Toyota announced that one of its subsidiaries had set itself the goal of developing a "supercomputer-on-wheels" self-driving vehicle ready to demonstrate at the Tokyo Olympics one year from now.

This year's summary of key events revolves in around the role of government intervention and the trends that such politically-driven activity will have on our businesses in 2014.

By Rob Churcher

Nagano-based server company JMF is using cloud computing to provide cheap, eco-friendly solutions to clients

It’s a simple and yet complex concept - a virtual server. The idea of pulling out the clunky piece of hardware that is at the heart of a business’ information processing system and surrendering it to the ether can be a difficult proposition for some business owners. “Cloud computing” is becoming more of a buzz word as Internet infrastructure rapidly improves around the globe and desktop and mobile devices increasingly piggyback processing power that exists elsewhere.

Takeshi HaraBy Hugh Ashton

How one Tokyo entrepreneur is taking the heat off fried foods

For a long time, it has been known that deep-fried foods cause health problems. Not only do French fries, a guilty pleasure for many, increase their eaters’ weight, with all the health risks associated with obesity, but the oil oxidizes at the temperatures associated with frying starchy foods and oxidized oil poses many questions regarding health.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to enjoy these fried treats without continually having to worry about the possible dangers to one’s health?

By Robert Sanzalone

Can technology help grandparents fight wire fraud?

An elderly woman walks towards the ATM with a worried look and a mobile phone to her ear. She believes it’s her grandson who is in trouble and is in desperate need of cash. As she punches the numbers on the machine, a warning flash in the booth tells her to please turn off her phone ...

Tatsuo NakamuraBy Hugh Ashton

Some innovative software is helping companies take the guesswork out of patent research.

Maps point the way with new technology in patent research.

By Robert Sanzalone

If Japanese consumers don’t even really want TV on their cellphones, why has it been such a hit?

By Chris Salzberg

The massacre on June 8 in Akihabara ended with seven killed, more than a dozen injured, and an entire country in a state of shock. It also signaled a profound change in the way people receive their news, and in how they create it.

By Ed Thompson -- The future of office spaces could well be creative environments that stimulate the senses. -- In the office of the future, smart-rooms that automatically respond to voice, motion, and other cues promise to boost productivity and encourage new forms of communication. For IT solutions provider Kayac Co., Ltd., that future is now. The company has teamed up with digital communications researchers from the Keio University Inakage Lab to develop a speech recognition-capable brainstorming room designed to enhance group creativity by monitoring the conversation of its occupants, identifying keywords in their speech, and feeding them a stream of related images and text retrieved from online search engines.