re:4G/LTE
If this is true, I imagine it'd be more a case of just expanding LTE coverage to all the networks not included in the first round.
The other way of looking at it would be that they're actually scared by Samsung's apparent dominance and they're playing catch-up?
The 5S redesign is likely to include an upgrade of the transceiver to Qualcomm WTR1605, which will allow Apple to cover more LTE bands, especially in Europe with their 2.5/2.6GHz LTE bands. Anandtech discusses this in their review of iPhone 5.
So the 5S may be primarily an LTE band update along with few tweaks here and there. This was largely the case for the iPad 3 to iPad4 update, which replaced the MDM9600 LTE modem with the MDM9615 modem. This allowed Apple to cover more LTE bands outside USA.
Assuming that iPad 5 update follows iPhone 5s update, more LTE bands will be covered for both iphone and ipad lines. Yes, Apple is playing catch up to Samsung since Samsung pretty much have different GS3 models for all the LTE bands in the world.
Expect both iphone and ipad lines to be updated within next 6 months, probably around February-March time frame. An accelerated product update cycle reflects the competitive nature of the mobile computing market, which has an unfortunate side effect of cutting down the lifetime of the technology in the market.