Apple Inc posted record revenue and profits on January 18, a day after it announced that its iconic founder and chief executive Steve Jobs was taking a medical leave of absence for unspecified health problems.

Record revenue of $26.74 billion in the fourth quarter was reported by Apple, which encompasses the crucial holiday season, compared to $15.68 billion in revenue a year earlier.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

The company sold 16.24 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 86 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 19.45 million iPods during the quarter, representing a seven percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

It also sold 7.33 million iPads during the quarter. Apple sold 4.13 million Macs during the quarter, a 23 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

‘We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales,’ said Jobsin a statement. ‘We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.’

Profits of Apple jumped from $3.38 billion to $6 billion, according to a company announcement.

The option of paying for calls in advance instead of making commitments for long-term contracts was initiated by Verizon Wireless on September 3. This move is expected to pit the company directly against rivals including Leap Wireless.

With more and more consumers trying to avoid long-term contract commitments, this move by Verizon is expected to help it attract new consumers and retain existing ones.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc, said it is offering unlimited mobile Internet use for $30 per month to prepaid users of smartphones such as BlackBerrys.

But prepaid customers typically have to make do with less-advanced phones, while postpaid consumers get their choice of advanced phones that are heavily subsidized by operators.

The company did not offer a price list for the prepaid phones but said pricing would be close to the amount it charges customers signing up for a one-year postpaid contract.

For example, a prepaid customer would have to pay $394.99 for the Verizon’s flagship phone, the Droid X from Motorola Inc, whereas a postpaid customer would pay only $200 for the same phone after rebates.

However, prepaid smartphone customers will be able to opt to pay $10 per month for data service, if they do not mind that their usage will be capped at data downloads of 25 megabytes.

No price list was provided by Verizon but the company said that pricing would be in proximity to the amount it charges consumers signing up for a one-year postpaid contract.