Village Gamer

Pulse The World is excited to announce the release of v1.2 of its real-time, location-based mobile platform and application. The newest features of the app allow Pulse The World users greater insight into the world around them, further interaction with other users. In addition to the ability to link with other social networks, such as Twitter, and share what is happening with even more people.

Benjamin Roberts of Pulse The World explains that v1.2 “enhances the service for both the individual user and the entire community. While features like the time filter allow individual users a greater ability to find out what is going on around them in a more specific time frame, up and down voting allows the entire Pulse The World community to decide which pulses contain the most valuable information. Users now have a sense of the impact their contribution is making to the community at large.”

Latest features of v.1.2 include:

• New user experience interface for content creation and interaction

• Tight integration with Twitter allowing Pulses to be spread to other networks and groups of people

• Individual pulse statistics including the reach of content and a reliability score based on community votes

• The ability to respond to pulses directly, creating a conversation between the original creator and those curious about the content

• Individual statistics which show the total reach of your own content, as well as a personal Karma score, the cumulative ranking of your Pulses as determined by the Pulse The World community

• A time filter that makes it easy to find the most relevant time and location-based information

• Speed improvements to increase navigability and ease-of-use

Pulse the world is available as a free download on iTunes

Integrated information technology services company Victrix has been chosen by Microsoft as “Partner of the Year” in Canada from among all the Canadian companies that put their names forward for this title. Over 3,000 partners from around the world registered for the competition and only one was selected per country. Victrix will receive this honour at the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), an annual event attended by over 17,000 participants from all over the world, to be held this year in Los Angeles from July 10 to 14.

Through this award, Microsoft recognizes all the efforts Victrix has made over the past twelve months to develop markets for collaborative solutions, unified communications and technology infrastructure. One of the ways in which Victrix stood out from the other companies in the running was in the area of Customer Immersion Experience (CIE). These sessions allow users to simulate real-life business situations using computers equipped with the latest tools such as Microsoft Office 2010 suite, SharePoint collaboration software and Lync communication software, to name just a few. Since September 2010, Victrix has organized more than 40 CIE sessions in Montreal and Quebec City. They have been attended by around 320 participants, who were able to test and assess the many opportunities offered by the latest Microsoft technologies.

Jean Julien, Victrix Director of Alliances and Partnerships, considers CIEs to be “the most effective, individualized way to demonstrate the effectiveness of the state-of-the-art products offered by Microsoft.” He added: “This title clearly shows Microsoft’s recognition for our efforts in promoting the full value of the Office 2010 suite. The title of Canadian Partner of the Year once again illustrates the relationship of trust we have with Microsoft and reaffirms our expertise in providing tailor-made, secure solutions that allow all users to work together and interact effectively in order to increase the company’s performance.”

Victrix Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board Marc-André Poulin will receive the award on behalf of Victrix. Poulin has also been invited to attend a dinner held by Microsoft’s Corporate Vice-President of Worldwide Partner Group, John Roskill, at the WPC. Jean Julien has been asked to give two presentations and participate in a panel discussion. Finally, Stéphan Gariépy, Victrix’s Vice-President for Eastern Quebec, will also participate in a panel discussion held during the event. During the forums, these three Victrix standard-bearers will take the opportunity to talk about the full potential of CIE and share the company’s success in this area.

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the University of Calgary’s Ward of the 21^st Century (W21C) Research and Innovation Centre yesterday, where they experienced some of the world’s most advanced approaches to health research, education and technology.

“The Royal Couple were intrigued by the cutting-edge health practices and technologies being developed at our W21C Research and Innovation Centre,” said Elizabeth Cannon, President, University of Calgary, who led the Duke and Duchess through their tour of the facility. “We are honoured to be the only university on Their Royal Highnesses’ tour of Canada, and what they saw here was unique. The University of Calgary is one of Canada’s top research universities, and we were thrilled to showcase the work we are doing to help define the future of health and patient care.”

The Duke, who is a search and rescue pilot with the Royal Air Force, was shown several fascinating new healthcare tools including an eye-tracking system used to monitor and improve tasks performed by health care providers; a “wireless bandage” that continuously monitors core body temperature; a human patient simulator who can help simulate real-world health care scenarios; a pressure monitoring pad to help prevent bed sores; and a new computer keyboard designed for easy cleaning and sterilization in hospital settings. Read the rest of this entry »

Telus and US-based Rdio have announced that they intend to enter into an agreement that will give Telus smartphone customers the ability to subscribe to Rdio, an unlimited, on-demand social music service, via their existing Telus account. Rdio, founded by the creators of Skype, is the first service in Canada to bring social music discovery to mobile devices, giving users instant access to a growing catalogue of nearly nine million songs. Direct carrier billing will provide Telus customers with a secure, convenient, and easy way to subscribe to Rdio, and to access and share their music on the go.

Rdio is changing the way people discover, share and listen to music. For $10/month, Rdio users can play any song, album, artist and playlist as many times as they like, without ever hearing a single ad. Users also have access to new albums the day they are released. With Rdio, users can discover new and old favourites, and follow friends, people with similar musical tastes, recording artists and other influencers to see what they are listening to, and even collaborate on playlists. Rdio makes music sharing effortless thanks to integration with Facebook and Twitter which enables users to easily share their favourite songs, albums and playlists with friends.

Rdio syncs seamlessly across all of the user’s screens: PC and Mac computers, tablets, and of course smartphones, including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7. That means users can pick up exactly where they left off, regardless of the device they’re listening on. Rdio also enables users to sync music to their mobile devices, so they can listen offline when there is no mobile signal or Internet connection.

“Telus is focused on curating the best Internet-based services for our mobile customers by partnering with innovative service providers who are leading on the global stage.  We want to deliver a superior customer experience by making it easy for our customers to enjoy the best of what brands like Rdio have to offer and empower them to choose the services that are right for them,” said Brent Johnston, vice-president of mobility solutions at Telus. “Our customers have told us that being able to customize their mobile experience with the services they want is important to them. Telus wants to make that easier, and of course to ensure their experience is second to none on Canada’s fastest (based on Telus’ tests of data throughput speeds in large Canadian urban centres) coast-to-coast 4G network.” Read the rest of this entry »

Canadian consulting firm Ideaca, a specialist in assisting customers through a portfolio of management consulting, advisory, implementation and support services, has announced that the company is expanding its retail practice into the United States.

Ideaca has been a leading provider of solutions to retailers for over 10 years with experience delivering Dynamics AX for Retail, combined with expertise in the end-to-end Microsoft suite. These solutions have delivered benefits for a variety of retail clients including LS Retail North America, Sobeys, Subaru and many others. Ideaca will now look to leverage that experience with a strong network of partners to deliver these solutions both in Canada and the United States.

Ideaca is a Certified Microsoft partner and has recently been recognized for numerous achievements including:

• 2011 Microsoft Dynamics Customer Excellence Award – Excellence in Industry Implementation for retail solution delivered to LS Retail North America
• 2011 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards – Dynamics Retail Partner of the Year Finalist
• Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club for 2011
• Certified Microsoft Partner with Gold competencies in ERP, CRM, Business Intelligence and Silver competencies in Portals & Collaboration, Application Integration, Virtualization, Data Platform and Web Development

“We are proud to recognize Ideaca from our highly valued worldwide partner network,” said Jon Roskill, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Corp. “We applaud the unique perspective and creativity they bring to solving customer business and technology challenges. Our strong partnership along with their commitment to customers plays an essential role in our mutual, long-term success.”

“Ideaca is committed and focused on delivering value-based solutions to the retail industry,” said James Gurney, Director, Retail Solutions, Ideaca. “We look forward to helping clients across North America reduce costs, increase operational efficiencies and streamline core business processes with our integrated retail solution offerings.”

Intelliware Development Inc. is pleased to announce its sponsorship of CodeRetreat on July 10, 2011. This one-day intensive practice event provides a unique opportunity for developers to improve their skills, interact with other colleagues in the development community and learn a range of new techniques and problem-solving skills. The sold-out event will be facilitated by Jason Cheong-Kee-You and Alistair McKinnell, both of whom have extensive experience with participating in and facilitating code retreats.

CodeRetreat will focus on the fundamentals of software development and design. Because CodeRetreat is held outside the workplace and regular business hours, participants will have a unique opportunity to collaborate in a highly focused environment. This format has proven to be highly effective for improving development skills. The event is fully sponsored and hosted by Intelliware Development.

“Intelliware has been a strong supporter of the developer community for over 20 years,” explains Bruno Schmidt, CTO, Intelliware. “We have been participating in the sponsorship, promotion and leadership of various events and organizations such as AgileTour, AgileAlliance and XP Toronto. We also host www.i-proving.ca, a technical community and destination for developers, Agile practitioners and people who share a passion for technology. CodeRetreat provides a perfect opportunity to further support this community and we are proud to be its sponsor and host.”

TVO, Ontario’s public educational media organization is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with Polar Mobile that will make TVO’s flagship current affairs program The Agenda with Steve Paikin available on mobile apps for BlackBerry® smartphones; Apple iPhones; Android and Windows Mobile smartphones.

The development of TVO’s cross device apps offerings is part of TVO’s aggressive digital strategy designed to make its educational content available to more people, anywhere at anytime.

“Our new partnership with Polar Mobile is allowing us to further the reach of our educational content,” says CEO Lisa de Wilde. “We’re excited to be able to use digital media to bring The Agenda with Steve Paikin to a new audience.”

“A strong mobile strategy is key for any media brand to be successful, and we are very pleased TVO has decided to use Polar’s SMART™ Platform as an integral piece of their strategy,” said Kunal Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Polar Mobile.

The Agenda with Steve Paikin mobile app will give users access to episodes of The Agenda with Steve Paikin; all of The Agenda with Steve Paikin’s blogs; YouTube videos of the program; and all Twitter feeds related to The Agenda with Steve Paikin. The app will also include TVO’s live broadcast TV schedule.

The app will launch in late summer as part of TVO’s Your Vote 2011 suite of multi-platform resources that are helping Ontarians engage in the issues that are shaping the debate in the lead up to the Ontario election in October.

TVO is a trusted source for multi-platform content, and has recently launched two new mobile apps that teach children math on BlackBerry® smartphones, Polka Dot Shorts and Flower Frenzy; and its first app for BlackBerry PlayBook, My Canada, a fun and engaging app that teaches children about Canadian geography. This follows last year’s launch of Melvin’s Marvelous Words, TVO’s early learning iPhone app.

Entrepreneurs are poised to drive the next major wave of economic growth, but the wider community must do more to support these creative-minded innovators, Ernst & Young said today when revealing this year’s finalists for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year^®.

“Entrepreneurs have the ability to transform ideas into great businesses. And not just any business – businesses that drive economic growth,” says Ron Voyer, Pacific Director of Entrepreneur Of The Year. “Behind their success is an entrepreneurial mindset to innovate, create jobs, and invest in communities across the country.”

In a new global survey of entrepreneurs – Nature or nurture? – Ernst & Young uncovered that funding, people and know-how were the biggest barriers to entrepreneurial success. Among the six out of 10 respondents who experienced obstacles in their ventures, 33% called lack of funding or finance their biggest stumbling block.

Voyer says that’s only the first issue. Entrepreneurs need improved access to credit in addition to new educational opportunities and less red tape. He also underlined better leadership from Corporate Canada, which stands to gain by building an internal spirit of entrepreneurship — or intrapreneurship — into their business model to promote innovation, creativity and fresh thinking.

“Entrepreneurs challenge conventional thinking and spot opportunities where others see road blocks,” says Voyer. “With a wealth of entrepreneurial potential waiting to be unleashed, stakeholders – from governments to businesses to academia – need to work together to create an ecosystem that enables entrepreneurs to thrive.”

In April, an Ernst & Young/Financial Post survey found more than one-third of entrepreneur respondents were more optimistic about their company’s’ future prospects than they were just six months ago. Voyer says that’s a positive step in the right direction.

“Taking lessons from the past into account, Canada’s entrepreneurs are ready to continue building on their accomplishments and supporting our economy in the years ahead,” says Voyer. “And with the right business and community support, there’s no limit to what these entrepreneurs can accomplish.”

The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards recognize the spirit and contribution of entrepreneurs here and around the world. The Canadian program is in its 18th year of honouring the country’s most impressive entrepreneurs from all areas of business. Award winners are chosen based on their vision, leadership, financial success and social responsibility.

The Pacific winners will be announced at a banquet on October 5, and the overall winner will represent the region at the national banquet held in Toronto on November 23.

The 2011 Pacific finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year:

Business-to-business products and services

Darby Kreitz – Allnorth Consultants Limited – Prince George – Provides engineering and consulting services to clients in the mining, pulp and paper, chemical, oil and gas, marine, transportation, power and municipal sectors.

Ross Waters – C.G. Industrial Specialties Ltd. – Vancouver – Supplier of valves and controls.

Doug Morneau – Rhino Marketing Inc. – Port Coquitlam – A full-service marketing agency that knows business and how to connect clients with their customers online. Read the rest of this entry »

Mobidia Technology, Inc. has announced a major update to My Data Manager, their popular Android application that helps mobile subscribers monitor and manage their data use. The update is also available to mobile operators and handset and tablet OEM’s as a component of a fully customizable and extendable carrier-grade data management and analytics solution. IOS and Blackberry versions will be available in the near future.

As the vacation season in North America and Europe moves into full gear, Mobidia has released a number of new features to help mobile phone users manage their data usage while traveling. The latest update of My Data Manager supports tracking Wi-Fi data as well as standard mobile and roaming data plans. The app now also provides Dual SIM support for those users that use multiple plans and SIM’s to manage their data usage. Small usability and accuracy improvements have also been welcomed by frequent users who are increasingly becoming dependant on the application to save them money on their cell phone bills.

“With so many people traveling over the next couple months on their summer vacations, we really wanted to make our latest technology available to them to use while on their holidays” says Mobidia Vice President of Marketing, Chris Hill. “Nothing spoils a great vacation like an unexpected, gigantic phone bill when you return home from all those data roaming charges. Our My Data Manager can help people save money by simply making them aware of the amount of data they are using while roaming and which applications are consuming the most”.

The My Data Manager has been firmly embraced by mobile phone users that are on limited or metered data plans. But even in geographies where the move to metered plans is only just starting, many phone users have benefited from using My Data Manager to manage the costs of roaming data charges when they are traveling on personal and business trips.

Chuck Musciano, a busy IT Executive at a Fortune 1000 company, agrees. Chuck occasionally travels overseas where roaming charges can be quite high. Despite paying for a monthly roaming plan, he tries to stay within his limits but has been restricted by operator-supplied tools which are often delayed in reporting usage. My Data Manager saved him real dollars on his last trip. “Your app really helped me on a recent trip to Belgium,” says Chuck, “ I had a 200MB roaming plan with my operator and blew through 25MB the first day, even with everything (I thought) turned off. The app level usage stats instantly showed me which apps were using data unbeknownst to me, and I was able to shut them down and save a lot of data and money.”

His experience highlights an important benefit of My Data Manager – the ability to identify applications that are running in the background and consuming large amounts of data. Mobidia’s My Data Manager can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace. Both a premium, ad-free version and a free version will be available. iOS, Blackberry, and other smartphone users can sign up for Mobidia’s beta program and will be notified when additional platforms become available.

Mobidia is offering My Data Manager directly to smartphone users as a powerful tool to help them save money and better utilize their data plans. A complete, carrier-grade service is also available to extend the application for mobile operators and OEM’s. The white-label service can fully integrate into operator’s existing infrastructure or on existing smartphones and tablets to help decrease costs and generate revenue.

Entrepreneurs are poised to drive the next major wave of economic growth, but the wider community must do more to support these creative-minded innovators, Ernst & Young said today when revealing this year’s finalists for Ernst & Young Quebec Entrepreneur Of The Year®.

“Quebec needs entrepreneurial role models,” explains François Dufresne, Quebec Director of Entrepreneur Of The Year. “That’s why it’s essential that we highlight their success, and reward them. Paying tribute to entrepreneurs shows them that society appreciates their achievements. What’s more, successful entrepreneurs can inspire young Quebeckers and encourage them to go into business.”

The Quebec winners will be announced at a banquet on October 6, and the overall winner will represent the region at the national banquet held in Toronto on November 23.

The 2011 Quebec finalists for Entrepreneur Of The Year:

Business-to-business products and services

Claude Bigras – Groupe Distinction Inc. – Lasalle – A leading provider of building maintenance services with 9,000 employees and 17 offices in Canada.

André Gaumond – Mines Virginia Inc. – Quebec City – Mining exploration company that works with many projects in various stages of growth in order to develop mineral resources.

Sean Roosen – Osisko Mining Corporation – Montreal – A development-stage gold mining company, Osisko is currently completing the construction of the Canadian Malartic gold mine in the Abitibi mining district.

Business-to-consumer products and services

Sanjay Bakshani, Vicken Kanadjian – Cesium Telecom, Inc. – Mont-Royal – One of North America’s leading distributors of wireless products, Cesium introduces the latest technology from the world’s top manufacturers to the North American market.

Guy Bessette, Manon Duplantie – Fix Auto – Blainville – Franchisor specializing in autobody collision with key customers such as insurers.

Sylvie Myre – Voyages à rabais – Trois-Rivieres – Travel provider that offers vacations, flights and travel insurance.

Health sciences

Frank Baylis, Krishan Shah – Baylis Medical Company Inc. – Saint-Laurent – Recognized around the world for high tech cardiology, radiology and pain management products. Read the rest of this entry »