iOS 5 will be available October 12, iCloud launching the same day

Mark your calendars, kids. Scott Forstall’s on stage here at “Let’s Talk iPhone” and just gave a hard date for iOS 5’s arrival: expect it to hit next week, on October 12th, with Apple’s iCloud service launching that same day. Though developers have been playing with it for four months now, this will be the first time the general, non-tinkering public gets to taste its 200-plus new features — a list that includes Newsstand, Reminders, iMessage, WiFi sync, Find My Friends, split keyboards, AirPlay mirroring for the iPad 2 (and iPhone 4S!) and the Notification Center. (And, you know, greeting cards, if you’re into that sort of thing.) As always, iOS 5 will be free on iPhones, while iCloud’s standard 5GB of email / storage will come gratis to folks already using iOS 5 and Lion. Take note that if it’s iTunes Match you’re after (and you live in the states), you’ll have to sit tight a couple more weeks yet.