Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who spent months on medical leave, will open an annual developers' conference next week showcasing the iPad maker's latest computer software and a new cloud computing service.
Apple's shares rose almost 2 percent after it said Tuesday that Jobs, along with a team of executives, will deliver the keynote speech at the June 6 conference. It was unclear whether the CEO is returning from medical leave, however.
An appearance by Jobs, a survivor of a rare form of pancreatic cancer, would mark one of the few occasions he has showed up in public on the company's behalf since going on medical leave -- for an undisclosed condition -- in January.
In March, a thin but energetic Jobs took to his now-familiar platform at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center to unveil the iPad 2, drawing a standing ovation after months of frenetic media and investor speculation about his health.
But this is the first time in recent years that Apple has said Jobs will be joined by his executive team during the keynote speech. Jobs typically takes the stage alone at most new product or service launches.
Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund, said he was "very surprised but happy" to see that Jobs appeared to be taking a more active role in strategic planning, though he was also encouraged that Apple was letting other executives share the spotlight.
"The biggest overhang on Apple's stock is the health concerns surrounding Steve Jobs and the move to show a united front from the management team is overdue," Smith said. "There is an excellent management team behind Steve Jobs, and this is a move to say there is more to (Apple) than Steve Jobs."
Jobs and his team plan to unveil a new cloud-based service called iCloud, which will offer remote computing and data over the Internet, and a slew of software upgrades at the conference including Lion, its Mac OS X computer operating system, and iOS 5, the next version of its mobile operating system.
Apple typically unveils a new iPhone this time of year but some sources had told Reuters they did not expect the new model to appear until September.
Apple shares were up 1.9 percent at $343.93 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.
Apple's shares rose almost 2 percent after it said Tuesday that Jobs, along with a team of executives, will deliver the keynote speech at the June 6 conference. It was unclear whether the CEO is returning from medical leave, however.
An appearance by Jobs, a survivor of a rare form of pancreatic cancer, would mark one of the few occasions he has showed up in public on the company's behalf since going on medical leave -- for an undisclosed condition -- in January.
But this is the first time in recent years that Apple has said Jobs will be joined by his executive team during the keynote speech. Jobs typically takes the stage alone at most new product or service launches.
Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund, said he was "very surprised but happy" to see that Jobs appeared to be taking a more active role in strategic planning, though he was also encouraged that Apple was letting other executives share the spotlight.
"The biggest overhang on Apple's stock is the health concerns surrounding Steve Jobs and the move to show a united front from the management team is overdue," Smith said. "There is an excellent management team behind Steve Jobs, and this is a move to say there is more to (Apple) than Steve Jobs."
Jobs and his team plan to unveil a new cloud-based service called iCloud, which will offer remote computing and data over the Internet, and a slew of software upgrades at the conference including Lion, its Mac OS X computer operating system, and iOS 5, the next version of its mobile operating system.
Apple typically unveils a new iPhone this time of year but some sources had told Reuters they did not expect the new model to appear until September.
Apple shares were up 1.9 percent at $343.93 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.