Apple: App Store turns 1; NC server farm investment; new lawsuit

***AppleInsider*** · 07-07-2009, 02:12 PM

Apple's App Store celebrates its first birthday this week. Meanwhile, the company's investment in rural North Carolina could conceivably double to $2 billion in the coming years. And a new lawsuit claims that iPods, as well as Wiis and PSPs, tread on patented technology.

Happy Birthday App Store

The App Store will official have a year under its belt later this week, and to celebrate, Apple is highlighting some of its favorite games and applications. These include the likes of E*Trade Mobile, MLB At Bat 2009, Brushes, Pandora Radio, Let's Golf, Rolando, and Real Racing.

"Light a candle and cue the music," the company said. "Okay, forgive us for sounding like doting parents, but we're just so proud -- having watched the App Store go from a promising newcomer to full-fledged revolutionary."

In just under 12-months, the App Store has surpassed milestones that might have at one time seemed unfathomable, the most notable of which include 1 billion downloads by users and 50,000 approved applications for developers.

Apple's NC investment could double

As expected, North Carolina's Catawba County on Monday afternoon announced that Apple has selected the 183 acre Catawba Data Park in Maiden as the site for its future $1 billion data center.

If all goes according to plan, development of the 500,000-square feet building could begin as early as next month. Construction efforts are expected to employ about 750 workers and run through late 2010.

Both Maiden and Catawba County also agreed Monday to give Apple another $7.3 million in incentives on top of the $46 million in tax breaks the electronics maker is expected to reap over the next 10 years.

Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corp, also said there's a reasonable chance Apple's plans for the data farm and investment in rural North Carolina could double to $2 billion in the coming years.

Apple hit with new patent suit

Apple, along with Nintendo and Sony, were sued last week in an Arkansas district court on the grounds of patent infringement.

According to Dow Jones, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Shared Memory Graphics LLC "alleges Apple iPods and iPod Touch music and video players, Nintendo's motion-controlled Wii and Sony PSP and PS2 game consoles uses two graphic accelerator systems patented by the company."

The pair of patents, acquired by Shared Memory from holding company Alliance Semiconductor in 2005, reportedly "escribe ways in which microprocessors fine-tune graphics by balancing the flow of data from various sources."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

applestockholder · 07-07-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple hit with new patent suit

Apple, along with Nintendo and Sony, were sued last week in an Arkansas district court on the grounds of patent infringement.

According to Dow Jones, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Shared Memory Graphics LLC "alleges Apple iPods and iPod Touch music and video players, Nintendo's motion-controlled Wii and Sony PSP and PS2 game consoles uses two graphic accelerator systems patented by the company."

The pair of patents, acquired by Shared Memory from holding company Alliance Semiconductor in 2005, reportedly "escribe ways in which microprocessors fine-tune graphics by balancing the flow of data from various sources."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

teckstud · 07-07-2009, 02:30 PM

Seems rather late to be filing such a suit at this stage of the game.

RoboNerd · 07-07-2009, 02:42 PM

Wow, a patent suit that WASN'T filed in Texas. Amazing!

Is it just me or does anyone else think that it's time to scrap the patent system? The abuses are more damaging than actual infringements.

majortom1981 · 07-07-2009, 02:50 PM

How would this lawsuit even be valid? Dont the wii,ipod,and ipod touch , all use video processors from other companies?

hobBIT · 07-07-2009, 02:50 PM

I'm with the Chinese!
Sod patents!

All inventions should benefit all humankind.
No exclusivity. Everyone should have access to all.

WPLJ42 · 07-07-2009, 02:51 PM

Well, I'm a dollar short and a day late, but can't help but wonder why NC? I'm sure the folks in rural Oregon would love to have Apple come around. Oh well. The way things are in California, were I live, Apple would be better off in Alaska. At least the servers would stay in a cool environment.

anantksundaram · 07-07-2009, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobBIT

I'm with the Chinese!
Sod patents!

All inventions should benefit all humankind.
No exclusivity. Everyone should have access to all.

Then, only altruists will innovate. And, since no one is truly an altruist.......

anantksundaram · 07-07-2009, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoboNerd

Wow, a patent suit that WASN'T filed in Texas. Amazing!

A patent suit that was filed in Arkansas. Even more amazing!

mstone · 07-07-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoboNerd

Wow, a patent suit that WASN'T filed in Texas. Amazing.

Yeah another back water hicksville I'm sure. They don't dare file it in Orange County where they do business. It's got to be a hick town so they can buy off the judge and jury and whole damn town.

You know they are going to do it.

JSmith · 07-07-2009, 03:10 PM

There are reasons why the rest of the world rolls its eyes at the US patent system - this is one of the main ones.

mstone · 07-07-2009, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WPLJ42

Well, I'm a dollar short and a day late, but can't help but wonder why NC? I'm sure the folks in rural Oregon would love to have Apple come around. Oh well. The way things are in California, were I live, Apple would be better off in Alaska. At least the servers would stay in a cool environment.

East coast is far enough away from the west coast that they don't share any of the same infrastructure. Should there be a power grid or backbone failure in one location it is unlikely to affect the other.

charlituna · 07-07-2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by majortom1981

How would this lawsuit even be valid? Dont the wii,ipod,and ipod touch , all use video processors from other companies?

even if they do. who is to say that all those companies didn't steal the same prior art.

the crux of this will be in whether whether it was the basic idea or the actual technique.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WPLJ42

Well, I'm a dollar short and a day late, but can't help but wonder why NC? I'm sure the folks in rural Oregon would love to have Apple come around.

the guess is that they want an East Coast center so they can spread out the growing traffic to the itunes store, mobile me etc. and there is likely already a server bank in Cup at or near headquarters. Plus NC has some appealing tax breaks and such (same thing happened in the film/tv industry a few times. example. Dawson's Creek)

SpamSandwich · 07-07-2009, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobBIT

I'm with the Chinese!
Sod patents!

All inventions should benefit all humankind.
No exclusivity. Everyone should have access to all.

Sorry, socialism has never worked despite current attitudes.

Quadra 610 · 07-07-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Sorry, socialism has never worked despite current attitudes.

Read "Main Currents in Marxism" by Leszek Kolakowski, and you might just change your mind about what "socialism" actually means and its relevance to the modern (post-Soviet era) world.

anantksundaram · 07-07-2009, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

Read "Main Currents in Marxism" by Leszek Kolakowski, and you might just change your mind about what "socialism" actually means and its relevance to the modern (post-Soviet era) world.

Gee. That's helpful. [/sarcasm]

Seriously: if you'd like someone to read this, how about a preview/precis on what it means and its relevance? For starters: does the article say it's still relevant?

Booga · 07-07-2009, 04:22 PM

It would be really nice to have the patent numbers in stories like this so we can go look them up.

FormerARSgm · 07-07-2009, 05:45 PM

Really? A Bing search engine ad on the AppleInsider forum. geez.

bombay2008 · 07-07-2009, 06:08 PM

i said months ago when the credit crunch/down turn happened, that all the dregs would come out looking for a quick buck, it happened in the last down turn in the 80s.

Eriamjh · 07-07-2009, 06:45 PM

Apple's defense: "No, it doesn't."

Judge: "Good enough for me. Case closed."

Lukeskymac · 07-07-2009, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobBIT

I'm with the Chinese!
Sod patents!

All inventions should benefit all humankind.
No exclusivity. Everyone should have access to all.

Yeah, so one company spends lots of $$$ on R&D and the rest can just come and get it?

And you freaking dumb?

801 · 07-07-2009, 07:20 PM

How is (are) cloud computers measured in size? Is it number of servers, or processors or bandwidth or what?

Like the google clouds, what spec or size are they? How do they, or will they, compare.

Anyone know?

emcomments · 07-07-2009, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Gee. That's helpful. [/sarcasm]

Seriously: if you'd like someone to read this, how about a preview/precis on what it means and its relevance? For starters: does the article say it's still relevant?

Seriously you're on the intarweb look it up - it will take less time than it did to make the comment.

But, to save your mouse:

For those interested in Marxist doctrine, Kolakowski dissects it within a chronological framework, laying out its antecedents in Hegelian philosophy and varieties of socialism current in the 1830s and 1840s. Conceding Karl Marx's originality in formulating his precepts, seminally in The German Ideology (1846), Kolakowski subjects them to withering analysis, especially in their relation to Marx's claim to have discovered a science of human history. There is no mistaking Kolakowski for a Marxist, but his grasp of the interrelationship of Marxian concepts from alienated labor to historical materialism to revisionism is complete. Kolakowski also understands Marxism's propensity for schismatic development, justifying the author's description of this history as a handbook of the principal Marxist theoreticians. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

OC4Theo · 07-08-2009, 02:10 AM

It seems that every company that files patents lawsuits against Apple, does not make, manufacture or sell anything. And just like this one, they have no business plan either.

It is the next big game after class-action lawsuit. It will only get worse. It is time for Apple to form its own law corporation and save attorneys fees.

talksense101 · 07-08-2009, 02:41 AM

There is a reason why most countries don't bother with the US patent system...

Aizmov · 07-08-2009, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobBIT

I'm with the Chinese!
Sod patents!

All inventions should benefit all humankind.
No exclusivity. Everyone should have access to all.

Yeah, why should people be compensated for their work?
Everything should be free!

I'm dropping by your place tonight and "borrowing" your stuff. Don't lock the doors, I need to have access to your house

anantksundaram · 07-08-2009, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emcomments

Seriously you're on the intarweb look it up - it will take less time than it did to make the comment.

But, to save your mouse:

For those interested in Marxist doctrine, Kolakowski dissects it within a chronological framework, laying out its antecedents in Hegelian philosophy and varieties of socialism current in the 1830s and 1840s. Conceding Karl Marx's originality in formulating his precepts, seminally in The German Ideology (1846), Kolakowski subjects them to withering analysis, especially in their relation to Marx's claim to have discovered a science of human history. There is no mistaking Kolakowski for a Marxist, but his grasp of the interrelationship of Marxian concepts from alienated labor to historical materialism to revisionism is complete. Kolakowski also understands Marxism's propensity for schismatic development, justifying the author's description of this history as a handbook of the principal Marxist theoreticians. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

I am impressed by your ability to cut and paste an abstract!

Let me translate what it says, following which, I'll ask the same question that I asked before (perhaps you're smart enough to answer?): "The author - who is not craven to the Marxist ideology - provides a solid history of Marxist thought, but questions whether it has discovered a way to interpret all human events. He seems to know his stuff."

So here's my question, again: what does this mean with regard to socialism, and what is it's relevance to anything going on today?

musterion · 07-08-2009, 02:07 PM

In the Piedmont region of NC, not in the research triangle, also not in any of the high tax, business predatory states of the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic.

SpamSandwich · 07-13-2009, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

I am impressed by your ability to cut and paste an abstract!

Let me translate what it says, following which, I'll ask the same question that I asked before (perhaps you're smart enough to answer?): "The author - who is not craven to the Marxist ideology - provides a solid history of Marxist thought, but questions whether it has discovered a way to interpret all human events. He seems to know his stuff."

So here's my question, again: what does this mean with regard to socialism, and what is it's relevance to anything going on today?

"That's what I'd like to know about it."

07-07-2009, 02:12 PM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,151	Apple: App Store turns 1; NC server farm investment; new lawsuit Apple's App Store celebrates its first birthday this week. Meanwhile, the company's investment in rural North Carolina could conceivably double to $2 billion in the coming years. And a new lawsuit claims that iPods, as well as Wiis and PSPs, tread on patented technology. Happy Birthday App Store The App Store will official have a year under its belt later this week, and to celebrate, Apple is highlighting some of its favorite games and applications. These include the likes of E*Trade Mobile, MLB At Bat 2009, Brushes, Pandora Radio, Let's Golf, Rolando, and Real Racing. "Light a candle and cue the music," the company said. "Okay, forgive us for sounding like doting parents, but we're just so proud -- having watched the App Store go from a promising newcomer to full-fledged revolutionary." In just under 12-months, the App Store has surpassed milestones that might have at one time seemed unfathomable, the most notable of which include 1 billion downloads by users and 50,000 approved applications for developers. Apple's NC investment could double As expected, North Carolina's Catawba County on Monday afternoon announced that Apple has selected the 183 acre Catawba Data Park in Maiden as the site for its future $1 billion data center. If all goes according to plan, development of the 500,000-square feet building could begin as early as next month. Construction efforts are expected to employ about 750 workers and run through late 2010. Both Maiden and Catawba County also agreed Monday to give Apple another $7.3 million in incentives on top of the $46 million in tax breaks the electronics maker is expected to reap over the next 10 years. Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corp, also said there's a reasonable chance Apple's plans for the data farm and investment in rural North Carolina could double to $2 billion in the coming years. Apple hit with new patent suit Apple, along with Nintendo and Sony, were sued last week in an Arkansas district court on the grounds of patent infringement. According to Dow Jones, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Shared Memory Graphics LLC "alleges Apple iPods and iPod Touch music and video players, Nintendo's motion-controlled Wii and Sony PSP and PS2 game consoles uses two graphic accelerator systems patented by the company." The pair of patents, acquired by Shared Memory from holding company Alliance Semiconductor in 2005, reportedly "escribe ways in which microprocessors fine-tune graphics by balancing the flow of data from various sources." [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

07-07-2009, 02:30 PM	#3
teckstud Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 6,115	Seems rather late to be filing such a suit at this stage of the game. Once you go Mac, you never go back!

07-07-2009, 02:50 PM	#5
majortom1981 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 83	hmm How would this lawsuit even be valid? Dont the wii,ipod,and ipod touch , all use video processors from other companies?

07-07-2009, 06:08 PM	#19
bombay2008 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5	patent suit i said months ago when the credit crunch/down turn happened, that all the dregs would come out looking for a quick buck, it happened in the last down turn in the 80s.

07-08-2009, 02:07 PM	#28
musterion Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3	Interesting Location In the Piedmont region of NC, not in the research triangle, also not in any of the high tax, business predatory states of the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic.

07-07-2009, 02:42 PM	#4
RoboNerd Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Oklahoma City Metro Area, Oklahoma Posts: 56	Wow, a patent suit that WASN'T filed in Texas. Amazing! Is it just me or does anyone else think that it's time to scrap the patent system? The abuses are more damaging than actual infringements.

07-07-2009, 02:50 PM	#6
hobBIT Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Shire Posts: 437	I'm with the Chinese! Sod patents! All inventions should benefit all humankind. No exclusivity. Everyone should have access to all.

07-07-2009, 02:51 PM	#7
WPLJ42 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 208	Well, I'm a dollar short and a day late, but can't help but wonder why NC? I'm sure the folks in rural Oregon would love to have Apple come around. Oh well. The way things are in California, were I live, Apple would be better off in Alaska. At least the servers would stay in a cool environment.

07-07-2009, 03:10 PM	#11
JSmith Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 13	There are reasons why the rest of the world rolls its eyes at the US patent system - this is one of the main ones.

07-07-2009, 04:22 PM	#17
Booga Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Tinton Falls, NJ Posts: 702	It would be really nice to have the patent numbers in stories like this so we can go look them up.

07-07-2009, 05:45 PM	#18
FormerARSgm Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: The stars at night, are big and bright... Posts: 31	Really? A Bing search engine ad on the AppleInsider forum. geez.

07-07-2009, 06:45 PM	#20
Eriamjh Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 137	Apple's defense: "No, it doesn't." Judge: "Good enough for me. Case closed."

07-07-2009, 07:20 PM	#22
801 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 71	How is (are) cloud computers measured in size? Is it number of servers, or processors or bandwidth or what? Like the google clouds, what spec or size are they? How do they, or will they, compare. Anyone know?

07-08-2009, 02:10 AM	#24
OC4Theo Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 138	It seems that every company that files patents lawsuits against Apple, does not make, manufacture or sell anything. And just like this one, they have no business plan either. It is the next big game after class-action lawsuit. It will only get worse. It is time for Apple to form its own law corporation and save attorneys fees.

07-08-2009, 02:41 AM	#25
talksense101 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: India Posts: 1,444	There is a reason why most countries don't bother with the US patent system...

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