Apple announces year of the notebook computer ; Notebooks make up 42 per cent of all computers shipped by the firm while the industry average is 25 per cent, writes Karlin Lillington, in Paris

     This is the year of the notebook computer, Apple founder and chief executive Mr Steve Jobs told 5,000 Apple enthusiasts during his keynote speech at Apple Expo in Paris this week.
     Observing that notebooks now comprise 42 per cent of all computers shipped by Apple - the industry average for manufacturers is 25 per cent - Mr Jobs expects notebook sales to form the foundation of Apple's success in the future.
"This is clearly the year of the notebook for Apple and its customers," said Mr Jobs. "With this line-up we think we can take this 42 per cent and get it to where portables equal desktops."
     During his address, he presented a new slim 1.1-inch high notebook, with a 15-inch screen in the company's aluminium-encased G4 laptop line, and announced upgraded features in the existing 12- inch screen and super-wide 17-inch screen G4 laptops.
     All three will run on faster processors and will have upgraded video capabilities. They are all available immediately, with the new 15-inch machine retailing at E1,599.
     During his address, Mr Jobs offered no updates on when Apple might bring its iTunes Music Store downloadable music service to Europe, or when a Windows version of the store will be available. At present, only Macintosh users with a US credit card are able to purchase songs, which sell for $0.99 each (Apple gets a $0.10 slice of that revenue, say analysts).
     At a press conference following his talk, Mr Jobs stuck with vague dates the company has mentioned before - the end of the year for the Windows Music Store, and spring for the European version of the service.
     Apple is still negotiating European rights to sell the songs, which are often under different licensing arrangements than in the US.
     Apple recently announced that more than 10 million songs had been downloaded from the service, which allows purchasers to burn the songs to CDs or load them on to a digital music player such as Apple's iPod.
     The service was introduced four months ago.
     Though the computer maker has less than 4 per cent of the global computer market - rival Windows-based personal computers have the overwhelming share, at 90 per cent - Apple's notebooks have proven highly popular, as have its revamped iPod range of digital music players.
     With the launch of Apple's Music Store earlier this year, sales of iPods skyrocketed, leading Apple to release two models last week with even greater storage capacity of 20 gigabytes and 40G.
     The lucrative iPod range contributed $122 million in revenue to Apple's quarterly results for the period ending in June, nearly a sixfold increase on the same quarter in 2002, when sales totalled $22 million.
     In the last quarter, during which the Music Store was introduced, Apple sold 304,000 iPods, according to Mr Jobs. In Europe, the high- end devices retail for E349 to E549. Mr Jobs also demonstrated features of the latest version of its operating system OS X, called Panther.
     The Unix-based OS will have over 150 new features, including new ways of organizing desktop windows, and searching for items on the hard drive and in documents.
     Panther will also have a built-in security feature that automatically encrypts the hard drive, making it impossible for another person to examine the contents of the computer without knowing the user's password.
     Panther will be released by the end of the year and will sell for E149, Mr Jobs said. Apple will also introduce a wireless keyboard and mouse, both of which use the Bluetooth networking protocol.
     The keyboard automatically encrypts keystrokes as a user types, making the keyboard unreadable by hackers who might try to use keyboard-reading software software to obtain passwords and user identities. The products will be available within two weeks, he said.
One of Apple's most interesting applications is an audio and video instant messaging program called iChat AV.
     The application works like other instant messaging programs except it seamlessly integrates both audio and video, enabling users to make costless phonecalls over the internet and video conference.
     The software, which Mr Jobs called "one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life", lets a user see not just when instant messaging buddies are online, but also whether they have a camera installed.
      Video conferencing involves a single mouseclick to establish a connection. Users are allowed a quick preview to check how they themselves will appear to the other person over the line.
     "It's video conferencing for the rest of us," said Mr Jobs, referring back to Apple's original 1980s slogan touting the Mac as "the computer for the rest of us".
      While much of his address reiterated announcements made earlier this year, Mr Jobs concluded by underlining the formidable array of new products and applications the company has introduced within the past nine months. These include all three G4 notebook computers, the super-fast G5 desktop computer, the iSight webcam for video conferencing and video chats, the Keynote presentation application (a rival to PowerPoint), the Safari web browser, the new mouse and keyboard, the iLife video, music and photo management software package, and the new iPods.
     "Our strategy at Apple is to innovate," he said. "That's what we do."