Village Gamer

Toronto – Corus Television is partnering with Hasbro Canada to give kids the chance to be the first to test new NERF products. Going live on March 2, YTV.com will connect viewers to CampNERF.ca, which showcases the latest in NERF gear and contests. Online games can be found on the website’s Elite Gaming Area as well as its four Training Zones. Other areas of Camp NERF include the Contest Bunker, the Mess Hall for the latest news and camp communications and the Outfitter Tent for all retail information. To top it all off, kids will also be able to play and interact with NERF this summer with YTV’s annual WOW cross-country tour.

Camp NERF is an online destination where kids are introduced to the world of NERF through various Camp Counsellors, all of whom hold different areas of expertise. Participants can also collect and earn NERF badges when they complete a game or finish their online training as part of their experience at CampNERF.ca.

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Toronto – Activision Publishing, Inc. has announced an agreement with Corus Entertainment Inc.’s Nelvana Enterprises to develop and distribute video games based on the breakout hit toy and wildly popular action animated television series Bakugan. The first Bakugan game will be released for Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems in the fall of 2009.

“Bakugan’s success in 2008 speaks for itself and we’re confident it will be even bigger in 2009,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing. “It is our goal to expand this proven property in a way that both fans and gamers will love.”

“Ever since Bakugan exploded in popularity, players have been clamoring for a video game version,” said Doug Murphy, President, Nelvana and GM, Corus Kids. “We share our fans’ excitement in doing battle in an interactive Bakugan world!”

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Mississauga – Bell and Twitter have announced that Bell Mobility will be the first wireless carrier to offer Canadians full SMS (Short Messaging Service, or mobile text messaging) support for interacting with Twitter.

Twitter is a communication network that enables users to send and receive text based posts of up to 140 characters (known as “tweets”). Updates are displayed on a users profile page at Twitter.com and delivered in real time to those who’ve signed up for them. Twitter updates can also be received through integration with other social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin (using Twhirl software) or via SMS, RSS or Twittermobile.

“Being the first wireless carrier to offer Canadians Twitter’s fully interactive SMS service underlines our commitment to delivering popular and relevant content to our clients, including the latest social networking applications,” said Andrew Wright, Director of Business Development at Bell Mobility. “Twitter is extremely successful, with millions of people regularly using the service to stay in touch with, family, friends and colleagues every day.”

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Victoria – In the turmoil created by economic worries, business awards provide a reassuring note of continuity and success that buoys the entire community. Celebrating the efforts and success of Vancouver Island businesses, the Business Examiner (BE) Awards highlight the best and brightest in the community. Winning the Technology Company of the Year award, ParetoLogic was pleased to have its efforts recognized and honoured to be in such distinguished company. Proceeding into 2009 with the same vigor and confidence that has become the hallmark of ParetoLogic, the Island’s top Tech company has big plans to produce more software titles that will put British Columbia on the technology map.

“Winning the BE Award for Technology Company of the Year is a great way for us to start 2009,” comments Elton Pereira, ParetoLogic Co-Founder and CEO. One might think that adding another award to the company’s already impressive lineup would take a backseat to concerns generated by the ever-present economic bad news, but Pereira would argue that vehemently. “ParetoLogic has done and continues to do, extremely well, despite the recession that we seem to be experiencing. It’s important for people to remember that the good news is out there – Tech companies on the Island continue to thrive,” states Pereira.

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Toronto – On the heels of Trackberry™, Chad Hughes, President and CEO of ResQ, today announced two critical strategic partnerships enabling managers to efficiently track valuable mobile assets in the field, including critical personnel. ResQ, Canada’s leader of GPS-enabled tracking solutions, has partnered with Waterloo-based Research In Motion (RIM) to develop and promote solutions for the Blackberry®, as well as with Microsoft to provide financing to clients.

“We are now a proud member of RIM’s innovative Blackberry Alliance Program as a System Integrator,” states Hughes. “This deal offers my team access to a unique suite of resources that support our on-going efforts to create and sell tracking applications globally. Our deal with Microsoft allows us to immediately provide attractive financing options to an expanding number of enterprises with large fleets of vehicles or equipment in the field.”
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Toronto – Indigo Books & Music, Inc. today announced the launch of Shortcovers, a new digital destination that enables people to discover and experience their next great read, on the mobile devices they already own. This new service provides consumers with an easy way to access and read their favorite content on the go.

eBook sales grew nearly 70 percent in 2008, with growth accelerating over 100 percent in the fourth quarter. Shortcovers is an integrated online and mobile service that gives anyone with an iPhone™, Blackberry (Storm™, Bold™ and Curve™), or Google Android™ device, instant access to the newest books, hottest authors, and most popular magazines and blogs – as well as new content formats and user-inspired writings such as subway novels.

“We are at a tipping point in the publishing world. People are reading differently–they are reading on screens, in more frequent, shorter sessions–and are accustomed to digital sampling services,” said Michael Serbinis, CIO & EVP of Indigo Books & Music. “Consumer behavior combined with the wide availability and popularity of high quality mobile devices inspired us to create Shortcovers, a destination where consumers can sample for free, purchase what they want, and read their favorite content on the go.”

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