Village Gamer

The Trade Commission invites Canadian creative developers to join them, along with other Canadian companies,  in the Canada Pavilion at GamesCom 2011 this August 17th through 21st and take advantage of the following:

• Complimentary exhibit space to qualified Canadian companies
• Access to free meeting space throughout the event
• An opportunity to be profiled in the GamesCom 2011 book modeled on the GDC San Francisco profile book
• Pre-show matching services offered by the Trade Commissioner Service and Provincial Government partners (including BC) while in Germany
• An opportunity to engage business contacts at the networking reception and other networking events at the Canada stand

GamesCom 2010 Stats:

• more than 254,000 visitors
• 505 exhibitors
• 120,000 sqm rented space
• 4,400 media representatives from 49 countries

For further information, please contact Nina Cagic, Senior Manager Europe.

The Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund (the Partnerships Fund) is a program of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture and is co-administered by the Ontario Media Development Corporation. The Fund assists Ontario’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster stakeholders in the commercial theatre, film and television, interactive digital media, music, book and magazine industries by supporting strategic partnerships that develop fresh approaches and solutions to the priorities and needs of the cluster.

Full eligibility requirements and guidelines are outlined in the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund Guidelines (PDF). Guidelines and eligibility requirements are the same as last year with the exception of the Pre-Qualification Process – see below. Please read the Program Guidelines thoroughly.

A new step has been added in the process for submitting an application. Interested parties must complete and submit a Pre-Qualification Form. There are three steps when applying to this program:

Step 1: Contact OMDC to discuss the project.

Step 2: If the project and partners are eligible you will be invited to prepare and submit a templated Pre-Qualification Form via the Online Application Portal – to be submitted by September 1. An OMDC Consultant will review the material within 10 business days. If all program eligibility criteria are met you will then be invited to submit a full application.

Step 3: Submit the full application by September 28 – only Pre-Qualified applicants may apply.

Applications via the Online Application Portal (OAP):

• All applications must be submitted via the OMDC Online Application Portal (OAP) system. Applications submitted by any other method will not be accepted.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to commence their applications early to allow for enough time should assistance be required.
• Prior to commencing an application, your Company’s corporate information must be registered. If this has not already been done, you should register as soon as possible.
• If registered, the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund program deadline will appear in your dashboard. To start the application, click on “Start new application” and follow the directions through the 5 step wizard to access the application form.

Enter The Secret World – a next-generation massively multiplayer online game for the PC, a world where players are given total freedom to create and progress their characters, unbound by the restrictions of classes and levels. Players will get the opportunity to join one of the three secret societies and fight for power over important locations throughout our own world.  Players will also journey through familiar places across the globe, such as Egypt, New England, London, New York and Seoul and battle monsters of myth and legend.

From the dark and unforgiving Atlantic shoreline, to the overgrown attractions of a theme park lost to the darkness, the Savage Coast reveals more of its hidden mysteries in the latest location video from Funcom. Only a small part of the game, the Savage Coast is home to several unique monsters and myths as well as providing a fantastic backdrop for players to immerse themselves in.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0NQAgZ2FqY]

prairieFyre Software has completed verification field trials of its prairieFyre Contact Center for Microsoft^© Lync™ and the AudioCodes SmartTap Lync call recording solution. The combination of AudioCodes SmartTap and the prairieFyre Contact Center solution provides sophisticated contact center functionality for the Lync 2010 unified communications (UC) platform.

The prairieFyre Contact Center for Microsoft Lync is a modular software suite developed on the Voice-over-IP and UC architecture of Microsoft Lync Server 2010. The prairieFyre Contact Center is ideal for those organizations that wish to leverage the advanced enterprise voice features of the Lync UC platform and require a comprehensive contact center solution.

“As an early adopter of Microsoft’s United Communications platform, prairieFyre has taken a lead position in providing an innovative, presence-aware contact center solution.” Said Nimrod Borovsky, Vice President of Marketing at AudioCodes. We are very pleased to complete interoperability testing, and partner with prairieFyre to provide Microsoft Lync customers with a feature rich contact center solution.”

AudioCodes, known in the industry for providing best-in-class VoIP technology, has extended their product offering to include a complete call recording solution for Microsoft Lync. SmartTap is a fully IP-centric application that utilizes open standard protocols to record both internal and external calls for compliance regulations, dispute resolution, customer satisfaction and public safety requirements.

“Our prairieFyre Contact Center in conjunction with AudioCodes SmartTap provides a complete, scalable solution for those customers who have chosen Lync for their enterprise voice solution.” said Chris Courneya, CEO, prairieFyre Software. “The SmartTap solution is compelling in an ACD environment because it records calls without consuming valuable Lync resources such as conferencing services. Instead, it deploys a certified plugin on the Lync server that decrypts SRTP signaling while preserving the data integrity and quality of the conversation.”

With its broad functionality and modular design, the prairieFyre Contact Center for Microsoft Lync can be tailored to businesses of any size or industry in departmental, standalone, or geographically dispersed deployments.

The prairieFyre Contact Center for Microsoft Lync will be on display at prairieFyre’s booth, #1135, at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Los Angeles, July 10^th to 14^th, 2011.

prairieFyre Software has deployed contact center solutions to over 8,000 customers in over 70 countries worldwide. They have leveraged this experience to create an affordable yet feature-rich solution that is ideal for enterprises looking for a contact center designed to work with Lync Server 2010.

TransGaming Inc. has announced the three finalists of the GameTree Developer Competition, which offered game developers worldwide the opportunity to submit their games for the chance to win a $50,000 grand prize. The finalists will be distributed on the GameTree TV platform, immediately delivering them to the forefront of the Smart TV gaming revolution in consumers’ connected living rooms. The three finalists in alphabetical order are:

The winner of the GameTree Developer Competition and the $50,000 grand prize will be determined by a panel of celebrity judges including actor, director, producer and writer LeVar Burton, President of Development at Jerry Bruckheimer Games Inc., Jay Cohen, and Lorne Lanning, Co-founder of Oddmobb, Inc. The winner will be announced at the industry-leading Casual Connect Seattle conference during the Minna Mingle on Wednesday, July 20th.

“The incredible response to the GameTree Developer Competition affirms that the game development community views our cloud gaming platform, GameTree TV, as a top choice for the distribution of their games on Smart TV”, commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming. “GameTree TV provides an unparalleled market opportunity for game developers worldwide to directly reach a rapidly growing audience.”

Are you interested in working as an independent producer or entertainment professional in the film, TV, digital media or entertainment industry? Enroll now for UBC’s Certificate in Entertainment Administration, classes begin this September, and if you apply by July 12th, you’ll save $400.00.

– Full-time program runs from September 6th until December 16th 2011
– 2 week Internship or Project
– part-time courses available
– Great networking opportunities with industry guest speakers
– Topics include entertainment law, financing, marketing and distribution, budgeting, production management, digital media for entertainment and more

Find out more online or call the school at 604.822.1420.

Multichannel newspaper and magazine content distributor NewspaperDirect Inc. has released an enhanced version of PressReader for Android that takes advantage of the larger screen sizes and hardware acceleration offered by the Google Android Honeycomb platform. The new PressReader apps gives Android phone and tablet users a convenient and immersive read of the more than 1,800 full-content newspapers and magazines from 95 countries and in 48 languages that are available on PressDisplay.com.

PressReader for Android Honeycomb is now available in the Android Market and is compatible with 3.0/3.1 Honeycomb-based tablets, such as the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, the HTC Flyer, the Motorola Xoom, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1. A Gingerbread-specific version of PressReader is also available for Android devices running Android 2.2/2.3. Pre-installations of the app on a number of Honeycomb devices are planned for the near future.

Key features of PressReader for Android include:

• Support for on-board hardware acceleration on Honeycomb-based devices
• A more immersive reading interface, customized for larger screen sizes
• Automatic daily download of user-selected titles
• High-performance navigation using thumbnails or tables of contents
• Intuitive reading experience: flip, pan, rotate and zoom articles and photos
• Support for full-graphic page views or easy-to-read text views of articles
• On-demand narration of news stories
• Sharing of articles by email or by posting on social network sites

“PressReader is the ultimate digital newsstand for readers who want the widest possible selection of full-content newspapers on their favorite Android device,” said Alex Kroogman, CEO of NewspaperDirect. “For publishers, PressReader for Android enables them to instantly expand their distribution to the fastest growing audience of mobile and tablet users, without incurring any operational or development costs.”

PressReader for Android is available as a free download from the Android Market. New customers receive seven trial issues for free. Most newspapers and magazines can be purchased for $0.99 per issue through PressDisplay.com or downloaded in conjunction with a paid PressDisplay.com subscription. For subscription pricing, visit the PressDisplay subscription page.

One of the most historically potent places in the world, Jordan is often overlooked in favour of its neighbours, Egypt and Israel. Fortunately for travellers, the fewer amount of tourists makes this small country an enchanting place to visit. Jordan: A Different Middle East follows the author Lori Henry’s adventures as she visits the two most emblematic tourist attractions in the country – Petra and Wadi Rum – and discovers the lesser known parts that make Jordan so exceptional. Published by Vancouver company Dancing Traveller Media, Jordan: A Different Middle East is (or will be) available on all e-readers.

Lori Henry left for Jordan near the end of March 2011 on a week and a half long trip through the country. This also happened to be just over a month after the protests against President Mubarak in Egypt, and in the middle of the uprisings in Syria and fighting against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

As she would learn very quickly, Jordan – although in the middle of the conflicts in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt – was staying out of trouble. The country was stable enough for a thriving tourism industry to welcome visitors, but many of them had cancelled their trips. Most travellers include Jordan on an Egypt and Israel circuit, so when things heated up in Cairo, tours were cancelled and trips postponed or re-booked to other parts of the world.

What a shame. Jordanians were watching the news just as carefully as those in North America were, waiting to see what would happen, but were otherwise open for business. Lori discovered the charming children who were eager to tag along with her in Amman; hiked through the lowest nature reserve on earth, Wadi Mujib; ate lunch with a Druze family in the lightly populated eastern desert; stayed at an incredible off-the-grid eco lodge in the Dana Biosphere Reserve; and spent the evening with a Bedouin family in the western desert.

Alberta SouthWest (AlbertaSW) is celebrating the launch of its new website with a video contest that answers the call ‘Show Us Your Alberta SouthWest’. The contest is open to any resident of Alberta 18 years of age and older.

“We want Albertans to send us their personal video clips that show us their favorite experiences in AlbertaSW – and almost anything goes – record your friends and family singing a song around a campfire, recite a poem, capture a sunset, a prairie field, a family at play…whatever AlbertaSW means to you, we would love you to share it with us,” says Bev Thornton, Executive Director, Alberta SouthWest Regional Economic Development.

“Alberta SouthWest is a place where people feel connected to the land, the communities, and the lifestyle that make this such a special place to live. We realize that creating a video clip is a bit more of a challenge than just sending a photo, but this is a great opportunity for images of our region to be seen by a great number of viewers. From historic landmarks to World Heritage Sites, from hiking and bird watching to some of Alberta’s best golf…you will find it here in Alberta SouthWest. And the people who live here and visit here come from all walks of life, each with their own story—a story about AlbertaSW—just waiting to be told.”

AlbertaSW also hopes to create greater awareness of the video contest by sending out its own videographers throughout the region to capture candid/impromptu moments with residents and/or visitors.

“The idea is that a videographer and a ‘reporter’ will intercept people on the street in various communities and ask them questions about the region – what they love, where they are from and whether they are residents or tourists. Like those submitted for the contest, these videos will be posted online.”

Adds Thornton, “Alberta SouthWest Regional Alliance (AlbertaSW) is a group of 16 communities, working together for positive regional economic development. Collectively, we collaborative on initiatives that focus on creating the right environment in which balanced growth can occur thus increasing prosperity for all members.” AlbertaSW is bordered by Nanton in the North, Cardston to the east, Waterton Park to the south and Crowsnest Pass to the west.

An exciting new health and fitness iPhone app has been released by Calgary’s Gratisites Inc. Body Tracker is an app that allows users to keep all of their essential measurements in one place and compare their progress over time when used in conjunction with a workout regime. Progress can be viewed by measurement or pictures to help with motivation.

“Gratisites prides itself on creating technological answers to everyday problems,” says Gratisites spokesman Danton Lalonde. “Our objective is that Body Tracker will fill the need of enabling people to reach their fitness goals.”

Body Tracker monitors users’ body fat and weight, while keeping track of the following measurements:

• Waist
• Chest
• Hips
• Thighs
• Calves
• Neck
• Arms

“We recognize that goals need to be written down if they are to be effective. With Body Trackers “History” and “Compare” functions, you can easily see your progress, encouraging you to stay on track,” Lalonde explains, “Body Tracker is your accountability partner.”

Body Tracker for iPhone is available immediately for $0.99 on your mobile device or from Apple’s App Store. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.