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SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer CEO
<form class="yqin" action="http:" /> Steve Jobs

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Jobs on Tuesday made the company's long-awaited jump into the mobile
phone business and renamed the company to just "Apple Inc.," reflecting its
increasing focus on consumer electronics.

The iPhone, which starts at $499, is controlled by touch, plays music, surfs
the Internet and runs the
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computer operating system. Jobs said it will "reinvent" the telecommunications
sector and "leapfrog" past the current generation of hard-to-use smart
phones.

"Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes
everything," he said during his keynote address at the annual Macworld
Conference and Expo. "It's very fortunate if you can work on just one of these
in your career. ... Apple's been very fortunate in that it's introduced a few of
these."

He said the name change is meant to reflect the fact that Apple has matured
from a computer manufacturer to a full-fledged consumer electronics company.

"I didn't sleep a wink last night," he said. "I was so excited."

During his speech, Jobs also unveiled a TV set-top box that allows people to
send video from their computers and announced the number of songs sold on its
iTunes Music Store has topped 2 billion.

Apple shares jumped more than 6 percent on the announcements, while the stock
of rival smart-phone makers plunged.

Jobs demonstrated the iPhone's music capabilities by playing "Lovely Rita,
Meter Maid," from the Beatles' "Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band," as
the album's psychedelic album art graced a wide-screen monitor.

IPhone uses a patented touch-screen technology Apple is calling
"multi-touch."

"We're going to use a pointing device that we're all born with," Jobs said.
"It works like magic. ... It's far more accurate than any touch display ever
shipped. It ignores unintended touches. It's super smart."

The phone automatically synchs your media — movies, music, photos — through
Apple's iTunes Music Store. The device also synchs e-mail content, Web bookmarks
and nearly any type of digital content stored on your computer.

"It's just like an iPod," Jobs said, "charge and synch."

The phones, which will operate exclusively on AT&T Inc.'s Cingular
wireless network, will start shipping in June. A 4-gigabyte model will cost
$499, while an 8-gigabyte iPhone will be $599, Jobs said.

IPhone is less than a half-inch thin — less than almost any phone on the
market today. It comes with a 2-megapixel digital camera built into the back, as
well as a slot for headphones and a SIM card.

In a demonstration Tuesday, Jobs slid his finger across the display to reveal
a home screen and then scrolled through a list of songs.

To make a call, users can tap out the number on an onscreen keypad or scroll
through their contacts and dial with a single touch.

Apple is also introducing what it calls "visual voicemail," so users can jump
to the most important messages rather than have to listen to all of them in
order.

The phone supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology and can detect
location from Global Positioning System satellites. It also can send and display
e-mail and text messages. Apple is partnering with Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO
- news)
on Web-based e-mail and Google Inc. on maps.

With a few finger taps, Jobs demonstrated how to pull up a Google Maps site
and find the closest Starbucks to the Moscone Center. He then prank-called the
cafe and ordered 4,000 lattes to go before quickly hanging up.