October doesn't have to be a scary month, even if it ends with Halloween.

There will be plenty of market-shaping events taking place in October. Here are a few of the days that I plan to approach with eyes wide open this month.

Oct. 6
It's time to see if Google TV is all that it can be.

Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI) has scheduled a media event in New York next Wednesday, promising to unveil its line of Google TV products. Yes, there's an entire line apparently. I figured it would be one and only one set-top box powered by Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) web-savvy digital video platform.

This will be the holiday season of set-top boxes, as features and functionality continue to improve. Can Logitech's box compete? Will it be priced ambitiously enough? Is it revolutionary, evolutionary, or already obsolete?

Stay tuned.

Oct. 12
It's not all gloom and doom in the video game space. Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) will debut Medal of Honor, and it's easy to be excited. EA revealed this week that it has had more presales for this title than any installment in the franchise's 11-year history.

Clearly multiplayer military shooters that blend strategy with heavy artillery are one of the rare bright spots among gaming genres. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 broke the industry record for initial sales last November. If the pre-ordering hype behind EA's latest entry lives up to the reality at the other end of Oct. 12, both EA and the industry will have the hit they sorely need.

Oct. 18
The tech bellwether that appears to do no wrong will step up to the earnings stage when Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) delivers its fourth-quarter results.

There's plenty riding on the report. Between MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch devices, Apple continues to broaden its offerings -- and the quarter ended just as Apple TV was coming around.

Apple has consistently topped Wall Street profit targets for years. It shouldn't be any different this time around. Sure, analysts may seem aggressive in projecting $3.98 a share in net income for the quarter. It always seems that way. Don't believe it. Tech stocks would crater if that was all that Apple earned.

History repeats itself every three months in Cupertino.

Oct. 20
It will be a celebratory day for celluloid when Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) cranks out its quarterly numbers.

The digital video and DVD specialist has been growing quickly, regardless of the economy. Just to get you up to speed, here are the questions where Netflix's answers will determine the stock's direction:

  • Is the subscriber count growing much faster than revenue? This trend spooked investors earlier this year, indicating that members are trading down to cheaper plans.
  • Is churn in check? With all of the money that Netflix is investing in beefing up its digital catalog, it would be crushing if it's not helping retain couch potatoes.
  • How many of its 15 million subcribers -- and counting -- are streaming online? Netflix continues to gain ground digitally, with 61% of its subscribers taking advantage of the company's streaming service at no additional cost this past quarter. It will continue to inch higher. Will more than two-thirds of Netflix's base be streaming? It's an ambitious goal for October's report, but it's a fair target by year's end.

Oct. 21
The debut of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Phone 7 could be on this day.

Several sites were reporting that overseas events were being slated for Oct. 21. However, earlier this week, tech blog Engadget broke from the pack -- announcing that there would be a Microsoft media event in London on Oct. 11. Then again, the event 10 days earlier may simply be building up to the actual release a week and a half later.

Either way, Microsoft will have lived up to its goal of an October launch. If it somehow misses the mark, it knows that it will get grilled by analysts when it reports quarterly results on Oct. 28.

Is Microsoft too late? Apple, Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM), and now even Google have tens of millions of smartphone users on their platforms. It will be hard to compete. Does it aim for the BlackBerry crowd, given Mr. Softy's acceptance in corporate circles? It can't really undercut the freely available Google Android in its appeal to handset makers and wireless carriers. Will it aim for an entirely new audience? It will be leaning on Xbox-branded gaming to turn youthful heads.

Microsoft has so many places it can go with this -- but all roads go uphill.

What will you be looking forward to this month? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Google and Microsoft are Motley Fool Inside Value picks. Google is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers selection. Apple, Electronic Arts, and Netflix are Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations. Logitech International is a Motley Fool Hidden Gems choice. Motley Fool Options has recommended writing a covered strangle position on Logitech International and a diagonal call position on Microsoft. The Fool owns shares of Apple, Google, Logitech International, and Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

True to its name, The Motley Fool is made up of a motley assortment of writers and analysts, each with a unique perspective; sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but we all believe in the power of learning from each other through our Foolish community.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz told you to wake him up when September ends. Now he's overslept. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.