Apple’s North Carolina data center earns “LEED Platinum certification”; soon to be powered by largest solar array in U.S.

This week, Apple updated its environmental information page, which is where the company displays statistics about its products and how environmentally friendly ("green") they are. The new info deals with Apple's Maiden, North Carolina data center and discusses how it has been awarded "the coveted LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council."

The Cupertino-based technology company says that it knows of no other data center of that size to earn the same level of certification. In addition, Apple has revealed its plans to power the data center, which supposedly is used for its new iCloud and Siri services, "with high percentage renewable energy mix." It plans to build the largest "end user-owned solar array" and "nonutility fuel cell installation" in the United States.

Samsung to spin off struggling LCD division

Today, Samsung announced its plans to spin off its struggling liquid crystal display (LCD) division as it places a new focus on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels. The new company will be called "Samsung Display Co." and will be officially set up on April 1, 2012.

Combining all 2011 financial results, Samsung's LCD business had an operating loss of $668 million, which is certainly playing an important factor in this decision. The company will now be able to focus on its new OLED division, which it believes is where the money will be at in the near future. OLED panels are able to operate without the need of a backlight, meaning the display can be thinner, and thus, lighter.

Just last week, Samsung first revealed that it was investigating the possibility of a spin off.

Apple files antitrust complaint against Motorola Mobility with European Commission

As noted by Bloomberg, Apple has filed an antitrust complaint against Motorola Mobility with the European Commission (EC), accusing the company of violating a promise to license patents on fair terms. The complaint was likely filed earlier than yesterday, which is when Motorola Mobility was informed of it by the EC. A company spokesperson has stated that Motorola Mobility is willing to "negotiate a patent license with Apple."

Apple believes that Motorola is licensing patents against the "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" (FRAND) terms, which are designed to force companies to license intellectual property fairly to avoid a possibly monopoly in a certain market.

Earlier this week, the EC approved Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

Fair Labor Association finding “tons of issues” with Foxconn facility

Manufacturing of an aluminum Mac notebook

Just days after the Fair Labor Association (FLA) released their preliminary thoughts on Apple's Foxconn supplier facility, stating that it was "top-class," the association has stated that "tons of issues" have since been uncovered. According to Bloomberg, FLA chief executive officer Auret van Heerden said, "I believe we’re going to see some very significant announcements in the near future."

Heerden also said that the issues that have been found, which likely deal more with chemicals rather than physical conditions, will need to be addressed in the near future.

The FLA will be releasing more information on their findings in the coming weeks.

Apple announced earlier this week that it has asked the FLA to complete a thorough investigation of nearly off of its supplier facilities amidst reports that working conditions are poor.

Apple seeks court approval before suing Kodak over patents

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple has asked the court currently overseeing Kodak's chapter 11 bankruptcy case for approval to file a lawsuit against the already struggling company. Apple is accusing Kodak of infringing upon its patents in printers, digital cameras and digital picture frames.

Apple said in a filing yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York that it intends to file a complaint against Kodak at the International Trade Commission and a corresponding suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan based on patent-infringement claims. The suit will seek an order blocking Kodak’s infringement, according to the filing.

It's interesting to note that Apple did ask the court for permission to sue Kodak, which normally isn't a requirement. The company, however, "requests express authority from this court before it initiates the actions out of an abundance of caution."

Kodak will have the right to ask the court to halt the district court case until the ITC makes its ruling, though a court order on that request “is not required before Apple commences” its lawsuits, Apple said in the filing.

Kodak filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year and is currently in a court-operated auction to sell off its patents.

Apple’s stock closes at all-time high – trading at over $500

Apple's stock (trading under the symbol "AAPL") finished trading today, February 13, 2012, at a new all-time high. The company's stock is now trading at $502.60, ending the day up more than nine (9) points. This news comes just a few weeks after Apple reported significantly higher than expected financial earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2012 - the stock has been souring up since.

Apple now controls a $468.61 billion market cap, making it the most valuable public company in the world. Exxon Mobile, which held the spot for a number of years, only has a $399.64 billion market cap.

European Commission and U.S. regulators both approve Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility

Earlier today, Google announced via its blog that the European Commission has approved its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which was initially announced last year. This approval is a huge milestone in closing the deal, and Google says its still waiting on a few other jurisdictions to make their final approvals. In addition, according to a report from The Associated Press, U.S. regulators have also approved the deal.

China appears to be the final major approval that Google is waiting for to officially close the deal that will put the web giant in control of Motorola Mobility's nearly 17,000 patents.

Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab 2 with Ice Cream Sandwich

Samsung unveiled Monday the first successor to the lineup of Galaxy Tabs, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) which features Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 will be available in March, beginning the the UK, in both 3G HSPA+ and WiFi versions. The seven inch tablet features a 1 GHz dual core processor to power the device. Samsung has yet to reveal pricing for this model but it is expected soon.

In addition to the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system the Galaxy tab 2 will the same Samsung multimedia hubs as before but with the addition of the Video Hub. Samsung says the Video Hub will have over 1,000 movie titles available for purchase or rent straight from the device. The tablet will also have built-in calling features like Voice Call and ChatON. Google+ is also built-into the system for easy social networking and communication.

The Galaxy Tab 2.0 is the first tablet Samsung introduced this year replacing the original Galaxy Tab 7.0 the company announced two years ago. Indicating that more successors will follow this year the company says that this is only the first line-up of tablets for 2012.

Image via Engadget.

Apple seeking preliminary injunction against Samsung Galaxy Nexus in U.S.

According to FOSS Patents, Apple has filed a motion that seeks for a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the United States. Apple is claiming that the Galaxy Nexus, which is currently available exclusively from Verizon Wireless and is the world's first Android OS 4.0 phone, infringes upon four patents that it controls.

The patents in question deal with "data tapping," Siri and search functionality, slide-to-unlock, and automatic word completion. The patent that deals with data tapping has already proven successful for Apple once as it is the same patent that caused the ITC to place an import ban on some HTC devices. The patent dealing with search functionality will likely be the major concern for Google, considering the amount of search integration Android OS includes.

Due to the fact that all of these patents deal with software (Android OS in this case), the lawsuit doesn't seem to only be directed towards the Galaxy Nexus. In addition, three of the four patents involved are all relatively new filings for Apple, which is part of the reason why they haven't been involved in previous suits as well.

Apple files lawsuit against Motorola over Qualcomm license

According to Reuters, Apple has filed a lawsuit against Motorola that alleges that Motorola's lawsuit filed against Apple in Germany breaches a patent licensing agreement that Motorola and Qualcomm, a chipset manufacturer, hold together. The suit, which was filed in a United States court, is just the latest between Apple and Motorola as the two companies are currently engaged in a worldwide patent fight.

In the latest lawsuit, however, Apple accused Motorola of pursuing an aggressive international campaign of litigation that "flies in the face" of its promise to license standards essential patents on fair and reasonable terms.

"Despite owning scores of standards essential patents, Apple has never asserted a standard essential patent in litigation," it said.

Apple is arguing that, because Qualcomm is one of its third-party partners, it is a "beneficiary of Motorola's agreement with Qualcomm. Under that agreement, Motorola's rights under certain patents are exhausted, Apple argues."

Nokia plans to layoff 4,000 employees by the end of this year

Today, Nokia announced plans to modify its factories located in Komarom, Hungary, Reynosa, Mexico and Salo, Finland. The company says that changes are needed following a review of its smartphone manufacturing process last year to "increase the company's competitiveness in the diverse global mobile device market."

"These three factories are planned to focus on smartphone product customization, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas. Device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based," Nokia revealed.

As a result of all of these changes, Nokia revealed that roughly 4,000 employees will be let go from the factories. The employees will be laid off by the end of 2012. "We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during the transition."

Sprint reports Q4 2011 financial results

Today, Sprint Nextel reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, announcing an operating income of $842 million in the quarter and $5.1 billion for 2011 as a whole. The company also revealed that wireless service revenues increased 7% year-over-year in the holiday quarter. 

Sprint announced that it 1.8 million total iPhones in the quarter, the first three-month period that it offered Apple's smartphone. 40% of sales were to new customers, according to the press release. The carrier also reported net subscriber additions of 1.6 million in Q4, the best it has been in six years. 

The company continued to rapidly grow the number of prepaid and wholesale and affiliate subscribers in the fourth quarter. Prepaid net additions were 507,000 bringing total prepaid subscribers to nearly 14.8 million at the end of 2011, an increase of 20 percent since the end of 2010. Net additions of 954,000 for wholesale and affiliates in the fourth quarter were the highest in seven years.

Additionally, the company reported a net loss of $1.3 billion and a diluted loss of $.43 per share for the quarter, which includes pre-tax, non-cash charges of $241 million, or $.08 per share, consisting of asset and impairment charges of $78 million on property, plant and equipment, $135 million on Sprint’s investment in Clearwire and $28 million in severance costs.

Yahoo Chairman and 3 other board members step down

Today, Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock announced that he will not be seeking re-election at the company's next shareholders' meeting. Bostock, who has been Yahoo's chairman since 2008, revealed his plans in a lengthy letter to shareholders earlier today, and also stated that three other board members will be leaving the struggling Internet company as well. 

Despite his move, Bostock is still confident in Yahoo and the company's ability to "drive innovation and growth going forward." Alfred Amoroso and Maynard Webb, Jr. have already been named the two newest members of Yahoo's board, but the company is still seeking new members. 

Bostock is best known for his firing of former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, who left the company back in September of 2011. Bartz, who was unhappy about the sudden firing, was chief executive of Yahoo during the company's worst decline in history. 

This news comes just weeks after Yahoo hired former PayPal CEO Scott Thompson to be its new CEO, and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Wang left the company. 

HTC reports tough Q4 2011 financial results, expects troubles to continue into Q1 2012

Earlier today, Taiwan-based HTC reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, announcing a revenue of approximately $3.5 billion. This represents a 2.5% dip compared to the same quarter of 2010, and gives us a better idea of what the October launch of the iPhone 4S did to HTC's sales. Gross profit in the quarter is being listed at NT$27.5 billion, dropping almost 12%.

Giving a look ahead, HTC expects Q1 2012 revenues to be somewhere between NT$65 billion and NT$70, significantly below the NT$85 billion analyst expectations. The company believes that numbers will see an improvement following new device launches in the first few months of this year.

Verizon and Redbox team up to build Netflix competitor

Today, Verizon and Coinstar, owner of popular disc rental service Redbox, announced a new partnership where the two companies will build a service that features Redbox technologies and be a direct competitor to Netflix. The service will feature DVD and Blu-Ray Disc rentals from Redbox and a "new content-rich video on-demand streaming and download service from Verizon."

The unnamed service will feature subscription services and be focused around giving consumers entertainment on several devices in different forms.

"When you consider the core elements the parties bring to this venture – our powerful brands; our national rental kiosk footprint; our anytime, anywhere network presence; and our mutual commitment to customer-focused innovation – it's clear that Verizon and Redbox are a powerful entertainment team," said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon consumer and mass business markets.

"Consumers rely on Redbox for the latest new release movies at a great value, and our joint venture with Verizon will enable us to bring them even more value by offering expanded content offerings and greater flexibility for how and when they enjoy entertainment," said Paul Davis, chief executive officer of Coinstar, Inc. "This alliance is the result of a deliberate and strategic process to identify a partner who shares our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to consumers. We look forward to rolling out the shared benefits this venture will bring to consumers, retailers, and shareholders."

The partnership will utilize Verizon's relationships with entertainment providers, cloud computing technologies, and IP network infrastructure.

Verizon will be owning 65% of the venture, while Coinstar will hold the remaining 35%. The two companies plan to fully reveal the service in the second half of 2012.

Motorola sells refurbished Xooms with previous users data

Motorola has quite the situation on their hands after revealing that some refurbished Xoom tablets were resold without completely wiping the previous owners data. 

Motorola Mobility said Friday that approximately 100 refurbished Xooms were sold by Woot.com in late 2011 without clearing all personal information from the devices. The tablets that were resold could still have everything the original inputed into the device including photos, documents, user names, passwords and applications. The company is calling the mistake a "refurbishment process error."

Doing the right thing, customers who returned the tablets to retailers will receive a complimentary two-year membership of Experian ProtectMyID. Experian's services will alert customers if anything goes wrong with their identity but are also advised to change passwords to email and other online accounts. Of course all the blame can't be put on Motorola, most users should have and did perform a factory data reset before returning and therefore are not threatened. 

Those who bought a refurbished Xoom from Woot.com are asked to contact Motorola directly to find out if the tablet they bought was properly resold. Customers can go to motorola.com/xoomreturn or call customer support. Motorola says the affected tablets were bought from October to December 2011.

Sony reports Q3 2011 financial results

Today, Sony reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2011, which ended on December 31. The company reported an operating loss of $1.2 billion and revenues of $23.4 billion, down 17% year-over-year. Sony announced that its net loss for the holiday quarter totaled $2 billion, which certainly won't help the already-struggling Japan-based company.

As a result of its poor earnings, Sony has re-adjusted its projections for total loss in 2011 to $2.9 billion, from the original $1.2 billion. Finally, the company revealed that it has re-adjusted projections of sales of the PlayStation 3 from 15 million units to 14 million, and camera sales from 23 million to 21 million units.

More Facebook IPO details: Mark Zuckerberg spent $700,000 on private plan trips in 2011, salary to drop to $1 in 2013

Following Facebook's initial public offering filing with the SEC earlier today, the media is now getting a chance to read through the entire document the company filed, with all the extra tidbits and information. The IPO has already revealed that Facebook currently has 845 million users and that the company made $3.71 billion in 2011. 

New details from the document reveal that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a salary of $483,333 in 2011, with the addition of a $220,500 bonus and $783,529 of other "compensations." In addition, the 27-year old billionaire apparently spent $700,000 for private plane use "chartered in connection with his comprehensive security program and on which family and friends flew during 2011."

The IPO documents also reveal that Zuckerberg plans to bring down his yearly salary to $1 beginning January 1, 2013 (just as many other CEOs do, namely the late Steve Jobs). Using the valuation Facebook provided in the filing ($29.73 per share), Zuckerberg will have $16 billion worth of Facebook stock when the company begins trading sometime in May of this year. This number, however, may increase if Facebook's valuation increases, which it likely will in the near future. 

Facebook’s IPO documents reveal 845 million users; $3.71 billion generated in 2011

Earlier today, Facebook filed for a $5 billion initial public offering with the SEC and the media is now getting a chance to dig through the fairly large document to find any information the social network has revealed. 

First, Facebook revealed that it now has 845 million users, which means the world's largest social network gained about 95 million users since it last reported the number in June of 2011. In addition, Facebook revealed that its total revenues for 2011 were at $3.71 billion, a majority of which came from advertising throughout the social network. 

Facebook says that its partnership with Zynga, a social network game developer, accounts for about 12% of its total revenue, which is equivalent to about $500 million in 2011. 

Finally, Facebook describes that it also makes revenue from third-party companies paying to make sure that their locations, information, etc. appears before others on the social network. The example Facebook describes in the document filing is with Starbucks - Starbucks has the option to pay Facebook to make sure that their locations appear higher up on the "check-in" list when using Facebook Places. 

Amazon reports Q4 2011 financial results – $17.43 billion in net sales

Today, Amazon reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, which ended on December 31. The Internet giant announced net sales in the quarter of $17.43 billion, up 35% year-over-year. Amazon, however, also reported a 58% net income drop, equivalent to about $177 million. These numbers are below analyst expectations, which were in the mid-$18 billion range. 

While the company isn't revealing any specific Kindle sales figures for the holiday quarter, Amazon is stating that Kindle sales "nearly tripled" in the fourth quarter. It also says that the number of Amazon Appstore customers tripled in Q4, likely due to the success of the Kindle Fire tablet, which remained the top selling product on Amazon.com. 

Net sales in all of 2011 are being listed at $48.08 billion. The company is lowering expectations for the first quarter of 2012, projecting revenues between $12 to $13.4 billion.