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Rogers Media announced today that Citytv.com is launching the first iPad video application by a Canadian television broadcaster. The new Citytv Video app will feature shows from its primetime broadcast schedule along with CityLine and Breakfast Television Toronto. The ad supported Citytv.com video app for iPad is available free from the App Store on iPad.

“How Canadians interact with traditional television is evolving. They want to watch their favourite shows when and where they want to on their preferred device – whether it’s a television, smartphone or a tablet,” says Claude Galipeau, SVP & GM, Digital Media, Rogers Media Inc. “Rogers has a reputation for innovation in Canada. Launching the first Canadian TV iPad application reinforces Rogers’ commitment to deliver seamless entertainment experiences for our customers. In addition to catching-up on their favourite shows online, on Citytv.com, through Rogers Video On Demand and RogersOnDemand.com, audiences can now access the easy to use and convenient iPad option.”

With the launch of the Citytv iPad video app, Rogers Media is advancing its strategy of bringing multi-screen branding opportunities to its advertising partners. The Shorts in the City app for iPad and iPhone, which launched in May of this year, is another example of a multi-screen programming initiative.

The app gives Citytv fans the ability to catch up on full-length television programs and clips on their iPad. The Citytv app also includes a number of convenient features, such as a TV schedule and a notification service that allows users to be reminded when their favourite shows are available on the app and on TV. Other features include the ability to share video links on Facebook, Twitter and via email. The app also saves your viewing history and favourites.

American PC game distributor CompuExpert has announced that the company has signed a deal with Capcom to be the exclusive North American PC distributor for Dead Rising 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 2006’s critically acclaimed survival horror action game developed by Blue Castle Games (now Capcom Game Studio Vancouver).

Set several years after the Willamette incident of the original game, Dead Rising 2 takes place in Fortune City, a glamorous entertainment playground where people attempt to escape from reality and the threat of zombie outbreaks by winning at games of chance. Players take on the role of Chuck Greene, a former national Motocross champion and handyman who is willing to do anything for his daughter Katey, including fighting the undead.

The original Dead Rising forced gamers to fend off hundreds of zombies at any time by using everyday objects like bowling balls, shower heads and traffic cones. Dead Rising 2 will pack even more zombies on screen, as well as additional new items that Chuck can use to make customized weaponry, such as explosive footballs or chainsaws strapped to kayak paddles.

Dead Rising 2 for the PC will be available at Gamestop, Best Buy, Amazon and other PC game retailers tomorrow, September 28th. The game has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

Women In View, an association of independent Canadian professionals in media, will be presenting SexMoneyMedia on October 14 – 16th in Vancouver. Registration for this event is now open, and you are invited to join a stellar group of media artists, industry leaders, scholars and policy makers in celebrating the achievements of women in media and creating a more vibrant, innovative and equitable media landscape for the 21st century. SexMoneyMedia will provide an unprecedented opportunity to engage in an international, multi-sector public dialogue on the future of media culture focusing on 4 core themes

• Vision and Representation
• Cultural Labour, Audiences and Markets
• The Unfolding Digital Universe
• Remedies, Policies, and Strategies

The opening keynote address will feature Trina McQueen, OC., Broadcast Journalist & former President of CTV Inc. and Rita Deverell, CM., Broadcaster & Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies, Mount St. Vincent University.

In addition to the symposium, there are also a number of Master Classes being offered, including a full day CFC Media Lab workshop on Interactive Storytelling featuring Ana Serrano and Anita Lee. There are several half-day workshops also being offered, including Documentary Storytelling, Behind The Scenes, and Visual Rights and Clearances. Space for these and other workshops is limited, so you should register soon to avoid disappointment.

Leading academics, professionals and artists will gather at Emily Carr University of Art and Design for the International Digital Media and Arts Association’s 8th annual conference to explore the world of digital technologies with a focus on the subject of The Digital Narrative. The conference will include workshops, keynote speakers, “extreme close-up” guest panels, paper presentations, networking, discussions, student showcase and social events as well as opportunities to explore Emily Carr’s state of the art facilities and the Innovative Program Awards.

New digital technologies and mediums are informing, challenging and reinventing our notions of narrative structures and storytelling. Non- linear, virtual, artificial, interactive, and cyber culture have become common terms and concepts when describing the emerging integration of science, art, and sociology. The Digital Narrative explores ideas of how storytelling and communication is influencing and influenced by new and emerging technologies. The conference takes place in Vancouver this November 4 – 6th, with Early Bird pricing available until October 20th.

BC analogue game studio Funleague Inc. has announced the release of its horse card game called “Perfect Stride”. It’s a fun gather-round-the-table experience designed primarily for those who love horses.

Perfect Stride is a horse-themed card game that can be fun and challenging for everyone, but it will hold particularly strong appeal for girls and women. “There are many games out there that are primarily directed towards boys,” said Kay Darby, President of Funleague Inc. “I decided that it was time girls and women, particularly those who love horses, had a game designed with their interests at heart.”

In the game Perfect Stride, players are horse riders who gallop across the countryside toward the finish line over a random course of jumps. The players must combine their skills as riders with their horse’s abilities as they attempt to clear each obstacle. Ribbons are earned along the way and at the end of the race the rider with the most ribbon points wins the game.

In addition to the engaging game play, there’s a lot of visual interest here to satisfy the eyes. Almost 100 unique pieces of art are in the game; each is drawn and painted with an eye for accuracy. “I wanted Perfect Stride to be fanciful, yet still believable and somewhat accurate,” said Kay Darby. “As a horse-lover myself, I always appreciated when horses were portrayed in a thoughtful and informed way.”

While Perfect Stride features a theme that is typically of interest to girls, the design was mindful of others too. “It’s an inclusive game that doesn’t indulge in stereotypes,” Darby explained. “We worked hard to keep the design open and approachable and make it inviting to everyone who would like to enjoy the game.”

In celebration of Mega Bloks’ 25th birthday, MEGA Brands will be launching its first iPhone and iPad application ‘Mega Bloks Playground,” a unique mobile-based toy designed to give younger children a fun and engaging experience developed by

MEGA Brands is proud to bring the realms of children’s toys and digital entertainment together with the release of their first-ever iPhone and iPad application based on its founding product ‘Mega Bloks Playground.’. This intuitive new app will be available October 1st, 2010. The preschool world includes two playable characters, a boy and a girl, who interact with a full set of playground elements, such as swing sets, slides, teeter-totters, playful animals, a lake with a sailboat, and even a hot air balloon. While playing the app, children will be delighted to collect piles of colorful bloks that will ultimately piece together to form new Mega Bloks creations every time!

New Quebec-based Budge Studios, the developer and publisher of the Mega Bloks app, specialize in creating children interactive products for touch devices and tablet computers. Budge Studios goal was to create the ultimate digital playset for preschoolers with the number one preschool construction brand, Mega Bloks.

Both iPad and iPhone versions will be released October 1st, 2010. Mega Bloks Playground is $1.99 (iPhone) and $3.99 (iPad) and available worldwide exclusively through the Apple App Store in the Game – kids section. Starting on the day of the launch, the app will be 50% off for 48hours.

Offers.com launched Offers.com Canada earlier this week to help Canadian consumers save time and money. Offers.com Canada is a one-stop resource that brings together the best money-saving offers available for online shoppers in Canada. The site helps consumers save money when shopping online and save time by presenting all the best offers in one well-designed site. Read the rest of this entry »

Via DFAIT: Hong Kong has one of the most liberalized and sophisticated telecommunications markets in Asia. As of April 2010, Hong Kong’s mobile phone penetration rate reached 180% – one of the world’s highest. Currently there are five mobile operators serving 7-million highly tech-savvy Hong Kong residents. Four out of the five operators have deployed 3G services using HSPA, which support mobile data services such as downloads, multimedia services, video calls and mobile TV.

Hong Kong is a major test-bed market for new smartphones. Leading smartphone brands such as iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia, HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola, consistently choose Hong Kong as one of the first markets in Asia to launch their new phone. A recent survey (TNS) revealed that 50 % of mobile phone owners in Hong Kong carrry a smartphone. With a sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure and a highly tech-savvy population, the smartphone market is poised to grow at an even higher rate in the coming years.

To capitalize on the increasing popularity of smartphones, major smartphone manufacturers and mobile operating systems are encouraging development of mobile content and applications. Smartphone brands and operating systems currently active in Hong Kong include:

Blackberry – applications are being developed on Java, convertible to Blackberry platform and available for download from Blackberry App World. RIM has established an Asia Pacific alliance team in HK. One of the key functions of this team is to co-ordinate with mobile content/applications developers and promote Blackberry mobile content and applications in the Asia market.

iPhone – content and applications are being developed on iPhone platform and available for download on its dedicated App Store.

Nokia – content and applications were being developed on Symbian, but have now moved to open source Java; applications are available for download from its dedicated Ovi Store. Nokia is leading the market share in offering Chinese language applications with a flavour of local culture.

Android – a Google operating system; despite being a late comer to the market, its open source platform and free usage make Android OS increasingly popular for smartphone manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung.

Windows Mobile – a Microsoft mobile operating system; similar to the desktop version of Windows and supported by business users.

The success of smartphones depends largely on the availability of content and applications that are user-friendly. While smartphone manufacturers and operating systems are increasing their downloadable content and applications through collaboration with local developers, some mobile phone value-added service providers in Hong Kong are acting as content providers and seeking to collaborate with Canadian developers of mobile content. Types of content that are of interest include: travel, games and entertainment, lifestyle, social networking and videos.

For more information on opportunities for mobile content in Hong Kong, please contact Eunice Wong, Trade Commissioner, Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong.

For BC Developers: The British Columbia Ministry of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development is organizing a BC Pavilion at G-STAR 2010 in Busan, Korea this November 18-21, 2010.

G-STAR is Korea’s largest international game exposition and convention, and is endorsed by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Last year’s event drew over 240,000 attendees and featured 198 exhibitors from 21 countries. The annual exhibition will feature a wide selection of local and international gaming presence, including PC and online gaming, console, and mobile. It is a largely consumer-facing event with its own mini-conference and B2B section for those looking to make deals.

Currently, Korea’s game industry is among the top in the world and is constantly expanding. In this year alone, Korea’s game exports created revenues of about 1.09 billion US dollars. G-STAR is Korea’s largest international game exposition and convention, and is endorsed by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It also features a concurrent International Content Creator’s Conference (ICON 2010). Read the rest of this entry »

The winners of the Deloitte Canadian Technology Fast 50™ set a record pace in 2010, with an average five-year revenue growth rate of 5,638% – an all time high. Some of this was due to the economic rebound and exciting new technology niches, but some was also due to the small size of these companies five years ago. In addition, this year’s survey of Canada’s fastest growing technology companies reveals a domestic tech sector that’s been resourceful in bootstrapping its growth, but sees the country’s domestic venture capital industry as in crisis and potentially unable to help sustain future expansion.

“Canada’s tech companies set records for growth in 2010: Both the top five companies and the entire Fast 50 roster were at all time highs for five-year growth at almost 43,000% and 5,600% respectively,” said John Ruffolo, National Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group, Deloitte.

“While we take time to celebrate the winning companies’ achievement, we also need to keep in mind that this year’s winners have grown off very small bases and tend to be successful in what are relatively smaller technology niches.”

“Over the last twelve years, there have been some interesting trends (and non-trends) within the Fast 50 list,” said Duncan Stewart, Director of Research for Technology, Media & Telecommunications for Deloitte. “Although the growth rate and the winners change over time, the split between hardware, software, telecom and other technology areas has been fairly consistent. Equally, the regional split of winners hasn’t varied: Ten years ago, 26 of our winners were from Ontario, and in 2010, we have 27 Ontario winners. On the other hand, reflecting a difficult time for initial public offerings (IPOs) and the ongoing venture capital crisis, the number of winners who are public companies has fallen from 54% a decade ago to 30% today. Turnover is up too – the five fastest growing companies on this year’s list weren’t even on the 2009 list.”

Richmond Hill-based Clickfree (Storage Appliance Corp), a hardware company specializing in automatic computer backup, has emerged as a strong winner: Sitting atop the ranking of this year’s Fast 50 list with a 64,240% five-year revenue growth.

Second and third spots go to Real Matters (40,532%, a Markham-based software company operating in property information solutions, and Varicent Software Incorporated (40,269%), a Toronto-based sales performance management software firm. Rounding out the top five are Toronto-based NexJ Systems (36,128%), an Enterprise CRM Software company, and Avigilon (33,664%), a Vancouver-based high-definition surveillance company.

As happened in 2009, a Quebec GreenTech company is a winner in multiple categories: Montreal-based 5N Plus Inc. appears on the Fast 50 list and it is present on both the Green technology and the Leadership rankings as well.

Deloitte’s annual survey of Fast 50 Tech CEOs, also released today, provides further causes for concern and some glimmers of hope. Almost 80% of respondents to Deloitte’s survey of tech CEOs say Canadian-based venture capital firms are in danger of becoming an irrelevant source of financing for the country’s companies, and 83% see this development as jeopardising future generations of technology companies in Canada.

This year’s Tech CEO survey showed that the main source of financing was cash flow from operations for 76% of companies, higher than in past years, while angel and VC funding was ranked as less than half as important. “Although this year’s winning companies are doing incredibly well,” added Ruffolo, “who knows how much bigger they would be today if they had had access to more growth capital in their formative years?”

“This persistent weakness in the country’s venture capital ecosystem began around 2004, it has now reached crisis levels and it has serious implications for the future of our technology sector and the future of Canada,” said Ruffolo. The ongoing Canadian funding crisis in venture capital continues to have a negative effect on our tech sector, and as a nation we need to rapidly adopt key policy responses that will help build our Innovation Economy, create jobs, and make future Technology Fast 50 lists even better.”

According to survey results, 73% of Tech CEOs said their company’s performance was negatively affected to some extent by the recent recession. At the same time, 68% predict either weak or negative growth over the next 12 months.

On the job front, more than 53% of CEOs indicate their firms have benefited from current conditions thanks to the greater availability of skilled labour at a reasonable cost.

Carbon credits are a hot topic for many tech companies: Of survey respondents who saw credits as relevant to their businesses, a surprising 40% said that future carbon credits were a major part of their strategic thinking.

“Cloud computing is often seen as a beneficial technology for early stage tech companies,” said Stewart. “But there has been a debate if it helps more because it is cheaper than traditional infrastructure-based computing, or if it was the time-to-market factor. The results, at least for Canada, are in: More than twice as many CEOs said that cloud helped them grow/scale more quickly than those who cited the cost benefit.”

Canadian Technology Fast 50 2010:

1 Clickfree – Richmond Hill
2 Real Matters – Markham
3 Varicent Software Incorporated – Toronto
4 NexJ Systems – Toronto
5 Avigilon – Vancouver
6 Vital Insight Group Inc. – Mississauga
7 ProSep – Montreal
8 OmniGlobe Networks, Inc. – Pointe-Claire
9 GuestLogix Inc – Toronto
10 In Motion Technology Inc. – New Westminster
11 ARISE Technologies Corporation – Waterloo
12 Vision Critical – Vancouver
13 CarProof – London
14 Solace Systems – Kanata
15 Strategic Connections, Inc. – Markham
16 Impact Mobile – Toronto
17 ParetoLogic Inc. – Victoria
18 QuickPlay Media – Toronto
19 KineticD – Toronto
20 PNI Digital Media – Vancouver
21 ViXS Systems Inc. – Toronto
22 Allegro Mobile Solutions – Mississauga
23 H2O Innovation – Quebec City
24 Opale Net Inc. – Montreal
25 RuggedCom Inc. – Concord
26 SherWeb inc. – Sherbrooke
27 Dominion Voting Systems Corporation – Toronto
28 Nightingale Informatix Corporation – Markham
29 DragonWave Inc. – Kanata
30 Research In Motion – Waterloo
31 Tantalus Systems Corp. – Burnaby
32 Averna – Montreal
33 Diversinet Corp. – Toronto
34 Coveo – Quebec City
34 Corinex Communications – Vancouver
35 Vantrix – Montreal
36 5N Plus Inc. – St. Laurent
37 iBwave Solutions Inc. – St. Laurent
38 Absolute Software – Vancouver
39 Nexterra Systems Corp – Vancouver
40 uptime software – Toronto
41 GEOTAB, Inc. – Oakville
42 WellPoint Systems Inc. – Calgary
43 In-Touch Survey Systems Inc. – Ottawa
44 MAKE Technologies Inc. – Vancouver
45 Adenyo – Toronto
46 EION Wireless – Ottawa
47 Haivision Network Video – Montreal
48 Level Platforms – Ottawa
49 Sandvine Incorporated – Waterloo
50 Payworks – Winnipeg

Leadership Awards single out companies that are the elite members of the Canadian technology industry, whose ability to create a distinct competitive advantage in a high-growth market allows them to dominate their sector and quickly join the ranks of other Canadian global leaders. This year’s four Leadership Awards recipients are:

5N Plus Inc. – Montreal
Evertz Technologies Limited – Burlington
Open Text Corporation – Waterloo
Research In Motion – Waterloo

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50™, the Companies-to-Watch (CTW) Awards honour early-stage Canadian technology companies who have been in business less than five years, and have the potential to be future Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ winners. The ten companies recognized as CTW this year are:

Awasi Incorporated – Waterloo
Dayforce – Toronto
Morega Systems Inc. – Mississauga
N4 Systems – Toronto
Neuralitic – Montreal
Polar Mobile – Toronto
Syncapse – Toronto
Telepin software – Ottawa
Tynt Multimedia Inc. – Calgary
X20 Media – Montreal

The Deloitte Technology Green 15™ Awards recognize Canada’s leading GreenTech companies who promote a more efficient use and re-use of the earth’s resources in industrial production and consumption. In doing so, they use new, innovative technologies to create products and services that compete with existing products and services on price and performance while reducing our impact on the environment. The 15 winners are:

5N Plus Inc. – Montreal
Bionest Technologies Inc. – Grand-Mère
Cavet Technologies – Toronto
ecobee – Toronto
Energate – Ottawa
Fielding Chemical technologies Inc. – Mississauga
GEEP – Barrie
Global Emissions Systems Inc. – Whitby
H2O Innovation – Quebec City
McMillan-McGee Corp – Calgary
Nexterra Systems Corp. – Vancouver
Odotech – Montreal
ProSep – Montreal
Real Tech Inc. – Whitby
RTI Cryogenics – Cambridge

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ ranks companies based on their past five-year revenue growth rates. Celebrating business growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, the program features four distinct categories including the Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ Ranking, Companies-to-Watch Awards (early-stage Canadian tech companies in business less than five years, with the potential to be a future Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ candidate,) Leadership Awards (companies that demonstrate technological leadership in four industry subcategories: Hardware/semiconductor, software, telecommunications and emerging technologies) and the Deloitte Technology Green 15™ Awards (Canada’s leading GreenTech companies that promote a more efficient use and reuse of the earth’s resources in industrial production and consumption). Program sponsors include Deloitte, Gowlings, GrowthWorks, Wellington Financial, TMX, HKMB Hub, CVCA, NACO, IGLOO Software, MaRS. Media partners include Canadian Business magazine and La Presse.

Brand engagement pioneer VideoEgg has announced that it has agreed to acquire Six Apart, the leader in conversational media, to form SAY Media, a modern media company. SAY Media brings together influential voices and their communities to enable advertisers to reach a global audience of 345 million (according to comScore’s global projections for VideoEgg and Six Apart as well as comScore’s measurement of total unduplicated audiences in US, Canada and the UK.) The company provides systemic ways for advertisers to engage the social consumer in an era when attention is scarce and interruptive ad models are less effective.

Connecting rich experiences with attentive audiences. The new entity combines VideoEgg’s engagement technologies with Six Apart’s social publishing platform to power advertising campaigns that are more conversational and interactive. Through the creation of social hubs and influencer-driven custom content programs linked to the innovative AdFrames offering, SAY Media delivers engagement across display and mobile. The result is advertising that is more efficient, useful and social.
Read the rest of this entry »

Ubisoft has announced an exclusive partnership with NIVEA for the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved video game. The partnership brings together NIVEA, developers of the world’s best-selling body-care products, and Ubisoft, to offer a holistic, in-home program for consumers to sculpt their bodies leveraging Kinect™ for Xbox 360®. A NIVEA workout will be included in Ubisoft’s Your Shape: Fitness Evolved when the game launches in November 2010. Two other special workouts, developed in collaboration with NIVEA’s fitness and lifestyle expert Sarah Maxwell, will be available as downloadable content throughout 2011.

“We’re delighted to partner with NIVEA on Your Shape: Fitness Evolved,” says Alain Corre at Ubisoft. “Video games offer the potential to reach diverse audiences and deliver tangible benefits to the consumer, going beyond pure entertainment. Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is an innovative and efficient fitness program for men and women who are looking to get into better shape. The NIVEA workout provides additional values for female players looking for a complete inner and outer beauty experience.”

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved will be the most innovative and complete fitness program available this autumn. Taking advantage of Microsoft’s Kinect, controller-free games and entertainment for Xbox 360 tracking capabilities and Ubisoft’s proprietary Player Projection technology, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved puts the player in the centre of the game, offering an immersive and rewarding fitness experience for men and women to stay in shape and reach their personal goals.

“At NIVEA we are very enthusiastic about this new and innovative partnership,” comments Jean-Francois Pascal, Director Global Business Unit Body Care at NIVEA. “With Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, our consumers will be encouraged to combine skin care with fitness in the most innovative and easy way, which will enable them to feel good in their body. For 100 years NIVEA, has been known and trusted by consumers for its skin care expertise and reliable products. NIVEA’s body-shaping products help make the most of your figure by improving the skin’s texture and firmness and reducing the visible signs of cellulite. However, we know that a holistic approach is required for best results: a combination of highly effective body care products, fitness training and a healthy diet. That’s why the integration of the NIVEA Work Your Body Fitness Room in Your Shape: Fitness Evolved completes the offer.”

Regina’s NetSecure Technologies, the company behind SmartSwipe, has announced a strategic partnership with BitDefender®, developer of BitDefender Antivirus Pro, BitDefender Internet Security and BitDefender Total Security. By combining the companies’ flagship products, NetSecure Technologies and BitDefender will provide a layered security package later this year to protect both consumers’ computers and their online transactions.

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, Internet fraud increased by 22.3 percent last year, causing financial losses linked to online fraud to more than double. Additionally, a recent survey of social media users conducted by the Ponemon Institute, an independent research firm, found that identify theft from online banking was of greatest concern, followed by conducting e-commerce transactions.

Daniel McCann, president, NetSecure Technologies, said, “With the steady rise in both e-commerce and online fraud, the industry needs to look for better ways to protect consumers. Today, no one device or software program is completely effective in preventing identity theft and Internet fraud; therefore, consumers must leverage multiple security methods. Through our partnership with BitDefender, we’re confident that – together – we can provide a bundled security package to further protect consumers’ financial and personal information from malicious attacks.”

By leveraging its Dynamic SSL (DSSL) patented technology, NetSecure’s personal credit card reader, SmartSwipe, encrypts sensitive data at the point of origin, before it ever reaches the computer, protecting sensitive financial and personal information from endpoint threats. SmartSwipe cannot be hacked and thus protects both financial institutions and their customers from the growing threat of cyber fraud and identity theft.

“BitDefender’s goal is to help protect computer users across the globe from online threats,” said Peter Laakkonen, General Manager, OEM and Technology Licensing, BitDefender. “We’ve remained committed to set new standards in proactive threat prevention, and our partnership with NetSecure is the latest testament to that commitment. We look forward to working with NetSecure to effectively safeguard the online world.”

Meanwhile over in Ontario, WinMagic® Inc. has announced that leading research firm, Gartner Inc., has placed WinMagic as a “Visionary” in its Mobile Data Protection (MDP) Magic Quadrant* for 2010. WinMagic is committed to Research & Development, innovative features, comprehensive certifications, heterogeneous platform support and wide-ranging embedded system support for such technologies as Seagate self-encrypting (Drive Trust) drives, Opal compliant self-encrypting drives, TPM, Intel® Anti-Theft Technology (Intel® AT) and EFI. Read the rest of this entry »

Open Text Corporation has announced the release of Open Text ECM Suite 2010, the largest innovation effort in the company’s history to create the industry’s most comprehensive, fully integrated ECM solution suite.

The unique value of ECM Suite 2010 is its combination of technologies covering all aspects of ECM. Open Text adds wide ranging new functionality linked through numerous integration points covering 90 products and modules, and spanning everything from compliance, business process management and portals to integrated mobile support and enterprise information archiving. The result gives customers the most complete content management system available to handle the vast array of content types, languages, applications, user needs and business processes in their organizations.

ECM Suite 2010 gives organizations the power to move ECM beyond projects or functional deployments, where ECM crosses systems and departments to add greater value, helping to reduce costs and increase productivity. The strength of the ECM Suite is its core services layer – process services, user interface services and the cornerstone of the ECM Suite, the Enterprise Library (formerly Livelink), with integrated archiving, metadata management, search and records management. All ECM Suite components integrate with this layer. ECM Suite 2010 adds leading capabilities from acquired technologies to further strengthen the ECM Suite:

– Open Text Portal (from Vignette): Offers a powerful, standards-oriented portal capability that publishes content from the ECM Suite, from processes, from the Web, Open Text Social Communities, and other content sources.
– Open Text Web Experience Management (from Vignette): Offers a dynamic Web content management capability for the ECM Suite. It can publish content from the Enterprise Library, Open Text Social Communities and Open Text Media Management. It can also publish into the Portal. Web content can be archived and managed with the ECM Suite.
– Open Text Social Communities (from Vignette): Adds dynamic social and community intranet and extranets capabilities to the ECM Suite. Content can also be archived and put under records management.
– Open Text Content Analytics, Semantic Navigation (from Nstein): Adds content analytics technology into the ECM Suite, allowing users to find content faster based on its meaning. Semantic Navigation is now also available as part of Web Experience Management.
– Open Text Capture Center (from Captaris): Fully integrates imaging and optical character recognition components.
– Open Text Media Management (from Artesia): Open Text has also integrated Open Text Media Management with Web Experience Management. Read the rest of this entry »

Edmonton’s Beamdog is happy to announce the availability of great Kalypso games such as Disciples 3, Tropico 3 and Patrician 4.

“I am delighted to form a strategic partnership with Beamdog and look forward to this exciting business development!” says Charlie Barrett Managing Director of Kalypso Media.

“I’ve just started playing Tropico 3 and so far I’m no Fidel. My island people have yet to embrace my doctrine of statue building and banana worship.” rants El Presidente of Beamdog Trent Oster.

Kalypso Media games are available for purchase now, and the offerings on Beamdog’s site includes some free trials.

JoWooD Entertainment, the BVT Group and Toronto’s DreamCatcher Interactive announce details of the planned digital services for ArcaniA – Gothic 4 and therefore react to the needs of the gaming community.

“Digital Rights Management as a module of the digital services has always been a tightrope walk between user friendliness and security of the product. ArcaniA – Gothic 4 is different here” explains Clemens Schneidhofer, JoWooD Entertainment. “With Arcania – Gothic 4 we deliver a high-quality product gamers will enjoy playing for hours. This joy and fun should not be disturbed by intrusive copy protection measures. So SecuROM is the perfect solution for us because it offers the necessary security and at the same time it fulfills our high expectations concerning costumer-friendliness.”

ArcaniA – Gothic 4 can be installed on an unlimited number of PCs and only needs to be activated once via the Internet. To play, which can be done at up to three PCs at a time, neither the original disc nor a constant internet connection is needed. The possibility of an uncomplicated transfer of license between the used PC offers a maximum of flexibility to the customer.

“The implemented digital services will be perfected by a user-friendly Auto Update Feature that informs the gamer pro-actively – without an annoying search – about the availability of a new Update and installs with the permission of the gamer right away” says Sascha Geschwendtner, Product Manager Games Services Sony DADC. “In addition other innovative solutions to increase the usability and the comfort of the game were implemented one of them being the verification of the release date. This feature allows the user to install the game in advance and to start it directly on the release date and therefore helps to avoid unnecessary waiting time to access the game-world.”

The Province of Ontario is helping The Canadian Film Centre, the country’s largest institution for advanced training in film, television and new media, continue its leadership role in developing world-class talent. This training helps Ontarians get jobs in an exciting and growing industry, while giving Ontario’s artists an opportunity to reach a broader audience with their work.

The province is investing $9 million over three years to help expand its acclaimed training programs and further develop Ontario’s screen-based and digital entertainment market. This provincial support builds on a $10 million investment in the film centre announced in 2005, and in 2009, Ontario’s foreign film and television industry contributed $946 million to the provincial economy and The International Indian Film Academy has selected Toronto to be the first North American city to host its annual Weekend and Awards in June 2011.

Growing the creative sector supports the province’s five-year Open Ontario Plan to help seize new global opportunities and turn them into jobs for Ontarians. Two Canadian Film Centre films were selected for the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival: “Champagne” and “How To Rid Your Lover Of A Negative Emotion Caused By You!”

“The Canadian Film Centre has been instrumental in promoting Ontario’s entertainment industry to the world. Our government is proud to support its growth and the key role it plays in developing our cultural industry, which creates thousands of jobs for the province,” said Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture.

“We applaud the government for recognizing the cultural and economic contribution the Canadian Film Centre makes to the province and are grateful for their continued partnership. This investment will help our talent excel at creating innovative content for global audiences,” said Slawko Klymkiw, Executive Director of the Canadian Film Centre.