When we think of supercomputers, the image that generally comes to mind is one of racks and racks of specially built machinery kept in super-clean fluorescent rooms. While that may be true for the most powerful computers in the world, Amazon may be changing things. The online bookseller has apparently harnessed the power of its massive cloud computing platform called Elastic Cloud Computer (EC2) to create the 42nd fastest supercomputer in the world, which — strictly speaking — doesn’t exist here in meatspace.

As you are doubtless aware, Amazon has been making a big push into the digital distribution of books. They’ve got several varieties of Kindles designed for the purpose and a terrific platform from which to do so, the main problem so far has really been reluctant publishers. It seems that Amazon has found a potential way around that, however; hire the authors yourself.

Traditional publishers have been scared of eBooks pretty much from the start since their easy distribution undermines the problem publishing houses were made to solve. With Amazon’s push to allow for Netflix-style book rental, most big publishers backed off even further, prompting Amazon to try and lure, coerce, or force them into cooperation. That hasn’t worked so well, so Amazon is throwing down the gauntlet and publishing 122 books this fall, in physical and eBook form.

Though Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform is just over a year and a half old, it has already snatched the title of fastest cloud platform from competitors like Amazon and Google. The title was bestowed upon Azure by an independent review of cloud services carried out by Compuware, and involved comparing loading times for a two-page website on each of the services.

Azure took the top spot at 6.07ms, followed by the Google App Engine which lagged a half a second longer. Amazon’s cloud platform brought up the rear with 7.20ms for sites hosted on the East Coast and 8.11ms for sites hosted further West. This is significant for Microsoft, since Windows 8 has key functions that depend on Azure. Fast response times could mean a better Windows 8, and it’s a feather in the cap for Azure as they try to lure more developers over to their service. With Amazon’s spot of trouble with the service earlier in the year, the promise of fast speeds could prove too tempting to pass up.

It appears that the Kindle Touch 3G, despite having 3G right in its name, will only be able to surf the web with Wi-Fi. The 3G capacity can be used to sync books and browse Wikipedia, but anything aside from those two activities will require a Wi-Fi signal. The weirdest part of that limitation, however, is that a previous Kindle model, the Kindle Keyboard 3G had, and appears to retain that very feature.

The limitation came to light after a clarification was posted on the Amazon forums. While the Kindle Touch 3G’s website touts “free 3G wireless” which is technically true, it doesn’t say anything about the restriction. The post on the forums, however, makes it perfectly clear: The 3G is expressly for syncing books and looking at Wikipedia. The “experimental” web browsing present on the Kindle Keyboard is going to stay were it is.

The Internet has been buzzing about the possibility (the inevitability, really) of a new Kindle-branded Amazon tablet for a while. Now it’s finally here. Announced officially at an Amazon press conference this morning, the Kindle Fire is the newest addition to the Kindle family and brings some remarkably new functionality to the Kindle we’re familiar with, all for a competitive, come-at-me-iPad price of $199.

So, let’s break it down, the Kindle Fire is a touchpad. Although it only has two-finger touch support, it has touch support, which sort of elevates it to the big boy tablet arena. As for physical specs, the Kindle Fire operates on Android, weighs about 14.6 ounces and has a 7-inch touchscreen which clocks in at around 3 inches smaller than competitor iPad. Whether you see that last bit as an advantage or a flaw is matter of preference.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Amazon is currently talking with a variety of book publishers in hopes of launching an eBook rental service in the same vein as Netflix. While book renting has been around as long as libraries have been, the prevalence of eBooks could, and probably will, permanently change the book rental landscape.

Considering the amount of control publishers have historically had over the publication and distribution of the books in their stables, it’s understandable that they might not be willing to surrender control to Amazon. It doesn’t help that Amazon is looking to distrubute eBooks of all things, a product many publishing companies are still wary of. As such, it’s reported that Amazon is prepared to offer publishers a sizable chunk of change if they agree to get involved in the program.

TechCrunch’s MG Siegler is reporting that not only does Amazon have a tablet in the works, but that he’s held it in his hands. The new tablet is reported to be a full-color, 7-inch device with a capacative multi-touch screen that will be branded as a Kindle but will not have an e-ink display. Apparently, the device will have the shocking low price of $250 when it hits the shelves, and will be sold alongside existing black-and-white Kindles.

According to the article, though the device uses the Android operating system as a foundation, it has a custom-made Kindle OS built on top of that. Interestingly, impressions of the device seem to indicate that instead of competing with the iPad as a all-in-one device, the Kindle tablet will be deeply integrated into the services offered by Amazon. The Kindle Store will power book reading, the Amazon Cloud Player will play your music, and Amazon’s streaming video service will push your videos. The idea, it seems, is that the device be based primarily on the cloud and serve as a hand-held bridge to Amazon’s media services.

TechCrunch says that the device is slated for a November release. If true, this could have the potential to shake up the iPad hegemony in the tablet market.

(TechCrunch via Techmeme)

In what could become a landmark court decision, New York district court Judge William Pauley has ruled that music locker service MP3Tunes does indeed qualify as a Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) “safe haven,” thwarting attacks by music labels against the service. In their reporting, Ars Technica says that the ruling could bolster the arguments of other music locker services like Google and Amazon that their activities are legal, pending an inevitable appeal.

For those unaware, music lockers are online services that allow users to upload their digital music to remote servers and then stream that music from a computer or mobile device.  MP3Tunes, the brainchild of Michael Robertson, gives users this uploading and streaming ability, but also a service called sideload.com to search for tracks already available online and transfer them into the users’ lockers.

In their suit, lead plaintiff EMI maintained that streaming user-uploaded tracks without a license from the music’s copyright owner is illegal. Furthermore, they claimed the sideload.com service gave users access to music they had not paid for, thus perpetuating piracy. The suit also attacked MP3Tunes’ use of a process called “deduplification” where instead of hosting thousands of copies of a song, such as Richard Harris’ MacArthur’s Park, the service hosts one copy and streams it to multiple users.

Apple, along with book publishers HarperCollins, Hachette, Mcmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster are now involved in a class-action lawsuit that accuses them of colluding to fix prices in order to hurt Amazon’s Kindle success. The lawsuit, being brought by a Seattle law firm, suggests that all the parties involved had reason to be afraid of Amazon’s pro-consumer pricing scheme for both its hardware and for eBooks.

The logic of the case goes something like this: Publishers were concerned about lost profits from the sale of Amazon’s eBooks, Apple was concerned that the Kindle could seriously damage the iPad’s viability as an eBook reader, and therefore, the two teamed up to fix prices to try and thwart Amazon’s eBook endeavors.

The Main Street Fairness Act, which would establish a national standard for sales tax on items purchased via the Internet, has now been introduced before congress. The bill, which we’ve discussed before, would not only ensure that states get their cut of commerce within their boundaries but also do away with the “use tax” — an estimated account of online purchases that (let’s be honest) taxpayers rarely report. But consumers might see some changes in the prices their used to paying online.

According to PC Magazine, Amazon has supported for the bill along with other major retailers. They quote Amazon CFO Thomas J. Szkutak during their second-quarter earnings call, saying:

“I think in terms of the sales tax issue in total, the way you should think about it, we support a federal simplified approach, as we have for more than 10 years,” Szkutak told analysts. He reiterated that Amazon thought that the tax issue was a “federal” one and that Amazon continued to work through those issues.

Amazon’s support of the bill may seem surprising, since the company has frequently fought efforts at the state level to collect taxes on Internet purchases. This could indicate that the company believes that some kind of tax deal will eventually be reached, and would rather have one law to contend with than a patchwork of laws in each state.