Apple Inc. will introduce a new iPhone at an Oct. 4 event in Cupertino, Calif., the company said in an e-mailed statement today.

“Let’s talk iPhone,” Apple said in the statement.

The new iPhone will include a better camera and faster processor, people familiar with the matter said earlier this year. Introduced in 2007, the iPhone is Apple’s top-selling product, accounting for about half its revenue in the third quarter. The touch-screen gadget has helped push Apple to be the world’s most valuable company, bigger than Exxon Mobil Corp.

Apple’s shares rose $2.94 to $406.11 in midday trading  on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock had climbed 25 percent this year before today.

Next week’s event will be the first major product unveiling since co-founder Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive officer and turned leadership of the company over to Tim Cook on Aug. 24. Jobs is now Apple’s chairman.

Apple showed off new features of the iPhone’s revamped operating system during Jobs’ last major Apple event at its developers conference in June. The new software, called iOS, includes new notification and text messaging systems. The company also said in June that it will debut iCloud, which allows users to wirelessly access music, pictures and other files across different Apple devices.