Apple moving forward with data center, cloud computing involved?

During a recent Q&A session at the annual shareholders meeting, officials for Apple confirmed the company is moving forward with its plans for a new massive data center located in North Carolina.

The $1 billion project will create a second data center for the company, which is estimated to be nearly five times as big as their current one located in Newark, California. Officials stated the new center will focus on the company’s iTunes and MobileMe platforms. While no other information was relayed, many experts and fans have been postulating that the company will start moving into the cloud with these services.

Apple pulled its MobileMe services from stores and online venues recently, which, at that point, many felt was to integrate cloud-based services. Speculation regarding iTunes moving into the cloud involves a brewing battle between Apple and Netflix. Many feel Apple will use the new center for storage and optimized performance to offer streaming media through iTunes, accessible on all its mobile devices as well.

If these rumors are true, Apple would join a long list of companies and organizations that have adopted the managed IT service. The White House recently announced an outline for its upcoming cloud adoption strategy.