MacRumors

Earlier this year, Apple announced that as part of an effort to power all of its data centers with 100% renewable energy it would be building a second 20-megawatt solar farm a few miles away from its new Maiden, North Carolina data center. The new solar farm would complement the previously announced 20-megawatt facility that appears to be nearing completion directly across the street from the data center.

The location of the second solar farm was not immediately revealed at that time, but the Hickory Daily Record now reports (via 9to5Mac) that Apple has just purchased 200 acres land for the solar farm at a cost of $3 million. The plot is located nearly 15 miles from the data center and is being co-located with a new North Carolina Data Campus designed to attract other companies in need of data center capacity.

Apple recently closed on the land purchase that includes a tract of 218.885 acres and another tract of 0.251 acres, according to deeds and a plat book at the Catawba County Register of Deeds. [...]

The Conover site is the only other property Apple now owns in the area in addition to the main data center campus and solar farm in Maiden. With the two solar farms and a bio-gas-powered 5-megawatt fuel cell installation, it will be the largest non-utility installation in the country, according to Apple. The company expects to generate 124 million kWh a year, which would power the equivalent of 10,874 homes, Apple says on its website.

Several local governments have banded together to create the new North Carolina Data Campus, which has purchased an additional 55 acres for its purposes at the site. Facebook and Microsoft had reportedly looked at the site as a potential data center, but ultimately selected other locations due to a lack of existing infrastructure. The new data campus entity will work to provide the necessary infrastructure in order to make the site more appealing to other companies.

One of the largest changes in iOS 6 is Apple's decision to replace its Google-powered Maps app with its own solution powered by a combination of its own work and data licensed from other companies such as TomTom. Throughout the developer beta testing process, numerous users reported on the relatively poor quality of Apple's new maps in many regards, while expressing hope that content would improve heading into the public launch.

Despite some improvements over the past few months, Apple's new Maps app has still been one of the most highly criticized aspects of iOS 6 following its debut yesterday. Users have pointed to inaccuracies in Apple's mapping data, errors in locating points of interest, a lack of transit information, and sometimes-bizarre 3D mapping imagery as major issues with the app.

BBC News takes a look at the reception Apple's Maps app is receiving in the United Kingdom, documenting a few of the specific problems reported by its readers:

Among the user complaints regarding Apple's maps sent to the BBC were:

- Some towns appear to be missing, such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Solihull.
- Others, like Uckfield in East Sussex, are in the wrong location.
- Satellite images of various locations, particularly in Scotland, are obscured by cloud.
- A search for Manchester United Football Club directs users to Sale United Football Club, a community team for ages five and above.
- Users also reported missing local places, such as schools, or strange locations. Another screenshot showed a furniture museum that was apparently located in a river.

In one high-visibility case from Ireland, Apple has categorized Dublin's Airfield Park as an actual airport, sparking government officials to contact the company in hopes of addressing the issue.

While Apple has been working on its in-house mapping efforts for a number of years as evidenced by a series of acquisitions of small companies working in the market, Google's mapping services have been live for over seven years, allowing the company to build up massive amounts of data and expertise. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that Apple's mapping solutions are not as refined as Google's in many cases, but users have generally been hoping for more from Apple's public launch.

Reuters reports on a new court filing from Samsung revealing that the company is preparing to add Apple's new iPhone 5 to a lawsuit currently underway in the United States seeking to ban Apple's devices from sale in the country over patent infringement.

"Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models."

Samsung said in a separate statement on Thursday: "Apple continues to take aggressive legal measures that will limit market competition. Under these circumstances, we have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights."

FOSS Patents has more on the filing, which notes that Samsung still needs to analyze the iPhone 5 upon its release to confirm that the device contains the same functionality being targeted in Apple's other models already included in the suit.

After bringing formal infringement contentions, Samsung could ask for a preliminary injunction against the iPhone 5. It does not mention that possiblity, but it's a procedural fact that a preliminary injunction can only be requested in connection with a lawsuit that will result in either the dissolution of the preliminary injunction or its conversion into a permanent one.

Samsung's suit alleges that Apple's devices infringe a variety of Samsung-held patents, including several that have been declared essential to mobile communications technology.

It's been a busy day with today's launch of iOS 6 and associated news, so we thought we take the opportunity to provide a roundup of today's stories to help those who might have missed something get caught up.

With the public release of iOS 6, a number of reviews have hit the Internet summarizing the new features and enhancements. Apple has of course detailed many of the changes at both its Worldwide Developers Conference in June and its iPhone 5 media event earlier this month, and Apple's broad-reaching developer program has had access to builds for a number of months, but for many people the public launch is their first time getting their hands on the new operating system. A few of the interesting iOS 6 reviews we've seen so far include:

- iMore

Compared to previous versions of iOS, and compared to competing platforms, iOS 6 doesn't have the same level of customer facing pizazz this year. Sure, there's Do Not Disturb and the new Privacy features, FaceTime over 3G, Siri for iPad and iPod touch, VIP mail, Panorama photos, Safari image uploads, single-app-mode, and a few other enhancements, but making a new Maps app was a huge amount of work for Apple. Likewise, positioning Siri and Passbook for the future compromised Apple's ability to deliver in the present.

- Macworld

There are still gaps, to be sure, but it seems like there are fewer every year. And Apple is meanwhile trying to plant more flags with forward-looking features like Passbook. Whether it’ll take its rightful place on the Home screen with Mail and Safari, or end up consigned to the dust heap of history like Ping, it’s clear that Apple is not resting on its laurels, with iOS 6.

Simply put, there’s no reason not to update to iOS 6, and plenty of reasons for you to jump onboard.

- The Next Web

Overall, iOS 6 is very good, with some nice touches throughout that ease pain points and refine the experience. And Passbook has the potential to be wonderfully useful. But the question marks of Maps and the App Store are big ones, integral to the ability to recommend iOS as the best platform for a smartphone purchase down the line. These are challenges that Apple will hopefully meet, but we’ll see.

In addition to the iOS 6 launch, Apple pushed out a number of other software updates for both iOS and Mac, including the following:

- Apple Releases OS X 10.8.2 with Facebook Integration and Game Center
- Apple Releases OS X 10.7.5 with Gatekeeper
- Apple Releases MacBook Pro Retina EFI Update 1.0
- 'Cards' Gains iPad Compatibility and Multi-Photo Layouts
- Apple Updates Find My Friends with Friend Location Notifications
- Apple Updates iOS iLife Apps: iPhoto, GarageBand, and iMovie

We've highlight some of the new features in separate articles:

- iOS 6: Guided Access, Also for Kids and Kiosks
- iOS 6 Brings Panoramic Camera to iPhone 4S
- Passbook Enabled-Apps Start Arriving on App Store

Our iOS 6 forums are incredibly busy with questions and comments about the latest release. Finally, MacStories has posted a nice bullet-point list of lesser-known tidbits and features found in iOS 6. We've highlighted some we found most interesting here:

- "Settings > General > About > Advertising: this is new and you can limit ad tracking by toggling the off/on button"
- "When using Safari for iPhone in landscape, you get a full screen button."
- "You can now set an alarm with a song and not just a tone."
- "Updating apps doesn’t require a password anymore."

M.I.C. gadget points to a report from the ePrice forums indicating that grey market vendors in Hong Kong have already managed to obtain limited stocks of the iPhone 5 and have begun selling them starting at the equivalent of about $1100. Apple's retail price will start at roughly $720 when sales officially begin on Friday.

The report names the seller as "Mr. Lo", who has a history of selling Apple products prior to their official launches at significant markups.

When Lo was asked about the sales of the iPhone 5, whether there would be a demand for it, he said the stock for the iPhone 5 is quite tight, so he thinks it will be alright to re-sell the phone for a hefty markup, at least for the first two weeks. What’s more, he has prepared “secret” couriers in U.S. and Europe to hop on planes to Hong Kong after securing about hundreds of iPhone 5s. Right now Lo has already received 100-200 orders from mainland China customers before the iPhone 5 goes on sale in Hong Kong’s Apple retail store.

Lo is also said to have a standing offer to purchase sealed iPhone 5 units from customers at a premium of roughly $200 over their purchase price, as he expects to continue selling the devices at even higher prices due to tight initial supplies.

Hong Kong has been a popular point of entry for grey market iPhones headed to China, where the devices have launched at much later dates than in other countries around the world. These Chinese and Hong Kong grey markets are also fueled by purchases in the United States and other countries that are shipped back to meet demand in Asia, although Apple has instituted purchase limits and delays in launching unlocked versions in the United States in order to help combat this issue.

Hong Kong is part of the first round of launches for the iPhone 5 on Friday, but Apple is not taking online pre-orders at the moment and is advising customer that in-store sales will begin at the standard 8:00 am launch time on Friday.

Microsoft today announced the release of Office for Mac 2011 version 14.2.4, which brings support for the Retina display on the new MacBook Pro released in June.

We’re happy to announce that Office for Mac 2011 (version 14.2.4) now supports Retina display for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Text everywhere is incredibly crisp and all key areas of the interface are now sharper than ever. We hope you enjoy this fantastic software experience!

Beyond Retina display support, the update also brings a number of other enhancements for Outlook, including calendar event reminders, Mountain Lion compatibility for signatures, and fixes for several other issues.

Alongside today's launch of iOS 6, Apple has also released OS X 10.8.2 to the public. The update is currently available via the Software Update functionality in the Mac App Store.

The update includes a number of enhancements, most notably Facebook integration and Game Center. It also includes support for several features integrating with iOS 6, such as Passbook passes and iMessage/FaceTime access via phone number.

This update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users, and includes new features and fixes:

Facebook

- Single sign on for Facebook
- Adds Facebook as an option when sharing links and photos
- See Facebook friends' contact information and profile pictures in Contacts
- Facebook notifications now appear in Notification Center

Game Center

- Share scores to Facebook, Twitter, Mail, or Messages
- Facebook friends are included in Game Center friend recommendations
- Added Facebook "Like" button for games
- Challenge friends to beat your score or achievement

Other new features

- Adds Power Nap support for MacBook Air (Late 2010)
- iMessages sent to your phone number now appear in Messages on your Mac
- You can now add passes to Passbook (on your iPhone or iPod touch) from Safari and Mail on your Mac
- FaceTime can now receive calls sent to your phone number
- New shared Reminders lists
- New sort options allow you to sort notes by title, the date you edited them, and when you created them
- Dictation now supports additional languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Korean, Canadian English, Canadian French, and Italian
- Dictionary app now includes a French definition dictionary
- Sina Weibo profile photos can now be added to Contacts

Direct downloads available through Apple's site include:

- OS X Mountain Lion Update v10.8.2 (665.48 MB)
- OS X Mountain Lion Update v10.8.2 (Combo) (665.39 MB)