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(The Hosting News) – There’s a new face at Apple, and he happens to be formerly of Yahoo. Just recently, tech site GigaOm reported that Scott Noteboom updated his LinkedIn profile to list that he’s currently employed by the tech giant.

Although Noteboom’s LinkedIn profile doesn’t list what specific position he has at the company (he lists “distinguished gentlemen”), the new Apple employee’s past position at Yahoo may give a better clue.

Working at Yahoo, Noteboom was the head of the company’s data center efforts, specifically holding the title Vice President of Operations. He had been with the company since 2005, overseeing Yahoo’s construction and development of their various data center facilities.

According to a speaker biography on 7x24exchange (an IT conference host), Noteboom’s experience at Yahoo included working as the company’s chief design architect.

He also worked at Yahoo during a time of considerable growth for the company’s data center infrastructure.

Interestingly enough, both Apple and Yahoo are undergoing big changes at their respective companies. According to recent reports, various companies (including Microsoft and Google) are considering acquiring Yahoo.

Meanwhile, Apple is transitioning into a new period of leadership under new CEO Tim Cook following Steve Job’s unfortunate passing (shortly following his resignation as CEO is August).

Apple opened a large new data center in North Carolina just recently, and of course, the company is looking to expand. Another reason for possibly growth includes Apple’s new cloud storage service iCloud.

Yahoo Data Center Expert Moves to Apple

(The Hosting News) – Steve Jobs was an icon, not only for the users of his products, but for the world. When it was revealed that the Apple founder had passed away just yesterday, it became clear that the world had witnessed something rare – a true visionary.

Since he returned to Apple as CEO in the 1990s, Job’s creative genius saw the introduction of products including the iPhone, iPad, iMac, and more. Whether you’re a user of those products, or simply have visited an Apple store, it’s true that Job’s legacy has affected you in some regard.

However, Job’s start with Apple began much earlier when he formed the company with business partner and computer engineer Steve Wozniak in 1976. By 1984, Apple had introduced Macintosh – its popular computer brand that revolutionized the early era of personal computing.

Despite having founded Apple, Jobs was fired from his spot as Apple director in 1985. However, by the mid-1990s, Apple, as a company, was fading.

Jobs returned and his last tenure with the company became one of the greatest business leadership reigns in the history of mankind. He was able to reinvigorate the company, turning into the goliath it is today.

Commenting in a commencement address to Standford University in 2005, Jobs stated, “Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”

“So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life,” he continued.

Steve Jobs will truly be missed, but his great legacy will, without a doubt, be continued by the company he worked so hard to create.

The image above is from the Wikimedia Foundation. The attributed author is Matthew Yohe.

Remembering Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

(The Hosting News) – The battle between Apple and HTC concerning patents continues. Most recently, the U.S. International Trade Commission announced that it will investigate Apple’s second complaint against HTC, according to the commission’s site.

This is the second time that Apple has accused the Taiwanese-based mobile developer of violating different patents pertaining to its mobile technology.  It was reported early last month that Apple was indeed filing the second complaint which centers around various patents mostly related to touch-screen functionality.

In July, the U.S. International Trade Commission found HTC in violation of copyright law concerning Apple’s first complaint. While that ruling was preliminary, it still didn’t bode well for HTC. A final ruling could block HTC from selling its products in some areas.

Concerning Apple’s first complaint against HTC, Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated, “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.”

Meanwhile, HTC has defended itself against the accusations of patent infringement and the company planned to appeal July’s ITC ruling. HTC is notable for having sold the first mobile device to run on Android Mobile, the HTC Dream (which was released in 2008).

Apple’s battle with HTC is just one fight between companies concerning mobile patents. Another recent instance involves Google & Microsoft, although the two giants, (unlike Apple and HTC) haven’t accused one another of violations. Earlier this month, David Drummond, Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer criticized companies such as Apple and Microsoft for “a hostile, organized campaign against Android.”

Drummond went on to say this was being done by the companies’ acquisitions of patents from the likes of Novell and Nortel. Meanwhile, Microsoft responded by stating Google turned down an offer to jointly bid on Novell patents.

In the recent past, top companies have sought patents as a way to compete by adding new features to their mobile technologies.

Concerning Mobile Patents, ITC Will Review Second Apple Complaint

(The Hosting News) – Officials in China are said to be investigating various Apple retailers in the country after a blog post last week exposed a fake Apple store in Kunming, China. The investigation has already resulted in two unauthorized Apple retailers shutting down. According to a Reuters report, the two were cited as failing to have a proper business license.

In a post last week, American blogger BirdAbroad (who lives in Kunming) described visiting a supposed Apple store in the city. Even though having the Apple Store name, the products, and general layout, the blogger noted some obvious things that pointed towards the store being a fake. In fact, besides the one she initially posted on, BirdAbroad found another fake store with the obvious misspelling, “Apple Stoer.”

Despite the initial blog posting, it’s been reported that the two closures didn’t include the ‘fake’ Apple store initially described by the blogger. Following the news, that store is said to be working on an Apple reseller application (according to the same Reuters report).

Apple currently has four ‘real’ Apple stores in the country, two in Beijing along with two in Shanghai. It’s unknown whether Apple played any part in the investigation and closures.

China is known as a hotspot for various counterfeited and copycatted items. Recently AFP (Agence France-Presse) reported that last year EU officials seized fake items that accounted for a billion euros, 85% of which were from China. However, entire counterfeit stores posing as the real thing appear to be less widespread. It’s also important to note that the stores in question appear to have been selling actual Apple products.

Besides that, the country is known for its censorship of particular internet websites. Blocked sites in the country have included the likes of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The country has also banned popular video game consoles including Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii (the latter of which has led to a low quality Chinese rip-off system called the “Vii”).

Countries including the United States have criticized China over its rights record in the past.

Even with such tech limitations, Apple has seen progress in the Chinese market in the area of manufacturing. The company has various facilities in China, some of which are responsible for production of  Apple products like the iPad.

To view to the initial blog posting on the fake stores by BirdAbroad, visit:  http://birdabroad.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/are-you-listening-steve-jobs/

China Investigates & Shuts Down ‘Fake’ Apple Stores

(The Hosting News) – In a preliminary ruling on Friday, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that mobile developer HTC had violated two of Apple’s patents. The news marks a major development in one of Apple’s battles concerning its patent designs.

Apple initially filed the lawsuit against HTC in March of last year, accusing HTC of ripping off twenty Apple patents including one regarding its  multitouch screen capability (as used on the iPhone).

When Apple filed the initial suit, company CEO Steve Jobs stated, “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.”

Despite the move, HTC has indicated that it will seek to appeal the ruling. According to the Wall Street Journal, Winston Yung, HTC’s CFO stated, “Now the course of action is to appeal, we believe we have a very strong case, the attorney agrees with us, and therefore we will appeal.”

If a final ruling determines that HTC did indeed violate Apple patents, it could have dire consequences for the company. Such a ruling could prevent HTC from selling products found to be in violation within the United States. Meanwhile, the bad news for HTC has carried over into financial market. A report by the Financial Times indicated that shares in the company had dropped by nearly 6.5 per cent since the ruling.

HTC is a smartphone developer based in Taiwan. The company previously became better known when it released the HTC Dream in 2008, the first cellphone to use Android mobile.

Ruling: HTC Violated Apple Patents

(The Hosting News) – A California district court recently rejected Apple’s request for a halt of Amazon’s use of the title ‘App Store.’ The rejection of the injunction was revealed in papers concerning court proceedings in Oakland.

In the filing, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton stated, “The court finds that Apple has not established likelihood of success as to the infringement claims.”

By denying the injuction, Judge Hamilton also pointed out that various companies use ‘App Store’ as a “descriptive term.” The injunction request was part of Apple’s current lawsuit against Amazon for using the term.

Apple has previously used “App Store” and sought to get the term patented in 2008. However, with the patent process, the U.S. Patent office gave other top companies the chance to object to the filing.

Amazon began using the term “Appstore” in March without the spacing. Apple has argued that its use confuses customers.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Apple stated in its initial complaint, “Consumers of mobile software downloads are likely to be confused as to whether Amazon’s mobile software download service is sponsored or approved by Apple.”

Meanwhile, Amazon has argued that the term is generic. So far, the court seems to agree.

Court Denies Apple’s App Store Injunction Request

(The Hosting News) – The Fourth of July weekend proved eventful for two hacking groups who successfully compromised services belonging to two large companies.

A Twitter account belonging to Fox News was compromised.  @foxnewspolitics was apparently hacked and displayed false news messages, one which falsely announced the U.S. President’s assassination.

The incident is currently being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and Fox News stated through its site, “FoxNews.com regrets any distress the false tweets may have created.”

Meanwhile, hacking group Anonymous breached a site Apple uses to conduct surveys. The group announced the breach through its Twitter.

With the breach, the group posted a small amount of data related to user names and passwords.

The hacks may be smaller in scope compared to the ones carried out by now defunct hacker group LulzSec, but they represent a continued threat to online security.

LulzSec was responsible for breaching sites belonging to Sony, the CIA, an FBI affiliate, PBS, and more over the last couple months. The group recently announced it was ending its hacking operation and asked its backers to support Anonymous.

The hacking movement has been called “AntiSec.” Both Anonymous and LulzSec have operated under political motives.

Hackers Breach Fox News Twitter, Apple Site

(The Hosting News) – Apple CEO Steve Jobs took center stage at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, introducing the company’s cloud service, iCloud.

The service allows users to automatically sync all their music to their Apple devices from another device or by using a tab in iTunes, all done through the cloud.

During the speech, Jobs said, “keeping these devices in sync is driving us crazy”  and stressed the platform’s simplicity.

He went on to say, “if you get a new Phone, just type in your Apple ID and password, and everything will be downloaded to the new phone.”

Besides storing music in the cloud, iCloud can store users’ documents, calendar appointments, contacts, and photos.

With the debut of the service, Apple is giving everyone 5GB of free storage space. The service is free for most Apple devices and will officially debut when iOS 5 becomes available sometime this fall. However, Apple has already launched a developer beta version of the service.

The introduction of iCloud means the end for Apple’s MobileMe subscription service, which the company had offered for $99 a year.

During the conference, Apple also unveiled iTunes Match, which will allow users to sync non-iTunes music for $24.99 a year.

Apple might be last in the race for debuting its cloud service, but the company secured music licensing deals with top record companies before the unveiling. Both Amazon and Google have launched similar cloud services in the past without licensing. For more information on iCloud, visit: http://www.apple.com/icloud/

Jobs Introduces iCloud at WWDC

(The Hosting News) – Apple recently completed a leasing purchase for an 11 thousand square feet data center in Santa Clara, California, according to Data Center Knowledge. The lease is said to be for 7 years and could begin sometime during the third quarter.

DuPont Fabros Technology is completing construction on the data center in question. Popular tech news site CNET attempted to contact Apple over the lease, but the company did not immediately respond.

While Apple typically constructs its own data facilities, the possible new leasing strategy could display the company’s recent investment into cloud computing.

Most recently, the company was said to be finalizing deals with top record labels for a yet to be launched cloud music service, which could be part of the company’s popular iTunes. It was also reported that Apple purchased domain name iCloud.com.

With Apple’s expansion into the cloud, analysts only expect for the company’s need of more data center space to grow.

Apple currently has data centers in Maiden, North Carolina and Newark, California.

Apple Leases Silicon Valley Data Center

(The Hosting News) – Following the recent unveiling of Google’s own cloud service Music Beta, Apple is expected to launch its own as an extension of its popular iTunes Music service.

Apple is said to have recently finalized deals for music licensing with record label EMI, according to tech news site CNET. The company is also said to be finalizing deals with Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group. CNET had also reported last month that a deal with Warner Brothers was already in the works.

With its launch of a cloud-based music feature, Apple will have finished third behind Amazon and Google in the race to do so. However, finishing last doesn’t necessarily mean bad news for company.

With the news that Apple is readying lucrative deals with top record labels, the company will release its service with key licensing from top record companies, something Google and Amazon have yet to receive. The licensing will give Apple the ability to provide cloud features that Google and Amazon cannot provide due to legal constraints.

Google’s Music Beta was unveiled earlier this month without licensing. Amazon had previously taken a similar approach with its Amazon Cloud Player, which resulted in some record companies exploring legal options against Amazon.

Although it’s been confirmed that deals were being readied, it’s still unknown when Apple will publicly confirm them and when the company will launch the cloud service.

Apple Readies Licensing Deals For Cloud Service