Village Gamer

Intertainment Media Inc. has announced that its real time experiential translation platform Ortsbo is debuting its newest patent pending technology today at Social Media Camp in Victoria. The application technology, known as “Ortsbo to Ortsbo” or “O2O”allows multiple users to engage translation services on the same tablet computing device. Using the app, users will have up to 2 “head to head” keyboards and displays allowing for 2 languages to be communicated in a free flowing style of conversation without the need for guides or other translation devices. Smaller devices will have the ability to display additional language keyboards based on motion, or “tilt” of the device.

The O2O app was developed internally at Ortsbo with the support of the Commobility mobile development team. The app, once approved for distribution will be available for purchase through various online marketplaces.

The app will initially be available for the Apple iPad and will be forthcoming for other tablet and touch devices in the near future. O2O is a perfect complement for travelers who find themselves in a location where they don’t speak the local language and wish to interact in a recreational or commercial setting.

Initially O2O will support 53 languages through Ortsbo’s real time chat platform and with the upcoming release of Ortsbo 2.0 scheduled for calendar Q4 2011, the system will be upgraded to allow interaction in over 80 languages around the world. With Ortsbo 2.0, O2O users will be able to add additional terms, phrases and terminology to the Ortsbo translation wiki in almost any language.

“Ortsbo O2O will allow people around the world to use their iPad and eventually any tablet or touch device to carry on multiple language conversations, immediately and in person, allowing all parties to communicate freely through a single device,” said David Lucatch, President of Ortsbo / CEO Intertainment Media.

Ortsbo recently launched, ahead of planned schedule, the alpha release of its Ortsbo for HTML on the Microsoft Windows Azure platform, providing a cloud application for real time experiential translation chat. The original version of Ortsbo using Microsoft Silverlight, enabling 12 of the world’s most popular chat networks, will remain in operation for the near future. When initially launched in July 2010, Ortsbo’s social media translation platform infrastructure was designed to handle the expected first 2 to 3 years of operations or 12 Million monthly users. Ortsbo exceeded all growth projections in its first 9 months and has continued to operate to maintain the increase in user growth and with Microsoft’s Window Azure platform integration has developed a virtually unlimited operational environment to service user needs globally.

Other Ortsbo Events and Promotions:

June 22, 2011 – Steve Nash Foundation Showdown In Chinatown – Ortsbo presents, two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash’s Showdown in Chinatown charity soccer match event in New York City. The event will consist of a competitive soccer game featuring NBA and professional soccer athletes and Ortsbo will provide a global, real-time chat environment during the event to enable – for the first time – Steve Nash and the Showdown athletes to interact seamlessly over social media platforms with fans in over 50 languages.

Through August 2011 Ortsbo 040 – With the launch of Ortsbo’s email plug in for Microsoft Outlook, or “O4O”, Ortsbo is launching a unique promotion: Ortsbo Cruise Into Translation. Users who register and install O4O through August 2011 will have the opportunity to win 1 of 5 trips on the KISS Kruise in October as well as other VIP prizes. Additional contest ballots will be available for people who refer friends that register and install O4O.

Zevrix Solutions has announced Deliver 2.3.4, a feature update to its file delivery solution for remote and local destinations. Deliver lets users send files over Internet and local networks with variable e-mail notifications, automatic compression, encryption and other powerful capabilities. It supports FTP, Amazon S3, MobileMe and other remote and local services, and lets users send files to multiple destinations at once.

Deliver 2.3.4 can be purchased from Zevrix website for US$19.95 (free with purchase of BatchOutput for InDesign). The update is free for licensed users of Deliver, and a free trial is also available for download. Deliver is a Universal Binary and available for Mac OS X 10.5-10.6.

The new version lets users view destination passwords in clear text making it much easier for administrators to manage, store and retrieve passwords. Users have an option to view current password only, or to keep passwords in clear text as they switch between destinations. This feature is available through admin authentication only. Deliver also lets users automatically send output files and collected jobs from Adobe InDesign through seamless integration with Zevrix plug-ins BatchOutput and InPreflight.

Deliver quickly gains popularity as file delivery tool of choice at ad agencies, printers, audio recording studios, video producers and other facilities. Users only need to drop files onto the program icon, or select them from the system list, and the items will be delivered automatically to the desired destinations. The program will send automatic email notifications upon delivery, eliminating the need to babysit the files in order to notify the recipients. Files can be instantly downloaded from links included in the email. In addition, Deliver automates such repetitive tasks as file compression and encryption, and offers a detailed history of all deliveries.

Shape Collage, the popular easy-to-use photo collage software with over 4 million downloads, has officially launched its iPhone application offering free, quick and easy collage creation to iPhone users.

The app allows users to create personal photo collages from dozens of pictures on their iPhones in under 30 seconds by selecting the pics they want, picking a shape, and quickly posting wherever they like to share. The app is ready for downloads on iTunes and is also available for the iPod Touch. iPad and Android versions will be released this summer.

“People are taking more and more pictures with their smartphones, but they don’t always have an effective way to share their photos, so many pics get stranded in phones and never get shared with friends and family,” said Vincent Cheung, CEO & Founder of Shape Collage. “Our app allows users to quickly create unique custom collages with their photos and tell the stories they want to share on the fly directly from their iPhones.”

Users can choose from several shapes, or use text or symbols to create a custom shape from their photos and then easily share on Facebook, Twitter, and Email. They can also save the collage on their iPhone and use it as their wallpaper.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrSkUzg7ws]

Shape Collage’s desktop software (available for Windows, Mac and Linux) has been downloaded over four million times since its 2009 release. The software automatically creates photo collages in different shapes using patent pending technology. Cheung created the software as a graduate student and was named the 2010 Graduate Student Entrepreneur Global Champion and he has won eight business plan competitions.

The Shape Collage desktop software is available for free at ShapeCollage.com with a pro upgraded version available for $25 USD. A free Facebook application is also available for users to share their collages with their friends on Facebook.

Canadian consumers want more education and options for health self-management. A Deloitte consumer study found 54 per cent of those surveyed in the Deloitte 2009 Canadian health care consumer survey report “Treating Patients As Consumers” are trying to learn how to prevent health problems and improve their well-being, and they want electronic tools to help them do so. Now consumers can access DrugHub, Great-West Life’s new, free health application for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, which they can personalize with their prescription information to help manage their prescription medications.

“Managing prescription drug usage can be complex, particularly for people with chronic health conditions or who require multiple medications over extended periods of time,” says Brad Fedorchuk, Vice-President of Group Marketing for Great-West Life, a leading Canadian life and health insurer, which processed $2.1 billion in prescription drug claim submissions in 2010. Taking prescription medications correctly as prescribed is one simple but effective way people can enhance their health self-management, and DrugHub can help them do so.”

The DrugHub app is intuitive and easy to use, and offers a convenient way to keep track of medications – in effect, putting “a virtual library of prescription drug information at your fingertips,” according to Fedorchuk. The application can also help track medications for aging parents, children, or others. “DrugHub displays multiple prescriptions, issues reminders for multiple individuals about when to take medications, tracks dosages and flags when it is time to order refills,” Fedorchuk says. “By helping to manage some of this complexity, we believe DrugHub can help people follow their medication dosages and schedules more closely, thereby improving health outcomes.”

Security and confidentiality features are built in to protect personal information. DrugHub also provides access to an extensive library of drug information, including simple-to-use drug interaction and side effect reference tools for each drug and access to thousands of physician-reviewed drug articles.

DrugHub is the first mobile health application to be issued by a Canadian group benefits insurer. The innovative health application builds on Great-West Life’s industry-first suite of eClaims services — including being the first and only insurer in Canada at this time to offer text message notification advising group plan members of the status of a claim.

Business management software developer Pronto Software today introduced the new PRONTO-Xi Dimensions, an innovative product that brings together ERP transactions and BI Analytics in a unified, out-of-the-box solution.

Launched at Pronto Software’s customer conference in Toronto, PRONTO-Xi Dimensions is the ‘next generation’ smart ERP solution that will transform the way businesses work and receive information. Quick to implement and easy to use, the new release responds to key market needs including instant insight into business performance for faster, smarter decision making for all employees.

Embedding the powerful IBM Cognos BI suite, PRONTO-Xi Dimensions enables mid-market businesses to manage large volumes of data and access real time analytics to understand key business drivers and influence business outcomes.

“We’re pleased to be working with Pronto Software to unveil the PRONTO-Xi Dimensions release to the North American market,” said Kevin Schell, General Manager, PSA Inc. “The business insight that PRONTO-Xi Dimensions provides will allow our customers to accelerate in their industries through unmatched Cognos 10 reporting and embedded Business Intelligence.”

“There is no ERP package more comprehensive in the market that can handle the industry demands of manufacturing, distribution, field service and retail, and with the addition of Cognos 10, PRONTO-Xi Dimensions is certain to hit the market running,” Schell added.

“When planning for this release more than 18 months ago, we envisioned a product that’s not just a logical extension of the success we’ve built so far, but a game-changing solution that will make our ERP engine smarter and create greater access to knowledge, to enable customers to innovate and differentiate,” said Pronto Software Managing Director David Jackman. Read the rest of this entry »

Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is excited to announce that they are burning their way onto Android and Nokia devices. Their smash hit mobile title Burn the Rope is finally available on Android and you can get it exclusively for one week at GetJar.  The good news doesn’t stop there, because Burn the Rope is also now available now for Symbian platforms on the Nokia Ovi Store.

The critically-acclaimed best selling Burn the Rope is a puzzle adventure where the goal is as simple as it is addictive: burn as much rope as possible. Release your inner arsonist and ignite your way through over 100 delightful levels, with new user generated puzzles every day. Get involved and submit your very own puzzle to be featured in Puzzle of the Day.

A tap is all you need to get your flame burning. Remember fire always burns up, so you must rotate your device to make sure your flame keeps flickering, which is not always as easy as it seems. Packed with exploding bugs, bonus levels, and non-stop pyro action, Burn the Rope will make you think, strategize and try puzzles over and over until you burn every last rope fibre. This challenging and addicting game will keep your fires burning for hours, because while it’s easy to play, it’s  not so easy to master.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCj9HorjsG8]

The secret to finding a suitable job today lies in mastering the digital search environment used by employers, says noted author and managing partner of Perry-Martel International David Perry. Perry, co-author with Jay Levinson of “Guerrilla Marketing for Job-Hunters 3.0“, says that a rapid transformation in hiring practices has gone unnoticed by those looking for work.

“Every year, 50-million jobs are filled in the United States — almost all without a job posting,” stated Mr. Perry. The executive search professional who the Wall St. Journal called the “Rogue Recruiter”, explained that “this is happening because employers can’t deal with the avalanche of resumes they would get. Today, employers are relying on a brand new digital suite of tools and tactics to find the handful of “most qualified” recruits that they want to interview.”

The revolution in recruiting is taking place at the same time as the job market itself is under huge strain, according to Steven O’Hanlon, President and COO of Numerix, an analytics firm headquartered in New York. “The current state of the global job market is more challenging than it has been in over 25 years. The magnitude of job force reductions is unprecedented. Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0 is the most important and critical tool to use as a competitive advantage. When you think about the quantity of people who are vying for the few job openings that might exist, the job hunter must be clever and think outside of the box. This book provides ample ways to stand out head and shoulders beyond all others in a very crowded job market.”

“Because of this, we have shifted emphasis put a booster rocket on our earlier book, going beyond previous book ‘where to look’, to include ‘how to be found’. The market has changed — no one advertises anymore. America is in a revolutionary new era, defined by digital employer searches”, says Perry. “There is no doubt that employers are using radical new search techniques to find their candidates, and if you don’t know how to show up on their radar, you will be looking for a job forever.”

While still addressing the other critical elements of the job hunt, such as resumes, getting past the door keepers, and advice on talking to the hiring managers, Perry and Levinson lay out the digital strategies job-hunters need to light-up employers’ radars. Sub-titled: “How to Stand Out from the Crowd and Tap into the Hidden Job Market Using Social Media and 999 other Tactics Today”, Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0 is the first multi-media book for job hunters, and provides the tools and lays out the innovative digital tactics that job-hunters should use.

Stop wasting time with resumes and newspaper searches, advises Perry. “The job-search paradigm has shifted. You need to use a Force Multiplier effect to shine on different social media at the same time.” Guerilla Marketing 3.0 tells precisely how to leverage online resources like ZoomInfo, LinkedIn, and Facebook, to take advantage of “the secret lives of top corporate recruiters”. Job-hunters are advised on little-known search-engine optimization tricks used by those looking for employees.
Read the rest of this entry »

As a follow up to the first ever Ghostbusters digital title Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, Atari is releasing additional downloadable content – Challenge Pack. In conjunction with Sony Pictures Consumer Products, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime Challenge Pack, developed by Behaviour Interactive, will bring hours of a new single player experience to the successful digital title with two game modes, Lonely Hero and Arcade Challenge, on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® for 160 MS Points, and Windows PC on Steampowered.com as of today, June 1st.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is a four player, ghost-busting adventure that will take players on a brand new paranormal experience. But with Challenge Pack, players will suit up with their proton packs and assume the role of a lone rookie Ghostbuster tasked to save New York City from a disaster of ghoulish proportions, without any help.

Specific highlights from the Challenge Pack include:

• Arcade Challenge: Designed for seasoned gamers, Aracade Challenge gives players a limited number of lives to see how their skills line up on a distinct Global Leaderboard. Players run through 5 of the game’s most challenging levels in single player mode and once the lives are up, the game is over.  Player scores are automatically posted to a new real-time Leaderboard.
• Lonely Hero: Players can select any level they have unlocked and start from there but this time you are on your own – no co-op, no friendly teammates- just one player to combat the waves of the paranormally possessed.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxJj_wF0HQo]

Vancouver’s SIGGRAPH chapter presents The Art of Lighting and Rendering Rio with Lighting Supervisor Jim Gettinger. The final event of the 2010/2011 season, this presentation will take place on June 21st at District 319. Jim Gettinger’s talk will explore the developmental work pursued by Jim and his team taking the listener through many stages of the production process at Blue Sky. Lighting and lighting techniques will be presented from concept art, through pre-visualization, master lighting, and compositing. Jim will also highlight the artistic and technical challenges encountered developing a stylized vision of the world renowned city Rio de Janeiro and believable original characters using Blue Sky’s proprietary photo-realistic ray-tracing software, CGI Studio™. Tickets for this event are now on sale – $15.00 for members and $25.00 for non-members.

Hockey Fight Pro by Ratrod Studios is now available in the Android Marketplace. Compatible with most Android phones and tablets running Android 2.1 and up, Hockey Fight Pro for Android will let you compete against iOS and Mac users using the online cross-platform leaderboard. Hockey Fight Pro is loaded with the following features:

• The only 3D hockey fighting game available on the market.
• Intuitive controls for a realistic hockey fighting experience.
• Follow the interactive tutorial to learn the basics.
• Real-time damage system, see your opponent taking punishment.
• Next gen 3D graphics with HD support.
• Fight against 9 of the world’s most dangerous hockey fighters.
• Execute over 40 unique combos and punch combinations.
• Gain respect from your opponents and upgrade your character attributes.
• View your fighting stats and replay highlights to improve your skills.
• Complete a list of over 14 unique achievements.
• Online global cross-platform leaderboard to become the world’s toughest hockey fighter.
• Share your victory with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
• Complete the game to unlock a special hardcore mode.
• Support for multiple profiles and extensive game options to adjust the game to your preferences.

Vancouver’s Acrylic Apps has launched its news app to the Mac Store. Pulp for Mac takes your favorite news feeds and presents them in a reader-friendly format, making it easy for users to quickly scan through headlines, previews, and photos as if you had your own newspaper right on your desktop. Pulp includes such features as built-in Google search, customizable categories and layout, plus rich descriptors for visual media. You can also put articles on your virtual shelf to read later or easily share them on your Twitter or Facebook feeds. Another great feature is Pulp Sync, a free, cloud-based service that keeps all of your pages, feeds, read articles, and other settings in sync on all of your Macs and iPads, over the air, completely seamlessly. Every change you make is pushed instantly to your iPad, so you never have to go hunting for a refresh button.

Rhino.ca is a proud partner of the Vancouver Canucks, and like the rest of Vancouver hockey fans, is confident this is the season we bring home the Cup. On the heels of the Vancouver Canucks victory over the San Jose Sharks, Rhino.ca has launched the final round of the Rhino Cup Run 2011 hockey pool and is gearing up for the Stanley Cup Finals.

For the last time during these NHL playoffs, hockey fans can pit themselves against each other for leaderboard supremacy in this free, Vancouver Canucks themed, interactive hockey pool. Contestants enter their picks for game scores and individual player stats in categories like most goals, assists, and penalty minutes, and can log-in anytime to see where they stack up amongst the competition.

“We’re die-hard Vancouver Canucks fans and are excited to have partnered with the Canucks in their 40th year during this cup run. It seems like a dream,” said Doug Morneau, RHINO.ca’s Chief Rhino. “Seventeen years since our last trip to the finals and like the rest of this town, we can’t get enough playoff hockey.”

The Vancouver Canucks take on the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals beginning Wednesday, June 1st and there is undeniable playoff fever around RHINO.ca headquarters. “We love how energized this city is right now and Rhino Cup Run in something we could do to help Canucks fans participate and get even more psyched for the finals,” added Morneau.

As a follow-up to the hit entertainment property and cultural phenomenon Bakugan, Spin Master Ltd. is thrilled to announce the launch of Redakai™, an all-new boys action property, which features fresh new strategic gameplay, amazing Blast3D™ technology and a televised series on Cartoon Network.

Launching at Hobby/Specialty stores on June 4^th, followed by mass retailers nationwide in August, Redakai™ is a ground-breaking innovation in gaming, taking trading cards to the next level with amazing Blast3D™ technology.  Never before have trading cards contained 3D and animation effects like Redakai™.  A new  “stack to battle” gaming advancement automatically tracks your progress and allows you to see the damaging effects of your attacks.

“We are very excited about Redakai and I think our gaming customers will be too,” says Ed Evans of All Things Fun!, a prominent hobby and gaming retailer in New Jersey.  “The cards themselves are revolutionary and the game play is fantastic.  Redakai literally has the potential to be a game changer for the trading card game category.”

“Everyone who has seen Redakai – from hobby store owners and mass retailers, trading card game experts to kids in focus groups – has had an amazing response,” says Johnny O’Neal, Sr. Brand Manager of Redakai for Spin Master. “We’ll be building momentum all summer, with the animated series in July and the toy launch in August, so we’re poised to make the jump to full-blown craze this fall.”

Redakai: Conquer the Kairu is an animated kids adventure series on Cartoon Network starring Ky, a 15-year-old student of ancient martial arts who embarks on an incredible quest to find the Kairu, a primordial alien energy force. Helped by his friends Maya and Boomer, Ky travels the globe looking for the Kairu to protect it from his extraterrestrial teenage opponents, with the hope that one day he will become the greatest Kairu warrior of them all – a Redakai.

Additionally, starting on launch day, June 4^th, kids will be able to play Redakai™ through Official Redakai™ Organized Play programs.  Organized Play kits will contain everything needed to run league events and tournaments: prize cards, training materials, and game accessories. Redakai™ Organized Play will be fully supported at Redakai.com, including nationwide leaderboards and achievements.