Village Gamer

iStockphoto has untethered its community today with the delivery of a free iPhone application that allows users to browse iStock’s vast library of photos, illustrations and audio files from an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch – with an iPad-sized app coming soon.

“Inspiration and ideas often strike when least expected,” said Kelly Thompson, COO of iStockphoto. “This application lets us be there for our community whenever and wherever that happens.”

The application uses iStock’s industry-leading search engine to help customers find the perfect file quickly and easily. Customers can access and manage lightboxes of stored files from their existing iStockphoto account or create new lightboxes to save files for future viewing or purchase. The app also allows files to be e-mailed to clients and colleagues for discussion and evaluation. The new app also allows the more than 80,000 contributing artists whose work is sold on iStockphoto to track their sales and view download statistics, even while on the go.

Magmic Inc. has launched the official Rubik’s Cube application for iPhone, iTouch and iPad. The app, which does everything including doing the cube for you, is now available on iTunes for $2.99. Magmic’s Rubik’s Cube is the only iTunes application endorsed by Erno Rubik, the original cube’s inventor.

“Rubik’s Cube is the greatest puzzle ever invented,” said Magmic’s Director of Product Management, Jeff Bacon. “We were excited to take it to a powerful smartphone, and to enrich the experience. It’s nothing short of a rebirth for this amazing invention.”

have you reached an impasse in solving your real-life cube? Simply take a picture of a real Rubik’s Cube with your iPhone and the app’s built-in Solver gives you a step-by-step solution.

Other features include:

– Anaglyph 3D mode (glasses not included)
– 2x2x2, 3x3x3, 4x4x4 & 5x5x5 Rubik’s Cubes
– 24 different game styles
– 360 degree view using iPhone 4 gyroscope
– Personalized cubes with stickers and photos
– Easy-to-understand solution guide
– All-new, extra-challenging CRAZY Cube

BCIC invites entrepreneurs and startups to attend Connect, a conference for early-stage tech entrepreneurs who want the answers to “what’s next for my company”. Taking place on October 12 at the Vancouver Convention Centre (west building), tickets are priced at a very reasonable $50.00 (buy now for the early bird price of $40.00), and students can attend for only $25.00. The keynote presentation will address the topic of Making It Beyond BC, and attendees will have the chance to meet face-to-face with several (the site says 30) tech leaders who will be there to offer advice and encouragement.

Canadian digital media innovation will be in the spotlight when leaders from around the world attend the G-8 and G-20 Summits this June 25 – 27th. The Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) has attracted high-tech participants from CDMN-affiliated organizations across Canada to the Experience Canada marketing pavilion in downtown Toronto where they will showcase unique digital media capabilities.

“All eyes will be on Canada during the G-8 and G-20 Summits, and the CDMN is serving as a conduit to the high-tech sector, demonstrating the power of Canadian innovation and potentially attracting future investment,” said Kevin Tuer, managing director of the CDMN, which is dedicated to furthering commercialization of digital media in Canada. “Experience Canada at the International Media Center will be high-impact, with imaginative displays, giant video walls and creative use of technology capturing the essence of Canada’s tech leadership.”

The CDMN, which links digital media-related organizations across the country, has attracted tech companies, universities, research houses, and public sector organizations to participate in the 20,000 square foot Experience Canada marketing pavilion. The experiential pavilion will have global impact, as key displays will be digitized, virtualized and shared online.

A unique feature for the more than 3,000 media expected to cover the summits is a mobile social networking platform enabling journalists to have information and access to content experts at their fingertips as well as collaborate using secure software. Experience Canada will be housed within the International Media Centre in the Heritage Court of the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto from June 23-27.

HootSuite has updated its social media user interface, adding geo-located search, native Twitter ReTweets, and integrated Google Analytics to the mix. With the recent announcement of Google’s HTML5 site and many other brands including Apple on-board, HootSuite has made a substantial investment in this new technology standard. Using HTML5 allows HootSuite to release unique features for a rapidly growing customer base. This latest release continues HootSuite’s mission to make social media outreach easy and efficient for a worldwide customer base which includes governments, publishers, enterprises, start-ups and power users.

Using HTML5, HootSuite engineers added geo-specific search option, allowing users to retrieve messages posted near their physical location. This tool will be a boon for Twitter users eager to shop locally, community groups seeking volunteers, and companies reaching out to new clients in their business area, plus myriad other scenarios. Further, HTML5 enabled significant performance improvements resulting in quicker load times for columns and tabs for an even more responsive user experience.

HootSuite has tightly integrated Google Analytics, adding in-dashboard views to track conversions, goals and traffic patterns. This new feature, coupled with HootSuite’s existing custom URL parameter tool, lets marketers achieve deep research without switching sites.

Interface Re-design and Themes – A new interface lets users access more information at once. Users may now select design themes, including a refreshed version of the classic blue and green design, plus two new choices: Blue Steel and Magnum
Facebook Media Preview – Add a photo thumbnail, title and description when posting links to Facebook profiles or pages — a highly requested feature from the Feedback channel
‘Twitter Native’ ReTweets – Choose between traditional manual RT-style to quote an update, or the newer “Twitter native” style of automatically rebroadcasting the message
File Drag and Drop – Attach an image or other file easily using Chrome 5, Firefox 3.6 and Safari 5 browsers — Just drag from the desktop and drop into the message box to upload with a pre-shortened link
Language Localization – Already available for the iPhone version, language localization lets users view HootSuite in their preferred language, starting with Japanese; more linguistic choices to come
Keyboard Shortcuts – Clicking Shift+Enter on the keyboard now sends the update, saving mouse-clicks and time — another user-requested feature
Handier Help – The refreshed interface improves access to the trove of tutorials and answers at the Help Desk, as well as the Feedback channel for feature requests

A reminder from the BCTIA about the inaugural Grow 2010 Conference, another entrepreneur development event to be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre this August 19th through 21st. Early Bird tickets are sold out, but there are still regular admission tickets available.

This unique 3-day event brings together leading entrepreneurs, influencers and investors from Silicon Valley and Canada aimed at fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, investment and sharing best practices to encourage more Canadian success stories.

Featured Speakers include:

* Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos
* Ellen Levy, VP Strategic Alliances, LinkedIn
* Andrew Mason, CEO, Groupon
* Robert Goldberg, SVP Business Operations, Zynga
* Leonard Brody, President,Clarity Digital

Logic Software Inc. has released Easy Time Tracking 6.0, a comprehensive time tracking and billing tool for graphic designers, web developers, accountants, consultants and many other types of small businesses. Easy Time Tracking 6.0 introduces a number of drastic improvements in how freelancers and organizations track and bill their time by allowing users to access and manage time logs remotely through the web and locally on their PC.

Easy Time Tracking 6.0 provides users greater control of tracking their billable hours through the new “ETT-Web” feature. This secure, web-based user interface allows users to input and track billable hours by project and task. Time entries in ETT-Web are synchronized with the desktop-based Easy Time Tracking 6.0, ensuring that all entries are accurate and up-to-date regardless of where they were made. ETT-Web benefits freelancers and contractors by allowing them to report precise time log entries through any internet web-browser.

“In developing this major upgrade to Easy Time Tracking, it was important for us to understand our end-user.” says Vadim Katcherovski, CEO and founder of Logic Software. “Every freelancer, every contractor and every small business works differently, yet they all share the same constant: time. Time is money, and we want to make sure that every minute is accounted for and billable.”

Easy Time Tracking 6.0 also features:

• My Week Logger – weekly grid allows users to quickly select months, weeks and days to input their project and task time entries.
• Timer Widget – when started, the built-in task timer runs in the background and automatically adds time entries for selected projects and activities into the daily time logs.
• Offline/Online Synchronization – allows users to export time log entries into ETT-Web or import them from ETT-Web and into Easy Time Tracking 6.0 with a click of a button.
• Quick Invoice Creator – users can generate and design invoices for selected time entries directly from the Time Logs screen.
• Improved user experience – usability improvements to functionality such as the task selection tool greatly improve efficiency in entering project and time data.

With an extremely low learning curve, users can begin managing projects and tracking time almost immediately after installation. Customization options of Easy Time Tracking 6.0 allow users to generate unlimited reports and create invoices in their native language. Project teams and small businesses can take advantage of the multi-user support to track and manage the entire teams’ time. Easy Time Tracking 6.0 is designed for Windows XP, Vista and 7. ETT-Web is accessible from any Windows-based or Mac computer with an internet access. Easy Time Tracking 6.0 is available as a FREE or PRO edition.

Vancouver’s Strangeloop Networks has released Site Optimizer, a powerful web acceleration product that shaves valuable seconds from page load times, resulting in proven ROI.

“Web speed has become the next competitive battlefield for any organization that takes online business seriously,” says Strangeloop president Joshua Bixby. “Consumers demand increasingly faster websites, and there is a growing body of mainstream research that shows a direct relationship between site speed and revenue.”

Site Optimizer™ is the first product to tackle the core of today’s performance problem via the cloud Site Optimizer is a web acceleration product that offers enterprises – from ecommerce sites to SaaS delivery – a powerful set of features that work together to provide roundtrip reduction, rapid rendering, and dynamic browser caching. Site Optimizer analyzes every page of a site from the browser’s perspective and optimizes each page so that it is delivered most efficiently to each browser type.

Site Optimizer works in conjunction with other acceleration solutions to compound performance optimization. In a typical scenario, a site that uses a CDN and an ADC finds that it is able to reduce page load time by 30%, from 9.5 seconds to 6.2 seconds. By adding Site Optimizer to the mix, the same site cuts its already accelerated load time by more than half, down to 2.8 seconds.

“Service-based solutions, which eliminate many of the implementation barriers typically encountered with hardware and software solutions, can offer rapid ROI and quickly deliver business value. Improved website performance can potentially increase the time that a user spends on a site, increase user engagement, increase revenues, and decrease support costs.” says Gartner Research Director Lydia Leong.

Site Optimizer is the first such web acceleration product available as a cloud-based service. Because the Site Optimizer service does not require software, server or network changes, it can be implemented easily and yield immediate returns.