Steve Jobs makes first public appearance after liver transplant

The Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, made his first public appearance since his return to work in June after six months' medical leave and admitted to having had a liver transplant.

Jobs admitted this on the sidelines of a press conference San Francisco, where he was announcing a new iPod nano.

"I'm very happy to be here. As some of you may know, about five months ago I had a liver transplant. I now have the liver of a mid-20 (-year-old) person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. I wouldn't be here without such generosity," The Independent quoted Jobs, as saying.

"I hope all of us can be as generous and think about becoming organ donors," he added.

Jobs was diagnosed with a rare, treatable form of pancreatic cancer in 2004. However, Apple had initially claimed that Jobs had a "common bug", which eventually became a "hormonal imbalance". A few days later Apple said the problem was "more complex" than he had thought.

The details of his medical problem were only made clear through documents leaked to the press, in which there were suggestions that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant in Memphis, Tennessee.

It is also said that Jobs had moved to Memphis due to the short transplant waiting list in Tennessee, and wanted to be near by if a liver became available.