Meetings with technology companies

Norway is at the forefront in the use of new technology, and most Norwegians have the financial resources to buy many of the latest products.

Crown Prince Haakon visited the companies together with Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske, who proposed Norway as a potential location for large international data centres.

Apple

Apple is the world’s largest manufacturer of small-scale electronics, with products such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod and Mac. The company also provides other services, such as iTunes which distributes music, audio books and podcasts.

Apple recently lost one of its founders and key figures, Steve Jobs, and Crown Prince Haakon took the opportunity to extend his condolences when he was welcomed at Apple’s offices in Cupertino, California today.

At the meeting with Apple, Crown Prince Haakon was given a demonstration of the iPad2 and iPhone, in which he learned more about their functionality and the basic idea behind these products.

Cooperation on Thor 7

Later in the day, the Crown Prince and Minister of Trade and Industry met with Space Systems/Loral and Telenor in Palo Alto. Telenor recently signed a contract with Space Systems/Loral on the design and building of the Thor 7 communications satellite, which will improve Telenor’s broadcasting ability in Eastern and Central Europe and increase the capacity of its maritime communication services.

In turn, Space Systems/Loral has signed a contract with Norspace, a Norwegian company that manufactures telemetry, tracking and control (TTC) equipment. The contract will be beneficial for the Horten-based company, and is an important acknowledgement of the technology and electronics community in Norway.

John Celli, President of Space Systems/Loral, and Oddveig Tretterud, who headed up the work on Thor 7, welcomed Crown Prince Haakon and Minister Giske and accompanied them on a tour of the production facility to show them satellites in various stages of production.