Apple puts touch "Magic" in computer mouse

Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new generation computer mouse with touch controls similar to those in wildly popular iPhones and iPod Touch devices.

Magic Mouse lets people use finger gestures instead of buttons, wheels, or balls to navigate computer screens.

"Apple's Multi-Touch technology allows us to offer an easy to use mouse in a simple and elegant design," said senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller.

"Apple is the Multi-Touch leader, pioneering the use of this innovative technology in iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac notebook trackpads."

Magic Mouse is priced at 69 dollars but the device will be included with newly-announced iMac computers featuring 21.5-inch and 27-inch screens.

Prices for new iMac models range from 1,199 dollars to 1,999 dollars depending on features such as memory, hard drive, and screen size.

"The iMac is widely praised as the best desktop computer in the world and today we are making it even better," Schiller said.

"With brilliant LED displays and the revolutionary Magic Mouse, the new iMac delivers an amazing desktop experience that we think customers will love."

Apple also unveiled an updated MacBook laptop with enhanced display, battery and trackpad features and a price tag of 999 dollars.

Upgrades were also made to the Mac mini, which Apple billed as the world's most energy efficient desktop computer.

The news came a day after Apple reported unprecedented quarterly net profit of 1.67 billion dollars on record sales of iPhones and Macintosh computers.

Apple recorded 9.87 billion dollars in revenue during the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, which ended September 26, compared with 7.9 billion dollars in revenue in the same period last year.

Apple stock price rallied Tuesday, topping 198 dollars.

"We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010."

Rumors of Apple gadgets being readied for market include an "iTablet" computing device akin to a magazine-sized iPhone that could be used for reading digitized books as well as watching videos or surfing the Internet.