Village Gamer

Ottawa digital content distribution company International Datacasting Corporation has announced a vendor financing package and a follow-up on contracts with the Wananchi Group Ltd., for the rollout of a Direct-to-Home (DTH) broadcast service in Africa.

International Datacasting announces that it has successfully secured a vendor financing package, which establishes a revolving credit facility for Wananchi. This credit facility was developed in cooperation with Export Development Canada (EDC) and a Canadian financial institution.

Wananchi Group Ltd. launched the first triple-play network in Africa, and recently added Zuku Satellite to bring video, voice and data services to consumers in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa.

Richard Essex, Chief Development Officer of East Africa Capital Partners (EACP), and Africa Telecommunications Media and Technology Fund (ATMT) stated, “We believe that this unique structure acts as an important cornerstone for our relationship going forward. Canadian technology is already playing a key role for Wananchi as it launches its pay TV service. We have broken new ground and as the business grows, we look forward to this facility growing along with it.”

EDC’s July 2010 investment in ATMT under its international equity program, along with this new credit facility, demonstrates EDC’s continued participation in investment opportunities in East Africa.

In addition to financing, IDC was awarded two new contracts worth nearly US$1 million. The first contract is a multi-year Support Agreement for equipment and software support, valued at US$299,000 in the first year. The second contract, valued at US$591,000, covers a 12-month period for the supply of Operations and Technical Assistance for the Zuku DTH satellite platform in Kenya.

“IDC and Wananchi worked well together with EDC to structure this unique financing,” stated Frederick Godard, President and CEO, IDC. “This is an important step in the growth path of IDC Systems Group. We will look to expanding this credit facility for Wananchi, and to pursuing other viable opportunities within this new framework.”

In June 2010, IDC announced an initial contract with Wananchi that includes broadcast products, and IDC Systems Group services for the development, build and roll-out of the network. The contract includes head-end equipment that will enable a satellite-to-set-top box distribution platform for the delivery of a secure broadcast system to homes throughout the region.

Intertainment Media Inc. is celebrating the first anniversary of its social media, real time, experiential communications platform Ortsbo with major milestone achievements. The service has generated over 367 Million Minutes of User Engagement, 303 Million Page Views, 111 Million Online Engagements from over 71 Million Unique Users, from over 170 countries and territories during its first year.

On July 21, 2011 Ortsbo expanded its intellectual property portfolio submitting a provisional patent application to the United State Patent and Trademark Office titled “System and Method of Translating Instant Messages”. The comprehensive patent application covers many of the innovative features found in Ortsbo’s product and services suite including the ability of translation of instant messages on multiple instant messaging networks and enabling language translation of instant messages where only one of the parties is a user using the translation enabled system. This is the 5th patent application submitted directly by, or purchased by Ortsbo in the past 60 days and provides a foundation for Ortsbo’s leading edge intellectual property multi-faceted experiential communications platform.

Intertainment entered a binding letter agreement, effective as of July 21, 2011, to purchase 100% of shares of SaaS Technologies Inc. which shares will be transferred to Ortsbo Inc. after the closing of the acquisition, making Ortsbo the sole owner of all of its technology and services offerings. The letter agreement provides for ownership and rights of several existing and new technologies where formerly Intertainment and Ortsbo had partial ownership agreements and exclusive licensing arrangements with management and development staff of SaaS remaining onboard. The purchase is valued at over $27 Million in a combination of cash and common stock of Intertainment with final details to be reflected in closing documents between the parties. This transaction and final agreements are subject to final board, escrow and regulatory approval.

Ortsbo’s social media offering continues to accelerate achieving record results for the first half of July 2011. Below are the reported results for Ortsbo’s first year together with semi-monthly results for July and Estimated Yearly Growth Trends based on the comparison of the reported results.

“This has been an amazing first year for the Ortsbo team. We achieved Facebook’s first 3 years of growth in 9 months, established a Guinness World Record for Most Nationalities in an online chat, and had world wide Live & Global events with KISS and Steve Nash, along with the development of a world class product, technology, marketing and execution team,” said David Lucatch, President of Ortsbo / CEO Intertainment Media “As we look towards our 2nd year, we continue to accelerate Ortsbo at record pace, have 5 patent applications in process, numerous branding activities underway with partners like INDYCAR and Variety, upcoming mobile releases and a bevy of revenue opportunities emerging. Amongst all this, it’s the emergence of our loyal users and supporters who have been the most exciting achievement as together we tear down the global language barriers.”

Perplexus Rookie and Perplexus Epic, the bendy, trendy, can’t put it down 3D game mazes by PlaSmart Inc., have been awarded multiple top toy awards this summer from some of the industry’s most influential experts: PTPA (Parent Tested Parent Approved) Media™, ASTRA (The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association) and Creative Child Magazine.

Both Perplexus Rookie and Perplexus Epic are new for 2011 and both have won numerous awards this summer signaling a great start to the busy fall holiday season toy season ahead:

• The PTPA Media™ Winner’s Seal of Approval was awarded to PlaSmart’s Perplexus Epic™. PTPA Media™ has North America’s largest volunteer parent testing community, with over 40,000 parents and is rated the Most Trusted Seal by 22,000 parents.
• The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA): 2011 Best Toys for Kids Award named Perplexus Rookie™. Over 500 of America’s top independent and neighborhood toy retailers meet at ASTRA’s annual convention to hand-pick the most engaging, unique, open-ended, fun, and safe toys for children.
• The Creative Child Magazine: 2011 Game of the Year Award was given to PlaSmart’s Perplexus Rookie™ and Perplexus Epic™. Two days each year, the family-centred US national publication has over 100 guest reviewers consisting of moms, music educators and early education professionals test more than 1,000 categorized toys at the Henderson, Nevada convention centre.

“This is a great start to the year,” said Timothy Kimber, President, PlaSmart Inc. “PlaSmart’s mission is to deliver ground-breaking and fun products that bring families together. We are thrilled to see our top two new toys – Perplexus Epic and Perplexus Rookie – both recognized as among the toy industry’s best and brightest new products this year and are very excited about what this holds for the upcoming holiday season.”

Perplexus Original™ launched in 2010 as the world’s first 3D maze game. It challenges players with multiple paths and 100 barriers to manoeuvre through in a 3-dimensional maze that will enthral every player. The new Perplexus Epic™ adds to the excitement with 125 barriers to overcome. The new Perplexus Rookie™, which is for younger or less experienced maze experts, is still an incredible challenge with multiple paths and 70 barriers to conquer.

Now I know what I can get my Dad for Christmas. 😉

Quebec’s OroLogic Inc. has released the latest version of their time tracking software for customers world-wide. The main focus of OroTimesheet 7 is performance improvements, ease-of-use and the addition of important new features. This release shows OroLogic’s attention to customer feedback as it incorporates many features requested by current users.

“Ever since the beginning, we have taken strides to always improve the quality of our software,” said Guylain Plante, president of OroLogic Inc. “We did it again with this new version by including highly requested features such as exporting invoices to QuickBooks and Simply Accounting.”

CIBC has furthered its mobile innovation for clients by launching its mobile stock trading App to investors across the country. The new CIBC Mobile Brokerage App will empower investors by giving them the opportunity to make trades on the go through their mobile device, in addition to a wide range of features to help clients stay on top of the market including real-time quotes, portfolio monitoring, and more.

“We are excited to be the first bank in Canada to deliver a mobile stock trading App to Canadian investors through our new CIBC Mobile Brokerage App,” said Michael Martin, Senior Vice-President, Alternate Channels, CIBC. “Investors will now be able to receive market information and make trades in real-time through their mobile device, without having to get to their computer. We know from research that there is huge demand for the benefits that this App will provide. It will change the investing landscape across Canada.”

The CIBC Mobile Brokerage App is available to clients using an iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android device, and offers features to meet the growing demand from Canadians to have access to their finances while on the go, including the ability to:

• Buy and sell stocks
• View cash and margin balances, book values, and market values for individual account holdings
• Search for stocks
• Transfer cash between your CIBC brokerage and bank accounts
• View market indices, commodities and exchange rate information
• Get quick quotes on stock prices
• Create/modify Watch Lists for an at-a-glance view of stocks
• View the status of your trades and cash transfers, and
• View the transaction history for your account

“The market can move quickly, and our clients are increasingly looking to stay connected to market developments at all times,” added Mr. Martin. “The new CIBC Mobile Brokerage App represents the next level of access and choice for investors in how they manage their portfolios. Clients will be able to execute trades while they are away from their computer, on the golf course, or even from their deck at the cottage.”

Mobile trades made with the new App using a CIBC Investor’s Edge account are eligible for $6.95 per trade pricing for investors with combined balances of $100,000 or more in CIBC products. This pricing structure was introduced in January for online trades and has proven very popular with investors. “Not only are we introducing mobile trading to Canadian investors, but we continue to offer outstanding value to clients through our $6.95 per trade pricing for CIBC’s Investor’s Edge clients,” added Mr. Martin.

Today’s launch is the latest in a series of mobile innovations from CIBC. In February 2010, CIBC launched its mobile banking App, and client feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. More recently, the bank launched the CIBC Home Advisor App, free to all Canadians homebuyers. The App provides access to neighbourhood pricing trends and demographics along with the ability to access mortgage calculators and advice.

Adconion Media Group has announced the expansion and enhancement of Joost’s innovative video offerings in Canada effective immediately.  Refreshed with a new logo, Joost is committed to building brands online by providing premium brand solutions for Canadian advertisers and marketers seeking to reach their targeted audience with engaging and high impact in-stream and in-banner video advertising.

Joost offers a suite of advanced products to help advertisers obtain greater reach and scale with online videos. Joost products include pre-roll, in-banner video and expandable and Splash Ad video units. It also provides exclusive site and inventory representation, and offers full page overlays, roadblocks and custom site skins and integrations – all providing a more comprehensive set of powerful tools to better achieve partners’ ROI.

Supporting Adconion Canada’s growing video market share is its recent VAST 2.0 certification.  Adconion is one of the first ad networks to become IAB VAST 2.0 compliant in Canada. The objective of VAST is to overcome the challenge of the various technologies in play by providing a standardized communication between ad servers and video players. IAB research over the last two years has indicated that in-stream video has grown and VAST will play a significant part in its roll out.

Understanding and adopting the leading industry’s authority in video standardization, Adconion Canada now can greatly improve 3^rd party video integrations by making the process more effective and seamless to both publishers and networks. Campaigns will run more efficiently across multiple properties. And by being at the forefront of marketplace change, Adconion Canada is poised to significantly increase the number of pre-roll ads it can serve, as well as allowing it to accept 3rd party ad serving redirects.

“We are committed to bring to market the best brand solutions for our partners,” said Tina Mooney, VP of Adconion Canada. “With Joost’s cutting edge products and adopting the industry’s latest practices, we know that we can shift brand metrics from TV to online. And this is just the beginning.”

In Canada, Adconion reaches more than 14 million unique monthly visitors. Globally, Adconion reaches nearly 325 million unique users, or one-quarter of the global Internet population, every month.

TELETOON Canada Inc. has unveiled its fall 2011 lineup for TELETOON, TELETOON at Night and TELETOON Retro featuring new series and new seasons of popular returning programs on all three schedules. Launching Monday September 5, the new slate is full of comedy and action and is sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seats with unexpected surprises all season long.

“We have something exciting in store for viewers of any age with new series premiering on TELETOON, TELETOON at Night and TELETOON Retro this fall along with a whole host of returning favourites,” said Carole Bonneau, Vice President, Programming, TELETOON Canada inc. “Our lineup of original productions continues to grow with Crash Canyon and the popular Jimmy-Two Shoes and Johnny Test. Meanwhile we’ve bolstered our schedule with acquisitions such as The Looney Tunes Show, Hole in the Wall and season four of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, to name just a few.”

Some highlights of this Fall’s lineup include:

TELETOON

• The Looney Tunes Show – an all-new modern comedy series featuring all of your favourite Looney Tunes characters with fresh designs and a vivid, contemporary animation style.
• Hole in the Wall – one of the trickiest, fastest, funniest and wettest live-action game shows on the planet.
• My Life Me – follow Birch Small as she attempts to fit in as she and her friends fumble with teen angst and their identities as they navigate new social terrain at a cooperative high school in this animated series.
• Beyond Human (Working Title) – host Daniel Browning Smith scours the globe for people with unique genetic traits that translate into remarkable powers.
• Young Justice – Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis prove themselves worthy of their responsibilities as superheroes and future members of the Justice League.
• Best Ed – following the unlikely friendship between a good natured dog named Ed and a bumbling squirrel named Buddy.
• Meta Jets – an elite flying team made up of four young pilots protect the world from evil while competing for world racing supremacy on the Aerial Racing Circuit.

Returning favourites to TELETOON’s daytime lineup includes new seasons of TELETOON original productions Jimmy-Two Shoes and Johnny Test as well as new installments of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Adventure Time with Finn and Jake. In addition to the new series and new seasons, a five-episode sneak-peek of the new TELETOON original production, Detentionaire, will air during the week of September 12 to 16.

TELETOON at Night New and returning series this fall include:

• Crash Canyon – this new TELETOON original production developed by Joel Cohen (co-executive producer of The Simpsons) follows the Wendell family as they take a life-altering turn when they drive off a cliff and land at the bottom of a canyon in Alberta. With no way out, the Wendells are forced to build a life for themselves in their new home – Crash Canyon. 
• Futurama – this epic animated sci-fi comedy from Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) returns this fall with new episodes featuring Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the Planet Express crew as they tackle life in New New York in the year 3000.
• Archer – returning for a second season, the series revolves around the spy agency known as the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and the lives of its employees. Although their work is daunting and enigmatic, every covert operation doubles as an unmitigated occasion for the ISIS staff to undermine, sabotage and betray each other for personal gains.
• Robot Chicken – Old-school stop-motion animation and fast-paced satire are the hallmarks of this eclectic show created by Seth Green and Matt Senreich. Action figures find new life as players in frenetic sketch-comedy vignettes that skewer TV, movies, music and celebrity. Encore presentations of Robot Chicken continue to air as part of the TELETOON at Night fall lineup.

TELETOON Retro

• Jem – Jerrica Benton runs the Starlight Music Corporation and is also the lead singer of the sensational rock group Jem and the Holograms. The group romps through a series of exciting adventures while inhabiting an outrageous and glamorous world as fashion and music mix with mystery and thrills, all the while competing against the power-hungry Misfits.
• My Pet Monster – Max Smith’s best friend, Monster, happens to have blue fur and a set of fangs. Although he loves Monster dearly, Max is quick to discover that keeping his real live “pet monster” a secret is no easy task.
• Garfield and Friends – based on the comic strip characters created by Jim Davis, each episode features Garfield and his comic comrades Jon, Odie and Nermal as well as antics from Orson, Wade, Sheldon and the rest of the U.S. Acres gang.
• Batman – the classic ’60s live-action show starring Adam West and Burt Ward comes to TELETOON Retro, following the adventures of Batman and his ward, Robin, as they take on Gotham’s most fiendish villains.
• Tom & Jerry Kids – Tom & Jerry have enchanted kids for years; now see the kind of hilarious mischief they created as a playful kitten and a crafty little mouse before they grew up.
• Ned’s Newt – what happens when Ned overfeeds his four-inch-long, lethargic pet newt with Zippo Newt Food? That little, harmless newt turns into a five hundred-pound monster called Newton – the most mischievous, gluttonous, fun playmate ever.
• Looney Tunes – a collection of original theatrical cartoons featuring the hilarious antics of Warner Bros.’ classic animated characters.
• For Better or for Worse – based on the classic comic strip of the same name, the series is an anthology of animated stories featuring the instantly recognizable Patterson family drawn in Lynn Johnston’s signature style.
• King of the Hill – from the creator of Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill follows the day-to-day activities of propane salesman Hank Hill, his family and their neighbours in a suburban Texas town.

Returning to the TELETOON Retro lineup with new episodes for the fall is the classic Casper & Friends cartoon, following the adventures of everybody’s favourite little ghost as he attempts to make friends with everyone he meets. In addition, The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers continue to fight the good fight this fall with new episodes airing each week as part of the TELETOON Retro schedule.

In celebration of the release of their new game titled Big Sticky on July 26th, Big Bad Brush has deemed that its other smash hits, Big Bad Flower, Kung Fu Master and Kung Fu Santa will be free for one week, so be sure to take advantage of this rare event and download these popular titles.

Another Big Bad event that you won’t want to miss is the epic release of Big Sticky in the iTunes App Store. Featuring a purple frog prince whose bravery and heroism shines in this epic tale of love. With simple intuitive controls combined with an original gameplay experience, Sticky can propel its tongue out with only a tap to stick to objects above and swing across the screen. Using this swinging action, Sticky must get to the castle door to save the princess hidden within each level. With a total of 51 platformer puzzle levels, there’s always new obstacles and challenges to overcome. Big Sticky, will officially be available on the app store on July 26, 2011 for the iPhone, iPod and iPad, and it will be sure to enchant gamers of all ages!

Features:

– Simple intuitive controls with an original gameplay experience
– Using your spider tongue, tap to stick and swing your way through the challenges
– 51 Platform puzzle levels to overcome
– 5 Beautifully illustrated worlds to explore
– Many out of this world princesses to save within each level
– Collect roses and earn gold trophies
– Many obstacles such as fireballs, moving walls, switches and more
– Available on iPhone, iPod and iPad and requires iOS 4.2 or higher