Amazon AppStream is Now Available in Japan

Amazon AppStream allows you to build complex applications that run on simple devices, taking advantage of cloud-based graphical rendering (both 2D and 3D) and reducing the need for local compute power and storage. Our customers are also using AppStream to simplify their beta testing process and to control the dispersion of their Intellectual Property (IP). As I have noted in the past, your applications run in a Windows 2008 R2 environment hosted on an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance.

Earlier this year I announced that that AppStream was available to all developers. At that time, all AppStream applications were streamed from the US East (Northern Virginia) Region.

Expanding to Japan
Today I am happy to be able to announce that AppStream applications can now be streamed from the Asia Pacific (Tokyo) Region. Developers with a customer base in and around Japan can now deliver their applications with lower latency and improved interactive performance. This is important because streaming responsive video across the Internet is very sensitive to latency and is, of course, limited by the speed of light. Putting the application as close to the user as possible minizes latency and improves the overall experience. Launching AppStream in Tokyo will give developers the ability to reach even more users with their streamed applications.

As part of the AWS Free Tier, developers have access to up to 20 hours of streaming per month for a period of one year at no charge. Additional streaming time is billed at $1.20 per hour. In either case, usage time is calculated and accumulated based on the individual streaming sessions (see the AppStream pricing page for more information).

AppStream in Action
Nissan Motor Company Limited (one of world’s largest automobile manufacturers) uses the NVTS (Nissan Virtual Training System) to train mechanics in new procedures without the need for a real vehicle. By using NVTS through Amazon AppStream, the mechanics can train themselves even if they do not have a high-spec computer for 3D image processing.

Even better, mechanics can do the training anywhere, at any time for just the required amount of time, by simply accessing the system. Nissan expects the combination of NVTS and AppStream to reduce maintenance costs and is now planning to extend the use of NVTS globally and in areas other than training of mechanics.

— Jeff;