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Apple in Talks to Open R&D Facility in Russia's Skolkovo Innovation Centre?

Friday May 18, 2012 10:15 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Russian newspaper Izvestia reports [Google translation] that the organizers behind the Skolkovo technology park near Moscow are currently in talks with a number of high-profile companies including Apple, Google, and Facebook about locating research and development facilities in the area. Skolkovo has already landed agreements with Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Cisco, and others, with the project's backers envisioning the region becoming Russia's version of Silicon Valley bolstered by dozens of major corporations.

According to the report, Apple officials in Moscow declined to comment on the claims, but Skolkovo executive Roman Romanovsky indicated that the two sides have expressed interest in negotiating about possibilities. No deal appears to be imminent, although Romanovsky hopes that the talks will eventually lead to an agreement.

Apple is in the process of opening up its first major international research and development center in Israel, looking to leverage its own expertise and that of Anobit, an Israeli flash memory company acquired by Apple earlier this year, to spur new innovations.

[ 52 comments ]


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iDemiurge
95 months ago

It was a combined effort of all the Soviet republics that put Gagarin into space. To say it was just the Russians is not exactly correct. By the way, the quality of Roscosmos is declining. Even its officials are admitting that.


Dude, can you show the Ruskies some love? They've put up with one tyrant after another, and now with a kleptocracy, and still manage to be creative hard-working folks.

Plus, they gave us Tetris! You know that Tetris song that you can't take out of your head? It's a russian folk song!
Rating: 11 Votes
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Spetsnazos
95 months ago

Same engineers who built this plane?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/12/russian-plane-crash-bodies-retrieved


no the same engineers who were the FIRST in space, the FIRST to travel the planet, and the ones that defeated Nazi Germany in WW2 with superior tanks that could be built quickly and efficiently.

Yea those.

And Russia is the only country that is still going to space. Can't say the same for NASA....
Rating: 11 Votes
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alex00100
95 months ago
Сколоково рулит!
I'm russian and I'm really happy about it! Even if skolcovo is really a mess and noone takes it seriously. Apple certanly won't have any development here course we don't have any experts at this stuff.


can't help thinking they see it as: more jobs(more work) for less of a cost...

Salarys in russia are not far from the US ones. It's not Asia, it's Europe and salarys are almost as high as in the rest of Europe.
Rating: 6 Votes
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ThunderSkunk
95 months ago

Dude, can you show the Ruskies some love? They've put up with one tyrant after another, and now with a kleptocracy, and still manage to be creative hard-working folks.


If you consider what Russia had to work with, and what they've had to overcome, it's a testament to the people that they've thrived & survived at all, much less manage to put the screws to the US technologically, with all our resources, for decades. Apple working with Russian inventors and designers and engineers is an exciting development, far moreso than what Apple's taking advantage of in China.

Sure, Putins a wacko, but hey, we all get stuck with elections stealing militant psycho leaders from time to time.

And yea, their space program is still apparently cool enough for us, since ours is now based on theirs.
Rating: 5 Votes
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verakot
95 months ago

Same engineers who built this plane?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/12/russian-plane-crash-bodies-retrieved


Well, of course your engineers never make mistakes like this, right?

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-14/us/bridge.collapse_1_gusset-plates-bridge-collapse-bridge-designs?_s=PM:US
Rating: 5 Votes
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iDemiurge
95 months ago
In America you use computers to run programs. In Soviet Russia computers use programs to run you! :D
Rating: 4 Votes
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Discoverer
95 months ago

Same engineers who built this plane?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/12/russian-plane-crash-bodies-retrieved


Oh, so we already know that it was a technical issue with the plane that caused it to crash? Could you please give me a link to the official report? I'd love to read it.
Rating: 4 Votes
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sparks9
95 months ago

Meanwhile, back at home unemployment continues to sky rocket.


European companies have lots of jobs placed in the USA. It has to go both ways.
Rating: 3 Votes
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iDemiurge
95 months ago

Apple working with Russian inventors and designers and engineers is an exciting development,


This. If the communists left one good legacy it was a highly educated workforce. It's a shame to see young russians so disappointed with their country and so much talent being wasted. Give them a chance and maybe their political system will begin to change as well.
Rating: 3 Votes
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iDemiurge
95 months ago

Disagree with the Space Program view. No private sector involvement. Sure we ride up and down in a 50's design Soyuz. That is not basing anything.

Watch this Sat early A.M. It's the future. :cool:
http://www.spacex.com/

...and no bologna about the 1 Billion in federal funding. NASA is an investor. Not a design partner, other than the docking module.



I agree that competition is a good thing. But you miss the point in the case of the soviet space program. They by no means operated on anything similar to "costs plus" arrangements. In fact their program was a lot more competitive than the American one, with several designers and laboratories competing for funding from a government that, as is known today, was far more interested in the arms race (read ICBMs) than in putting people up in space. Damn, Korolev himself, one of their chief designers, spent some time in a labor camp for falling foul of Stalin's priorities and expectations. That science could thrive at all in such an environment is itself a miracle.

For sure the Soyuz is old. But its design is a winner. And will be by no means obsolete until some other craft can ferry people to orbit at a lower cost.
Rating: 3 Votes

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