Sweden: Apple is working with Ikea to bring virtual furniture to your home

Jim Cook gave a brief mention of plans for a collaboration with Ikea, with the furniture chain bringing 3D models of its various wares into Apple’s nascent augmented-reality platform,

Now, an interview in a Swedish publication has shone a little more light on what shape this partnership will take. As reported by 9to5Mac, Ikea’s digital transformation manager Michael Valdsgaard told Digital.di that the company plans for all of its beds, chairs, cabinets and so on to come in both physical and AR versions.

“This will be the first augmented-reality app that allows you to make reliable buying decision […] When we launch new products, they will come first in the AR app.”

According to Valdsgaard, users will be able to use an Apple device to look around their home, plonking virtual items of furniture on their actual carpet with “millimetre-precise” positioning. Not only with the scale of the virtual object keep in line with its real surroundings, but so will the lighting.

The idea is that you’ll be able to see an augmented-reality layout of your home, to get a better sense of, say, what shade of leather chair looks good beside your enormous stuffed moose.

9to5Mac believes the tool might initially be used in-store, although this seems to defeat the point of the AR app, which is presumably centred on bringing Ikea items (in virtual form) into your own living room. Of course, the heart of all of this is ecommerce, and Ikea is sure to have very obvious links between its 3D models and ways to buy the actual products. What? Did you think Apple and Ikea wanted to make an AR Sims game? Not that that’s completely unheard of...

Valdsgaard said that Ikea is working on a “tight deadline”, so whether or not this tool appears in times for iOS 11 remains to be seen. We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple does a showcase of the tech during its iPhone 8 launch in September

Read more: Apple is working with Ikea to bring virtual furniture to your home |

EU Taxation Policies: US warns EU over Apple’s tax case

Is Apple cutting corners when paying taxes?

The US government has threatened the European Commission (EC) with retaliation if the body decides to proceed with its plan to demand millions of dollars in unpaid taxes from technology giant Apple.

The US Treasury Department issued a rare warning on Wednesday, August 24, accusing the Brussels-based body of becoming a “supranational tax authority” that poses a threat to international agreements concerning tax reform.

“The US Treasury Department continues to consider potential responses should the Commission continue its present course,” the Treasury said in its strongest language to date.

“A strongly preferred and mutually beneficial outcome would be a return to the system and practice of international tax cooperation that has long fostered cross-border investment between the United States and EU member states,” the warning added.

The European Union (EU) has been investigating a series of tax deals between Apple and Ireland which allow the iPhone maker to pay little or no tax on income earned across Europe.

The EC is expected to rule on the case next month. This is the biggest corporate tax avoidance investigation ever undertaken by the commission.

The EC is the executive body of the EU, responsible for implementing decisions, proposing legislation, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the bloc.

According to investment bank JP Morgan, if Apple is forced to retroactively pay the Irish corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent on its pre-tax profits, the company might need to cash out as much as $19 billion.

A 2013 report by US Senate confirmed that Apple has paid little to no taxes on at least $74 billion of the profit it earned by exploiting Irish and American tax laws.

Tim Cook, who became Apple’s CEO after the death of its founder Steve Jobs five years ago, has denounced the case as “political crap.”

“There is no truth behind it,” he said. “Apple pays every tax dollar we owe.”

The EU estimates that tax avoidance by multinational corporations costs member states anywhere between $50 million to $78 billion a year in lost taxes.

In addition to Apple, other American companies like Amazon and Starbucks are also suspected of tax evasion.

Note EU-Digest: Hopefully the EU Commission does not cave-in for these US misguided threats and intimidations and tells the US Treasury Department where to shove this warning, which is protective of US corporate tax evaders.   

Read more: PressTV-US warns EU over Apple’s tax case

Computer Technology: Apple's music streaming under EU investigation

European Union antitrust regulators are investigating Apple's deals with record labels and online music streaming services to see if it is blocking rivals' access to its music planned streaming platform, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The move by the European Commission comes as iPhone maker Apple expands into the fast-growing music streaming business to offset a decline in iTunes sales.

Streaming music has also attracted the attention of online retailer Amazon.com, while singer Jay Z last month launched the Tidal service, amid stiff competition from Spotify, Pandora Media, Google and others.

Read more: Apple's music streaming under EU investigation

Netherlands: Apple rumored to be planning new European data center in Eemshaven

Apple's infrastructure team is believed to have been focused on the region as a possible expansion location for some time, according to a report from iPhoneClub.nl. The project, code named "Saturn," could bring as many as 200 new jobs to the area.

Eemshaven is a seaport in the Netherlands' Groningen province which has recently become a popular destination for international technology companies seeking an infrastructural foothold in Europe. The port is home to numerous power generating stations, including a 156-megawatt wind farm, and is also the landing point for a high-capacity transatlantic fiber optic cable managed by India's Tata Communications.

Search giant Google currently operates a 10,000 square meter facility in Eemshaven, and Microsoft has begun construction on a similarly-sized datacenter of its own in the area. Microsoft's new datacenter, which is thought to be representative of the type of facility Apple would construct, is being built at a cost of €2 billion ($2.7 billion).

Apple has been on a datacenter construction spree of late. The company completed a $1 billion facility in Maiden, North Carolia in 2012, and is currently in the process of opening similar sites in Prineville, Oregon and Reno, Nevada.

Apple will reportedly make a final decision on whether to officially add the Eemshaven site to its roster by the end of the year.

For more go to Apple Insider