Following news of a seventh straight quarter of profitability and with share prices at their highest level, Apple Computer proved yesterday that the company remains colourfully upbeat with the introduction of a portable "iMac to go".
Called an iBook, the computer was rapturously received when demonstrated by interim chief executive officer, Mr Steve Jobs, at the MacWorld Expo show in New York City. In an expected iMaclike shake-up of the grey plastic world of mobile computing, Apple will offer the two-toned, clamshell laptop in blue-and-white or orange-and-white.
The machine also features a polycarbonite casing - the same material used in bullet-proof vests - and a fold-down handle and is the first computer designed to incorporate a new wireless technology for high-speed Internet access, which Apple is calling AirPort.
According to Mr Jobs, consumer research by Apple indicated "what [customers] wanted was an iMac to go". As with the iMac, Apple's low-priced computer designed for easy Internet access, the low-priced but high-performance laptop computer for the consumer and educational market is yet another aggressive move by Apple to capture a significant slice of the consumer market. According to Mr Jobs, consumers will have bought 1.9 million iMacs by mid-August.
Analysts had expected the iBook would be unveiled at the show, but few had predicted a low-cost portable would also offer such high specifications.
With a 300 megaHertz Apple G3 processor, a 3.2 gigabyte hard-drive, 32 megabytes of RAM, a round power unit with a retractable cord and wireless capability on offer for $1,599 (#1,520), the iBook surpasses other "low-end" laptops in power while having the bonus element of a quirky design style that, in the iMac, has had strong consumer appeal. The machine will ship in September.
AirPort, a technology developed by Lucent technologies, the Bell Labs spin-off, enables an iBook to maintain a wireless Internet connection at speeds of up to 11 megabits per second (in contrast, the fastest traditional modems transfer data at 56 kilobits per second. A megabit is equal to 1,000 kilobits). The iBook has two built-in antennae to boost wireless performance.
Mr Jobs also announced several improvements to Apple's audio and video playback technology, QuickTime. QuickTime has also become a cornerstone of Apple's attempt to win market share for its technologies. The company offers for free both the player - a small program that plays audio and video on a computer - and the server software that lets people broadcast audio and video themselves.
QuickTime TV, or QTV, is Apple's move into providing content as well. QTV already offers streaming channels of video, much of it live, from media companies like BBC World News, Bloomberg Business News, and Fox News and Sports. Yesterday, Mr Jobs announced the addition of powerhouses ABC News, US sports broadcaster ESPN and Rolling Stone magazine.
Apple will show a $200 million profit for the quarter ended in June and now has $3 billion in cash reserves, said Mr Jobs. The company has also reduced its inventory levels - once cripplingly large - down to 15 hours, according to Mr Jobs, which beats industry leaders Gateway, at nine days, and Dell, at six days. However, those levels account only for Apple's own manufacturing inventory, not for product backlogs held by retailers.
Apple showed little of its next update for the Macintosh operating system, called OS 9, which Mr Jobs said will ship in October. Most Macintosh users are more anxious for OS X (OS 10), the long-awaited, totally-revamped Mac operating system. Mr Jobs originally returned to Apple, the company he co-founded, in order to spearhead the drive to create a new Mac OS. The successful completion of that project is central to Apple's long-term viability.
