Amazon’s cloud computing infrastructure has seen tremendous growth and is silently becoming a core element of the Internet. According to research from DeepField Networks, one-third of the millions of users covered by the study visited a website that uses Amazon’s infrastructure each day, WIRED reported on Wednesday. While most people still think of Amazon mainly as an Internet retailer, the company is quietly becoming “a massive utility” that is responsible for 1% of all Internet traffic in North America, according to Craig Labovitz, the co-founder of DeepField Networks. “My mother, for example, has heard of Facebook. She’s heard of Google. She buys stuff from Amazon. But I don’t think most people realize just how pervasive Amazon is becoming,” he said. “The number of websites that would now break if Amazon were to go down, and the growing pervasiveness of Amazon behind the scenes, is really quite impressive.” The company stored 762 billion objects in its S3 storage cloud last year, three times the number of objects stored 2010, and it operates several data centers on the West Coast, across Europe, and in Virginia, Singapore and Tokyo.

Read

Touchscreens can't differentiate between you, your friend or your cat. Truth is, they're actually amazingly simple pieces of technology without much in the way of brains. A new type of display shown off at the International Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference in Tokyo last week does imbue the panels with at least enough smarts to tell people apart. Gunze Ltd pairs a special capacitive screen with electrodes, which a user touches with one hand while interacting with a game or app. The immediate use would be for table-top arcade games, which would differentiate between up to four different players based on what particular circuit they complete when touching the screen. We wouldn't be shocked if a version of the tech started showing up in multi-player video poker machines and bar games relatively soon.

Gunze's new touchscreen tech knows who's touching it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ubergizmo  |  Tech-On  | Email this | Comments

No, they aren't harvesting us just yet, but Japan is putting in place a plan that could see automated farms that feature robotic tractors for tilling earth and collecting crops while LEDs keep unwanted pests at bay. It's part of something called the "Dream Project," a four billion yen ($52 million) effort to reclaim some of the farmland that was affected by the March tsunami. An area in Miyagi prefecture, 200 miles north of Tokyo, has been identified and, if all goes according to plan, these machines could start roving in as little as six years. Harvesting tiberium could take a little longer.

Japanese 'Dream Project' looking to kill bugs with LEDs, harvest crops with robots originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PC World  |  AP  | Email this | Comments

Promising us something faster, thinner and stronger later today, Motorola has paired up with Verizon to make some big announcements. We're going to be smack dab in the middle of it all, chronicling every little detail on our liveblog. "Sandwiched" between Blackberry's DevCon and another dynamic duo, we're still intrigued as to what (or even how many) phones and tablets Moto has crammed up their capacious Google-monogrammed sleeves. Could it spoil Samsung's party with some Ice Cream Sandwich news of its own? Who knows, but it's going to be a hectic day for tech news. Best grab another cup of coffee, and bookmark this page to keep up.

Feel free to throw your time zone and day in the comments below, we may even +1 you if you do.

06:00AM - Hawaii (October 18th)
09:00AM - Pacific (October 18th)
10:00AM - Mountain (October 18th)
11:00AM - Central (October 18th)
12:00PM - Eastern (October 18th)
05:00PM - London (October 18th)
06:00PM - Paris (October 18th)
08:00PM - Moscow (October 18th)
01:00AM - Tokyo (October 19th)

Motorola's Android future to be revealed later today, get your liveblog here! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Panasonic's little battery-powered bot that could, the Evolta, has garnered our attention several times over the years. It's already climbed out of the Grand Canyon and walked 500km from Tokyo to Kyoto, but apparently neither was enough to prove it and its namesake batteries' true mettle. This time, Panasonic's putting three of the robots through the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, and they've got a week to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and run a 26.2 mile marathon. Unlike the meatbags running the race who have a day to finish, the robots get a week -- though they'll be doing their thing 24 hours a day while only taking breaks to recharge their three AA batteries. Intrigued? The race starts on October 23rd, so there's plenty of time to watch the appropriately dramatic video explaining the challenge facing the triumvirate of tiny triathletes after the break.

Continue reading Evolta robot to take on the Ironman Triathlon, conquer the course in a week

Evolta robot to take on the Ironman Triathlon, conquer the course in a week originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Huffington Post  |  Panasonic  | Email this | Comments

This orangutan at Tokyo's Tama Zoo sure knows how to cool himself off. Faced with an 86 degree day, the primate grabbed a wash cloth, dipped it in water and wiped himself repeatedly. More »

Tokyo Flash's back with the crazy watch concepts, this time with something that alcoholics should probably consider: a breathalyzer watch. It tells the time, sure, but more importantly gives you a blood alcohol reading so you know your true drunkenness. More »

Continue reading Mitsubishi creates giant OLED globe for Tokyo's museum-goers, cloud gazers

Mitsubishi creates giant OLED globe for Tokyo's museum-goers, cloud gazers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OLED-Display.net  |   | Email this | Comments

Legendary Japanese watch-maker Tokyo Flash has made its first-ever watch out of acetate; the Kisai RPM Acetate. Available in white, blue and eight other limited edition colors, they're meant to resemble mini-turntables on your wrist. $160 each. [Tokyo Flash] More »

We're camped out on the corner of Howard and 3rd, but Google I/O 2011's opening keynote hasn't started quite yet. You're still in the right place, though -- bookmark this very page and return at the time listed below for blow-by-blow coverage as it happens.

06:00AM - Hawaii
09:00AM - Pacific
10:00AM - Mountain
11:00AM - Central
12:00PM - Eastern
05:00PM - London
06:00PM - Paris
08:00PM - Moscow
01:00AM - Perth (May 11th)
01:00AM - Shenzhen (May 11th)
02:00AM - Tokyo (May 11th)
04:00AM - Sydney (May 11th)

Continue reading Live from Google I/O 2011's opening keynote!

Live from Google I/O 2011's opening keynote! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

On Tuesday, Sony took the wraps off of two new Android tablets, the S1 and the S2, but two other devices — the “Freestyle Hybrid PC” and the “Ultimate Mobile PC” — were also teased by Sony execs during its IT Mobile Meeting in Tokyo. Sony’s keeping the specs for both devices close to the vest for now, but the Freestyle Hybrid PC offers a tablet form factor with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard that doubles as a stand. Sony’s Ultimate Mobile PC appears to be a new thin and light laptop with HDMI-out, but its screen size and other specs remain unknown. We wouldn’t be surprised to see both of these devices break cover in time for the back to school season.

[Via Engadget]

Read

Continue reading Arduino geiger counter brings open source radiation detection to the geeky masses (video)

Arduino geiger counter brings open source radiation detection to the geeky masses (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack-A-Day  |  Cooking Hacks  | Email this | Comments

Our thoughts this morning are with the folks in Japan and the other Pacific areas affected by the massive 8.9 earthquake that struck about 230 miles East of Tokyo. Reports of damage are flooding in from the country, and indeed many familiar manufacturers are checking in. Sony and Toyota have both stopped operations in their factories due to damage. Tragically, one Honda worker lost his life after a wall collapsed, while several Panasonic workers are said to have suffered minor injuries. We're still watching with concern to see what other impacts the resultant tsunamis could have, but for now we'll keep hoping for the best.

Sony, Subaru, and Toyota close factories in wake of earthquake, other companies check in originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

Sure, you followed along with our Tokyo liveblog and breathless posts announcing Sony's Next Generation Portable (codename: NGP, get it?) successor to the PSP. But nothing's quite like viewing a video recorded 48-hours after the event to give you a true feel for the historic event... historic to nerds like us anyway. The power is now in your hands -- use it wisely to watch a thrilling three-part trilogy after the break.

Continue reading Sony's official NGP announcement video hits the web

Sony's official NGP announcement video hits the web originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  PlayStation  | Email this | Comments

Sony just mentioned on its official PlayStation blog that the PS3 is about to get a "minor" update, v3.56. With Sony about to host a press event in Tokyo, it would be nice if we were getting some new functionality for our update timeout, but apparently all it adds is a security patch (just like 3.55), and for some reason we get the impression that this "security patch" is less about defense against baddies and more about trying to shore up the PS3 jailbreak that's currently running rampant. Of course, there are some serious security concerns when it comes to jailbroken PS3s, like the fact that they allow some serious cheating in select multiplayer games, so a truly competent, non-user-hostile security patch wouldn't be all bad. We guess we'll see what we get when the update lands, presumably later today.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sony about to issue PS3 update with 'minor,' mysterious security patch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PlayStation Blog  |   | Email this | Comments

Sega has installed toilet games in bars and arcades across Tokyo. It's called Toylet and games include measuring volume of urine, measuring power of stream, wiping a wall clean of graffiti and even controlling wind to lift a girl's skirt up. More »

Finally, we find a market that is truly enthusiastic about 3D. Tokyo-based researchers BCN, cited by CrunchGear, report that a cool 57 percent of all Blu-ray recorders sold in Japan last month had 3D playback functionality built in, while 23 percent of all 40-inch-plus TVs sold had the ability to relay stereoscopic imagery. Both those numbers are major leaps in popularity within the nation itself and also easily dwarf penetration rates for 3D hardware in other parts of the world. 3D has apparently grown a lot more affordable in Japan, but lest you think these data are just a symptom of people upgrading their equipment without regard to its third-dimension skills, word is that there's still a chunky 30 percent premium associated with adding 3D to your BR recorder purchase. So, it would seem the trendsetting Japanese are leading from the front on this one -- awkward, unstylish glasses be damned!

Japan loves its 3D: more than half of all Blu-ray recorders sold last month had 3D, 3DTVs popular too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  CrunchGear  | Email this | Comments