MacRumors

Cult of Mac posts an interview with Rich Miller, editor of Data Center Knowledge, regarding possible plans for Apple's $1 billion data center due to open in rural Maiden, North Carolina in 2010. At approximately 500,000 square feet and roughly five times the size of the company's existing center in Newark, California, Apple's new data center will be among the largest in the world, sparking questions about what the company plans to do with the capacity.

While public figures closest to the Apple deal acknowledge only that the project will support existing iTunes and MobileMe services, speculation has arisen that Apple may be planning a significant foray into "cloud computing", allowing users to move applications and data to Internet-based locations accessible from any Web-enabled device.

One of the leading theories about the size of the NC project is that Apple is planning future cloud computing services that will require lots of data center storage. Cloud computing is a hot trend, and I'd be surprised if Apple isn't thinking hard - and thinking differently - about cloud computing. Many cloud enthusiasts say that cloud computing will eliminate the need for data centers. In reality, the only thing will change is the owner of the building. All the applications and data that are moving into the cloud will live on servers in brick-and-mortar data centers. The companies that are building the biggest data centers tend to also have the biggest cloud ambitions.

Apple until now has used content delivery networks (CDNs) such as Akamai and Limelight Networks to serve significant amounts of content to users, and some have speculated that the new data center will allow Apple to achieve cost savings by bringing a significant part of that third-party content delivery system in-house. Miller, however, points to Apple's data center's rural location far from the network-dense areas where content delivery centers are typically located as a sign that Apple is pursuing cost and scale efficiency rather than the connectivity most dedicated delivery networks are looking for.

Facebook cited latency to Europe as a key factor in its decision to add data centers in Virginia. Before that, MySpace added a data center in Los Angeles to reduce its reliance on CDNs. But in both cases, those companies sought out Internet hubs where they could connect with dozens of other networks to manage their Internet traffic. You don't get that in rural North Carolina, so Apple seems more focused on cost and scale than on connectivity - which again would suggest a cloud focus.

In a report on the increasing hype surrounding tablet computers focused on Apple's much-anticipated tablet offerings, BusinessWeek cites market researcher Richard Doherty, who claims that Apple has developed two protoype tablet computers: one essentially an oversized iPod touch carrying a 6-inch screen and a second one with a larger screen.

"There's no hotter topic [than tablets] in Asia right now," says Richard Doherty, a director at market researcher Envisioneering Group, who says Apple has developed prototypes of two different tablet machines -- one that resembles a large-sized iPod and boasts a 6-inch screen, and another that features a larger display. Apple may launch one or both devices as early as September, Doherty says. A decision on whether and when Apple takes the tablet plunge lies with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Doherty says.

Doherty's claim that the tablets may launch as early as September comes in opposition to several other reports pointing to an early 2010 launch. Apple has reportedly scheduled a media event for September 9th, where sources have specifically claimed that there will be no mention of a tablet, although that obviously does not preclude a separate tablet introduction at another time.

Doherty also claims that Apple's tablet offerings may begin priced as low as $679 and that the larger tablet may essentially run full Mac OS X while the smaller tablet is more iPod-like and focuses on media and gaming.

One of Apple's prototype devices is able to run all Mac applications, and allows for video and audio editing and graphic animation, Doherty says. Another, which looks like a larger iPod, lends itself to watching videos, playing games, and reading e-books.

Apple has been rumored to have investigated screens for its tablet prototypes ranging from 4 inches to 12 inches, although most rumors have pointed to a screen of approximately 10 inches for Apple's planned launch product.

Reuters reports that recent accounts of exploding iPhones in Europe have prompted Apple to investigate the incidents. According to a spokesperson of the European Commission, these occurrences have been deemed to be "isolated" incidents by Apple at this time. Apple is working on gathering additional information to find out what may have caused them.

One of the more notable incidents in recent news involved a French teenager who received an eye injury when the screen of an iPhone he was holding shattered, sending a piece of glass into his eye. He described that the iPhone had made a "hissing sound" before the screen shattered on its own.

A spokesperson for Apple Europe Ltd is quoted as saying "We are aware of these (media) reports and we are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers. Until we have the full details, we don't have anything further to add."

Market research firm NPD today reports that Apple's iTunes was the number one music retailer in the U.S. for the first half of 2009 with 25% of unit sales. Apple's share of the total market is up from 21% in 2008 and 14% in 2007.

According to NPD MusicWatch, when it comes to the unit-sales volume of music sold at retail - including paid digital music downloads and CDs - Apple iTunes leads in the U.S. with 25 percent of music units sold, which is up from 21 percent in 2008 and 14 percent in 2007. Walmart (including Walmart, Walmart.com, Walmart Music Downloads) remains in second position with 14 percent of music volume sold at their stores and Web sites with Best Buy ranked third.

The move comes as the music industry continues to see a shift from CDs to digital downloads, with digital downloads now accounting for 35% of total sales, up from 30% in 2008 and 20% in 2007. As the trend continues, NPD sees digital download sales equalling CD sales by the end of 2010.

Within the digital download segment, iTunes easily claimed the top spot with 69% of the segment for the first half of 2009, followed by Amazon at 8%. iTunes has led the digital download segment essentially since its inception in 2003.

Apple announced to its employees in April 2008 that it had recently become the #1 overall music retailer in the U.S., and Apple's lead over #2 Walmart has continued to increase since that time.

In an extensive research report on the smartphone industry released this morning, RBC Capital Markets reveals a "new world order" in which smartphones embracing the convergence of communication, computing, and content are becoming the "next wave" of computing. Based on this evidence, RBC sees smartphones, led by Apple, Research in Motion and Palm, taking a larger share of mobile phone sales than previously predicted, and even capturing users, revenue and market share from other markets such as the PC, TV, media player, digital camera, gaming, and navigation markets previously considered discrete market segments.

RBC sees the possibility for 4-5 smartphone "leaders", each carving out a fairly distinct market segment on which to focus. The model sees Apple as having staked out the "media-centric" segment and Research in Motion having grabbed the "productivity-centric" segment, and proposes three other segments that may yet arise: "PIM-centric" focused on personal organization, "cloud-centric" based on data-heavy users taking advantage of web-based e-mail, social networking and other web-based services, and a "specialized" market for devices that excel in one specific area such as e-books, gaming, or navigation.

The report views Apple's installed base of 100+ million iPod users and 300+ million iTunes users as natural leverage for expanding market share, and sees the company continuing to introduce innovations that will further expand the addressable market. Apple's existing smartphone unit market share of 10.8% is expected to grow to 16.3% in 2012, but that growth would occur alongside expected growth of the smartphone share of the overall mobile market from ~10% to 35% over that time. The result is that Apple's overall mobile market share would grow from 1.1% in 2008 to 5.7% in 2012 on unit growth from 13.7 million in 2008 to 82.1 million in 2012.

Image from RBC Capital Markets
("TAM" refers to Total Addressable Market)

We view the iPhone as a 10-year platform, with significant growth and share gains ahead. Our outlook reflects continued share gains in domestic and international markets, driven by distribution expansion, innovations in user experience, and additional iPhone SKUs. Apple's iTunes/iTunes Store/device ecosystem remains a significant source of competitive advantage.

Besides Apple, RBC also sees Research in Motion continuing to succeed with its BlackBerry line of smartphones and Palm possessing the "secret sauce" of management, integration and innovation to leverage its new webOS operating system for future market gains.

All Things Digital reports that Apple has scheduled a media event for Wednesday, September 9th in San Francisco. The event will presumably take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts where similar Apple events have been held in the past, and will be focused on iPod and iTunes updates. The sources claim that no mention will be made of Apple's much-anticipated tablet computer.

The event will be held in San Francisco -- most likely at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where it has occurred in years past -- and is expected to showcase upgrades to the iPod line and an update to iTunes that may involve some sort of social element. Our sources insist it will not involve any discussion whatsoever of the tablet that Apple is reportedly developing.

There is no word yet on whether Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be presenting for the first time since his return from a medical leave of absence for a liver transplant.

Reports last week pointed to a media event scheduled for sometime during the week of September 7th, and other sources have also claimed that there will be no tablet introduction at the event.

In the wake of the release of TomTom iPhone GPS navigation applications in numerous countries, Mac4Ever spoke [Google translation] with TomTom public relations manager Yann Lafargue and received clarification that the forthcoming companion car kit will be compatible with the iPod touch and will also support GPS navigation applications by other companies.

"It will work with the iPod touch and will also work with third-party GPS applications."

Lafarque is unable to provide information on when the car kit will be released, although posters to TomTom's official Twitter account have confirmed the announcement made at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference that it is scheduled to ship "later this summer" with additional specs and pricing coming closer to the kit's release.

Macworld UK points out a feature article from The Sunday Times profiling Apple CEO Steve Jobs, noting that Apple attempted several times to discourage or block publication of the piece.

Apple hates personality stuff and press intrusion. "We want to discourage profiles," an Apple PR tells me stiffly, apparently unaware she is waving a sackful of red rags at a herd of bulls. Another PR rings the editor of this magazine to try to halt publication of this piece.

The lengthy article provides a comprehensive look at Jobs' personal and professional life over the years, noting his failures and successes, from his recruitment of Pepsi CEO John Sculley that quickly resulted in Jobs being forced out of Apple to his reinvention of Apple upon his return with the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone.

Focus is also placed on Jobs' "narcissistic" personality and his "control freak" tendencies that frustrate many of those who interact with him but also drive the product development that has won the company so many devoted fans.

Jobs is, in the words of the psychiatrist and scholar of leadership Michael Maccoby, "a productive narcissist". To Jobs, the world is an epiphenomenon, a side effect of the existence of Steve. Or rather, it is a pyramid with Jobs at the top, a few bright people just beneath him, and then the rest of us -- the "bozos". The customer bozo is not, to him, always right. In the early days it was said the Apple marketing department consisted of Jobs looking in his mirror and asking himself what he wanted. His customer-relations motto is from Henry Ford: "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." In a world driven by technology, only the technocrats know what we want and need.

The piece also places emphasis on Jobs' health issues over the years, especially his recent medical leave of absence from Apple and liver transplant, and asks whether Apple will be able to continue its momentum once Jobs inevitably leaves the company at some point in the future. While Apple will almost certainly continue to pursue the same business plan and vision under new management, the question remains whether anyone other than Jobs can have the same presence and command the same level of respect that has defined Jobs and Apple over the years.

- U.S. & Canada [App Store]: NZ $124.99 (US $84.41)
- Western Europe [App Store]: NZ $179.99 (US $121.55)
- Australia [App Store]: NZ $104.99 (US $70.90)
- New Zealand [App Store]: NZ $119.99 (US $81.03)

The App Store application prices obviously include only the iPhone application and not the companion car kit that will integrate a car mount, enhanced GPS receiver, built-in speaker, and power cables. The kit will also include an audio output jack, as well as a microphone to enable use of the iPhone as a Bluetooth speakerphone. A package supposedly containing both the hardware and software components appeared for pre-order early last month priced at 99 (US $163.39) plus taxes at UK retailer Handtec, although the legitimacy of the offer remains unclear.

It is unknown whether the applications' appearance on the New Zealand App Store is the first phase of a rollout to multiple countries or if the release was a premature addition.

Update: The four TomTom iPhone applications have now also appeared in the Australian App Store.

Update 2: TomTom iPhone applications have now appeared in a number of European stores. In addition to the standard four applications (Australia, New Zealand, U.S. & Canada, and Western Europe), each European App Store is also carrying a fifth TomTom application offering a more narrowly localized version for the respective countries at a lower price point than the complete Western Europe version.

- Benelux: offered in Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg and covers those three countries
- D-A-CH: offered in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and covers those three countries
- France: offered only in France and covers France, Monaco, and Corsica
- Iberia: offered in Spain and Portugal and covers Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Gibraltar, and the major islands of the Balearic and Canary Island groups.
- Italy: offered only in Italy and covers Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia), San Marino, and Vatican City
- Nordic: offered in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden and covers those four countries
- U.K. & Ireland - offered only in the U.K. and Ireland

Update 3: TomTom applications have now appeared in the U.S. and Canadian App Stores. Prices in both stores are as follows:

- U.S. & Canada [App Store]: $99.99
- Western Europe [App Store]: $139.99
- Australia [App Store]: $79.99
- New Zealand [App Store]: $94.99

MacRumors has received a set of images claimed to be the retail packaging and disc for Apple's forthcoming Mac OS X Snow Leopard. If the images, which appear to depict the Portuguese version of Snow Leopard, are in fact authentic, it would mean that Snow Leopard discs are already in mass production.

"The world's most advanced operating system. Perfectly optimized."