Jobs had been on medical leave since January

Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs has died, aged 56, after his long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Apple said late Wednesday night that Jobs was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California. Other details were not disclosed.

Fans paid homage to Jobs outside Apple stores around the world and his death sparked an immediate outpouring of tributes from world leaders and business rivals.

US president Barack Obama said: “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

“By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun,” Obama said, before citing Jobs’ success with the Pixar animation studio: “And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike.”

Microsoft founder and former CEO Bill Gates said that he met Jobs nearly 30 years ago, and that the two had been colleagues, competitors and friends for more than half their lives.

“I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death,” Gates said. “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.

“For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honour.  I will miss Steve immensely.“

Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook announced the news of Jobs death to apple staff, saying that Apple has “lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.”

“Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

In his final statement to the press, upon announcing his resignation as CEO at Apple, Jobs spoke of Apple’s “brightest and most innovative days being ahead of it”.

“I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you,” he said at the time.

News of his death drove the Apple share price down more than 5 per cent in Frankfurt on Thursday morning. Apple shares are now trading 3.5 per cent lower, after hitting a low of €270 in Frankfurt. The shares are expected to open lower when Wall Street opens at 2.30pm GMT.On the NASDAQ, Apple’s shares rose by 1.5 per cent.

Ovum chief analyst Jan Dawson said that Jobs’ death will be felt deeply at Apple, but also throughout the industry.

“The iPhone 4S launch event was a reminder of the vision and strategy Steve Jobs laid out for Apple during his time as CEO. That foundation will serve Apple well in the years to come, and there is little danger of Apple deviating from that successful strategy.”

“The risk—if there is one—is that Apple continues to rely on single ‘hero’ devices in its two major product lines—iPhone and iPad—with an annual release cycle. However, this week’s launch should pave the way for at least another year of success in the smartphone business, and future releases are likely to continue that pattern.”

New Apple CEO Tim Cook: more than just a safe pair of hands?

The resignation of Steve Jobs from Apple has reignited the debate over the extent to which the company’s success and it’s charismatic leader are inseparable. Commenting on Jobs’ departure, Ovum’s chief analyst Jan Dawson suggested that there are “reasons to fear” for Apple’s future if this latest news suggests, as many believe, that Jobs health is failing.

“Longer-term, if Steve Jobs’ condition worsens to the point that he can no longer be involved in even occasional decision making at the company, there are reasons to fear that the company will struggle to emulate its recent success,” said Dawson. “Steve Jobs has provided both strategic vision and personal leadership at the top of the company, as arguably the most visible and well-known CEO of any technology company today. Tim Cook will not step easily into either of these roles. [Cook is a] safe pair of hands but hardly a visionary or charismatic figure.”

Other analysts have suggested that Jobs’ withdrawal from the company will have little impact, pointing out that Cook has been in charge since the beginning of the year, and has run the firm during Jobs’ previous long term absences. Earlier this year Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa, told Telecoms.com that “as long as Apple continues to innovate as it has in the last few years, it will enjoy a healthy performance over the coming years. With its existing products alone, there is no doubt the company will continue to score significant sales and revenue growth in the coming years, despite the mounting competition it faces in the mobile and tablet markets.”

If Nokia has proved anything recently, it is that nobody stays at the top of the tree forever. So what do you think: Can Apple succeed without Jobs at its core?

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Jobs has been on medical leave since January

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has resigned as the firm’s chief executive, leading to renewed speculation that his health has deteriorated further. In a brief letter to the board, Jobs wrote: “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately that day has come.”

Jobs took an extended leave of absence in January, citing an unspecified health problem. He has suffered from pancreatic cancer in the past, and undergone a liver transplant. Tim Cook, the firm’s COO has been in charge since the beginning of year, and will now take on the CEO mantle full time.

In his letter, which was addressed to the board of Apple as well as the wider “Apple community”, Jobs said that he believes Apple’s “brightest days” to be ahead of it. And while the firm’s share price took a wobble on the announcement, it is not believed that Jobs’ resignation will affect the company’s short term performance. He will remain involved as Apple’s chairman.

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Apple's introduction of iCloud is likely to finally introduce the concept of cloud computing to the masses

As expected, Steve Jobs took to the stage Monday at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference in San Fransico to reveal iCloud, a collection of cloud services designed to work seamlessly with its iOS and MacOS X devices and computers.

Jobs explained that moving from a PC centric to a cloud centric model was necessary in order to simplify getting content onto multiple devices. “Keeping those devices in sync is driving us crazy,” admitted Jobs.

The free iCloud service will ensure that content from all Apple devices, such as photos taken on an iPhone, will be automatically uploaded to the cloud and then pushed back down to other Apple devices such as an iPad, without any need for user interaction.

The former MobileMe services – Contacts, Calendar and Mail have been re-architected to work with iCloud, while all App Store and iBook store purchases will be distributed to all devices, up to a maximum of ten, not just the one the purchase was made on.

iCloud will also now sync changes made to any documents created using Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote office apps, and push them out to other devices. Up to 5GBs of storage is offered for free with additional storage available to buy. Meanwhile, the Photo Stream service will push pictures taken on an iPhone to other devices, storing photos in the cloud for 30 days.

iTunes in the Cloud will for the first time allow previously purchased iTunes music to be downloaded to all devices at no extra cost, as well as new music. A brand new paid for service called iTunes Match will scan all music in your iTunes library and replace it with a 256kbps AAC DRM-free version, which will then be available to stream in a matter of minutes. This is a major advantage over Amazon and Google’s cloud music plays, which require all previously acquired content to be manually uploaded before it can be streamed back to the device, which for large libraries could take weeks. Apple will be charging $24.99 for the privilege however, and as with Amazon and Google’s service it will only be available in the US at this stage.

The iCloud beta is available immediately to developers and will go public with the release of iOS5 and Mac OS X Lion later this year.

While Apple’s iCloud service is impressive, it is not the first to market with many of these features, with Google and Amazon already launching their cloud plays. However, Giles Cottle, Senior Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media does not believe that the delay has hurt Apple.

“It’s the fact that iCloud brings all of these features together in a compelling, easy-to-use and intuitive manner – rather than the features themselves – that makes the iCloud proposition. The basic user proposition of cloud services – being able to access your photos, documents, video and music everywhere – is fairly straightforward. But it was always going to take someone like Apple to really educate mass market consumers about the value of cloud-baesd services. We are, it appears, on the cusp of that moment.

“Most crucially, Apple’s tight control of its device ecosystem means that iCloud is much more likely to, as Steve Jobs puts it, “just work”. Apple’s total control of the device and content ecosystem has been heavily criticised in the past, but, if iCloud works as well in practice as it did in today’s demo, it’s a stunning validation of the power of closed ecosystems.”

Apple also announced details of iOS5, which now includes an enhanced notification system that stops system messages interrupting your activities (Apple has reportedly hired the iOS hacker behind the popular MobileNotifier app for jailbroken iPhone devices – Peter Hajas), and closer system integration with Twitter. iMessage will also bring free messaging between all iOS5 devices, mimicking Blackberry Messenger, while iOS5 will also allow first-time set-up and software updates without requiring a connection to a PC.

Finally, Apple said that Mac OS X Lion, offering 250 new features, would be available as an upgrade in July for $25 or £20.99.

Apple shifts 1 million new iPhones in first weekend

Californian vendor Apple said Monday that it has sold over one million iPhone 3GS units in the first three days of launch.

Apple launched the latest addition to its iPhone portfolio on June 19. The “S”, Apple said, stands for “speed,” with the device boasting enhanced memory and processor power to give a faster performance in applications and on the web.

In terms of hardware enhancements, the 3GS also features longer battery life, a 3 megapixel autofocus camera, which happily allows video recording, hands free voice control and a digital compass that complements the onboard GPS to reorient maps to the direction you are facing.

The company also said six million users have downloaded the latest version of the iPhone software 3.0 since its release on June 17. Version 3.0 adds over 100 new features to the older devices including: Cut, Copy and Paste; MMS; improved search; landscape keyboard; parental controls; Voice Memos; a Find My iPhone feature that works together with MobileMe; Remote Wipe; wireless downloading of movies, TV and audio programs; and peer to peer functionality.

It is also believed that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is back at the helm following six months medical leave.

Jobs made an appearance in the statement about iPhone 3GS sales, and is also reported to be back at his desk this week. The Apple frontman took a six month leave of absence citing health related issues in January.

Apple is unusual in the tech world in that the company is more closely tied to the health of its CEO that at any other firm. Speculation over Jobs’ health thoughout the past year has seen Apple’s share price take a battering on more than one occasion. In his absence, chief operating officer Tim Cook, has led the firm.