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March Networks^® has launched its Command video management platform. The scalable software provides customers with a sophisticated, web-based interface that is easy to use and highly customizable. Command fits easily into existing Information Technology (IT) infrastructure to ensure rapid installation and management. It also enables customers to select from hundreds of IP surveillance cameras and encoders through its support for ONVIF devices and direct integrations with leading surveillance products.

A full member of ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) since 2008, March Networks designed Command and all of its next-generation IP cameras, encoders and hybrid recorders to meet the industry standard, ensuring interoperability with other ONVIF-compliant products. In addition, the Command software platform delivers further capabilities when used as part of a complete March Networks solution, including total fail-safe management with the company’s innovative Shadow Archiving^™ technology.

The intuitive Command interface is one of the industry’s only clients able to run on both Windows^® and Mac^® operating systems, as well as multiple browsers including Internet Explorer^®, Safari^®, FireFox^® and Chrome^™. The award-winning software is also easily tailored, allowing an organization to provide its distinct user groups with only the features they require, which simplifies training and improves user efficiency.

To accommodate different customer environments, Command comes in two versions with the same user interface, powerful feature set and the ability to scale as required. Command Professional supports up to 128 cameras and is ideal for single-server environments. Command Enterprise can support as many as 128,000 cameras with multiple servers, and can also manage March Networks’ new 7532 Hybrid NVR as well as existing 4000 C Series NVR installations.

Command software runs on any commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) server or in a virtualized environment, reducing capital expenditures and allowing it to be managed similarly to other corporate applications. It supports LDAP/Active Directory^® for quick user setup and the efficient administration of security policies, passwords, access control, and group policy configuration. Command also delivers mass configuration and management capabilities that lower installation and maintenance costs significantly. Further, with Command’s unique server-to-server gateway technology, customers can reduce WAN bandwidth traffic by as much as 90 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

Intertainment Media Inc. has announced that its social media, real time, language translation platform Ortsbo has been endorsed by international rock legend, accomplished global entrepreneur and one of the world’s most recognized personalities, Gene Simmons, who has signed on as a business partner and to serve as Ortsbo’s official spokesperson.

The personification of today’s globally connected, multi-cultural citizen, Simmons is fluent in five languages, including English, Hebrew, Hungarian, and German, as well as some Japanese and he’s working to add Mandarin to his repertoire. Simmons will lend his legendary personality to help spread the word about Ortsbo’s unique, translator experience platform that integrates seamlessly with the most popular social media platforms to enable users from around the world to instantly send and receive messages in their native language.

Along with the new logo created by Gene Simmons, Ortsbo is launching an engaging, dynamic website that offers users the choice of Ortsbo for Silverlight and Ortsbo HTML that is compatible with desktop and mobile browsers, iPad, and other portable computing devices for consumer and commercial environments.

“Ortsbo has changed my life. I can now instantaneously communicate with fans around the world in their native language. It’s opened up so many new doors for me – personally and in business,” said Simmons.

Unlike typical translation software, Ortsbo eliminates the need to cut/copy and paste text into a translator by automatically translating typed text into the specified language instantly. Users simply indicate the desired language for their intended recipient and Ortsbo does the rest. Ortsbo even lets users conduct multiple chat sessions simultaneously across multiple social networks in multiple languages in real time.

Free for consumers to use, the Ortsbo service is ideal for both personal/social communication, allowing users to chat with friends and family around the world or around the neighborhood, and for business communications. Global colleagues can use Ortsbo to collaborate and chat about projects in their native language for faster and more efficient communication that reduces the risk of misunderstanding due to translation errors.

For businesses, Ortsbo provides multi-lingual global communications solutions via RSS, API solutions, private chat networks and custom services allowing organizations to provide seamless communications with their constituents.

“Ortsbo is tearing down language barriers to bridge communication gaps in our infinitely connected global society,” said David Lucatch, president of Ortsbo. “Whether you want to communicate with family and friends back home in Europe, or a business associate in Japan, Ortsbo is changing the way people communicate around the globe by automatically translating your conversation in real time.”

In just nine months, Ortsbo usage has reached the same level that it took internet bellwether Facebook 29 months to achieve, outpacing usage growth at the world’s largest network in one-third of the time. Ortsbo boasts more than 9 million unique users each month. Since launch, over 26.9 million unique visitors from more than 170 countries have logged more than 132.7 million minutes using Ortsbo, translating conversations automatically into more than 50 global languages.

Ortsbo integrates seamlessly with all the most popular social networks you already use, including Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger and many more. For business or personal use, the Ortsbo for Outlook plug-in module will automatically translate emails sent and received for a one-time purchase of just $29.95.

“Our world is becoming increasingly interconnected every day, but the fact that we’re all speaking different languages remains a significant obstacle in achieving a real global connectivity and consciousness,” Lucatch said. “Ortsbo’s quick and easy automatic translation that eliminates the need for the hassle of cut/copy and paste can help eliminate this barrier to move us forward economically and socially and help us to overcome some of the stereotypes, cultural challenges and political obstacles that stand in our way.”

Here’s a trivia fact for you – Gene Simmon’s Family Jewels is the only “family” reality show we watch. No Osbornes, no Kate & Jon, no Sister Wives. We watch the Simmons, because for all their celebrity, they are not afraid to their strengths, their weaknesses, and most of all, their humanity.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), in partnership with Media Awareness Network (MNet), is proud to introduce a PDF Cyber Security Consumer Tip Sheet, a guide to avoiding risks online.

As the Internet has become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, so too have the number and severity of potential risks we face each day. With increasing accessibility to digital technologies, Internet literacy programs are, now more than ever, essential to protecting Internet users and their computers.

Recognizing the need for such programs, CIRA and MNet have developed a Cyber Security Consumer Tip Sheet to help Canadians take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their computers from cyber risks.

“The Internet has become a central tool in the lives of Canadians,” says Byron Holland, President and CEO of CIRA, “making it more critical than ever that we provide the information and resources necessary for people to protect themselves.”

MNet focuses its efforts on equipping adults with information and tools to help young people develop the critical thinking skills required to understand the extent to which they, as consumers and citizens, are being well informed. CIRA supports these efforts through an annual sponsorship of MNet’s activities.

“We are proud to be partnering with CIRA to provide Canadians with the digital literacy skills and knowledge they need to use the Internet with confidence,” says Cathy Wing, Media Awareness Network’s Co-Executive Director.

Absolute® Software Corporation has announced the general availability of Absolute Manage 5.4.

“The continued growth in adoption of Apple iOS4 devices is driven both by employees wanting to use their preferred device to access the corporate network, and IT departments sanctioning the use of non-PC devices. The growing challenge for IT administrators is to establish effective security and management solutions at the endpoint, while avoiding major disruptions to established server and network architectures,” said Peter Frankl, vice president, lifecycle management at Absolute Software. “With the release of Absolute Manage 5.4, our customers have even more flexibility in managing their iOS4 deployments, while maintaining enterprise-caliber security, in either a Windows or Mac network and server environment.”

With the release of Absolute Manage 5.4, new features include:

• App Store Volume Purchase Program (ASVPP) management – Apple’s ASVPP program provides schools with special discounts and the option to complete volume purchases of Apple iOS4 Apps using purchase orders. With Absolute Manage 5.4, customers can automate the management of this program, distributing purchased apps, and tracking ASVPP code redemptions within the Absolute Manage console for accurate license compliance and management.
• Geolocation – IT Administrators can locate a lost or stolen device on an internet map.  Depending on the perceived security risk, the call frequency of the device can be adjusted and additional security measures can be invoked, such as device freeze or wipe.
• Active Directory Integration – Organizations using Active Directory can leverage their existing security and infrastructure to authenticate users on enrollment.  Users will be able to enter their normal Active Directory credentials to authenticate. Additional directory information is automatically imported from Active Directory and attached to the device record on enrollment, enabling mobile device management policies based on existing organizational units.
• Detection/Reporting of Jail-broken Devices – IT administrators, via Absolute Apps, can detect compromised devices. This status is provided within the device report enabling administrators to take remedial actions to protect network security, or ban the compromised device.

IT administrators using Absolute Manage can efficiently manage all their assets by automating time-consuming IT processes such as software distribution, patch management, asset inventory and imaging for both their Macs and PCs from a single, unified console. Additionally, Absolute Manage helps organizations save money by allowing them to track installed applications and licenses, redeploy under-used licenses and hardware to maximize inventory utilization, and avoid non-compliance fines. For Apple iOS4 devices specifically, Absolute Manage allows IT administrators to manage apps, collect asset inventory and security data, as well as conduct change and configuration management for each device.

A quick note before the major news – The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) has embraced the value of social media, with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The OACP states that these accounts were opened in order to better serve Ontario police executives, members of the media, and members of the public with an interest in policing. Personally I think this is great – I believe that various police departments around the country are realizing what an important tool social media can be in crime fighting and helping to engage the general public when information is needed, from searching for a wanted person, a missing person, Amber Alerts, and the dispensing of public safety tips.

Some departments are far better at the use of these tools, such as both Vancouver and Toronto Police Departments, and some need improvement, such as the bcRCMP and local RCMP detachment twitter accounts, but they are on the right track, and I hope that as they get more comfortable with the use of social media, we will see a greater drop in crime and a big jump in safe communities.

Powernoodle, the web-based SaaS collaboration tool that recently acknowledged as the first recipient of FedDev Ontario’s Investing in Business Innovation Initiative (IIBI), will be powering the judging of the Road to Banff competition at the coming Canada 3.0 conference.

Canada 3.0 is all about Canada’s digital media future and Stratford has evolved into a hotbed of innovative, hi-tech development. From the University of Waterloo’s Stratford campus and the Stratford Institute, to an investment in 60 km of fibre optic cable and city wide Wi-Fi, the city has aggressively pursued a hi-tech economy, culminating in global recognition with a spot in the exclusive Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year for 2011, from the ICF.

“The Road to Banff Challenge aligns with Powernoodle’s solution for running competitions in the Evaluations space,” says Powernoodle CEO Deb Krizmanich. “Powernoodle’s collaboration features line up perfectly with the Canada 3.0 evaluation and rating requirements for the competition. The judges needed to be up and running quickly with little training and intuitively process a lot of data effectively. Powernoodle is a product of the Stratford technology ecosystem and while we have a global focus, being a part of Canada 3.0 is like a homecoming for us.”

With up to 100 companies making ten minute pitches to the panel of judges, there will be a great deal of information flying around and trying to track it all in a meaningful way presents many challenges. Each competing company will face a panel consisting of at least three judges (including venture capitalists, angel investors and professional services providers) and will be scored based on how compelling their product or service is, the viability of their business model, proven entrepreneurship and overall presentation. Powernoodle was chosen because it excels at empowering a team (in the same room or attending virtually) to collaboratively review, comment and rate a series of ideas, quickly and efficiently generating real-time results and reports of the very best ideas, solutions or in this case, companies.

According to Steve Currie, VP Business Services, Communitech: “It was critical for us to have real-time results reporting, even with judges evaluating companies in different rooms at different times. Powernoodle lets us move 100 companies to 16 finalists to three winners in real-time, using twenty different rating criteria, in a point and click interface. Best of all, Powernoodle generates an automatic report of the entire process, capturing the judges’ anonymous comments, feedback and scores through the two rounds of competition. Using technology to evaluate technology companies is a perfect fit for the Road to Banff pitch contest.”

Attendees of Canada 3.0 will see Powernoodle in action and will also be able to talk to company executives at the conference. Look for Powernoodle’s booth in the main conference exhibit hall.

HMS Software has announced the release of TimeControl 6.1.  This upgrade of TimeControl advances the 6th generation of one of the world’s best known timesheet systems.  Since its first commercial release in 1994 TimeControl has been recognized by some of the largest organizations in the world as the most flexible solution for meeting timesheet challenges.  TimeControl is a multi-purpose timesheet, serving requirements for project timekeeping, time and billing and time and attendance from within a single system. TimeControl version 6.1 takes the product to the next level with new features, an extended architecture, enhancements and an exciting new look existing functions.

“We’re very proud of the accomplishment represented by TimeControl 6.1” said Chris Vandersluis, president of HMS Software. “This version brings the new generation of TimeControl launched last year with the release of TimeControl 6 to a whole new level of interface and productivity.”

Distribution360 has announced the sale of the award-winning comedy cross-platform property TAC.tv to Belgian broadcaster RTBF (Radio télévision belge de la communauté française). The broadcaster will air the Québec-based Salambo Productions original French shorts (181 x 3 minutes), known in French as tetesaclaques.tv, over the next three years.

The series of shorts features a cast of hilarious characters such as The Googoos, The Secretary, and The Pilot, to name a few. The off-the-wall characters featured in the series are sculpted from modeling clay by the creator himself, Michel Beaudet. While in post-production, he superimposes his own moving eyes, mouth, and nose, creating unique characters with over-the-top personalities.

TAC.tv’s witty and humourous animated shorts are wildly popular and have proven very successful across all media, especially in French-speaking Canada and France. Originally in French, the series has expanded to add English shorts to its slate.

“We’re thrilled that Belgium’s French-speaking population will be able to enjoy TAC.tv’s crazy antics on RTBF,” says Stéphanie Röckmann-Portier, Managing Director/Head of Sales, Distribution360. “Our goal has always been to showcase our dynamic lineup of cross-platform projects to international audiences,” adds Stephanie. “TAC.tv has already proven to be a highly successful and hilariously entertaining brand in many markets, and we’re excited to be able to share it with audiences in Belgium.”

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has announced that it has received approval from the TSX Venture Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange for its graduation and the listing of its common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of market opening on Friday, April 1, 2011.  D-Box’s common shares will trade under the stock symbol “DBO” as opposed to “DBO.a”.

“The graduation to the Toronto Stock Exchange is part of a normal evolution reflecting our growth and the execution of our business plan,” said Claude Mc Master, President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies. “It’s a great achievement for the entire D-BOX team.”

Founders and CEOs of technology ventures wanting to improve their chances of building a successful company can now participate in the BCIC Mentor Program and benefit from the experience of seasoned technology entrepreneurs. The Program (in partnership with ACETECH) is a province-wide development program for early-stage entrepreneurs with the goal of improving the success of technology companies in BC.

“The BCIC Mentor Program matches mentors with ventures in a way that recognizes the needs of the entrepreneur and the interests of the mentor,” said Paulin Laberge, BCIC Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of the BCIC Mentor Program. “The focus of the mentoring is on entrepreneurial education in the context of building a real venture. Once an entrepreneur is accepted into the Program, we expect that the mentoring relationship will span multiple years.”

In order to be accepted into the BCIC Mentor Program, the CEO or founder must be referred by one of the Program’s Participating Organizations. The first four organizations to come on board with the BCIC Mentor Program are: ACETECH, BC Technology Industry Association, BCIC-New Ventures Competition and Accelerate Okanagan. With the addition of Accelerate Okanagan as a Participating Organization, the BCIC Mentor Program is available to entrepreneurs in the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan region. The program will expand into other regions, including Victoria, later this year.

While each Participating Organization has its own set of criteria under which entrepreneurs can access the BCIC Mentor Program, the criteria typically includes participation in current or recent entrepreneurial development programs offered by that organization.

“Through this Program, Accelerate Okanagan is able to expand the breadth of our current offerings to include long-term mentorship,” says Jeff Keen, Director of Acceleration Programs at Accelerate Okanagan.

Since the program launched last fall in the Lower Mainland, over 40 mentors have been accepted into the program and they are eager to begin working with the founders and CEOs of local technology ventures. Mentorship through the BCIC Mentor Program is provided to entrepreneurs at no cost. Stay tuned for additional Participating Organization announcements.

A large majority of Canadians and Americans believe business leaders need to be open to take more intelligent risks in order to create innovation, a Microsoft Canada survey conducted by Harris/Decima has revealed. The majority of office workers in both Canada (97 per cent) and the U.S. (96 per cent) also agreed that companies must embrace new technologies in order to remain competitive. Both Canadians (96 per cent) and Americans (99 per cent) agree that technology is shaping the future of how they work.

The survey, which ran from January 5th to January 14th 2011, polled senior and junior/mid-level Canadian and U.S. office workers to better understand their views about technology and innovation in the workplace. Of the 504 surveys that were completed among a random sample of Canadian office workers and 501 surveys among a random sample of American office workers,  the results were clear: 84 per cent of Canadians and 77 per cent of Americans believe business leaders need to take more risks to create innovation, while only 53 per cent of Canadians and 55% of Americans feel the company they work for is already driving innovation.

“Canadian business leaders must embrace an appetite for intelligent risk instead of shying away from it to stay within the comfort of status quo,” says Eric Gales, President of Microsoft Canada. “Now is the time to createorganizational cultures where risk is not a dirty four-letter word, but is encouraged as a valuable ingredient in fueling learning, creativity and inspiring innovation.”

“The business world is in the midst of an exciting period of change driven by technology,” said Peter Aceto, Chief Executive Officer, ING DIRECT, commenting on the survey results. “For businesses to be successful in this environment, leaders need to promote a culture where employees at all levels not only understand their business but feel safe to experiment in it- to reach far across the divide – with no danger of the repercussions of failure.”

Added Gales: “What we need to do is overcome the misconception that risk automatically equates to danger. We need to transform the idea of risk into a true opportunity – whether in business, skiing down a mountain, or in improving Canada’s healthcare system. Business leaders need to empower their teamsand drive forward innovation to strengthen our economy and put Canada on the map.”

“Understanding the intersection of technology and innovation is critical to the future success of firms. It is particularly critical for larger organizations, that must not only embrace change and creativity, but most also “scale up” in order to survive global competition. This report is an excellent start toward understanding and infusing Canada’s corporate culture with the need to innovate and accept change,” commented Dr. Benson Honig, McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business, TeresaCascioli Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The survey also found that:

• The younger generation of corporate/business workers entering the workforce are considered to be just as innovative (Canada 47%; US 46%) or more innovative (Canada 41%; US 39%) than today’s current leaders
• The top reason for indicating the younger generation is more innovative than today’s current leaders is their experience, comfort, and understanding of technology (Canada 68%; US 80%)
• Americans are more likely than Canadians to believe the younger generation is more innovative due to their experience with technology (80% vs. 68%), while Canadians are more likely than Americans to think the younger generation is more innovative because of their ability to learn and adapt (27% vs. 15) and their fresh approach (10% vs. 5%)

SimplyCast.com has released Version 6.2 of its SaaS all-in-one marketing application. The latest software release further enhances the multi-channel marketing process by adding powerful features throughout the application to help beginners and advanced online marketers get the results they want.

All users will immediately benefit from an improved reporting framework, faster image serving for newsletters, a list segmentation option for fax marketing and a manage subscription feature that allows recipients to decide what lists they want to remain on.

“Our product development has always been driven by customer feedback and what small business owners need to get the job done,” said Saeed El-Darahali, president and CEO of SimplyCast. “This release represents another important milestone for our company as we continue to provide the most competitively priced all-in-one marketing product to users worldwide.”

Other new features of Version 6.2 include the latest version of SimplyCast’s one-of-a-kind Visual Editor, a revamp of the autoresponder marketing tool and key additions to the free Twitter Marketing service, including a RSS feed to Twitter option.

SimplyCast’s 11-in-1 multi-channel marketing platform is a web-based solution designed to create, track and deliver targeted online marketing campaigns such as email, survey, event, autoresponder, Twitter, fax, SMS and link tracking services.

Future Shop has introduced a new trade-in program which gives Canadians a chance to responsibly recycle their old DVDs and grow their Blu-ray collections with a special offer. Trade & Save will officially launch tomorrow, April 1st, and run until May 5th. Future Shop customers will be able to bring in their old DVDs in exchange for a $5 coupon to use towards purchasing a new Blu-ray movie from a massive selection of over 150 titles to choose from.

“Future Shop is excited to launch the new Trade & Save program that allows customers to upgrade their movie collections with Blu-ray movies at a discount,” said Nikki Hellyer, Director of Marketing, Future Shop. “This program provides a win-win scenario where customers can recycle old DVDs and receive a coupon geared towards helping them build their Blu-ray collections.”

To participate, customers can bring any DVD movies to their nearest Future Shop and exchange them for $5 coupons for select new Blu-ray movies at the Customer Service desk. Eligible Blu-ray titles are clearly marked with in-store with a Trade & Save sticker on the case. A $5 coupon will be provided per returned DVD to a maximum of 20 per customer per day. Customers can redeem one $5 coupon per select Blu-ray title.

The $5 coupon applies to a wide selection of Blu-ray titles from the industry’s top studios* in all genres: action and adventure, family, female favourites, comedies, dramas and musicals. Select new releases in the Trade & Save program, include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (April 8) and Gulliver’s Travels (April 19).

Here are a few examples of after trade-in pricing:

* $4.99: Heat, Speed and James Bond movies.
* $9.99: Alien vs. Predator, 300 and Ice Age movies.
* $11.99: The Dark Night, Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary, The Hangover.
* $14.99: Inception, The Sound of Music, A-Team, Faster, Robin Hood.

All DVDs collected will be responsibly recycled in Canada.

Big Sandwich Games announced today that their award-winning strategy-arcade title HOARD™ now has a demo version immediately available for download on Steam.  The full version can be purchased at a “dragonfire sale” discount of 25% off the normal retail mark of $9.99. The full version unlocks (releases) on April 4^th on Steam for both PC and Mac.  4-packs are also available for a discount, so gamers can take on their friends as well as participate in the Hoard Steam Community and follow the game on Facebook.

Big Sandwich Games expects HOARD^TM to be a big hit with PC and Mac users who want an addictive combination of action and strategy. The game offers bite-sized chunks of single and multiplayer play that includes a co-op mode for up to 4 dragons working together.  “HOARD^TM is a rare game that was created for both core and casual gamers,” says Tyler Sigman, the game’s designer. “Whether they prefer solitary play, competitive multiplayer, friendly co-op, or arcade-style score-attack challenges, HOARD^TM is a great fit. At under $10, that’s a lot of fire-breathing destruction and fun for very little money.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca2-riOgdO0]

All popular Steamworks features are employed in HOARD™, including over 100 achievements, leaderboards, multiplayer matching, friend invites, stats, and Steam cloud saving.  Steam Play is also supported, meaning users who want to play on both PC and Mac only need to buy the game once.  Several new features are also making their appearance in the Steam version, including graphical boosts like night mode and a crisp winter tile set.

Audiokinetic Inc. has released the latest version of Wwise. Wwise 2011.1 introduces new features and enhancements, including support of portable systems such as iOS (iPhone and iPad) and previously announced Nintendo 3DS™.

“The video game industry is evolving, casual and social games are becoming a focus for more partners. This also implies making games available on a wider range of media and devices.” said Simon Ashby, VP of Product Strategy at Audiokinetic Inc.

In an effort to make Wwise accessible to a wide range of developers, Audiokinetic confirms a new pricing model for iOS projects. Developers will be able to license Wwise for $500 US. New public discussion forums will be made available to the community. Approved Nintendo 3DS developers that want to license Wwise will be able to purchase a license at $5,000 US. Additional details on our pricing are available on Audiokinetic’s web site.

In-Touch Survey Systems Ltd. (“Ltd.”), which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, has announced that In-Touch Survey Systems Inc. (“Inc.”), will change its name to In-Touch Insight Systems Inc., effective immediately. Inc is a wholly owned operating company of Ltd. The public company, Ltd will not change its name. The company also launched a new corporate website with a new domain name that reflects the new corporate operating name.

“In-Touch Insight Systems” instead of “In-Touch Survey Systems” better reflects the scope and breadth of our technology and our future direction. The company continues to expand its managed mobile software technology into markets far broader that the survey industry”, said Michael Gaffney CEO.

Newmarket company LassoSoft Inc. launched a new website today, offering the latest product versions of its web programming language, Lasso 8.6 and Lasso 9. It also united the various websites previously supported by the company, fusing its marketing message, developer support documentation, and client communication channels into a single source.

LassoSoft Inc. CEO Sean Stephens says the new website is about more that presenting a new version of the company and its products following a change of ownership in December 2010. His goal is to improve service to the international Lasso developer community from one central online venue. He emphasizes that he and his team have worked to create a resurgence of dialogue and enthusiasm in their clients and colleagues, encouraging input, feedback and constructive criticism to facilitate product development. They call this the LassoSoft “Ecosystem”.

“The Lasso community has shown incredible loyalty and support through the challenging times we have faced in recent years, and they have remained self-sustaining through all of the ups and downs,” says Stephens. “These talented developers are our lifeblood, so we intend to work with them to make Lasso more viable and innovative than ever before. They believe in the strengths of this product as much as we do, and we want them to know that their input is important to us as we move the company in new directions.”

The LassoSoft Inc. suite of products serves as an application server and scripting language to web developers internationally. It has been used on various platforms for diverse purposes, by many types of users, from individual developers to government and large-scale corporate initiatives. The three advantages it consistently asserts over other programming languages are: speed, security, and the “elegance” or simplicity of its code. The company now also cites improved communication and service as its latest offering to its developers.

US-based Global Experience Specialists (GES) today announced that its new operation in Vancouver, British Columbia is open for business. GES Vancouver offers a comprehensive suite of services, including decorating, material handling, graphics, and customs and logistics services to Vancouver and other areas of British Columbia, including Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta, Fort Langley and Surrey.

“GES’ full service operation in Vancouver allows us to continue to work with our existing national, international and U.S. clients in Vancouver and to grow our position in the active Vancouver marketplace,” said Executive Vice President, Mike Lecour. “Vancouver is an extraordinary destination, and we are excited to produce multiple events during the first and second quarters of 2011.”

GES’ Vancouver operation is already working on a considerable number of events for the first half of 2011. These include, but are not limited to, BioPartnering North America, Esthetique Spa International, Helicopter Association of Canada’s 15th Annual Convention and Trade Show, World Congress of Nephrology, Canadian Health Food Association Expo West and the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

“We congratulate GES on its new operations in Vancouver. We see this as yet another indication of the positive growth of the exhibition industry in the city,” said General Manager of the Vancouver Convention Centre Ken Cretney.

GES provides full service operations across Canada with offices in Quebec City, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Banff, and Regina with Canadian headquarters in Toronto. The new Vancouver office is located at Unit #4, 7978 North Fraser Way in Burnaby.

Taking a page from family fun nights, Clinton Beck from Beck Gold and Diamond Brokers in Edmonton recently attended a business fun night to increase the bottom line in his business. He had fun and learned a great deal from a night of the board game Leverage with other business owners in the area.

“It was a very interesting game that actually had a lot of strategy.” Says Beck “not only was it a lot of fun, but it gave me some great insight on how fine tuning minor things in my business can lead to big changes in my bottom line. As a business owner often I find myself so busy working in my business that the real running of my business is overlooked. As I was playing the game it made me ask myself some hard questions about areas in my business that could use some fine tuning.”

“Not everything has to be an app and downloadable. Human contact and conversation is a vital component to learning about your business and your competition. This kind of business fun night lets you talk to other people in similar situations and will ultimately help my business out.”

Clinton and several other business owners in the Edmonton area took part in a Leverage business board game night run by Laurie McNaughton and Brad Prince, two business coaches with ActionCOACH. The game of Leverage was developed by US-based ActionCOACH founder Brad Sugars, and is played all around the world.

Star Wars fans, it is time to channel your inner Wookiee for the special two-part season finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on TELETOON featuring the highly anticipated debut of Chewbacca! Part one of the season finale premieres on Friday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT and will be preceded by a marathon of the previous three episodes beginning at 7 p.m. ET/PT. One week later, part two will premiere on Friday, April 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT with an encore presentation of part one at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

In order to make Chewbacca’s animated character as authentic as possible for the season finale, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars creative team enlisted the help of Peter Mayhew, the actor who donned the furry costume in the original Star Wars trilogy, to advise animators on the Wookiee’s movements and also helped to recreate his trademark growl.

“Bringing Chewie to The Clone Wars is very special for us, and it wouldn’t be right without Peter’s involvement and blessing,” said Dave Filoni, Supervising Director, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. “Peter and Chewie are one and the same; he brings so much of himself to the character and it was important for us to capture that. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t feel right. Having his input was great; he was able to add all the little mannerisms and details that he knew from living with Chewie for more than three decades.”

The third season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has delved deep into the characters, conflicts and the Force itself, taking viewers behind the front lines of battle. In a season wrought by fragile allegiances and questionable loyalties, viewers have seen Star Wars in a whole new way through the exposure of stunning secrets and detailed insights into the prophecy and fate of the Chosen One.

The four episodes included in the March 25 marathon will be available on-demand on Monday, March 28. TELETOON is the exclusive Canadian home to Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

As the week draws nearer to a close, there is no sign of slow-down in Canadian digital media activity. Tonight Scott and Mike will be checking out an event at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre hosted by AnnexPro and Avid, while I’ll be over in Yaletown at a Women In Games Vancouver board meeting. Don’t forget that our Women In Games March Martini night (sorry guys, ladies only) is next Thursday, March 24th at Rogue.

Congratulations are due to the Ubisoft Montreal Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood team, who picked up the BAFTA in the UK last night for top Action Game and to the Bioware team who garnered the Best Game award for Mass Effect 2.

I keep forgetting to tell you all about the huge Book Drive that’s been going on in BC, so I left the page open to the site to remind myself because I tend to be forgetful. The next big event is this weekend, March 19 & 20th, at the Salvation Army Divisional Headquarters located at 3833 Henning Drive in Burnaby. Drawing directly from the information on the Book Drive site:

“The Big Book Drive is a two-day event aimed to help the less-fortunate and low-income families so that they may gain a better education in the future. Oftentimes after we’ve read a book, we leave it lying around without touching it for years. This is wasteful of Earth’s resources, and it does not have to be so. These books can be used to help others, so make The Big Book Drive your way of giving back to the community. Our goal is to collect as many books as possible. The books will either be sold at used bookstores to generate proceeds, donated to the charities we’re working with, or recycled to be remade into new books. Either way, 100% of the proceeds will be donated, because we want to help others just as much as you do!“

I hope that if you are able to help out, you can. The organization is looking for textbooks, journals, comic books, novels, children’s books, magazines and catalogues. No adult material, newspapers or eBooks on CD/DVD, though.

Students in need of software should check out Microsoft initiative DreamSpark. Verified students can gain access to licensed Microsoft products, including XNA Studio 4, Visual Studio, Expression, Robotics Developer and more. You now have fewer reasons to not get out there and create something. Go, go, go!

Microsoft Canada also offers assistance to small-medium businesses with volume licensing programs designed to save money and get companies creating. It’s worth your time to check out what is available for you.

On Saturday March 19th, let the games begin as YTV WOW! Let it rip with non-stop action and adventure with Hasbro’s Beyblade: Metal Fusion Battle Zone. Beyblade fans can come out to the Real Canadian Superstore at 51 Gerry Fitzgerald Drive in Toronto and battle it out for prizes and gift packs from 10am until 4pm.

Speaking of availability, the Government of Canada has launched its Open Data Pilot Project, which is designed to improve the ability of the public to find, download and use Government of Canada data. You are invited to search the catalogue, download datasets and explore the possibilities of Open Data. This project could go a long way towards helping businesses gain access to research data they may require for such activities as market research or even finding new business partners.

As part of the Government of Canada’s efforts to drive innovation and economic opportunities for all Canadians, the Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway launched the pilot project for an online Open Data Portal following public consultations on the digital economy strategy which saw Canadians asking for open data to be made available in more usable and accessible formats.

“The Government of Canada is launching its Open Data Portal to make a large amount of data accessible through a single window,” said Minister Day. “With this portal, application developers can reuse data for commercial or research purposes to benefit all Canadians in a variety of ways. We want to continue to make Canada one of the best places to do business by ensuring that Canadian entrepreneurs, researchers, academics and voluntary organizations have access to government data in useful formats to help foster innovation, job creation and community services for Canadians.”

This pilot portal will make more than 260,000 datasets from the following ten participating departments available to all Canadians: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Citizenship and Immigration Canada; Environment Canada; Department of Finance Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Library and Archives Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Statistics Canada; Transport Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat. The pilot phase will take place over a 12-month period, during which the government will continue to increase the number of datasets available to users.

I just found out about this service today, when the company began following me on Twitter, so I haven’t really had a chance to look very deep into the site and get all of the details, but Get George, which is based in Vancouver, looks like it may be a program that is advantageous to smartphone users. Get George is a free download in the iTunes and Android shops, and looks like it could end up saving people some serious money – but as I don’t have a smartphone, and haven’t yet investigated the services offered, please be sure to read the application’s FAQs and service conditions before use.

With the August 23rd release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution drawing nearer every day, Square Enix is looking for a location to open another Canadian studio. Personally I’m rooting for Vancouver, but Toronto and a second Montreal location are also in the running. I imagine that the publisher will be looking closely at incentives offered by each province, and while another studio in Montreal would be convenient for the Eidos Montreal crew, I’m hoping that the proximity of Vancouver to the Square Enix headquarters in Tokyo will give the city an edge in the running. The time line for the new studio looks to be for a 2012 opening, with an initial staff of 100.

Big Blue Bubble’s original, award winning and massively fun rhythm game Thumpies is now available in Apple’s Mac App Store. Now Mac owners can test their skills in correctly matching the beat of bouncing Thumpies, and those with the beat skills can progress through songs and the current 15 game levels, unlocking new Thumpies along the way. Suitable for all ages and already available in the iTunes App store, Thumpies uses a mechanic of bouncing in time instead of just a series of notes. The game features a quirky art design accompanied by a unique musical score composed by award winning industry veteran David Kerr sets Thumpies in a genre all its own.

Hoard™ from Big Sandwich Games will release via Steam for your PC and Mac on April 4^th, and will retail for $9.99USD. Pre-sales will begin on March 21^st with a limited time “fire-sale” discount of 25%.  In addition, sharing with your friends is rewarded, as a 4-pack of HOARD™ can be purchased for the low price of $28.00.  Steam Play is supported, meaning Steam users who own both a PC and a Mac only need buy the game once.

The Steam version includes the same fire-breathing fun as the PS3 console release plus some brand new features.  The game has 4 modes, over 35 levels, leaderboards, full multiplayer suites (4-player co-op and competitive), and 100+ Steam achievements. In addition, never seen-before features such as Night Mode (for vibrant fiery goodness), a Winter tile set, and new maps are added as a reward for PC and Mac fans’ patience.  Finally, cross-play allows PC and Mac users to compete or cooperate in their quests for gold.

zinc Roe’s latest release is now live. Created for the Family Channel, Hot Ticket is a game of musical and economic strategy. Players drag and drop locations onto a map to create “Famburg”, a rocking little town that plays host to shows by a wide variety of fictional acts. “The Temper Tantrums”, “Vagablonde”, and “The Jazz Hands”, are among dozens of hilarious characters created to animate locations like “The Golden Cocoon Mall”, The Hideaway” and “Das Beats Dance Club”. The game features colourful artwork, catchy melodies and an appropriate level of economic complexity for school-aged children. There is a demo version available to try out, and if you like the game, you can register to play the full version. Judging from comments posted on the game’s page, Hot Ticket is on its way to becoming a hit casual title.

D-Box has announced yet another expansion for this week, citing a new agreement with Germany-based FTT (the company’s first European distributor for its commercial theatre expansion) for two new theatres with Netherlands-based Jogchem’s Theatres known in the market as JT Bioscopen. JT Hoogezand and JT Arnhem will each equip its theatres with respectively 20 and 21 D-BOX MFX Seats. With the introduction of D-BOX at these newest locations, Jogchem’s Theatres will have a total of four movie theatres that offer D-BOX’s motion experience. In addition to the sale of these systems, this deal will also generate licensing fees payable to D-BOX in accordance with the systems’ utilization.

Conservatory Canada invites piano students from across Canada to put their compositional skills to the test for the first annual Creative Composer’s Competition. Launched as a partnership between Conservatory Canada, Mayfair Music Publishing and Long & McQuade Music Stores, the contest is a unique opportunity for budding composers of all ages to let their talent shine, says Conservatory Canada national executive director, Victoria Warwick.

“There are many students across Canada who love to compose music in all styles,” says Warwick. “We hope this competition will inspire and encourage them in this creative pursuit.”

Piano students of all ages have until May 31 to submit entries through the Conservatory Canada website. Submissions should be written in a contemporary musical style – Jazz, Country, Latin, and Broadway – as included in Conservatory Canada’s Contemporary Idioms Syllabus for Piano.

All submissions will be reviewed by Conservatory Canada examiners with compositional skills, Warwick says. Winners will be announced at Conservatory Canada’s national convocation ceremony in November, and winning compositions will be included in a new Mayfair Music Publication.

“Composition is a natural part of our Contemporary Idioms program,” notes Warwick. “The Creative Composer’s Competition will allow students to showcase their fine work, and by compiling the best-of-the-best in a new publication, teachers and students across Canada will be able to enjoy them.”

Enterprises will now have an easier time keeping their global workforces productive with the release of Exceed onDemand 8 by OpenText™, an X11 window server that gives users fast, reliable and secure remote access to applications over any network connection. Exceed onDemand 8 offers support for the popular Mac OS X platform along with a number of performance and productivity enhancements that enable customers to centrally distribute and manage access to UNIX, Linux and Microsoft Windows applications.

Trusted by millions of enterprise users, the Exceed family of products is known for its dependability in mission-critical environments and “pixel-perfect” screen and color rendering capabilities. Exceed onDemand offers companies a centralized, scalable and load-balanced platform to manage the distribution of critical line-of-business applications to a geographically disparate user population. Exceed onDemand offers an all-in-one remote application access solution for stock trading, electronic design automation (EDA), computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and high-end 3D modeling, among others, and delivers such benefits as lower infrastructure costs, improved security and easier team collaboration.

“Enterprises are facing increasing pressure to deliver better results on time and on budget. Exceed onDemand helps them improve the performance of their business operations by simplifying and extending their application delivery infrastructure – and we’re continuing the momentum with this new release,” said Eugene Cherny, General Manager for OpenText’s connectivity solutions. “Its industry-proven architecture offers automatic workload balancing and scalability, helping to accelerate access to business applications while boosting user productivity through real-time team collaboration.”

The new version of Exceed onDemand offers a number of significant enhancements:

* Empowers the growing population of Apple Mac OS X users with high-performance remote application access
* Helps enterprises take control of the distribution of Microsoft Windows applications on UNIX, Linux and OS X platforms
* Enhances access security through the integration with LDAP based enterprise directory services
* New dynamic screen scaling capability offers superior user experience and improved productivity

“Exceed onDemand 8 supports the Cadence EDA360 vision by empowering engineering teams to collaborate virtually, fully realizing complex designs as efficiently as possible in a globalized work environment,” said Steven Lewis, Product Management Director of Cadence. “We’ve worked closely with OpenText to ensure that Exceed onDemand 8 works smoothly with the Cadence Virtuoso custom IC technology, maximizing both design throughput and resource utilization, while lowering overall hardware costs.”

Make Technologies® Inc. is proud to introduce the Make Technologies® Enterprise Suite, an end-to-end solution for application portfolio modernization. Customers can expect to dramatically reduce the amount of custom code in their legacy portfolio without changing workflows or the way they run their business.

The Make Technologies® Enterprise Suite is built on top of Transformational Legacy Modernization (TLM®), the company’s proven modernization platform. TLM® is fit-for-purpose software guided by a mature methodology and supported by the best practices of our modernization experts.

The Make Technologies® Enterprise Suite allows customers to build a pragmatic application roadmap that is closely aligned with the strategic initiatives of its business, based on strong data points such as code dependencies and application usage patterns. The result is a marked reduction in code maintenance, giving CXOs the freedom to pay more attention to essential business matters while gaining a competitive edge in their industry.

“The challenge with all organizations is their ability to do more with less and in a resource-constrained environment companies are finding it challenging to support and maintain legacy applications and simultaneously innovate. As noted in Forrester’s Enterprise and SMB Software Survey, North America and Europe, Q42008 showed that a fairly stunning change has taken place in IT leaders’ plans and priorities. Application modernization supplanted the hot topics of prior years: eBusiness, Agile, Lean, cloud, etc. In fact the three most important software initiatives for IT decision-makers all focused on application modernization: 1) update/ modernization legacy applications; 2) upgrade enterprise applications; and 3) consolidate or rationalize enterprise applications. The data highlights a sharp turn in IT leader’s thinking, with them coming to realize that streamlining bloated application portfolios is no longer an optional activity. Rather, modernization is the best new opportunity to cut waste on low-value applications and thus free the corresponding resources for new projects and innovation.” (A Workable Application Modernization Framework is Job No. 1 Now Forrester Research, Inc. independent Report April 26, 2010)

Make Technologies® Enterprise Suite allows businesses to:

* Lower the cost of application maintenance by lowering the amount of custom code and creating an easy to maintain application.
* Maximize the speed and quality of implementation with state-of-the-art, integrated tools supporting collaboration, analysis, code generation and data migration.
* Control the output quality continuously throughout the engagement.
* Verify the functional completeness of the modernized applications.

“As legacy systems continue to age and the speed of business continues to increase, the need to modernize enterprise-level IT is at a record high,” said Bill Bergen, CEO of Make Technologies Inc. “Many companies are investing millions of dollars into a modernization project and cannot afford setbacks or failure. Organizations are looking to understand what they own – to quantify the business value and maintenance of their applications so as to devise a rational plan for streamlined modernization efforts. Make Technologies® Enterprise Suite ensures complete project success through its combined software, methodology, and best practices.”

Canada Post announced today the launch of CentrSource.ca, a new online marketplace that connects advertisers and consumers instantly – where they live. This pay-for-performance model means that small to medium-sized businesses can effectively target consumers in their neighbourhood by offering products and services online and in-store that are relevant to them. It is also possible to search the entire network for offers from businesses across Canada. Until now, there has been a gap for consumers in getting targeted, local, time-sensitive content from traditional search engines.

“CentrSource.ca is an attractive tool for businesses of any size – especially small and medium-sized businesses. It helps them promote their products and services in the online marketplace, even if they don’t have a website, and makes it possible for them to compete on equal footing with larger competitors,” says Laurene Cihosky, Senior vice-president, Direct marketing, Advertising & Publishing business. The newly launched initiative is the result of a strategic alliance between Canada Post and CentrSource SA, a progressive Swiss-based company that provides e-commerce platforms.

“The power of CentrSource.ca is that it benefits both advertisers and consumers equally. Advertisers can reach customers instantly with offers that are geo-targeted, and consumers can improve their online shopping experience with searches that return time-sensitive offers on products and services only in the neighbourhoods they want to shop,” says Bob Westrope, Founder and CEO, CentrSource SA.

Through CentrSource.ca, national businesses such as Walmart and local businesses such as Calgary’s Community Natural Foods have unprecedented access to every type of consumer. This is made possible through the partnership of dozens of media/communications companies that make up the CentrSource network such as AOL Canada and Reader’s Digest. Today, CentrSource.ca features tens of thousands of offers from small businesses and large retailers across Canada. New offers are added daily in the language(s) chosen by the retailer and are targeted based on the location of the business’ customers.

As part of its vision to deliver a modern post, Canada Post is seeking new and compelling ways to extend their services by connecting businesses with their customers – whether it is through physical or electronic channels or a combination of both. CentrSource.ca is part of a growing number of online initiatives recently launched by Canada Post.

Another Telecom wants you to increase your data usage by offering another digital product. Five dollars per month gets you 10 hours of Mobile TV.

Fans of Vancouver Whitecaps FC will be able to get closer to their team anytime and anywhere thanks to Bell’s commitment to make all Whitecaps FC matches available live on Bell mobile phones. It’s the first time ever that all home and away matches of a Major League Soccer (MLS) Club will be available live on mobile.

“Being a fan of the Whitecaps just got better with Bell,” said Loring Phinney, Vice President, Corporate Marketing for Bell. “We committed to an enhanced experience for soccer fans when we announced our jersey sponsorship, and we’re thrilled to assist the Whitecaps in being the first MLS club with access to live matches on the screen of the fan’s choice.”

With TSN already announced as the MLS Official Broadcaster, Whitecaps FC fans will have their choice of watching matches in High Definition on TSN and TSN2, all Whitecaps FC games on the regional broadcast and now on Bell mobile phones and tablets with Bell Mobile TV.

“We promised Whitecaps FC fans that, together with our partners, we would provide a unique experience for our inaugural season in Major League Soccer and today, thanks to Bell, we’re delivering on that promise,” stated Paul Barber, Chief Executive Officer, Vancouver Whitecaps FC. “Bell is a world leader in creating great experiences across multiple screens in top level sporting environments. With this historic announcement, our club and our fans will be the beneficiaries of Bell’s innovative market leadership.”

In addition to all Whitecaps FC matches, Bell mobile customers will also have access to 24 MLS matches featuring Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC on TSN and TSN2, as well as the MLS All-Star Game, MLS Playoffs and the MLS Cup.

Bell Mobility customers can purchase 10 hours of the Mobile TV Sports package for $5 per month. This includes access to live games and highlights from the NHL, NFL and now MLS Official Broadcaster matches and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

A major new trade show serving Canada’s burgeoning digital industry has been announced. The show, Dx3 Canada, will cover three major aspects of the digital ecosystem; digital marketing; digital advertising and digital retailing. Dx3 Canada will take place next year on the 25th and 26th of January 2012, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, in downtown Toronto.

According to the organizers, Hut2Hut Events, the digital market in Canada is well served with conferences, but there is no major forum that brings this industry together, to discuss and do business. Show Director Duncan Payne said, “Every major industry needs its own trade show – a marketplace where people come to buy goods and services that will help to grow their businesses. There is no doubt that the marketing, advertising and selling of goods both online and via mobile devices has become a major industry in its own right.”

Statistics from a number of recent studies back up Payne’s point of view. Canada’s Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) estimates that online advertising grew by 15% in 2010 to top $2.1 billion while Statistics Canada states that half of Canada’s 33 million population have bought either goods or services online.

Anthony Lipkin Dx3 Canada’s Marketing Director said, “visiting Dx3 Canada is free of charge, to anyone involved in marketing, advertising and retail, and there will be plenty to see and do for all companies whether they are just starting out on their digital strategy, or are one of the most tech savvy businesses in Canada. There is just such a fast pace of innovation and change that we are expecting to see thousands of visitors on both days.”

Dx3 Canada Advisory Board Member, Matt Hassell, who is the Chief Creative Officer for OgilvyOne Advertising in Toronto, recognizes the need for this type of event in Canada’s digital calendar, “Canada is a world leader within the digital space and now we will have a trade show where we will be able to see the latest trends, buy the latest products & services, and show the world what we can do.”

MaRS Discovery District is pleased to announce that MMB Research, a MaRS cleantech client, has successfully closed a private placement of $1 million with a group of angel investors from Toronto. MMB will use the net proceeds of the angel round to expand its sales and development teams and further solidify relationships with industry partners in North America, Europe and Asia.

MMB has developed a combined software and hardware platform called RapidSE that significantly simplifies the process of getting home appliances and devices to communicate on a smart grid connected home area network. By automating significant portions of a complex wireless communications standard and adapting to different environments, RapidSE makes it easier and cheaper for device and appliance manufacturers to get connected products to market.

“MaRS has been instrumental in supporting the growth of MMB Research. Through MaRS, we have access to advisors with invaluable knowledge and experience. They have played an integral role in preparing and introducing us to investors and are directly responsible for the addition of one strategic member to our team,” says Daniel Moneta, CEO at MMB.

“Home energy management is a big piece of the emerging smart grid, it helps grid operators match electrical supply with demand,” says Tom Rand, Cleantech Practice Lead at MaRS. “We recognized early on that MMB Research brings real value to companies developing next-generation appliances and smart meters by helping them get to market faster with a more robust solution.”

Toronto-based Guardly today announced its mobile personal safety application and service for smartphones. Guardly changes the way personal safety is delivered by enabling smartphone users that find themselves in an emergency situation to alert, connect, and then collaborate with their personal safety network and authorities with only a single tap on their device.

Guardly aims to significantly decrease the amount of time it takes for help to arrive at an emergency. For example, a heart attack victim in an apartment complex uses Guardly to contact neighbors and 9-1-1 simultaneously; neighbors arrive within 2-3 minutes to provide Aspirin and basic CPR and an ambulance arrives in 6-10 minutes to escalate treatment. Actions taken during the first moments of an emergency can significantly affect the outcome of the incident. Guardly provides peace of mind when walking alone at night, traveling and dating, or for those that may be faced with an abusive or domestically violent relationship.

“Guardly is the first mobile personal safety service to give subscribers access to two safety networks at the same time,” said Josh Sookman, Founder and CEO of Guardly. “Our vision is to complement the existing 9-1-1 infrastructure and ensure that Guardly users are reached as soon as possible by their personal safety network and authorities in the event of an emergency.”

The North American mobile landscape has undergone rapid transformation over the last three years toward location-aware, media-rich and data-centric devices. In the US and Canada, there are currently 153 million smartphone users with 3G data plans^[1] and over 60% of cell phones have GPS functionality^[2]. Guardly leverages these trends and capitalizes on this unprecedented market opportunity to provide a true mobile personal safety service to the masses.

Guardly is unique in that it enables a user’s personal safety network to collaborate with them and amongst each other using the mobile web and web incident pages, SMS and voice conferencing for the duration of the emergency event. “You can think of Guardly as the mobile complement to your home alarm and monitoring service,” added Sookman.

Guardly’s LocationAssure™ technology uses intelligent algorithms to help mitigate common GPS and other location positioning errors during emergency incidents and enables responders to quickly determine their proximity to each other and the individual in need of emergency response. The Guardly mobile application is expected to be available in March 2011 through the iTunes App Store. A free and premium service will be offered. BlackBerry and Android versions are planned for the near future.

Syncapse Corp., a provider of cloud-based software and strategic services to help enterprises build, manage and measure their social media presence, has announced that ABS Capital Partners, a leading growth equity investor has committed to invest $25 million in the Company; $20 million of which has already closed. ABS Capital is the Company’s first institutional investor.

Syncapse will use the funds to invest in sales, marketing, and product development for the Syncapse Platform™. As a result of the financing, ABS Capital General Partners Ralph Terkowitz and Deric Emry will join Syncape’s board of directors.

Because social networks were designed for posting by individuals, they do not offer the management tools necessary to support the workflow or publishing requirements of a global enterprise. The Syncapse Platform combines social media publishing, customized workflow, content management and analytics. The Company’s professional services and agency relationships complement the Platform, creating a full service social media management offering. In October 2010, the Company added David Nelson-Gal as its Chief Product Officer to lead its team developing new products around the Platform. David has led many teams in content, community, mobility and systems solutions for enterprises for over 25 years. He has also held executive positions at numerous global technology companies, most notably Sun Microsystems and Interwoven.

Syncapse’s suite of enterprise solutions helps organizations such as BlackBerry®, Electronic Arts and others effectively manage and scale their social media marketing efforts across disparate social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, YouTube, WordPress and MovableType. The Platform connects enterprises with millions of consumers worldwide, enabling corporations to create and maintain meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with their customers. Syncapse also delivers critical analytics that enable chief marketing officers to measure their return on investment in social media marketing. This is Syncapse’s first round of venture funding, and RBC Capital Markets acted as the sole placement agent to the Company for this Offering.

Mississauga-based electronic health care software service PointClickCare has announced that it has received a minority strategic investment from Baltimore- and San Diego-based JMI Equity, a leading software and healthcare IT growth equity firm. With the investment, JMI Equity will work with the PointClickCare leadership team to continue to expand the company’s innovative software-as-a-service (SaaS) product offerings and advance its market leadership through organic and inorganic growth.

PointClickCare’s web-based products and services are uniquely designed to help long-term care providers manage the complete lifecycle of resident care. The company serves over 5,000 facilities throughout North America, from single-home independent facilities to seven of the ten largest operators. PointClickCare’s SaaS offering seamlessly integrates clinical, billing and administrative processes to maximize reimbursements, enhance quality of care, improve operating efficiencies and increase staff productivity and satisfaction.

As part of the transaction, JMI Equity Founder and Managing General Partner Harry Gruner will join PointClickCare’s board of directors. “Mike and the rest of the PointClickCare team have done an excellent job positioning the company for continued success,” said Mr. Gruner. “The company’s SaaS offering provides customers with an affordable platform to manage the complete lifecycle of resident care, and its offerings align well with the market’s demand for tools that yield greater efficiency while improving patient care. We look forward to working with Mike and his team to build on the company’s success, further develop the company’s offerings and realize the many growth opportunities in front of the company over the long term.”

RBC Capital Markets served as placement agent to PointClickCare. Harris + Harris LLP served as legal advisor to PointClickCare, while Goodwin Procter LLP and Stikeman Elliott LLP served as legal advisors to JMI Equity.