Village Gamer

A little love goes a long way. To help small businesses survive and thrive in a tough economy, Intuit Inc. will grant a wish a day, valuing up to $5,000 each, to 15 businesses through its Love Our Local Business program this holiday season. Small businesses in the United States and Canada can submit their wishes at Love Our Local Business and then rally their fans to vote for their submissions. Intuit will fulfill one wish a day from December 3rd to 21st. Read the rest of this entry »

Via Canada Media Fund: Not only is TV not endangered, but it also has a unifying social impact on the nuclear family across the country. This is the main conclusion of a cross-Canada study—Are the Kids All Right? (PDF 2MB) —on the television viewing habits of families with at least one child aged between 9 and 12 years. The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by André H. Caron, professor of communications at the Université de Montréal and Director of the Centre for Youth and Media Studies (CYMS). An Executive Report on the study is also available for download (PDF 508KB). Read the rest of this entry »

Security technology company McAfee has released findings from the company’s 2012 Holiday Shopping study. The research investigates the online habits, behaviours, interests and lifestyles of global consumers who indicated that they will engage with Internet and mobile devices while shopping this holiday season. In light of these findings, McAfee also exposes the top 12 scams of Christmas that criminals plan to use to rip off Canadians as they shop online and on mobile devices for the holidays.  Read the rest of this entry »

A vast majority of Canadians – 85% – say that music plays an important part in their lives, and a full 90% agree that it is the musician who should receive most of the proceeds from an original song, according to a new national survey conducted by Léger Marketing on behalf of SOCAN – the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. And when it comes to whom Canadians would most like to share dinner or a drink with, a famous Canadian musician was chosen ahead of actors, athletes or writers, with politicians also bringing up the rear. Read the rest of this entry »

For the fourth consecutive year, wireless services topped the list of complaints. Canada’s Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) reports an increase in telecom consumer complaints in its 2011-2012 Annual Report “We Listen. We Help.”  Read the rest of this entry »

While 74% of CEOs say tech-enabled offerings are the future of the media and entertainment industry, they agree emerging markets hold the key to unlocking that potential revenue and growth, Ernst & Young says in a new survey. Opportunity And Optimism: How CEOs Are Embracing Digital Growth (PDF) reveals media and entertainment companies from around the globe unanimously agree that catering their offerings to digital ecosystems, where consumers can interact with content across multiple connected devices, is essential for growth. Read the rest of this entry »

In response to legitimate questions raised by television production and broadcasting professionals regarding the use of a second-screen while viewing television broadcasts, Evolumedia Group has completed the first of three reports to be co-published with the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and funded by the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC). This status report covers the models, terms of use and growth prospects for the second screen phenomenon which is expanding rapidly due to a combination of massive influx of smartphones, tablets and other mobile personal communications devices into homes as well as the huge popularity of social media. Read the rest of this entry »

This report from Research And Markets analyzes the worldwide markets for Console and Handheld Gaming Software in US$ Million. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Latin America. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2010 through 2018. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. Read the rest of this entry »

A majority – almost 60% — of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) say they intend to invest in their businesses within the next 12 months, according to a survey on investment intentions released today by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). Entrepreneurs say they plan to invest in Machinery & Equipment, Human Resources, working capital for marketing, and Information Technologies to increase their productivity. They also invest to create new products, develop new markets and increase production capacity. Read the rest of this entry »

A growing number of Canadian women are leaving the traditional workforce to join the emerging trend of female home-based entrepreneurs. Statistics Canada reports 951,600 self-employed women in Canada as of July 2012, up from 790,400 10 years ago. The agency says self-employment in Canada has grown as fast among women as it has among men in the past 20 years.  Even more recently in times of economic uncertainty, the rate of self-employed women has grown faster than men. In 2009, a year of downturn for the labour market, the number of self-employed women rose 5.4 percent from the year before, while the number of female employees overall fell 1.1 percent. Read the rest of this entry »