ReadWriteWeb

The next version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 5, will be available for download in just over one week, Apple announced today.

Apple's Senior Vice President of iOS Software told the crowd at the company's "Let's Talk iPhone" media event today that iOS 5, a significant upgrade that was first unveiled at the WWDC in June, will go live on October 12.

The iTunes app store will contain just over 13,000 healthcare-related apps by 2012, a sign that the caring and treatment for the sick - or even those fearing they are sick - is moving to the mobile device.

Analysts also say that these apps are increasing in price during a period of rising healthcare costs and a significant rise in the number of professional-aged people without health insurance.

When it comes to designing its overall mobile user experience, Apple apparently knows how to keep customers happy. Almost 90% of people that own an iPhone say they'd prefer to stick with Apple when it comes time to purchase their next mobile device, according to a recent survey conducted by UBS Investment Research.

This is far higher than the retention rate for the second most popular handset maker, which was HTC. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has managed to encourage 39% of its current customers to stick with them for their next device.

Mike Lee has been involved in what are arguably some of the software industry's best applications. Delicious Library, Tap Tap Revenge, the Obama '08 app, and Apple's mobile store. Lee has a pretty good idea what users want, and spent about an hour at the St. Louis Strange Loop 2011 conference talking about product engineering and why it's best to imagine users as lazy, stupid, impatient and selfish. Did I mention he was wearing a Mariachi outfit?

Apple fans and the technology press have been wondering aloud for months about what new features will be included in the next iteration of the iPhone. As the iPhone 5's rumored October launch gets closer, that speculation grows more feverish, as details are leaked and rumors turn into facts.

We're reaching that point with the iPhone 5 (or is it iPhone 4s? Or both?), which is widely expected to launch within a matter of weeks. With a barrage of new rumors and purported leaks everyday, it's hard to know for sure what's true. A few things are practically guaranteed: the phone will be faster with upgraded tech specs. It will probably have a better camera than the iPhone 4. One thing that's always been unclear is whether the device will support NFC.

We are in the final stretch of iOS 5 beta as the iPhone 5 is expected to launch in early October. According to Boy Genius Report, iOS 5 Beta 8 is expected to be released this Friday, Sept. 16. The final Gold Masters build is expected to drop a week later, on Sept. 23. Developers, are you ready with your final preparations for the newest version of the iPhone?

In conversations with developers, iOS 5 beta is just about ready to go. They really like the split keyboard functions and feel that it is now stable enough that it runs just as well as iOS 4.3. Battery life, always a problem in early betas, has been fixed. There are still a "few nagging bugs" as one developer put it, but the timeline is well in place for a launch in the next several weeks.

The worst CEOs in tech, OpenStack announcements from HP, and rumors about Google Dart are all in this ReadWriteWeb channels wrap-up.

Steve Jobs may have been the best tech CEO ever, but the worst is open to debate. Last week, we also looked at L-Soft Listserv turning 25, and how many Android devices still run Froyo. After the jump, you'll find more of this week's top stories on ReadWriteWeb's channels.

Newspapers and magazines still clinging to hopes that tablets will help revitalize their businesses have something to look forward to this Fall. That's when Apple with launch Newsstand, a marketplace for digital publications that will be rolled out with iOS 5.

Adobe announced today that its Digital Publishing Suite will be ready when iOS 5 and Newsstand go live. Using DPS, media companies will now be able to publish directly into Newsstand, just as they can now publish stand-alone apps for iPads and other tablet devices.

A big problem for the nearly half a million apps available in the Apple App store is that they each lack an easily shareable social narrative that would empower users to buy.

San Francisco-based Kinetik, is trying to solve that problem and today launched an app-sharing application for the iPhone that looks at what your friends and potential friends are using and makes suggestions based on those apps to you.