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The Holmes Group and Cisco today announced a collaborative relationship to explore opportunities in the residential construction sector. The Holmes Group and Cisco will collaborate to define and identify solutions which integrate Smart+Connected Real Estate into eco-friendly communities – with the aim of supporting the responsible economic, environmental and technological sustainability of model communities.

The collaboration will explore opportunities to provide mixed-use residential developments, led by Mike Holmes, with Cisco network and communication platforms to increase access and sharing of information, assist in planning and construction best practices, and incorporate skills development to increase efficiency, lower costs, and promote superior construction standards. Benefits to homeowners include improved connectivity, increased energy efficiency and savings through automated home energy-management tools, reduced maintenance, and increased longevity of home systems.

“It’s time we take responsibility and start thinking about building sustainably. We need to focus on durability. We need to reduce our carbon footprints for future generations. If we start building smart homes within smart communities that are connected to a smart grid that allows energy to flow two ways it will increase our home efficiency,” said Mike Holmes, President of The Holmes Group. “Technology and communication add a new dimension that makes this possible– it’s what I call the fourth utility. Together with Cisco we aim to establish a new global standard in community development through giving homeowners the tools they need to reduce the energy they use with improved value and quality.”

The companies are currently working on two pilot projects that will showcase the potential of these platforms as a model for environmental innovation around the world. Cisco will join The Holmes Group and the national Assembly of First Nations in a pilot project focused on re-establishing indigenous environmental stewardship and self-determination through building sustainable and efficient homes, enhancing community design and planning, and integrating appropriate green technologies and clean energy sources to improve the health and living conditions in First Nations communities. The pilot project will be located at Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, formerly known as Whitefish Lake First Nation, in northern Ontario.

“This collaboration is a significant step toward defining new community-planning models and establishing Smart +Connected Community solutions as the standard in residential construction. We look forward to working with The Holmes Group to not only showcase the capabilities of energy management and collaboration through these pilot projects, but also to assist in establishing a network of resources to support industry education and community skills development,” added Nitin Kawale, President of Cisco Canada.

Cisco will also collaborate with The Holmes Group on Wind Walk in southern Alberta, a sustainably planned mixed-use community featuring 457 high-performance green homes and self-supporting infrastructure designed to reduce consumption and its impact on the surrounding environment. Both initiatives explore opportunities to utilize Cisco’s Collaboration, Smart+Connected Communities and  Smart Grid technologies to set new standards in residential design.

Ontario’s mySpark Technologies Inc. is preparing to deliver a full-featured tablet computer and software platform tailored for educational institutions. The mySpark Education Platform is an Android tablet that integrates with popular education-based learning management systems to provide unprecedented connectivity between students, instructors and social networks. With their finger or a specially designed stylus, students can take notes, share content and save key passages from any digital textbook.

The mySpark Education Platform is the brainchild of consumer technology veterans Adrian Hartog, CEO, and Steven Turner, CTO. Hartog and Turner led and created billion-dollar international divisions for graphic chip makers ATI Technologies Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The mySpark Education Platform will be offered at two prices, depending on configuration, and will ship in the second quarter of 2011.

“We recognize the economic constraints facing today’s students and school districts and are committed to building an industry-leading tablet at an affordable price,” said Adrian Hartog, Chief Executive Officer at mySpark. “Students today have technology wired into their DNA. The customized features we are building into the mySpark Education Platform will enable technological advancement in education and facilitate collaborative learning as well.”

The mySpark Education Platform is designed specifically for students, teachers and administrators, allowing students to purchase digital textbooks from an online store and borrow one from the campus library. Students and teachers can annotate text, write notes, insert multimedia content and sync with schools various calendars. The mySpark Education Platform can search an online campus library or for a specific digital textbook on the campus network or the tablet. Through their unique “Ideabook,” students can store a variety of content to access later for coursework and class projects. The mySpark Education Platform is a collaborative tool, allowing students to share multimedia content and post questions through instant messaging, group chat tools and message boards.

The 10-inch color mySpark Education Platform includes Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth, 4GB or 8GB of internal storage, SD card expansion, front and rear cameras, a 1 GHz dual-core processor, Adobe Flash support for multimedia playback, stylus inputs and a docking station so students can easily move from classroom to dorm room to work and connect anytime, anywhere. mySpark Technologies is also hiring, please see their web site for details.

The Ontario Venture Capital Fund (OVCF) has announced that it has made a commitment to Blackberry Partners Fund II, a leading independent venture capital firm focused exclusively on mobile internet investing. The Blackberry Partners Fund (Blackberry Partners), a Toronto-based firm, ranks among Canada’s most active technology investors.

“We are pleased to have made a lead commitment to one of Canada and Ontario’s most promising venture capital funds,” said Melissa McJannet, Managing Director of Northleaf Capital Partners, the manager of OVCF. “The investment in Blackberry Partners is reflective of OVCF’s strategy to invest in best-in-class Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth equity funds. Blackberry Partners has served as a local champion in the Ontario market and we believe its differentiated investment strategy positions the manager to succeed not only in the Canadian market, but on a global basis.”

“We are thrilled to add OVCF as a lead investor in our next fund and look forward to a long and successful partnership,” said John Albright, Co-Managing Partner of the BlackBerry Partners Fund. “Their support, along with our other lead investors, Research In Motion and Thomson Reuters, will allow us to continue to invest in leading players in the mobile internet sector and deliver strong returns for our investors.”

OVCF’s commitment to Blackberry Partners is an extension of a partnership that began in 2008 through a direct co-investment made alongside JLA Ventures (the predecessor to Blackberry Partners Fund) in I Love Rewards, a high potential Ontario-based company. OVCF believes that investing in promising venture capital and growth equity funds and co-investing alongside them to support innovative, high growth companies is critical to the development of a long-term, world-class venture capital ecosystem in Ontario. OVCF’s primary objective remains to generate attractive, long term returns for its investors and, by so doing, clearly demonstrate the significant opportunities available through investment in Ontario venture capital and growth equity funds and companies.

Reminder: The CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa conference is February 16th – 18th, tickets are available online.
Reminder: Desire2Learn RoadShow presentation will be in Toronto on January 26th &  Ottawa on January 27th.
Reminder: CFC Features application deadline is January 28th & the Cineplex Entertainment Film Programme deadline is January 21st.
Reminder: The deadline for nominations for the 2011 Worldwide Short Film Fest are open until February 4th.

Shot in the Dark Mysteries has launched its inaugural podcast. Hosted by company president and head writer Leigh Clements, this first podcast in the series will introduce you to the concept of mystery parties. Additional podcasts will  offer listeners many excellent tips on planning that special, and memorable, party or corporate event.

The Youth Media Awards, presented by the Youth Media Alliance, are now open for nomination submissions. The Awards are open to all Canadian-made, youth-oriented productions originally broadcast or released online in English between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010. Programs and interactive content must be submitted by no later than Monday, February 21, 2011, at 5 p.m. The Award winners will be announced at a gala event in Toronto on June 2nd.

Wired Woman Vancouver presents a session with Tod Maffin, podcasting pioneer, technology trend blogger and Digital Marketing Strategist on Monday, February 7th. Tod will discuss the 7 successful action steps for launching an impactful and measurable viral campaign using his ASSURED ROI™ methodology. Tod’s energetic, highly entertaining presentation style has audiences captivated, engaged, entertained and inspired. This session will be hosted at the ING Direct Cafe on Howe Street. Advance registration for this event is required, tickets are $35.00 for members and $40.00 for non-members. Note: membership is free, sign up and save.

Congratulations to the two Canadian nominees in this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards:

Mass Effect 2, nominated for Best Game Design, Best Technology, Best Audio, Best Writing as well as Game of the Year, and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, nominated for Best Visual Arts and Game of the Year.

Bioware has announced a new pre-order incentive for the fast approaching release of Dragon Age 2. Those who pre-order the game before March 8th (the scheduled release date) will receive access to the following additional in-game content at no extra cost.

* The Lion of Orlais Shield, whose legend begins at the height of the Summer War, when all of Orlais was embroiled in fierce battles, with dozens of contenders for the Imperial Throne emerging. Most are long forgotten except as footnotes in scholarly tomes, but everyone remembers the gallant young lord Emile Deveraux, “The Golden Prince”. Thought outnumbered at every turn, he racked victory upon victory culminating in the Seventh Battle of Roses. While wearing this shield he broke through his uncle’s vanguard to win the day. Never knowing the taste of defeat on the battlefield, this gallant hero is said to have met his end at the hands of a jealous lover in the dead of night. Now you can carry this magnificent shield into battle, adding to your health and XP gained, you can also increase its power with magical runes which will fit nicely into two special slots.

* The Fadeshear Sword, whose core is very old – as old as the first smiths who sought a way to battle the nightmares from the land beyond. This sword has fought the demonic hosts in countless battles, sometimes being held high in triumphant victory. Other times, it has lain broken beside its dying owner. But after every defeat it has always been reclaimed, reforged, and made stronger. Fadeshear has passed through many hands before yours. Now it is your turn to make the demons of the Fade pay for crossing the Veil into the waking world. Make use of the FadeShear Sword against demons and the undead, its power growing as your character levels up.

Original purchasers of Dragon Age 2 will receive:

* A fighting Mabari War Hound who can be summoned by a whistle to fight at your side in battle.
* The Mirror of Transformation which will allow you to change your very appearance. Hair, eyes, tattoos, and more can be changed with the click of a button.
* Access to The Black Emporium exclusive Magic and Crafting Stores that have some of the best equipment and powerful, unique recipes you’ll find in the game. It’s restocked with better items as you progress through the story.

This is a double bonus for those of us who also took advantage of the Signature Edition pre-order incentive, which ended on January 11th, because we also get access to all of this newly announced bonus content. Here is the latest Dev Diary trailer, which talks about story development.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AWS31hO4M4]

Montreal’s Gamerizon has announced that over 8 Million of its Chop Chop™ games had been downloaded on the App Store in a span of less than 10 months. Each of the six existing Chop Chop™ games – Chop Chop Ninja™, Chop Chop Runner™, Chop Chop Tennis™, Chop Chop Soccer™, Chop Chop Hockey™ and Chop Chop Caveman™ – have received critical acclaim and have reached top ranking positions in their respective categories in most countries around the world, with specially strong performances in the US, the UK, China, Australia, Canada, Germany, and France.

“We reached the milestone with an incredibly strong performance of 1.4 Million downloads in the last 6 days alone and are well on our way to make the Chop Chop™ franchise one of the world’s best known mobile gaming franchises” said Alex Sakiz, CEO of Gamerizon.

The success of the Chop Chop™ franchise is primarily a function of the unique one-finger gameplay mechanics developed in all games and the innovative hybrid Paid/Free Business Model adopted. Three new games – Chop Chop Rocket™, Chop Chop Kicker™ and Chop Chop Alien™ are scheduled for release in February and March.

Emmy® Award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. has entered into a partnership with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore’s leading institution of higher learning, to set up a paperless digital animation production hub on their campus, fully equipped with a Toon Boom pipeline.

This first animation hub will serve as a great launch pad for the students in the interactive digital media courses to learn animation and create projects in a true digital production environment. In addition, Toon Boom will collaborate with Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of InfoComm Technology to assist in faculty development, student development, academic and professional networking, as well as in granting prizes of excellence in the form of special awards and scholarships.

“Toon Boom is fully dedicated to the development of the animation industry in Singapore. As a result, our partnership with Ngee Ann Polytechnic represents a great accomplishment in combining Toon Boom’s field proven expertise with Singapore’s impressive creative talent,” shared Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom.

EA Sports has released a new trailer for Fight Night Champion. Setting the stage for a new standard in sports games, Fight Night Champion will deliver the most dynamic simulation fighting experience to date, pushing visual boundaries and redefining the single player journey for the category. Check out this video about fighter stamina:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPPeCMOX13Y]

In just a few weeks, Fight Night Champion will break the mold of what is expected in a single-player sports game. Players will be introduced to an entirely new way to step between the ropes and experience the drama, emotion, excitement and tragedy of world championship boxing.

Burnaby’s Teradici Corporation, developer of the innovative PC-over-IP® (PCoIP®) protocol that enables a true PC experience for desktop virtualization, has announced a strategic investment and development agreement from In-Q-Tel (IQT), the strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the missions of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Teradici PCoIP protocol is an innovative remote display technology that allows the user’s desktop operating system, applications, and data to reside in the datacenter, eliminating the need for traditional desktop workstations, PCs and thin clients, and delivers an uncompromised user experience to each person, anywhere, without incurring the security risks associated with having data reside in remote PCs. PCoIP technology provides high resolution, full frame rate 3D graphics and high-definition media, with full USB peripheral interoperability, locally over a LAN or remotely over a high-latency WAN. It compresses, encrypts and encodes the entire computing experience at the datacenter and transmits it ‘pixels only’ across a standard IP network to secure, stateless PCoIP zero clients, thin clients, and mobile devices.

The protocol is implemented in silicon for hardware accelerated performance and enhanced security, as well as in several software configurations, including VMware View™, the industry leading desktop virtualization platform. A growing ecosystem of over 25 third-party vendors provide a wide variety of PCoIP products including server plug-in cards, rack and tower workstations, blade PCs, zero clients, integrated monitors, and IP phones with added PCoIP capability.

The Canadian Media Production Association has filed an intervention (PDF) with the CRTC, confirming that it does not support BCE Inc.’s application as filed, to acquire sole control of CTVglobemedia Inc. The CMPA disagrees with BCE’s contention that tangible benefits are not payable as a result of this transaction. The CMPA similarly disagrees with BCE’s proposal that the valuation of benefits payable amounts to only $221 million and that a mere $40 million of that amount will go towards supporting the creation of Canadian programming. The CMPA expects to make its arguments before the CRTC when it commences hearings into the proposed acquisition on February 1, 2011.

“The benefits package proposed by BCE represents a very significant departure from the CRTC’s long-standing tangible benefits policy. It is also extremely self-serving and very largely focused on activities that are normal capital expenditures for such a company,” says Norm Bolen, the CMPA’s President and CEO.

In its intervention, the CMPA argues that the tangible benefits policy must be respected. This means that:

* the payment of tangible benefits are indeed fully required in this transaction;
* the quantum of these TV benefits must represent 10% of the total value of all CTV television assets;
* BCE must not be allowed to exclude or discount any of its television-related assets in this calculation;
* a minimum of 85% of the total tangible benefits must be allocated to the creation of Canadian programming;
* a minimum of 75% of the amount allocated to the creation of Canadian programming must be earmarked to third-parties from the independent production community; and,
* the resources allocated to the creation of independent Canadian programming must be administered by a third-party, and must not be limited to projects that are ultimately broadcast only on CTV or its many television properties.

“If BCE’s proposal is accepted by the Commission without considerable modifications it would fall extremely short of what is in the best interest of our broadcasting system and the Canadian public,” says Bolen.

Wicked Interactive and Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.) have announced that the long-awaited Occupation Mode will be coming soon to everyone’s favorite free-to-play shooter.. With Occupation Mode, M.A.T. gains one of the most essential elements of a competitive title – territory capture and control.

“We are thrilled to offer this intense level of action to our community,” said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive. “We invite gaming clans of all skill levels to see for themselves just how crazy things can get. We know that gamers will put Occupation Mode right up there with Old School, hardcore multiplayer classics like Counter-Strike 1.6 and the Battlefield series.”

Occupation Mode brings with it new maps and new opportunities to put that weapon you just bought to work. The real challenge, of course, is to protect yourself and your team as you keep moving forward as a unit, attacking new positions and then defending them before time runs out. When your team holds all points on a map, you win the game. When both teams fail to complete the mission, beware…you can end up spawning infinitely for a lengthy and engaging firefight over a single capture point.

“At the request of the community, we have left it up to the game creators to set just how severe the time-keeping will be,” added Ho. “For those who love a good challenge, this is the mode for you. The two teams are in constant struggle for territory control until the best team finally emerges as the winner, involving not only brute force advancement but also endurance and holding key locations.”

Recent addition to the iOS gaming galaxy Silverfish from developer Chaotic Box received a major update yesterday, adding a few features and tweaks to its already hyper-addictive play quotient – all for the sale price of 99 cents USD. The new Haste mode is described as Reaper mode cranked to 11, and you now have new Parasite and Infected enemies to obliterate. There is also a new Vigor powerup and 6 new Game Center achievements, plus iOS 4 multitasking (fast switching) and automatic game save and restore. Chaotic Box has also provided a highly tweakable D-Pad control option.

Tweaks & Fixes:

– Tweaked crash physics for easier recovery
– Fixed sound fx occasionally getting cut off
– More reliable Game Center offline support
– Refined help and control instructions
– Various performance optimizations
– Lower overall memory footprint

Another recently released and updated title, Forest Frenzy from indie developer Arctic*Empire, which is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. This defense-styled game is free today (regularly 99 cents USD), and arms you with a big slingshot to fire at the waves of enemies trying to destroy the forest. Playing as Jeremy Ash, you are an earth loving, planet saving dude sworn to defeat the evil lumberjacks and robots who insist on cutting down your forest.

With your animal friends and trusty slingshot in hand, you must defeat waves of evil lumberjacks, robots, bulldozers and more, protecting the forest at all costs. Forest Frenzy is game centre-enabled and features a fully functional slingshot that shoots a variety of ammo, plus you can start at a level to suit the difficulty that’s right for you. The game also features original sound effects and music with a high replayability factor to keep you occupied for hours. Future updates for Forest Frenzy include Game Centre Achievements, new enemies and weapons, as well as a Target Master Mode, which challenges you to race against time as you shoot down the forest’s enemies.

In other game news, most of you know by now that EA Partners and Funcom have struck a publishing deal for Funcom’s upcoming title The Secret World. This highly anticipated modern-day MMO has spurred hundreds of thousands of gamers to join the ever-growing community surrounding the game, and have – even without an announced launch date – become active members in the game’s secret societies: the Illuminati, the Dragon and the Templar.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Funcom, one of the world-leaders in the development of massively multiplayer online games,” says David DeMartini, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA Partners. “We are very excited to be able to take part in the growing online gaming category with such a highly anticipated title as The Secret World.”

Currently under development at Funcom Montreal, The Secret World is a next-generation massively multiplayer online game for the PC platform, where players are given total freedom to create and progress their characters, unbound by the restrictions of classes and levels. Players will get the opportunity to join one of the three secret societies and fight for power over important locations throughout our own world.  Players will also journey through familiar places across the globe, such as Egypt, New England, London, New York and Seoul and battle monsters of myth and legend.

“We are tremendously excited to be working with what is undoubtedly the world-leading games publisher for the past decade, and it is also a great testament to the fantastic work of our development team,” says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. “The experience and the knowledge that Electronic Arts brings to the table will be instrumental in allowing us to realize the full potential of The Secret World.”

The Secret World is Funcom’s third foray into the MMO development world, having previously published Anarchy Online and the best selling new MMO of 2008, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

Youtext Mobile Technologies Inc., a Montreal-based provider of web-based mobile engagement application has received an undisclosed Fondation Du Maire Grant.  The grant was awarded in December 2010 and will open Fondation Du Maire’s roster of companies to Youtext as potential clients.  Youtext Mobile aims to work in conjunction with the Fondation to pitch the platform to Montreal’s highest profile corporations.

“This is a huge step for Youtext and will allow them to benefit from Fondation Du Maire’s  services in every area of business development,” said Denis Karegeya, entrepreneurship coordinator at ‘Fondation du maire de Montréal pour la jeunesse’.

The latest version of PressReader, optimized for the Google Android platform that powers millions of smartphones, is now available for download from the Android Market. Developed by Vancouver-based NewspaperDirect Inc., the Android version of PressReader delivers a visually stunning reading experience for the more than 1,700 newspapers and magazines from 93 countries that are currently available on PressDisplay.com.

Key features of the new Android version of PressReader include:

• Presentation of complete digital newspaper replicas, often before the print version is on newsstands
• Automatic download of favorite newspapers for offline reading
• Browse pages in full-page mode — even before completion of the download
• Browsing of entire publications with one finger (including zoom, pan and scroll)
• Fast navigation from article to article, and to a favorite section using the Table of Contents thumbnails
• A rich graphics page view and, for individual news stories, an easy-to-read text view
• Sharing of articles by email
• On-demand narration of news stories

“From the moment PressReader hit the iPad, we received countless requests for the same app on Android devices,” said Alex Kroogman, CEO of NewspaperDirect. “With the launch of PressReader for Android, we have opened up a wealth of new delivery channels for our publishing partners. And while publishers enjoy the increased audited circulation and revenues that come with being part of PressReader, SmartEdition publishers can also choose to white-label PressReader for their loyal subscribers at zero operational cost to them.”

PressReader for Google Android is available as a free download from the Android Market. Most newspapers and magazines can then be purchased for $0.99 per issue, or downloaded in conjunction with a paid PressDisplay.com subscription.

Our Kids Media has launched the Private School Locator, a free mobile application compatible with the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The application is available immediately and it is free. Many real estate agents are asked about “schools in the area.” This application provides an instantaneous list of private schools across Canada. Of course, it’s also of interest to parents on the move and anyone else who wants to learn more about private schools.

The application features a variety of content alongside the school locator, including the latest information about private schools in Canada, school events and more. The application can use users’ built-in GPS to determine where they are and serve a list based on their immediate location or users can type a postal code or address into a search field along with the type of school they are looking for.

From there, the application provides a wealth of data about private schools in the area along with phone numbers and driving directions.  The app was developed in partnership with the Toronto location-based service company, Cellflare. Cellflare’s Managing Director Keith Tsao says, “Whether you are in business or just for personal use, the Private School Locator makes it easy to find any private school based on the user’s location or search terms.

Andrew Stawicki, President of Our Kids Media, adds, “We are always happy to move forward into the growing areas of new media and the Internet. We think this mobile app will be tremendously helpful to anyone looking for the best schools in their area.”

Reminder: Registration is now open for the Education Technology Strategies Conference being held in Toronto this March 2nd & 3rd.

Attention artistic teens, aged 16 to 19! The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) is challenging you to show off your talent in its nationwide So You Want To Be an Artist? contest. Find your inspiration in a visit to the NGC’s art collection or online. Then create an original two-dimensional artwork in any media, submit a digital reproduction of it online and encourage your Facebook friends to vote for your work. The NGC will invite the top 12 contestants whose entries obtain the most votes to mail in their original works for entry into the final juried phase of the contest. Enter for your chance to win exciting prizes—the contest begins on January 10, 2011 and is open to residents of Canada who are aged 16 to 19, as of May 31, 2011.

One Contest, Three Phases:

1. Online Submission Phase: The NGC will accept entries from January 10 to February 28, 2011 via the contest website.

2. Online Voting Phase: The NGC will post all accepted entries online. During the voting phase of the contest, visitors to the contest website will be able to vote once for every artwork that appeals to them by using the Facebook® “Like” feature. The voting phase takes place from March 1-31, 2011. Please visit the contest site for full contest rules and guidelines.

3. Public Display and Jury Selection Phase: The NGC will invite the top 12 contestants with the most online votes to submit their original artwork for display on its Artissimo Gallery wall, located in the concourse. The works will be on view from May 2-31, 2011. At the end of the display phase, a jury appointed by the NGC will evaluate the artworks based on: the clarity of the theme and message; originality and imaginativeness; and the thought and feeling provoked in the viewer.

The NGC has appointed an exciting panel of judges to evaluate the 12 finalists: Montreal’s famous graffiti artist, Roadsworth, the Ottawa Citizen’s arts editor at large, Peter Simpson, Radio-Canada’s cultural reporter, Jhade Montpetit, and contemporary curator and the NGC’s former Elizabeth Simonfay Curatorial Resident of Indigenous Art, Candice Hopkins. The jurors will choose three finalists who will be awarded exciting prizes as outlined below. The NGC will announce the winners on June 3, 2011.

First prize includes travel, accommodation and meals for a two-night stay in Ottawa for the winner and one accompanying adult as well as an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit of the NGC that will focus on careers in the visual arts. The winner will also gain expert advice on his or her art portfolio and receive a $500 online gift certificate for art supplies. (Note: If the winner lives within a 100 km radius from downtown Ottawa, a $1,000 online gift certificate for art supplies will be awarded instead of the travel portion of the prize.) Total maximum value: $3,500.

Second Prize is a $1,000 online gift certificate for art supplies, while Third Prize is a $500 online gift certificate for art supplies.

The countdown is on for award-winning Ottawa-based production company GAPC Entertainment Inc.’s latest live action children’s television series, which is set to make its international debut in just days. The Prime Radicals takes the mystery out of math and puts the fun back into learning for kids aged 6 to 8. The series is based on two cousins, and their wacky Uncle Norm, who embark on crazy adventures that always end up—somehow—being related to math. The series features seasoned comedic actor Norm MacQueen as the zany Uncle Norm, along with 19-year-old Alanna Bale as Alanna, and 12-year-old Kevin Wang as Kevin.

“The Prime Radicals is unique in its approach to math education,” says Hoda Elatawi, Senior Producer. “Our team is working closely with Dr. Lynda Colgan, Associate Professor in mathematics education from Queen’s University, to develop the series.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqa5ZkZh7_s]

The Prime Radicals was developed in conjunction with TVOKids. The series is also being produced in association with Knowledge Network, SCN and ACCESS Alberta; and with the financial participation of the Canada Media Fund, The Shaw Rocket Fund, The Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation (Screen Content Initiative Program).

The series premiere dates and times are:

– TVOKids: Saturdays starting January 15 at 3:30 pm and Sundays at 12:30 pm.
– Saskatchewan Communications Network (SCN): Wednesdays starting January 19 at 12:00 and 12:15 pm, and 5:00 and 5:15 pm. The series will also air Saturdays at 2:00 pm.
– Knowledge Network: Sundays starting January 16 at 11:30 and 11:45 pm.

Astral’s Family Channel will look very different on air and online today as the number one network with kids aged 8-14 unveils a rejuvenated brand identity. The brand refresh coincides with the launch of Family Channel HD, a new network now available free of charge to eligible customers of Bell Satellite TV and Rogers Communications who already subscribe to the Family Channel standard definition service. Family Channel HD is set to launch on Bell Fibe TV and MTS in the coming weeks.

“As part of the new look, the Family logo bounces, floats and pops. It never sits quietly on a shelf but bursts with life and energy,” said Heather Senst, Vice President, Creative Services. “Through our new look our viewers are instinctively reminded of the fun, surprising and relatable nature of their favourite Family shows.”

At the centre of the refresh strategy is a focus on the main assets of the network: the strength of the existing brand, the high-profile programming broadcast by Family and the network’s enduring popularity with audiences. The look has been updated to better reflect the energy of Family Channel shows as well as the interests and aspirations of its viewers. In between programs, new on air IDs feature intricate animation and star the recognizable Family logo as the instigator of all on-screen action. Online, the new look of Family.ca complements the on-air brand, utilizing key elements of the on air creative. A new Family.ca site will be unveiled in late February.

The new on-air elements have been designed to be compatible with both the standard definition and the newly launched high definition versions of the channel. Mirroring the schedule on Family Channel, Family Channel HD features hit Disney programming such as JONAS L.A., Good Luck Charlie and Wizards of Waverly Place along with newly-launched Fish Hooks and Pair of Kings in high definition. Family Channel HD will also feature successful Canadian series in high definition such as Wingin’ It and the new series, Connor Undercover.

Reminder: BCTIA presents Social Media Metrics with Christine Mykota – January 26th
Reminder: The CanWIT BC Chapter Breakfast Seminar on January 26th features Melissa McRae, who will speak about Strengths-Based Management.

Microsoft Canada and the University of Waterloo invites students of the university to a 24 hour code-a-thon for Windows Phone 7 beginning at 6pm on January 21st. There will be prizes for the best apps, and a brand new Windows Phone 7 for the student who submits the most apps at the end of the event.

The London Economic Development Corporation, along with other partners and sponsors, invites students to attend the Student-2-Business Networking Conference, which will take place on January 27th at the London Conference Centre. This conference is an event which will help you to connect with industry leaders and industry facilitators in London’s diverse business community, including advanced manufacturing, life sciences, information technology, digital media, media & communications, construction, business services and not-for-profit.

Through conference sessions and a keynote address delivered by personal brand strategist Paul Copcutt, students will be given knowledge of London’s economy, economic forecast and workforce development trends, job application insights from HR professionals, as well as the basics to networking and branding yourself. S2B is not a job fair, but an opportunity for students to connect with local business leaders, and for business and community delegates to offer their insight on London’s economy. Please see the event’s website for registration and ticket information. Tickets will be on sale until January 25th.

Disney Stores are expanding – The first newly designed Disney Store in Canada will open in the remodeled Square One Mall in Mississauga, followed by an inaugural store  Metropolis at MetroTown in Burnaby. I know where my daughter will be spending an inordinate amount of her shopping time.

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has signed a new sales agreement with Montreal’s Cinéma Beloeil to equip a second auditorium at the complex with 20 D-BOX MFX Seats. The Quebec movie theatre currently features one auditorium with 26 motion-enhanced seats that move in perfect sync with the action onscreen. With an additional auditorium, Cinéma Beloeil will become one of only two movie theatres in the world to boast more than one D-BOX auditorium.

Vancouver’s In Motion Technology has announced that their onBoard Mobile Gateway has been certified to provide mission critical fleets reliable, secure access to Clearwire’s 4G network in dozens of cities nationwide. Now over 275 first responder organizations, utility workers, transit fleets and other personnel in the field can access multiple high-bandwidth applications, including video, voice, and tele-medicine technologies over Clearwire’s 4G network, and seamlessly switch to 3G and other networks outside of the 4G footprint.

“The ability of first responders and other fleet operators to access true 4G mobile broadband connectivity while performing their daily work is another key advancement made possible by the Clearwire 4G network,” said Jim Ryder, Senior Vice President of Sales for Clearwire. “Clearwire and In Motion Technology unite one of the nation’s fastest wireless networks with the most reliable, secure mobile hotspot technology to ensure connectivity for the nation’s most demanding organizations.”

The Gateway is “ruggedized” to withstand the rigors of the mobile environment, and incorporates the latest firewall, VPN, and wireless encryption technology. At the heart of the Gateway is In Motion’s patented mobile hotspot technology that connects a variety of wired and wireless communications devices in and around vehicles. Communications from these devices can roam seamlessly across up to 6 networks. This allows organizations to use Clearwire’s 4G network where it is available, and switch to other networks outside of 4G range.

Skura Corporation has launched the latest SFX product suite application – Skura SFX Mobile™, an application that is totally device agnostic with full online/offline capabilities. With this year’s Consumer Electronics Show playing host to the launch of over 80 new tablet devices, there is undoubtedly an opportunity for other tablets particularly with different screen sizes, operating systems, and device specific feature sets to enter the market. The sheer number of tablets based on Google’s Android software, makes it a platform that corporations cannot ignore. The Blackberry Playbook’s ability to play Adobe Flash content also makes it a device that cannot be overlooked, as a majority of corporate digital content has already been created in SWF format.

“Our objective was to create a platform independent application without developing device specific code. This will be accomplished by using W3C compliant technologies, including HTML5, and Javascript” commented Gordan Bakalar, CTO of Skura Corporation. “SFX Mobile is truly a unique application. It takes full advantage of hardware specific features, such as touch gesturing, allowing for more engaging interactivity from the same code base. SFX Mobile works online or offline for an anytime, anywhere user experience. In essence, we have future proofed this application from any hardware or OS changes that will take place over time.”

The SKURA SFX Sales Enablement solution delivers sales content management (SFX Viewer™), personal and non-personal cloud presentation delivery (SFX Webflow™), and predictive analytics (Channel Mix Optimizer™) through intuitive and addictive interfaces. It has never been easier to publish, manage, distribute and present personalized digital content to radically improve your sales conversation.

Reminder: Today is the final day to get in on the free upgrade to Bioware’s Dragon Age 2 Signature Edition when you pre-order Dragon Age 2.
Reminder: The deadline for the Canada Film Centre Cineplex Entertainment Film Program is January 21st.
Reminder: The application period for Canada Summer Jobs 2011 will be from February 1st to February 28th.

Since January 2008, many Ontario libraries have been collaborating to provide an online inquiry service called askON, along with a similar French-language service called ONdemande. askON and ONdemande are among the five digital services of Knowledge Ontario, a not-for-profit collaborative. Seven more public libraries joined the service on January 3, so a total of 63 libraries across the province are now participating.

Here’s how it works. You go to your local library’s website or to the askON home page and open a live chat session. After you post your question, a real librarian—not an automated search engine—finds the information you need. The service is available 45 hours a week, and most inquiries take about 10 to 15 minutes to answer.

Each library provides two to eight hours of live chat help each week. As a result, Ontarians in even the smallest and most remote communities can get almost instant answers to their research questions. “It’s an excellent example of how libraries work collaboratively,” says Cathy Matyas, CEO of the Brampton Library.

askON is the sort of service very few libraries could provide on their own. However, it’s exactly the sort of service they need to offer to stay relevant to many of their users.

“Providing wider access to library services is a key priority for us,” says Matyas. She points out that technologically savvy users have flocked to askON. “The uptake has been tremendous in our community.”

askON has been particularly popular with students and businesspeople—two groups who might not naturally visit a brick-and-mortar library but who spend a great deal of time online. “We’re actually going where they are,” says Laura Master, co-ordinator of information services at the Kitchener Public Library. “It’s one more avenue for people to explore and discover our libraries.”

Once users have made that initial contact, librarians can use the opportunity to help them increase their digital literacy. Many Ontarians, for instance, don’t realize that their library cards give them access to a wealth of authoritative databases that can take them far beyond what a simple Google search can offer. In an online chat, librarians can help clients access and navigate these databases. Librarians are unabashed fans of the service, which helps them develop their technical skills and gives them an opportunity to do what they do best: find information.

Big Blue Bubble Inc. has turned the tides in the App Stores war for top selling app with the smash-hit, Burn the Rope, their new original game for iOS devices.

After Burn the Rope’s release last month, it has made a giant leap to the top of the charts in over 50 countries, dethroning best sellers Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope to sit in the #2 spot in the US and Canadian App Store, right behind Angry Birds.

Burn the Rope is the most original game of the year, and can be played by anyone and everyone! Each level gives you a more challenging rope design. Touching the rope will set it alight, so you must be pretty strategic where you choose to start.

To play Burn the Rope you have to tilt and turn your phone to keep your flame alive, but there’s a catch… the fire only burns upwards! It’s your job to try to burn as much rope as you can in each level so you can collect Bronze, Silver, or Gold medals!

As you progress through the levels, you’ll encounter bugs crawling along the rope. Different bugs have different reactions to the flame. For example, the ant changes the color of the flame so you can access and burn different colored ropes, and the spider shoots out a web bridge so you can access parts of the level that you could not before. You will actually feel like you’re burning a rope, yet there’s no need for a fire extinguisher!

Based on its huge popularity with reviewers and fans alike, it’s easy to see that Burn the Rope is going to be sitting at the top of charts for quite a while. Big Blue Bubble Inc. is pleased to see that an Ontario company can make such a huge impact in the US App market, as well as those from around the world.

One Canadian title has been named to the IGF Student Game Showcase, and one received an Honourable Mention. First-person puzzler FRACT, developed by University of Montreal student Richard Flanagan, puts the player into an abstract world built on sound and structures inspired by electronic music. The player must then resurrect and revive the long forgotten machinery of this musical world, thereby unlocking the mysteries contained within.

Honourable Mention was given to Star-Twine, a title developed at Carleton University. According to the game’s description, “Star-Twine is a strategy game with ambient sounds, unique visuals and a virtually infinite number of levels to play on. Battles take place on three dimensional maps where you, a small point of light, must build structures to extract energy from the threads that make up the world. Energy can be spent on new structures, each with their own unique abilities. The enemy AI builds while you build and reacts to your play-style. This results in challenging battles that require strategic insight and quick thinking.

Reminder: The deadline to pre-order Dragon Age 2 and get the free upgrade to the Signature Edition is January 11th.

Bioware has introduced another new companion character for Dragon Age 2. Enter Sebastian Vael, an archer of noble birth. Join the Exiled Prince in his quest to seek revenge for the brutal murder of his family and direct his righteous wrath on your enemies. Sebastian is a full companion character, complete with his own series of side missions. Gain the prince’s allegiance as part of The Exiled Prince downloadable pack included in the BioWare Signature Edition, or available separately for $7 or 560 Microsoft Points.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f-bDvQmaGc]

Dragon Age 2 is a stand alone chapter in the Dragon Age franchise, and while it is not a pre-requisite to have played through the previous titles, players can import their Dragon Age files and impact how the story unfolds for them in this new chapter. Dragon Age 2 is rated M for Mature by the ESRB, and is scheduled for release to the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 8th.

PsychicParrot Games has released a free iPad app for pre-schoolers. My Own Farm is an interactive educational title, as each tap on the screen generates animal movement accompanied with that animal’s sound, in turn helping young children learn about the sounds farm animals make while keeping them entertained.

PsychicParrot is also the developer of Farm Jump, an Open-Feint enabled iOS mobile game that features tilt and lean controls that enable you to capture some cows and jump on floating sheep, helping Farmer Will get his sheep back in their pens. The game also features donkeys, eggs bacon, plus the ability to dress Farmer Will in a variety of costumes.

Play by leaning the device left and right as Farmer Will bounces from sheep to sheep. Look out for roosters. Roosters will help him get higher with a boost. Cows are also Farmer Will’s friends, so grab them when you can.

Quebec’s Citérémis has released Aztaka Developer’s Edition, with the objective of bringing together the independent developers and the gaming community into our “Quest for profitability.” According to the original game’s description, “Aztaka is an indie throwback to the good old side-scrolling action RPG genre. In this gorgeous hand-painted world, you play Huitzilo, heir of the Sun God, able to wield both the spear and the spell. The watchful Gods have returned to their slumber and the evil Ehecalk becoming ever stronger is plotting. A mad power struggle to hold the seven Ancient Phonograms will ensue. You are the last hope of your people! Race across your once great land, reunite the Phonograms and restore prosperity to the Aztec Empire!”

Aztaka Key Features

* Plunge into a new and fresh universe.
* Manipulate spiritual energy, through an innovative hybrid control scheme to solve puzzles and vanquish foes
* Enhance and customize your character by training skills and abilities, and acquiring ancient artifacts.
* Embark on optional side-quests to acquire valuable items and gold.
* Acquire potions, rings, piercings and skills to aid in your travels.
* Twenty-one unique and detailed levels with grand, richly-detailed backdrops and fluid character animations

Purchasers of this Developers’ Edition will be able to enjoy the latest Aztaka release, the Aztaka OST and the Exotic French Art book, as well as the complete game source code – all for the low introductory price of $9.99, which is 50% off the regular price.

In celebration of the New Year and a “New You,” Ubisoft has released the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved App, which lets users view and manage their Your Shape profile and stats on-the-go, allowing them to quickly and easily track how many calories they’ve burned and monitor progress made towards their fitness or weight loss goals.

The Your Shape: Fitness Evolved App is a free app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Even if you don’t own the game, discover the breakthrough technology used by Your Shape, check out our videos and meet the game’s fitness experts.

Reminder: Deadline to enter the Applied Arts Photography & Illustration Contest is January 14th.

Reminder: The Call For Papers submission deadline for the Canadian Games Conference is January 25th.

Reminder: The nominations deadline for the Women In Film Vancouver Spotlight Awards is January 31st.

Registration for Grow 2011 is now open. The conference, which will be held in Vancouver on August 17th – 19th, is a technology event designed to bring investors and innovators together under one roof for three days of inspiration. Grow 2011 opens with the invitation-only Idea Exchange Programme and concludes with two days of presentations, discussions and networking opportunities with some of the top entrepreneurs and financiers in today’s technology industries.

CloudCamp is an unconference being held in Waterloo on March 2nd, 2011. It is that here early adopters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas and share experiences, challenges and solutions. At CloudCamp, you are encouraged to share your thoughts in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate.

Kobo has introduced more than 175,000 PDFs geared towards education and self-education for much less than the cost of a textbook. Content is in digital PDF format and is available to download and read through the Kobo Desktop Application, on Kobo eReaders, and for users of Adobe Digital Editions software. Kobo boasts a comprehensive selection of informational PDF content, including:

* Medical texts and dictionaries
* Economics and business manuals
* Technical manuals
* Academic and scientific texts

“Learning happens everywhere. Kobo believes that everyone should have digital access to textbooks, reference works, and academic materials anywhere in the world,” said Michael Tamblyn, EVP Sales & Merchandising for Kobo. “The simplicity of downloading PDFs to an eReader or a laptop allows increased access to educational materials and expanded mobility and reading options. Whether it’s a university text, new and relevant “For Dummies” book, or a Medical dictionary, we are allowing Kobo users in 200 countries access to the latest academic and scientific content.”

Over 2,000 participating publishers have provided titles, including Prentice-Hall, McGraw-Hill, Blackwell, Palgrave, The World Bank, Springer, Financial Times Press, Routledge, and university presses including Cambridge, Yale, Wharton, Harvard Business School, Rutgers and many, many more. Kobo’s most popular PDFs include titles from the business, health and marketing categories, including:

1. “The Art of Business Seduction”
2. “Handbook of Women’s Health”
3. “Social Media Marketing All-in-One for Dummies”
4. “Global Warming for Dim Wits: A Scientist’s Perspective of Climate Change”
5. “Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary”

Kobo continues to focus on open standards and partnering with OEMs and software companies to consistently allow users to read on any device. Kobo customers can compile lifetime libraries as they choose, and read on multiple devices by downloading the free eReading app. Kobo offers an extensive collection of free books, allows users to borrow and read eBooks from their local library and allows eReading of Kobo eBooks on other dedicated eReaders, such as the Sony eReader and Nook.

Storage Appliance Corporation, the inventors of Clickfree™ Automatic Backup, the world’s easiest-to-use computer backup products has received funding from Intel Capital, which builds upon a recent venture round of $15 million in August 2010, bringing the total venture capital raised by Storage Appliance Corporation to more than $33 million.

“As the global market for consumer backup continues its explosive growth, we are ideally positioned to meet the backup needs of consumers worldwide with our totally automated products,” said Bryan McLeod, chief executive officer, Storage Appliance Corporation. “Our phenomenal growth of 64,000 percent over the last 5 years and number one position on Deloitte’s Fast 50 Canadian Technology Companies for 2010 demonstrates a huge demand for consumer backup and illustrates the success of Clickfree’s cleverly simple products to date.”

Clickfree’s patented automatic backup solutions provide consumers with an amazingly simple way to backup all of the content on their PCs and Macs. All the customer has to do is to plug a Clickfree device into the computer’s USB port and Clickfree’s smart technology will do the rest, automatically searching for more than 400 file types and backing them up. Clickfree customers do not have to download and install software or answer any questions about their computer settings.

“With the extraordinary growth of data and media, consumers need user friendly technologies to keep digital content safe and available,” said Bryan Wolf, Managing Director, Intel Capital. “Clickfree’s storage solutions combine ease-of-use with the latest storage innovations, helping consumers effortlessly back up digital information.”

This latest round of funding will fuel Clickfree’s continued development of its industry-leading technology as it expands its worldwide presence. Already available in 35 countries and more than 7,000 retail locations, Clickfree offers a variety of innovative backup products designed to meet a wide range of consumer lifestyle needs and budgets. Along with Intel Capital funding, the Intel PC client group and Clickfree are working on business and technical collaboration to further enhance PC backup capabilities.

Covarity, a Waterloo lender solutions provider has announced the availability of their Mobile Lender Dashboard, a smartphone-ready business solution providing banks with a secure means to conduct field operations with access to customer and loan reporting data through handheld devices. The solution is ideal for client field examination or account management activities commonly conducted remotely.

“Our goal is to put the power of information in the hands of customer-facing employees to make them more effective at managing their clients at both the individual and portfolio level, no matter where they are” stated Rod Foster, Covarity President and CEO. “We’re extremely excited that the Covarity Mobile Lender Dashboard is the first solution to of its kind in commercial banking.”

Currently supported on popular BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices, the Mobile Lender Dashboard provides borrower financial trend reporting, loan review summaries, as well as borrowing base, ratio and covenant analysis reports. Use of the Mobile Lender Dashboard reduces the use of paper in field work, contributing to a more secure and efficient operation.

With Covarity’s Mobile Lender Dashboard:

* Relationship Managers can now access a borrower’s profile and credit information, such as their available borrowing base during an onsite visit
* Commercial executives will receive early warning alerts via their BlackBerry
* Field Examiners can review inventory and A/R listings

“The need for mobile applications in commercial loan management reflects the importance of field activities in the lending operation,” added Susan Feinberg, a Senior Research Director with TowerGroup. “Providing secure, convenient access to data improves bank staff productivity and has the potential to enrich client interaction. “

The news all over twitter today has been the announcement that Garage Inc. has officially launched into the gaming arena. As we revealed in yesterday’s preview, Garage Inc. is a dynamic, multi-platform time-management game featuring a visually vibrant and imaginative style that will take players into 1920’s prohibition-era Chicago. The game, which is already receiving 4 star+ ratings in iTunes, revolves around the life of Angelo Marito, a car mechanic and recent Italian immigrant who is trying to make a life for himself by opening his very own car garage. Garage Inc. will deliver to players the excitement and challenges of managing a busy repair shop through core time-management gameplay as well as through minigames. The game also features colorful characters and an immersive story, revealed in part through an innovative online social media campaign.

Garage Inc. was developed by TransGaming’s Studio Division in partnership with Breakthrough Entertainment and is based on an original concept from GlobalFun. The iPhone version is made possible with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

“Garage Inc. taps into the popular time management genre of the growing casual gaming market, providing entertainment value in bite-sized pieces for gamers at home or on the go”, commented Wojtek Kawczynski, Managing Director of TransGaming’s Studio Division. “We are thrilled to be able to provide quality entertainment across multiple platforms quickly and easily by leveraging TransGaming’s own core technologies.”

“Our partners at TransGaming Studios have created a original gaming experience with the Garage Inc. property”, said Dorothy Vreeker, Director, Digital Media at Breakthrough Entertainment. “We are proud to have collaborated on this very immersive and entertaining game.”

Garage Inc. is now available for purchase in the Apple Mac App Store (Mac required), iTunes App Store for iPhone and iPad, as well as GameTree Mac, as well as other retailers and distributors.

Need a room designed in High Definition? You’d better call the Home Sweet Home team! Big Blue Bubble Inc. is proud to announce the release of Home Sweet Home HD for the Apple iPad, available immediately!

With the added luxury of bigger rooms and highly polished art, Home Sweet Home HD will give you the chance to unleash your hidden talents as an Interior Designer. You choose the furniture, patterns, and colors to create a masterpiece that will blow your client away.

With simple controls, fun graphical style, and an easy to use interface, Home Sweet Home HD allows you to nurture your creative side. Remember, a house is not a home until it is a Home Sweet Home!

THQ Inc. has announced that a collector’s edition as well as six individual race packs for its upcoming real time strategy game, Warhammer® 40,000®: Dawn of War® II – Retribution™, currently in development at Relic Entertainment, are available now for pre-order.

Leading the charge, the Dawn of War® II -Retribution™ Collector’s Edition will give the most dedicated Warhammer® 40,000® fan access to all of the available bonus war gear for each of the six playable races in the game. It also includes an exclusive poster, six race art cards and a high-quality collector’s box all for $39.99. Gamers in North America can only get the collector’s edition by pre-ordering through the THQ store. Limited quantities are available.

Fans of a specific race can pledge their allegiance by pre-ordering one of the six available specific race packs for the same $29.99 suggested retail price as the regular version of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II -Retribution. These race packs are available for electronic distribution and are ONLY available at pre-order stage. Each race pack includes four unique ability and Wargear items that can be used to enhance the single player campaign. The Ork Race Pack is exclusive through STEAM and the Tyranid Race Pack exclusive through THQ.com. The Space Marine, Chaos Space Marine, Eldar and newly announced Imperial Guard race packs are also available for pre-order through THQ.com, STEAM and other electronic distribution partners. After launch, gamers will have the option of purchasing the individual race packs digitally through STEAM for a nominal fee. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution is scheduled to be released for Windows PC in North America on March 1st, 2011.

In addition to the news about Dawn of War, THQ has released Part 3 of the Dev Diary videos for Homefront, which is scheduled for release on March 8th. The PC version of this title is under development at Digital Extremes.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5O5YzJZ_fQ]

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has signed its first agreement with CineLux Theatres to equip its Morgan Hill, California theatre with 28 D-BOX MFX Seats. Cinelux Tennant Station Stadium 11 will introduce D-BOX’s technology January 14 with the debut of the 3D action-comedy, The Green Hornet. This is the first CineLux location to offer the incredibly, immersive movie experience and one of just a 49 auditoriums worldwide screening the new release in D-BOX format.

“The California market is our largest to-date worldwide with 14 theatres in the state offering D-BOX,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “As we continue to introduce moviegoers to our motion technology, expansion into new markets and demand in existing markets continues to rise at a steady pace. We look forward to announcing many more new theatres in 2011 and growing our global footprint.”

“Our theatres boast some of the most technically advanced features in the industry allowing us to provide a cutting-edge entertainment experience,” said Paul Gunsky, President of CineLux Theatres. “We’re always looking for new innovative ways to improve the movie experience and see incorporating D-BOX at our theatres as a natural progression of the future of movies”

Kik Messenger, the lightning fast, cross-platform mobile instant messaging service, has Kik’d off 2011 with its three millionth user, Kik Interactive Inc. announced today. Re-launched on Oct. 21, 2010, the Kik community continues to grow by 10-15,000 users a day. The growth rate, driven by Android and iPhone users, has held steady even though new BlackBerry downloads ended in late November.

“We are excited that so many people all over the world have embraced Kik and are more confident than ever of our future as the mobile community of choice for smartphone users,” said Ted Livingston, President and CEO, Kik Interactive, Inc. “We look forward to making the Kik user experience even better with new features and service enhancements.”

Over and above user growth, the number of messages sent by active Kik users continues to increase, from less than 10 messages a day in late November to almost 20 now, on average. Kik will introduce new features including picture messaging (very soon!) and group chat (soon-ish).  Service on iPhones will also be improved with a new version that makes it much faster to retrieve messages when users first open the app. As before, once the app is open, message delivery is real-time.

To the growing number of Windows Phone 7 users, Kik is coming soon! We are now putting the final touches on development, so it won’t be long before you can join the Kik community. KiK recently released an update that adds profile pictures and a feature that lets users easily find new Kik friends. The new address book feature not only lets users check for new Kik friends, but also provides much more control over users’ contact lists. The “Find more people on Kik” button scans user contacts and lets them choose whether or not to add newly identified Kik friends to their contact list.

We also recently improved Kik’s overall stability and reliability. Further out, we will unveil an incredibly powerful and unique technology that wirelessly connects users’ smartphones to any PC or TV. Hang tight for details. And, as promised, Kik’s much-anticipated mobile streaming music service is coming up soon.

Kik works with all iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch’s, and all Android devices – anywhere in the world. All you need is a mobile data plan. Each Kik message uses only a tiny amount of data – less than 1Kb per message. Kik Messenger provides lightning-fast delivery and receipts that tell users when messages are sent, delivered and read, and when friends are typing a reply. Every message appears in real-time, making Kik feel almost like a real conversation.

Calgary-based startup iConnectivity has introduced iConnectMIDI, the high performance way to connect your Apple iOS device (iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) to digital musical instruments. Professional and amateur musicians with iConnectMIDI and an iOS device can load up an app and start jamming. Enhance your creativity with this state of the art music interface for computers and handhelds. MIDI Keyboards, guitar controllers, pedals, control surfaces, drum pads, DAWs, iOS devices and computers can now all play together. iConnectivity spent some time presenting to press and media iConnectMIDI at the Startup Debut as a precursor to International CES this week. Press and media at CES had the opportunity to view iConnectMIDI in advance of the trade show – feedback on the device and its capabilities is said to have been very positive.

Kobo has announced that its open platform pure-play global eReading service has gained access to more than 20 million consumers through securing relationships with over a dozen partners that include tablet and eReader original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), mobile operators and retail outlets. Kobo has attracted key partners including Samsung and RIM with its unique, innovative, strategy of making eReading available on any device from its open, cloud-based platform, and is demonstrating the application at CES on Freescale’s new Smart Application Blueprint for Rapid Engineering (SABRE) for Tablets based on i.MX53 running Android. By including the Kobo eReading App, OEMs have a simple path to meeting customer expectations for a compelling tablet reading experience.

Open standards are essential to giving users the freedom to build and access their lifetime libraries as they choose, something that Kobo’s partners are aligned with. Kobo’s content is accessible through more than ten platforms including most smartphones, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Android Tablets, PC and Windows Tablets, MAC and Linux. Kobo’s free applications are consistently among consumers’ favorites, regularly a top ten app in the iTunes store for 2010. Throughout 2011, Kobo will introduce support for additional platforms including QNX for the Blackberry Playbook. In addition, Kobo offers the Kobo Wireless eReader to sell through partner channels such as Walmart, BestBuy and Chapters Indigo. The new stylishly designed Kobo Wireless eReader holds up to 1000 eBooks and connects wirelessly to Kobo’s robust library allowing customers to shop on the go.

In 2011, customers will expect eReading to be available on their devices out-of-the-box. With a catalogue of more than 2.2 million eBooks, magazines, newspapers and an open platform, Kobo enables tablet OEMs and mobile operators to easily bring eReading to their customers. Kobo recently launched the Kobo Android app for the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which offers a “Readers Hub” powered by Kobo – in addition to reading eBooks with the app, which was designed especially for the Galaxy Tab, users also have access to the entire Kobo book store.

Finnish-based Rightware Oy, a leader in 3D user interface (UI) technology and Toronto-based Animated Media Inc. (AMI), a technology company focused on creating Adobe Flash-compatible multimedia software products, have announced a partnership that provides their customers with the best of both 3D and 2D UI development and design tools. Rightware’s Kanzi UI Solution provides rapid creation of visually rich 3D UIs with a high performance engine for embedded systems. The Kanzi UI Solution also supports stereoscopic 3D, multi-touch, gestures and physics, and porting to any smart platform that supports OpenGL ES 1.x or 2.0 is an easy and straightforward process. AMI’s VGK Platform with its innovative Flash-enabling technology facilitates rapid prototyping, compact code development and cross-platform support. The integrated solution will empower customers with more choices to create their UIs by giving them a solid path from legacy 2D to true-3D, with options to add in a mixture of Flash animations, videos and audio with 3D objects.

Both companies have extensive experience within embedded markets and understand the need for cross-platform compatibility, hardware optimization and efficient usage of CPU, GPU, and memory resources; the integrated solution meets these requirements. Another benefit of the integrated solution is that it can support a development group’s current workflow between its designers who use Flash and its engineers, enabling seamless transitions and simplifying the development process. The key markets for the integrated solution will be mobile, consumer electronics, and automotive, with a focus on supporting those platforms being adopted widely including Android, MeeGo, and several other Linux variants. Rightware and AMI will be showcasing their solutions at CES and if you want to see demos or hear more about the solutions, contact them to set a meeting time and location.

Cisco has named the winners of the Cisco® Networking Academy® NetRiders Skills Challenge, an interactive contest designed by Cisco to give technical education students the opportunity to showcase their information communications technology (ICT) and networking skills and to recognize excellence among Networking Academy students. More than 1,000 college and university students from across the United States and Canada competed in the competition, which consisted of three rounds culminating Dec. 8, 2010, in a live virtual event.

The NetRiders is an annual competition which uses Cisco Web 2.0 technologies to create an interactive experience, enhance classroom learning, and motivate young people to further pursue technology education and training. Over the past year, more than 10,000 students across 80 countries competed in regional NetRiders competitions, with the U.S. and Canada NetRiders Theater Finale competition involving more than 45 teams representing 42 states and five provinces.

Networking Academy students competed in a variety of activities, including a timed theoretical exam, a Cisco Packet Tracer network simulation activity, and a Cisco Packet Tracer exam. The top 10 winners received prizes, including a grand-prize study trip to Cisco U.S. headquarters in San Jose, Calif., in January 2011, which was awarded to the first- and second-place teams. Other prizes included Flip™ video cameras and Linksys wireless routers.

The U.S. and Canada Theater Winners are:

o 1st Place: Carl Verge and Brian Wilson, Algonquin College (Ontario)
o 2nd Place: Jeremiah Shore and Nathan Buchholz, Blue Ridge Community and Technical College (West Virginia)
o 3rd Place: Alandra Oukrop and Kent Savage, Montana State University-Billings (Montana)
o 4th Place: Ryan Stalets and Albert Kennis, University of Illinois-Springfield (Illinois)
o 5th Place: Zachary Lichliter and Donald Block, West Kentucky Community and Technical College (Kentucky)
o 6th Place: Michael Lowry and Michael Schanck, New Hampshire Technical Institute-Concord (New Hampshire)
o 7th Place: Michael Antonette and Feng Yang, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (Alberta)
o 8th Place: Michael Eckhart and Barry Fedon, Northampton Community College (Pennsylvania)
o 9th Place: Ross Weseloh and Brian Berg, Lake Area Technical Institute (South Dakota)
o 10th Place: Nathan Miller and Stephen Mesik, Youngstown State University (Ohio)

Cisco’s Networking Academy is a global technology education program that develops curricula to provide students with networking and technical skills and prepare them for careers in the 21st century. Committed to providing the highest standard of information technology education to students of all nationalities, genders and economic brackets, the program is designed to offer students real-world skills that will position them for employment and career growth.

Toronto’s WinMagic® Inc. has released SecureDoc v5, the comprehensive full-disk encryption solution that makes it easy and cost effective for organizations to seamlessly integrate data protection with existing security policies to protect sensitive data in any Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)/Vista/XP, Mac OS X Tiger/Leopard/Snow Leopard and/or Linux environment.

SecureDoc v5 features a single integrated enterprise console for policies and profiles which provides support for Microsoft Windows (including Windows 7 64 bit), Mac OS and/or Linux support, OPAL Self-Encrypting Drives (SED), Full-Disk and File Folder Encryption, removable media encryption, portable and secure USB encryption (no additional software installation or administration access rights required) and Intel® Anti-Theft Technology. SecureDoc v5 also provides a multi-language client available in English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

SecureDoc makes easy to centrally-manage self-encrypting drives, including Seagate Drive Trust Momentus hard drives and Opal compliant drives and also makes it simple for organizations to deploy sector-based full-disk encryption, file-and-folder encryption, container encryption and self-extractor encryption. And, in the event that a password is forgotten or the user is unavailable, SecureDoc v5 utilizes centralized escrow and management of encryption keys to ensure critical data can be accessed. SecureDoc v5 also adds full-disk encryption and encryption management to Intel® Anti-Theft Technology (Intel® AT) – a laptop theft deterrence mechanism enabling organizations to issue a “poison pill” to disable stolen laptops whether or not they are connected to the internet – ensuring data cannot be accessed before a laptop is disabled, even if the hard drive is removed and installed on another computer.

SecureDoc v5 enables administrators to create and securely share key files (or encryption policies) as well as link SES profiles with specific users or specific Windows/Mac devices – making it easy to ensure compliance with security policies when sharing data with co-workers, clients and customers. Additionally, SecureDoc v5’s audit functionality enables administrators to track data security down to the individual user or device level and includes enhanced features for Mac OS X users, including Password Synchronization and the OS Picker, which enables access to an external recovery/repair CD/DVD from an encrypted Mac. Please see the product’s website for a full list of features.

PriceMetrix, a Toronto-based software firm that helps retail wealth management firms and their advisors optimize selling efforts, manage clients, identify growth opportunities, and enhance practice management, announced today the launch of ClientCheck, a state of the art client dashboard for advisors. At the click of a mouse, ClientCheck gives advisors a complete snapshot of each client at the household level. ClientCheck, available exclusively to PriceMetrix ValueOne customers, delivers all the important vitals an advisor needs to know to better service and enhance their client relationships.  Powered by an automated search and proprietary business intelligence engine, ClientCheck:

* Instantly delivers pertinent details for a specific household, including: ranking of the household by assets, revenue, product breadth, asset, and revenue mix, historical trending compared to the rest of the advisor’s book and peer group; and key business metrics (e.g., recurring revenue, total revenue opportunity, and average ticket size).
* Reveals three revenue-generating options to support the advisor’s business and client goals.
* Is accessible through the PriceMetrix advisor Workstation and is designed to be used by advisors and their teams on a daily basis to improve productivity.