The 100-acre, 20-megawatt facility will supply 42 million kWh of clean, renewable energy annually. Apple is also building a fuel cell installation that will finish in late 2012. Located right next to the data center, the 5-megawatt facility will be powered by biogas and provide more than 40 million kWh of renewable energy annually. The U.S. Green Building Council granted the building LEED  Platinum certification, the organization’s highest honor for environmentally friendly building practices.

“We know of no other data center of comparable size that has achieved this level of LEED certification,” Apple quotes. If Apple seems a tad defensive, that’s because Greenpeace has been hitting the company hard over its environmental record.Last year, Greenpeace took a look at 10 big technology companies and ranked Apple’s data center power the dirtiest. In a recent report examining tech giants working hardest to combat climate change and shift their operations to renewable energy sources, Greenpeace said Apple failed to even qualify for the list.

Until now Apple had kept the details of its Maiden facility under wraps, but now we can report such enviro-geek tidbits as this: A chilled water storage system will improve cooling efficiency by transferring 10,400 kWh of electricity from peak to off-peak hours each day; much of the cooling water will come from rainwater and be reused 35 times, which Apple says should result in a 20 percent reduction in overall water consumption. The company will also employ standard “free” air cooling as well, whereby outside air cools servers, a white roof to improve solar reflectivity and motion activated LED lighting.

Motorola revealed the complaint Friday in its annual report with the SEC, which says:

“On February 17, 2012, the Company received a letter from the European Commission, Competition Directorate-General, (the “Commission”) notifying it that the Commission has received a complaint against Motorola Mobility, Inc. (“MMI”) by Apple, Inc. (“Apple”) regarding the enforcement of MMI’s standards-essential patents against Apple allegedly in breach of MMI’s FRAND commitments. Apple’s complaint seeks the Commission’s intervention with respect to standards-essential patents. Apple’s complaint seeks the Commission’s intervention with respect to standards-essential patents.”

The Motorola patents in question are included in the 17,000 patents Google will get its hands on when its purchase of Motorola Mobility is complete. The patents are to be licensed on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. When a technology is classified as FRAND, the owner of the patent must license it to other companies for a fee, since the technology is considered essential to an industry. Two days ago, Apple won a dispute with Motorola in German courts over its “Slide to unlock” feature. The courts said two Motorola phones were violating Apple’s patent and now Apple can push to have the devices removed from the market.

In a recent letter to the iEEE standards association, Google said it would continue to license all standards-essential patents under the same conditions as Motorola Mobility, and for the same maximum 2.25 percent royalty of the net selling price — that’s the full price of a tablet or smartphone before any subsidies.

Early reports of the price increase unfairly pegged the blame on Apple, which isn’t responsible for the pricing of items listed on iTunes. Like items listed in the App Store, Apple simply takes a 30 percent cut of content sold through its digital distribution service. What appears to have happened is that Sony raised the wholesale price of the album early Sunday morning, which led to the retail price increase on iTunes. The price was returned to normal late Sunday evening.

For individual songs on iTunes, labels can price their tracks at one of three levels: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Album pricing is a bit more variable, with most ranging from $9 to $15, with a small percentage beyond that range.Back in June 2009, prices of Michael Jackson songs and albums remained unchanged after Jackson’s death despite much of his work topping the charts on iTunes. Michael Jackson, like Whitney Houston, was under the Sony Music label.

Island Records also saw sales of Amy Winehouse songs and records spike after the singer passed in late July 2011. But again, there was no price hike to take capitalize on the boom, making Sony’s weekend decision to raise Whitney Houston pricing all the more unseemly.Currently, Houston has three tracks in iTunes singles top 10, and The Greatest Hits is number two in the albums top 10. Of Houston’s 32 albums currently on iTunes, two are priced at $15 (The Greatest Hits and Whitney Houston – The Deluxe Anniversary Edition), while the rest are $10.

Microphone Logistics

Microphone positioning on MacBooks and iMacs is a technical challenge for any Siri desktop port. The iPhone is designed to be held up to your face, and has a built-in mic that includes advanced noise reduction technology to ensure your voice is heard loud and clear and this is accomplished by using two microphones: one near your mouth to pick up your voice, and another near the headphone jack to identify and cancel out background noise.MacBook Pro has an omnidirectional microphone built-in. It’s very convenient for using FaceTime in conjunction with the notebook’s camera, or for the speech recognition function built into Macs for OS control. The omnidirectional mic, however, doesn’t offer the same voice-processing sensitivity of the iPhone 4s dual-mic arrangement.So, Siri voice analysis would be far more challenging on a Mac computer.

Granted, using an external mic, or even the mic on your throwaway iDevice earbuds, could provide a solution. But even though Siri is still considered a beta product, Apple wouldn’t resort to such an inelegant hack just to put Siri on Macs. “Apple has been reluctant to put in features that require something like that,” says Forrester analyst Frank Gillett.

Location Detection

Siri is all about location-awareness. She wants to give you directions, provide local weather reports, and locate the closest sources of exotic cuisine. But desktop computers don’t include native GPS. “I think the main challenge would be the lack of an accurate location being available,” said William Tunstall-Pedoe, which has developed a Siri clone called Evi. What’s more, as Tunstall-Pedoe points out, desktop computers are relatively stationary devices, so a Mac version of Siri may not even need location-awareness, as a large portion of Siri’s talents would never be engaged.

While MacBooks don’t include GPS services, various web services can figure out your location by using either IP geolocation, or by triangulating your position based on WiFi networks around you. These strategies, however, deliver location accuracy limited to about 150 feet, whereas GPS can peg you within 10 feet of your precise position on the Earth.

Hands-Free Voice Control Isn’t Needed

People tend to use Siri because their hands are tied, like when driving. Thus, “Siri, where’s the nearest gas station?” With Siri, you can find the answer quickly, and relatively safely, while keeping your eyes on the road. But these basic use cases just don’t transfer to the desktop. “I think it is fair to say that the advantages that a voice-powered assistant give are stronger on a small mobile device,” Tunstall-Pedoe said.“PCs are also often used in environments where the use of voice would be awkward,” such as inside an open floor plan office.

Limited Use Cases

With Siri, you can schedule reminders, look up restaurant and business information on Yelp, get information from Wolfram|Alpha, and ask general search engine-style queries. That’s not a large number of functions, and they’re not specifically suited to the desktop environment.

Always-On Data

Siri needs a constant data connection in order to interface with Apple’s servers. Until MacBooks include a built-in 3G, or more likely, 4G data connection, WiFi alone won’t cut it for consistent, high-quality network availability. Siri ties into unique hardware features that make chatter between one’s device and Apple’s data center more streamlined.There seems to be special silicon within a special chip that has capabilities for voice recognition that a Mac wouldn’t have.Siri is sometimes able to analyze a query and provide a response extremely quickly, while other times, it takes 10 to 15 seconds of processing.The chip does some pre-analysis, shrinks stuff it has to send, Apple’s data center gets a crunched answer, and then Siri displays it on screen.

Apple may be working on Siri-enabling features in the future, but there will be some hardware enhancements to go with it.

Mobile device users need strategies for syncing data they enter on their desktops and laptop with applications on their tablets and cellphones. Achieving this degree of connectivity is no easy task.
There are some very workable solutions that let us get more efficient use from today’s mobile and stationary technology without having to leave some data or devices out of the mix.The data interconnectivity issue can be solved with a few well-chosen Android apps for the phone and tablet.

We needed a better Web platform to provide a conduit for data exchange and syncing among growing collection of computers and mobile devices.Several Android apps let you enter data on cellphone and  it is instantly sync to my tablet and vice-versa. Google Chrome then updates the content in a companion Chrome app.This helps you to achieve two-way syncing regardless of where the details were entered: desktop or laptop computers, netbook, tablet or cellphone.

Google’s Web browser, through its built-in free cloud service, makes the connectivity process work. Alas, Firefox’s developer, Mozilla, does not have such an offering. And the free basic individual cloud services Canonical provides and the Asus cloud solution are not as universal if you do not use their OS  or hardware .

Google Browser tools further expand your ability to sync data between your computers, tablets and phones. One tool set is a collection of browser tie-ins to the Google cloud called “Google Shortcuts.” They provide instant access to documents I store as Google Docs. You can select the combination of free services that suits your needs.The shortcuts I use from the browser toolbar are: Notebooks, Google Docs, Reader and Bookmarks. These are one click away whether I am on the phone or tablet connected to Google.com with any mobile browser or any Internet-connected desktop or laptop computer.

Two Google Chrome extensions sync my phone with the desktop and laptop/netbook browsers. The first one is the Google Chrome to Phone Extension. This lets me send links and other information from Chrome to my Android device. I first had to install the Chrome to Phone app in in the Google Chrome browsers. I also installed the Chrome to Phone app on my tablet and phone. The app is available from the Android Marketplace.

The second killer syncing tool is the Mighty Text app. It also requires companion installations on the mobile devices and Chrome browser extension. It pops up an alert on the computer when my cellphone rings or text message arrives on the phone or tablet. The beauty of Mighty Text is that I can send and receive text messages on the computer relayed through the phone’s SMS feature. If nothing else, having access to a real keyboard while texting is convenient.

The Android app SpringPad uses the computer’s browser to connect to the SpringPad server. The Android app handles the data on phone/tablet and then syncs with the SpringPad servers. It accepts different types of information, including notes and tasks, bookmarks, recipes, checklists, shopping lists and packing lists. It also saves audio and video clips. This system works with iPhone and iPad apps as well as the Firefox and Chrome browsers. It teams up with the browser extension called “SpringIt.”

Astrid Tasks is an Android app that syncs with Google Tasks as well as Google Calendar in a two-way conduit. It solves the problem of having a calendar on the mobile devices and separate calendars on other computers. Ditto for the to-do list manager.

A final syncing solution comes with the ColorNote Notepad app. It does not sync data with the computers. But it shares all notes and lists with tablet and cell phone.

The notes app in the OS looks exactly as it does on the iPad, although it has more formatting options and a neat feature that permits you to “rip” a page from the pad and place it on the desktop. Notes, too, are synchronized and shared with other devices through iCloud.The Notification Center found in iOS will be in Mountain Lion, too. It’s a single place to view your latest emails, calendar events, reminders and system notifications.

On iOS devices, sharing what you work on can be done with a single poke. With Mountain Lion, it can be done with a single click. No matter what you’re doing with your computer, a share icon is always available with a context menu that lets you do things like bookmark pages, email a document, message a contact or create a tweet.Airplay mirroring will also be found in Mountain Lion. So if you have Apple TV, you can mirror the screen of your Mac on a TV. That’s especially useful for business presentations created with programs like Keynote.

There are also some new features in Mountain Lion not found in the realm of iOS. Support for Chinese speakers will be beefed up, and security will be improved with Gatekeeper.Gatekeeper allows you to determine what apps can be downloaded and installed on a Mac. That isn’t necessary in iOS because Apple itself acts as the gatekeeper by only allowing apps that it approves to be sold to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users.Gatekeeper gives you the option of installing apps only from the App Store, from the App Store and developers who have been certified by Apple or from anywhere you want.

One feature from the iOS world that doesn’t seem to be making it over to Mountain Lion is Siri, the virtual assistant found on the iPhone 4S.This is one of the most robust upgrades that we’ve seen from Apple in a while.The takeaway message is that Apple is more than ever committed to the Mac platform. “That even though it’s not the central hub of their revenues, it’s still an important product in the overall Apple line and they have no intention of stopping to be innovative on the Mac or to stop supporting it aggressively.”

As more features from iOS begin to show up in OS X, some believe it’s only a matter of time before Apple merges the operating systems together.”Within the next one to two years, they’ll try to drive the operating systems together,” says Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst with the Enderle Group. “It should be done by 2015 at the latest.”

Apple isn’t alone is trying to create ties across its family of devices. Microsoft is trying to do it with Windows Phone and Windows 8. Google showed signs of it when it recently introduced a version of its Chrome browser for Android.

Through Ice Cream Sandwich, the Galaxy Tab 2 will offer access to more than 400,000 Android applications. It will have a redesigned app gallery for easier content sharing.Ice Cream Sandwich “will bring more usability to this tablet than the previous ones,” Michael Morgan, a senior analyst at ABI Research.Samsung didn’t upgrade predecessors to the Galaxy Tab 2 because “it’s a hardware issue,” Morgan said.

The Galaxy Tab 2 will offer access to Samsung Hub services. These consist of the Music Hub, which is a music store with more than 17 million tracks; the Readers Hub, which offers access to more than 2.3 million e-books, 3,500 magazines and more than 2,000 newspapers in 51 languages; and the Video Hub, which offers more than 1,000 film titles for purchase or rent.Samsung has introduced its Touchwiz user interface on the Galaxy Tab 2. This features Hub widgets for easy access to users’ content in Hubs. It also includes the “S Suggest” feature, which puts up real-time app recommendations on the home screen. The UI now has a swipe control feature for applications.

Samsung has also introduced its new content-sharing service AllShare Play on the Galaxy Tab 2. This lets users play, stream or transfer their multimedia content on the tablet to and from PCs, other Samsung smart devices, or third-party Web storage.The front and rear cameras and other features are essentially similar to what’s available in earlier versions of the Galaxy Tab.

The 3G version of the Galaxy Tab 2 can double as a smartphone. Users can arrange multi-party video calls through Google+ hangouts. ChatON, Samsung’s cross-platform communication service, will connect all phone users on any platform using their phone numbers so they can chat and exchange video and text messages.

“I think it is an excellent value add if operators are on board with this because now you’re bringing voice to the media tabs,” ABI’s Morgan suggested. “I’ve seen some hacks in Europe that allow this but operators haven’t been on board with it.” The Galaxy Tab 2 WiFi-only version will sell in Sweden for 2,995 SEK, and the the WiFi+3G model will go for 3,695 SEK (about US$450 and $555, respectively).Those prices may not be identically reflected in other markets, though.

“You might want to wait until the UK prices come out to get a more realistic picture,” Gangar cautioned. That’s because prices in the UK tend to be lower. “An entry-level iPad 2 costs around $680 in Norway and $630 in the UK,” said Kunal Gangar, cofounder of SammyHub, which focuses on Samsung-related news.He expects prices for the Galaxy Tab 2 will come down once the price for the UK market is disclosed.

The extra junk in the trunk comes with a payoff — an upgraded 3,300 mAh battery cell, one which Motorola promises will deliver up to 21 hours of talk time and over 350 hours on standby.With the Razr Maxx’s supercharged battery, Moto goes a long way toward solving what is arguably the biggest issue in mobile devices today: longevity. Even the iPhone — the darling device of the mobile world — took serious heat for its lack of stamina after receiving the latest iOS software update.

No matter how sleek or functional a phone is, it ain’t nothing without enough juice to make it last, and the Razr Maxx’s purported battery life is unprecedented among today’s smart devices. The Razr Maxx makes good on Motorola’s claims. The phone stood up to 12 hours of continuous YouTube video playback — more grueling than voice calls — in my testing before running out of steam. And on a full charge under regular-use conditions,it goes for three whole days without having to plug it in.

This longevity is only compounded by Moto’s Smart Actions management system, the company’s ingenious software-based approach for tracking and adjusting feature usage and energy consumption. It switches certain functions on and off automatically when the phone’s sensors detect a specific set of user-defined conditions. For example, when your battery dips below a certain point, say 20 percent, you can instruct the phone to automatically dim the screen and turn off the 4G and GPS radios. Also, the phone will use known Wi-Fi networks to determine your location. It knows when you’ve left your pad and you’re walking around, or when you’ve arrived at the office

If you’re superficial enough to care only about what’s on the outside, you may as well get the Droid Razr. Both phones are nearly identical in terms of specs and materials: 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with an HD-capable front-facing camera, a microSD slot, and a 4.3-inch super AMOLED screen are all standard on both devices. They both run Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, and both are upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich. It’s just that with its beefier battery, the Droid Razr Maxx is chunkier and more costly — the Maxx hits stores at $300, and the price of the previous Razr just dropped to $200.

I like what Motorola is doing with its hardware across all of its latest phones, Razr or otherwise. It’s part of a larger emphasis on industrial design in the mobile world, as manufacturers like Nokia and Motorola have started paying closer attention to materials, flourishes and details once otherwise overlooked.Moto’s latest phones are built atop an aluminum chassis, strong enough to withstand numerous waist-high drops. One of the defining features of the Razr line is the Kevlar mesh backing. This Razr Maxx feels smooth and exotic in the hand. It’s almost like touching the cool surface of a piece of glazed pottery. And like scores of other smartphones, the screen is kept safe with a Gorilla Glass facade.

Vimeo has always been second fiddle to YouTube. Yet, Vimeo does attract a more professional grade of videographer and often the contents of Vimeo are much more polished than the much uploaded to YouTube from millions of would-be Internet stars. Vimeo finally has a new app for iOS and Android and it is everything you would expect from the platform in terms of quality video and performance. Users can view videos, manage their accounts and upload all from one app. The Android version of Vimeo requires 2.3 Gingerbread or above.

Producteev (Free – iOS, Android)

Producteev is a task manager available for Macs and Windows PCs, iOS and Android, IM and email. It is basically everywhere. As a task manager, one of its best features is the ability to work offline so you can access your tasks and projects from everywhere. Imagine being an intern working on Capitol Hill in D.C. and stuck on the Metro Orange Line between Roslyn and Foggy Bottom then the ability to access your tasks offline on your phone is tantamount. You can also invite other users into the projects within the app with its workspace feature. Business is going mobile.

Plex ($4.99 — iOS, Android)

Plex for iOS actually came out for iOS in December but the Android version was released in January so we will give it a cross-platform designation. It is a media platform that runs across Windows, Mac and Linux. Install the Plex Server on your computer then download the app and all of your media (music, video, pictures) will be converted to mobile form through your myPlex app. Plex serves over 200 channels including Vimeo, YouTube, Revision3 and others. When attaching it to a Mac it can run content from iTunes, Aperture and iPhoto. Truly a simple and powerful media streaming app.

Zynga Poker (Free – iOS, Android)

It is what it is, as they say. Poker from social gaming company Zynga. This poker game is a little cooler on the geek factor though since it was written in HTML5 and then wrapped for the native platforms (a hybrid app). If you have ever played Zynga’s poker app on Facebook, this will be no different except it has now gone mobile. Connect with friends, get some free chips and get your Texas Hold ‘em’ on.

Google will reportedly offer a certain amount of storage for free and implement a tiered fee structure for larger storage requirements, which is standard industry practice.It might integrate the service with its Android operating system, the way Apple tied its iCloud service to iOS.Users might be able to share files with others by sending them a link to download a file instead of having to go through a file-sharing service.

“Google has the experience and IT infrastructure to support such a service, and specialized solutions like Dropbox have been a particularly bright corner of the commercial cloud market,” says Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. “Given Google’s assets, they could probably roll out a competitive offering at a very competitive price point in relatively short order.”

Google’s likely to succeed if it offers a cloud storage service because “it has a massive footprint in the Internet space,” opined Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Apple, with its proprietary iCloud service, is among the giants in the cloud storage sector.Amazon offers the Cloud Drive, while Microsoft has Windows Live SkyDrive.Other players include Barracuda Networks, which charges for its service; and ADrive, which does not.Further, Google already offers various forms of cloud-based storage. There’s Google Docs; Google Cloud Services, a paid service for the enterprise; Google Cloud Storage for developers; and, of course, Picasa Google’s photo and video storage and sharing site.