Apple files plans for Oregon data center

The Apple Oregon data center is moving closer to reality. Apple has filed formal plans with the city of Prineville, and it looks like Apple will build a 500,000-square-foot facility. It's likely the data center will serve the Apple app stores and iCloud.

The plan shows two buildings with more than 500,000 square feet of what are described as 'data halls,' The Bend Bulletin reported Wednesday. The plan doesn't say when Apple might start building.

"They really didn't say how long they are looking at," Prineville senior planner Joshua Smith said.

An Apple spokeswoman, Kristin Huguet, referred Wednesday to the company's early statements on the development, which forecast "hiring dozens of people and bringing hundreds of construction jobs to the area" but didn't set a construction schedule." The two data centers will be neighbors across the street from the other.

[Source: TUAW]

Roku lands $45M in funding, plans hardware, media expansion

Roku, the maker of a popular player for streaming Web content to TV sets, has closed a new round of funding.

The company has landed a $45 million investment from companies including News Corp. and British Sky Broadcasting, it announced today.

Also participating in the round were prior Roku venture investors Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners, as well as an unnamed strategic investor. In addition to the cash injection, News Corp's chief digital officer, Jon Miller, has joined the Roku board of directors, while Roku CEO Anthony Wood remains chairman.

"Our philosophy is to give consumers the best streaming TV experience, with the most content and at the best value in the market; and it has served us well as millions of consumers have brought Roku into their homes," said Wood. "With the News Corporation and Sky strategic relationships, we are poised to further grow our leadership position and to become the TV distribution platform of the future."

Roku will use the funding to promote brand awareness, launch new advertising campaigns and enter new markets. It also plans to increase engineering and production to support the growth of both its hardware and the digital media services available on the Roku platform, including advertising, games, transactional and pay-per-view video, and content.

The company is set to release the Roku Streaming Stick this fall. The wireless, dongle-sized steaming device will be compatible with the latest television sets and consumer electronics, according to Roku, and will be the first step in breaking away from simply producing steaming players, and into connecting its platform to smart TVs and related hardware.

[Source: cnet]