Cloud pioneer now offers its suite of infrastructure web services for the new Tokyo Region and localized Premium Support in Japanese
Mitsui & Co., gumi Inc., Zynga and COOKPAD among the companies already using Amazon Web Services from new AWS Tokyo Region (more…)
*Virtual Collaboratory to Connect Thousands of Government Leaders Globally*
WASHINGTON – 01 Mar 2011: IBM today announced a major expansion of its Institute for Electronic Government (IEG) in 
Washington, D.C., adding cloud computing and analytics capabilities for public sector organizations around the world.
IBM has moved and expanded the facility in order to meet the growing demand from Government, Health Care and Education leaders who recognize the potential of cloud computing environments and business analytics technologies to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and tackle energy and budget challenges. (more…)
Developers from around the world compete for share of $75,000 (U.S.)
SAN FRANCISCO — Feb. 28, 2011 — Today Microsoft Corp. opened registration for the Dream.Build.Play 2011 Challenge, a contest sponsored by Microsoft to encourage independent game developers to create fun and innovative games using XNA Game Studio. Developers can register for the contest at https://www.dreambuildplay.com. Once registered, they have from May 17 to June 14, 2011, to submit their games to the contest. (more…)
comScore Releases Latest Mobile Industry Insights from its MobiLens Product
Tokyo, Japan, February 25, 2011 – comScore Japan KK, a wholly owned subsidiary of comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the 
digital world, today released the latest insights into mobile usage in Japan from its comScore MobiLens product. The report found that Japanese users are continuing to adopt smartphone devices, with Apple and Google platforms seeing significant increases in subscribers. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Think social network games are just for kids? A recent Michigan State University study found that many adults are playing games such as Facebook’s “Farmville” to help initiate, develop and maintain relationships.
The MSU team of researchers interviewed a number of Facebook users between the ages of 25 and 55, said Yvette Wohn, a doctoral student in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media who led the study.
“The interesting thing is that we were asking people how they use Facebook to manage their different relationships,” she said. “Surprisingly, all but one person talked about playing games as one of their relationship-management strategies.” (more…)
*Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie gathered with individuals from across the company this week for a day of futuristic demos showcasing natural user interfaces, 3D technologies and new ways to interact with computers. Get a behind-the-scenes look.*
REDMOND, Wash. – Feb. 24, 2011 – Microsoft provided a glimpse into computing’s future at the Microsoft Home this week, showing demos of 3D and virtual worlds, vision systems that create new models for interacting with computers, and research that explores potential scenarios for Kinect beyond gaming.
Mundie and Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, also announced plans to make a Kinect for Windows software development kit (SDK) available this spring. The non-commercial SDK will be geared to academics and enthusiasts. (more…)
*Amazon Adds Instant Videos to Amazon Prime*
SEATTLE, Feb 22, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. today announced the launch of a new benefit for Amazon 
Prime members: unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of more than 5,000 movies and TV shows. This new benefit is being added at no additional cost — Prime membership will continue to be $79 per year. Amazon Prime’s all-you-can-eat free Two-Day Shipping has already attracted millions of members. Customers can learn more about an Amazon Prime one-month free trial and start watching instantly at www.amazon.com/primevideos.
“Millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy the convenience of free Two-Day Shipping,” said Robbie Schwietzer, vice president of Amazon Prime. “Adding unlimited instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows at no additional cost is a great way to give members even more value for their $79 annual Amazon Prime membership.” (more…)
*The Microsoft Local Language Program extends software to often underserved cultures, allowing people to experience technology in their native language. Feb. 21 is International Mother Language Day*
REDMOND – Feb. 21, 2011 – While visiting a government office in Vietnam nearly a decade ago, a Microsoft employee noticed one of the employees had Post-It® notes all the way around her computer monitor.
The notes weren’t daily “to-dos” or grocery lists, but English-to-Vietnamese translations of common Microsoft Windows and Office commands such as “file,” “save” and “print.” At the time, there was no Microsoft software available in Vietnamese. (more…)
