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July 21, 1999
Web posted at: 3:14 p.m. EDT (1914 GMT)

In this story: Jobs works his magic Apple hopes to extend turnaround Multifunction Apple-compatible printer unveiled RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) - Apple unveiled a relatively low-cost, laptop version of its iMac personal computer on Wednesday at the semi-annual MacWorld show in New York City.

The iBook, a hybrid of the iMac and the Apple PowerBook, can be configured for wireless networking, allowing users to roam around their home or office while connected to the Internet or to other local machines.

Set to retail for $1,599 starting in September without the wireless option, the laptop features battery life of up to six hours and a 300-MHz G3 processor with 32MB of RAM in two of the trademark iMac colors - blueberry and tangerine.

The laptop also has built-in antennas and an internal slot for Apple's $99 AirPort wireless networking card. The wireless system uses radio frequencies and relies on a base station developed by Lucent Technologies. It is priced at $299 and also functions as a local area network.

While many portables can now make a cellular phone connections to the Internet, iBook users can wander up to 150 feet from the base station that plugs into a regular telephone jack like a cordless phone.

The audience at Macworld enthusiastically received the product.

The AirPort Base Station houses a 56k modem and uses radio frequencies (much like a cordless phone) to allow wireless Internet connection

To demonstrate the iBook's wireless feature, Apple acting chief executive Steve Jobs moved a green hoop around the laptops like a magician to prove there were no cables connected to the machine.

"iBook is the 'iMac to Go,'" said Jobs. "I hope people are starting to see design is making a difference" in computers.

The iBook weighs 6.6 pounds and comes with a 12.1-inch active-matrix color screen. The machine also features an internal 56K modem and CD-ROM drive, as well as 10/100BASE-T Ethernet networking.

With the iMac design's rounded edges, the laptop looks like a giant clam, moreso than other PC laptops, but like its Apple desktop cousin lacks a floppy drive.

iBook's design innovations include a pullout carrying handle and a latch-less closing mechanism for faster access.

Other features include:

• Lithium-ion battery
• 32MB RAM expandable to 160 MB
• 512K backside cache
• 3.2 GB hard drive
• full-size keyboard
• one USB port
• Mac 8.6 operating system and a collection of gaming and other software;
• power cord that reels in like a yo-yo
• built-in stereo headphone jack

Apple, which has largely ignored the home user laptop market, hopes the new product will extend a Apple's two-year financial and technological turnaround sparked by the iMac.

Strong sales of the iMac, the oddly shaped and oddly colored personal computer introduced last August, helped Apple nearly double its profits in the most recent quarter, easily beating Wall Street forecasts.

Likewise, Apple's share of retail desktop sales reached 6.7 percent in May, double that of a year ago, according to the ZD Infobeads research firm.

Also at MacWorld, Canon Computer Systems unveiled the first Apple-compatible multifunction printer, which will be shipped the second week of August and priced at $299.

The MultiPASS C635 color printer will be able to print, fax, make photocopies and scan documents. Initially, it will be sold through catalogs, online and at CompUSA and J&R Music World stores.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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