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Apple introduces new US$499 iPad tablet computer

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CEO Steve Jobs (C) talks with Technology Columnist Walt Mossberg (L) of the Wall Street Journal during an Apple Special Event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts January 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California. CEO Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. introduced its latest creation, the iPad, a mobile tablet browsing device that is a cross between the iPhone and a MacBook laptop. [CFP]

Apple Inc. will also sell a version with data plans from AT&T Inc. in the US: US$14.99 per month for 250 megabytes of data, or US$29.99 for unlimited usage. Neither will require a long-term service contract.

The iPad models that can connect to AT&T's wireless network will cost more - US$629, US$729 and US$829, depending on the amount of memory - and will be out in April. International cellular data details have not yet been announced.

Shares of Apple rose US$2.04, or 1 percent, to close Wednesday at US$207.98. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company's shares have more than doubled over the past year, partly on anticipation of the tablet computer. Shares in Amazon rose US$3.27, or 2.7 percent, to US$122.75.

Jobs, 54, a pancreatic cancer survivor who got a liver transplant last year, looked thin as he introduced the highly anticipated gadget, though he seemed to have more energy than at Apple's last event in September.

Apple had kept its latest creation tightly under wraps until Wednesday's unveiling, though many analysts had correctly speculated that it would be a one-piece tablet computer with a big touch screen.