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As announced earlier this year, the CMPA negotiated a Terms of Trade agreement that came into effect on June 1st, with the exception of certain parts related to the financing of programs, which will come into force as of August 1, 2011. Please see section 13 for specifics relating to the timing of implementation of the various elements of the agreement.  The Association will be visiting cities across the country to present Information Sessions and Workshops for those interested in learning more about the new agreement. If you are interested in attending, please contact Katie Jeffs to find out more, or you can register now online.

A PDF copy of the Terms of Trade agreement is available online; note that while Corus signed a separate Terms of Trade agreement, it contains no substantive differences from the agreement signed with the other broadcasters.

Announced Information Sessions (more to be decided)

• Calgary (+ Edmonton teleconference) – July 20th
• Vancouver – July 21st
• Winnipeg – July 26th
• Toronto – July 28th
• Halifax – August 4th
• Montreal – August 5th

The CMPA has also put out a Request for Proposals (PDF) in regards to accepting submissions from interested parties interested in to carry out, on a limited-term contract basis, the management and delivery of either one, or both, of the following event components for Prime Time Ottawa 2012:

1. Sponsorship Solicitation and Administration
2. Program Development and Execution

The deadline to reply to the RFP is August 1, 2011. The Project Authourity is Marc Seguin, Senior Vice President, Canadian Media Production Association. Mr. Seguin can be reached at 613.233.1444 extension 223 or 800.656.7440 extension 223 or via email.

Kinjoe, a new Vancouver-based startup, today announced the release of its new web and mobile social network available as a free public beta for residents of B.C.

Kinjoe is designed to solve one of the major issues of big-city living, where many people feel alone and anonymous despite being surrounded by millions of people. Vancouver is particularly afflicted by this phenomenon: a 2010 Angus Reid poll revealed that Vancouverites were among the loneliest city-dwellers in Canada, with only 69 per cent feeling well-connected socially.

Unlike Facebook, which only connects people with friends or family, Kinjoe enables people to expand their social network by making new, real-life friends who live within 20 minutes’ walking distance and share the same interests. After connecting online, it’s easy to get together offline to participate in activities that match your interests.

“Ask anyone and they will tell you that Vancouver is a difficult city to make new friends in,” said Emir Aboulhosn, Kinjoe founder and CEO. “Kinjoe takes away the awkwardness and difficulty in finding people who share your interests and live nearby.”

Kaishin Chu, a Yaletown resident and owner of DashOfFood.com, says, “The idea of Kinjoe really interested me because I finally had a tool to help me expand my own social network with real people in my neighbourhood, to help gain back some sense of community that is lacking these days.” Kaishin continued, “I was able to co-organize a game of bocce ball with a fellow neighbourhood resident in a park nearby. I got to meet some great new people and share a fun experience.”

During the pre-launch phase, Kinjoe teamed up with Blenz Coffee in Yaletown to promote the network locally. The partnership resulted in 500 new users from the Yaletown area, and based on the early success, Blenz will now be promoting Kinjoe in its stores throughout B.C. Kinjoe will be rolling out to cities across Canada and the USA later this year.

“Blenz Coffee is proud to support Kinjoe and we’re excited to introduce it to our customers throughout B.C.,” said George Moen, President of Blenz Coffee Co. “Finally, someone is using technology to combat isolation instead of contributing to it.”

Kinjoe features include:

• Browse–able profiles and interests of people who live within 20 minutes of each other.

• A “Me Too!” feature to show interest in an idea or simple stay updated on a discussion.

• A ‘meetup’ feature that allows users to suggest activities that anyone within a 20-minute walk can join.

• Instant polls that allow users to canvass their neighbourhood’s opinion on an issue, place or event.

• A ‘Recommended Friends’ feature that allows people who share similar interests and live close by to find each other.

Kinjoe respects safety and privacy, and never reveals home or email addresses. Users control the information that is displayed to others in their neighbourhood.

Info-Tech Research Group’s recently published Application Development Tools Vendor Landscape report ranks ComponentOne (USA) and Infragistics (USA) as market Champions. Telerik (USA, office in Winnipeg) and DevExpress (USA) are recognized as Innovators in the market while Janus Systems (Panama) is noted as a price effective pillar in the desktop space.??

“Getting more done in less time while staying in touch with the leading software trends is crucial to any business,” said Randy Hearn, senior analyst with Info-Tech Research Group. “Vendors who offer a single suite of tools capable of performing in the big three, desktop, web and mobile, are your best bet to stay abreast of ever evolving software trends and business demands.”

With over twenty-three years of experience, ComponentOne offers the most complete suite of tools and components covering all three major platforms (desktop, mobile and web) pushing them ahead of the pack as the leading Champion in the Vendor Landscape.

Infragistics’ inclusion of automated UI testing, report writing, support for HTML5 and platform independent visual designers landed them in the Champion category as well. Their price point is slightly higher than the competitors initially, but ROI increases over time due to lower renewal costs.

Organizations looking for a low cost desktop application solution should consider Janus Systems according to the report. Janus’ low price point earned them the ‘Overall Value Award,’ but unlike the other vendors, their focus is primarily on the desktop space and they lack the advanced features of their competitors in web and mobile.

DevExpress and Telerik are both considered vendors to watch in the application development space. Despite being relatively young, they are both considered Innovators by Info-Tech Research Group. Telerik provides a complete set of tools that, according to the report, are among the best available in the market. DevExpress’ dedication to exceeding every developer’s expectations seems to be working. The report quotes one developer as saying, “DevExpress has the sexiest looking controls in any browser even with the standard theme.”

A comprehensive study of Canadian industry commercialization practices and the effectiveness of various support programs will be undertaken shortly by Canada’s largest high-tech business organization, supported by partners in the Industry, the Public Sector and the Academia.

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) is working with the University of Waterloo (UofW) and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), with funding support from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the Export Development Canada (EDC), the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) and the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (SCA) and in partnership with the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises of Public Works Canada (PWGSC- OSME), the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC), the Conference Board of Canada (CBoC), ACCT Canada, Springboard West (SBW), the Centre of Excellence in Energy Efficiency (C3E), the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), BioTec Canada and the Rx&D (Pharma) associations.

While there is no doubt that Canada is doing well in matters of academic research, concern has arisen that the translation of this research into ‘bankable commerce’ is lagging. The performance of Canadian firms in commercializing innovation is a more important economic factor than quantity of innovation, if a large percent of innovations are left sterile in the labs or do not make their ways into tangible economic benefits, according to study director Dr. Sorin Cohn, who stated that “there is a perception that Canada is not doing so well when it comes to commercializing its products, services and processes into the global marketplace. Canada is a nation of SMEs, with over 99.8% of the more than 1 million companies in Canada having fewer than 500 employees, and the SMEs need better ways and means to enhance their positions in the global marketplace.”

CATA and its partners are urging enterprises and organizations to take an active part in this survey in order to acquire a meaningful understanding of what works and what does not for Canadian companies in matters of commercialization. The results will help Canadian executives — in Industry as well as in Government — to benchmark their organizations’ success in commercialization of innovation and to develop better practices and programs for ensuring competitiveness on the global scale.

“This is unique research into how companies bring products and services to market in the face of global competition,” said Paul Day, VP of the Information Communications Technology sector at Export Development Canada. “We hope to use the findings to understand how we can better serve the needs of innovative Canadian companies as they pursue International Trade.”

The study is starting with a survey of thousands of small, medium and large size enterprises throughout Canada. The survey addresses questions pertaining to product, service and process innovations that have been commercialized in the past 5 years, the strategies and cooperating arrangements pursued to achieve effective commercialization, the factors for success, the problems and obstacles encountered , the Federal, provincial or municipal programs that were used and were most effective in aiding commercialization, the financial aspects of commercialization, the relevant intellectual property issues and the roles played by lead customers and/or “anchor” companies in achieving successful commercialization of innovations.

Upstream Works Software has named Mike Wilson as Vice President of Sales. Wilson will provide strategic leadership to the sales team and facilitate new business to increase revenue by driving sales through direct and indirect sales channels.

“Mike has an outstanding track record of accelerating revenue growth,” said Rob McDougall, president of Upstream Works. “His understanding of successful sales and partnering with consulting, technology and telecom service organizations and his proven expertise in building world-class sales teams make him the perfect person to lead our sales effort as we accelerate the adoption of our award winning Business Interaction Manager solution. We are thrilled to have him as part of the team.”

Wilson is a software industry veteran with a well-proven track record of driving companies to revenue growth and market leadership. He most recently served as Vice President of Sales & Marketing at UM Labs, where he led the company’s global sales, marketing, and operations functions for the Americas. Prior to UM Labs, Wilson also held senior positions at IMRglobal, Visual Systems and Ernst & Young.

“I’ve always been excited by companies that have a distinct value proposition,” said Wilson. “Upstream Works is especially compelling because the company is solving the very real and significant problems that COOs are facing as the customer experience becomes the clear differentiator for the enterprise. Upstream Works has fantastic sales traction plus an organization built of people with a strong history of customer focus and innovation. I look forward to driving revenue for the brand as well as the companies we work with.”

Teradici Corporation, developer of the innovative PC-over-IP® (PCoIP®) protocol that enables a true PC experience for desktop virtualization, announces the availability of PCoIP Firmware Release 3.4 and PCoIP Management Console 1.5.30. This firmware update includes event log, smartcard, and additional keyboard layout enhancements. The Management Console release includes new auto-configuration and profile scheduling capabilities. The firmware update and corresponding Management Console release are available as a free download from Teradici and OEM partners.

PCoIP Firmware Release 3.4 enhancements include:

• Support for “T=1” PIV CAC Smartcards
• Enhanced Event Log and configuration options, including Syslog support
• Added support for Czech, Slovenian and Romanian keyboard layouts

PCoIP Management Console 1.5.30 enhancements include:

• Device auto-configuration to automatically group and configure newly discovered PCoIP zero clients
• Profiles now include firmware file and On-Screen-Display (OSD) logo options
• Profile application to groups or individual devices can be scheduled for a future time

Avotus Corporation, a Mississauga-based provider of telecom expense management (TEM) services, eProcurement, and Call Accounting (Usage Management) solutions, has announced that the company will be participating in Cisco Live’s World of Solutions at the live conference in Las Vegas from July 10-14, 2011.

Cisco Live is Cisco’s annual IT and communications conference centered on the World of Solutions Expo which is the primary attraction of most in attendance every year. With one on one access to industry leaders, the conference attracts thousands of technical innovators and purchasing decision makers, making it the premier event of its kind in the world. Avotus is proud to be an exhibitor at this year’s event at the World of Solutions and will showcase the new release of its premier call accounting suite, ICM Unity.

Visitors will have a chance to speak with experts on a variety of solutions to find out how to enhance and extend their Cisco implementation at Avotus Booth # 2351.

“We are happy to be a part of this solution evolution as it is one of the best ways to gain and contribute insight into the future of our industry and technology as a whole. While we understand that the market is continually evolving with newer means to communicate than ever before, we stand committed to ensuring that our solutions remain compatible with the prevalent technology of its time,” said Sumer Shankardass, CEO of Avotus. “This is a testament to the Avotus team that has developed, certified, implemented, and constantly found ways to improve a solution that delivers best in class quality while remaining committed to customer satisfaction.”

Secure digital media distributor YANGAROO Inc. has reached a major milestone as it has delivered over 2000 music videos since launching the service a year ago. YANGAROO’S Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS) is now used by all four major record label groups as well as the growing independent community to deliver SD and HD quality music videos digitally to broadcast destinations such as MTV, VH1, BET, CMT, MuchMusic, MusiquePlus, MTV Canada, AUX TV, CMT Canada, with more coming, and over 150 additional regional and online destinations.  Before DMDS was adopted by the major broadcasters as the preferred platform for the submission of broadcast-ready digital music videos, virtually all music video submissions were made on costly, time consuming and inefficient video tapes.

“Hitting the milestone of over 2000 music videos is a significant achievement for the DMDS technology and sales teams,” said Scott Wambolt, CEO YANGAROO Inc. “It clearly represents a culture change within the industry and establishes the fact that YANGAROO and our DMDS service is once again leading the way to a more efficient and effective digital workflow, and this was clearly reflected in our just released first quarter financials where our revenues were up 49%. We have the potential to continue and accelerate this growth rate as more content owners and broadcasters adopt DMDS and go with a digital workflow.”

YANGAROO’s technology team worked closely with the TV broadcasters and the content owners to refine the DMDS process for digitally distributing SD and HD television broadcast-quality video. DMDS also transcodes the broadcast file for online availability for streaming and provision of a frame-accurate preview quality version of the file with the time-code burned in, which improves reviewing and editing processes. The television broadcast-quality video file can be easily integrated into Online Editing Suites, On-Air Playback Servers and stored in a Digital Archive Server. These files are 50mbit IMX in an MXF OP1a container that maintain both time-code and closed captioning for the underlying video.

Interactive Ontario, in partnership with the Ministry of Economic Development & Trade, is conducting a short survey of the interactive digital media industry in Ontario.

In an effort to monitor the evolution of the industry, IO will be requesting your cooperation on a periodic basis to help us improve our knowledge of key trends. The information collected will be used in aggregate in order to improve programs and policies that serve the industry.

Please note: these questions may best be answered by the person most familiar with key financial, human resources, and other strategic issues with your company. All responses will be kept strictly confidential, and your participation in this survey is of the utmost importance and is greatly appreciated.

If you have questions about this survey, please feel free to contact Astrid Rosemarin at Interactive Ontario either via email or by phone at 416.516.0077 extension 232.

Alliance numérique (AN) and the Canadian Interactive Alliance (CIAIC) have announced the launch of the Canadian Game Development Talent Awards, a gala event which will be held on November 2nd, officially closing out the Montreal International Game Summit.

“We are very happy to launch the first edition of the Canadian Game Development Talent Awards” said Pierre Proulx, General Manager of Alliance numérique. “Our goal is to recognize the creative talent in Canada, which is now the third most important cluster in terms of video game development in the world.’’

The Canadian Game Development Talent Awards will focus on recognizing the achievements of talent from across Canada in all the major disciplines of game creation. Alliance numérique has also launched the recruitment campaign of the Canadian Interactive Academy, whose role will be to evaluate the nominations and select the finalists and winners.

This national committee will be chaired by game business consultant Jason Della Rocca. Experienced game developers wishing to join the Academy and participate in the Awards process may view complete details and submit applications from now until the end of July.

Key Dates and Deadlines:

– July 5^th – August 1^st – Academy applications accepted
– August 1^st – September 15^th – Award nomination process
– October 15^th – Award finalists announced