $7.7 billion (£4.8 billion) in profit recorded in the third quarter of this year.

But industry commentators say that in order to continue to be considered an innovator and market leader, this latest Apple event must match the watershed moments of the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and the iPad in 2010 - both of which redefined their respective markets.