by , 12:20 PM EDT, October 9th, 2008

Hot on the heels of the "Brick" and $800 Mac laptop rumors, Apple Inc. has begun sending out invitations to the journalists for a media event billed under the phrase, "The spotlight turns to notebooks." The company will be hosting the event on Tuesday, October 14th.

The laptop-related event will take place in Cupertino, CA, on Apple's main corporate campus, and it will start at 10:00 AM PDT.

Even in the midst of economic uncertainty centered around the financial crisis on Wall Street, Apple has been displaying its penchant for generating headlines and hype for unannounced products.

Most recently, there have been rumors about a supposed manufacturing process called "Brick" that uses lasers and water jet cutting technologies to carve laptop cases from solid blocks of aluminum. That rumor was followed today with an unconfirmed report of an expansion of Apple's laptop line that would include a model priced starting at US$800.

"The spotlight turns to notebooks" will likely add much fuel to the fire in the days between now and Tuesday's announcement.

The date places the media event just one week ahead of the company's earnings announcement, which will take place on October 21st.

From Apple's media invitation to Tuesday's event.