Jobs Kicks Off Apple Conference

Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs strode back into the spotlight on Monday to unveil the iCloud, a music-streaming service that the company hopes will power its at once stage of growth and popularize Web-based consumer services.

The CEO emerged from medical leave to unveil a new Internet-based service for consumers called the iCloud, which lets users play their music and access their data from any Apple device -- a crucial capability for users increasingly accustomed to performing a variety of tasks on the move.

Its expansion into cloud computing -- providing services from the Web -- comes as the company strives to stay a step ahead of rivals just as Google Inc and Amazon.com in the mobile and online content business.

Apple, legendary for keeping its agenda in accordance with wraps, has been unusually open about what it plans to show at its annual developers' conference, a five-day extravaganza for developers who rely on Apple for much of their livelihood.

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