• Apple’s New Data Center is Now Visible on Google Maps

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Cloud, Featured, google, News, Rants & Raves No Responses

    As noted by Fortune, Apple’s new mysterious data center in Maiden, North Carolina, is now visible entirely from Google Maps’ view. While this piece of information isn’t that interesting but the timing is. According to Fortune, Apple started allowing Google to display the data center in their Maps service soon after the official WWDC announcement yesterday.

    One of the mysteries surrounding the 500,000-square foot server farm Apple has famously constructed in a small North Carolina town called Maiden, besides its ultimate purpose, is why it didn’t show up on Google Earth.

    But if you asked Google Earth or Google Maps to show you the intersection of U.S. Route 321 and Startown Road, where the data center is located, the current satellite imagery stopped a few yards short of the construction site. West of Startown Road, there was, as recently as two weeks ago, nothing but woods and farmland and a bit of driveway that ended abruptly in the middle of a field.

    After Apple’s announcement Tuesday that Steve Jobs was ready to reveal iCloud, the “upcoming cloud services offering” presumably based in Maiden, N.C., we thought we’d give Google Maps another try.

    Lo and behold, there it was: A huge, white, nondescript building with a road leading in, a road leading out, and almost no employee parking.

    How was Apple able to keep Google from displaying this particular swath of satellite imagery? That’s still a mystery.

  • Titles and Release Dates Announced for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit

    // Gradly // 3D, blog, Featured, LOTR, Movies, News No Responses

    New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM have announced the titles and release dates for Peter Jackson‘s upcoming two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s masterpiece “The Hobbit.” The first movie, titled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, arriving in theaters on December 14th, 2012. The second movie, titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again, arriving in theaters on December 13th, 2013.

    Both movies are set in Middle-earth 60 years before J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The adventure of “The Hobbit” follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.

    Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Martin Freeman, who just won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the BBC series “Sherlock,” takes on the central role of Bilbo Baggins. Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) Richard Armitage, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas and Aidan Turner.

    The screenplays for “The Hobbit” films are by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson. both movies shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology.

  • Apple Releases iWork for iPhone and iPod touch

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Download, iPhone, News No Responses

    Apple just announced the release of the iWork suite for iPhone, you can update the existing iPad apps that are already available on the App Store. The iPhone version promises the same experience on the iPad versions.

    Here is the full press release:

    CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® today announced that its groundbreaking iWork® productivity apps, Keynote®, Pages® and Numbers®, are now available for iPhone® and iPod touch®, as well as iPad®. Created for the Mac® and then completely redesigned for iOS and Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface, Keynote, Pages and Numbers allow you to create and share stunning presentations, beautifully formatted documents and powerful spreadsheets on the go. iWork apps are available on the App Store™ for $9.99 each to new users and as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers.

    “Now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch.”

    Keynote, Pages and Numbers import and export documents from iWork for Mac and Microsoft Office; print wirelessly using AirPrintâ„¢; and include beautiful Apple-designed themes and templates. All iWork apps now include improved document management with thumbnail images that let you find your files quickly, organize them and group them into folders using intuitive gestures. From the Tools button in the toolbar, you can easily share any presentation, document or spreadsheet without leaving the app.

    Keynote makes it easy to create impressive presentations, complete with animated charts and transitions. You can play your presentation in Full Screen view on the stunning, high-resolution Retinaâ„¢ display or connect to a projector or HDTV for a large audience. Available separately, the Keynote Remote app allows your iPhone or iPod touch to control a Keynote presentation on any iOS device or Mac.

    Pages is the most beautiful word processor ever designed for a mobile device and has everything you need to create amazing documents. Pages takes full advantage of the high-resolution Retina display on iPhone 4 and iPod touch so you can see all the detail and richness of your documents. To make working with text easy on iPhone and iPod touch, Smart Zoom automatically zooms in to follow the cursor while you’re editing and zooms back out when you’re done.

    Numbers uses Multi-Touch gestures and an intelligent keyboard to help you create compelling, great-looking spreadsheets with over 250 easy-to-use functions, flexible tables and eye-catching charts. Just like Pages, Numbers takes advantage of the high-resolution Retina display and Smart Zoom to make working with text and cells on iPhone 4 or iPod touch easy.

  • It’s Official: Steve Jobs to unveil Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud at WWDC June 6

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Cloud, Featured, Gadgets, News, Steve Jobs 1 Response

    Apple has just announced that CEO Steve Jobs and other executives will take the stage on June 6th to unveil next-generation software. It’s the first time for Apple to mention iCloud specifically:

    Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

    Apple is also, promising over 100 technical sessions. Full press release below:

    CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

    WWDC will feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers. Mac® developers will see and learn how to develop world-class Mac OS X Lion applications using its latest technologies and capabilities. Mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS and learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance and design of their apps. All developers can bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers.

    For more details, visit the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 website at developer.apple.com/wwdc.

    Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.