Village Gamer

Transgaming, Inc. and Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), in collaboration with TransGaming, Inc. have announced that the Toronto studio is currently working on Free Realms™ for the Macintosh® platform. Scheduled to release later this fall, Free Realms Mac® users will play together in the family-friendly online world with the over 14 million existing registered players on the PC.

“There is no denying the overwhelming player demand for Free Realms on the Mac platform, of which we plan to deliver very soon,” said John Smedley, president of SOE. “For the first time ever, SOE is developing synchronous gameplay for Mac and PC players and we are thrilled to tap into TransGaming’s Mac development expertise to bring this functionality to fruition.”

Free Realms players on the Mac platform will experience consistent controls and functionality and will be integrated on the same game servers as PC players. Mac users will also have full access to the existing Marketplace and community forums.

“Free Realms offers a truly unique and captivating user experience that aligns with TransGaming’s focus on bringing new massive multiplayer online games to the Mac platform,” commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming Inc. “Our strategic partnership with SOE has strengthened our leadership position in the enablement of family-friendly titles for the growing Mac community and offers Mac gamers an ever-increasing catalog of outstanding video game content.”

Free Realms is an online, interactive virtual world that offers players adventures in the form of quests, activities and minigames. From ninja fighting to demolition derby to raising pets, Free Realms allows players to be what they want to be, while offering a safe environment to connect with old and new friends. Free Realms is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up with content descriptors of Crude Humor and Fantasy Violence.

The Co-operators insurance corporation has launched Mobile Assist, an iPhone application that enables clients to submit home and auto insurance claims using their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The free application, which can be downloaded from the App Store, provides a new option for clients to interact with their insurance company on their own terms.

After downloading the Mobile Assist, clients can input their basic home and auto insurance information into their profile so that it’s readily available should they need to submit a claim. The application will guide them through the process, prompting them to provide the necessary details. The claim will then be submitted directly through a secure transmission, along with photos taken with their device. The app also offers one-touch dialling option to speak to a Co-operators representative and submit their claim over the phone.

“Canadians are leading increasingly fast-paced lives. Whether our clients want to drop by an agent’s office, phone us or deal with us online, they should – and do – have the choice,” said Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators. “Co-operators Mobile Assist puts claims reporting in the palm of their hand.”

The application can be used by home and auto insurance clients of Co-operators General Insurance Company throughout Canada.

Vancouver’s Aftercad is pleased to announce the launch of its new Cloud Gaming technology portal GameString.com to service the rapidly growing market to develop and deploy cloud based games on the web.

“Cloud Gaming may be new but already there are a number of players in the market and game developers looking for the new edge to engage people.” said Chris Boothroyd, CEO of Aftercad. “We started with the Immersion Project earlier in the year and really hit a nerve in game developers who wanted to try out cloud gaming and eventually deploy it themselves. We decided that this market is only going to get bigger as social game developers start to ramp up production values across the board and need to deliver much more into Flash and HTML5 environments.”

Aftercad has recently expanded its 3D web publishing efforts to include GameString.com for game developers and Renderjam v2 for CAD and GIS 3D broadcasting and remote access. As cloud computing continues its assimilation of other verticals, developers are looking to cash in on the new cloud gaming methods being touted by services like Onlive, Otoy, Gaikai and others. Aftercad GameString delivers the technology to maximize this new cloud delivery method while giving developers the the ability to leverage the full power of Flash or HTML5 on the client’s computer or mobile device.

“Other methods out there rely on just the video stream and a plugin to bring the remote game play to the user in time to react and send those commands back again. This method is called ‘Soft PC-Over-IP’, will always be lag sensitive and function as a closed loop. the GameString technology however does a much better job by opening up the loop, allowing game developers to utilize the power at both ends of the wire thus greatly reducing the dependence on bandwidth alone.” said Boothroyd. “We are constantly being amazed by what we are seeing in these new game demos people are putting together. For example using Flash/Flex to create the entire UI and the Unity 3D engine rendering superb 3D on the server – the synthesis of those two things working in concert is stunning and will clearly be a tool in the developer’s arsenal next year. It is yet more validation of the superiority of our patent pending, Dual Rendering approach and we are looking for even more game developers to join us in the cloud.”

QuickPlay Media Inc. has announced the availability of its Multi-Screen Movie Solution. The solution features a fully customizable storefront, an extensive catalog of new releases, a complete digital locker system and seamless viewing capabilities across smartphones, PCs and other consumer electronics devices.

According to IDC, US revenues from the online rental market are forecast to reach $2 billion dollars in 2013 (IDC, U.S. Internet Video 2009-2013 Forecast and Analysis: Despite the Economy, Internet Video Keeps Growing IDC #220971, December 2009). The QuickPlay Multi-Screen Movie Solution enables mobile operators to fully capitalize on this growing market with a high-quality “fast start” download service that addresses their key business and technical requirements. Recognizing the importance of offering a truly differentiated service, the solution includes a customizable storefront, which allows mobile operators to match the look and feel of the solution to their brand. QuickPlay also offers operators the ability to have the service fully integrated with their billing system

“Entertainment preferences continue to evolve, with a growing population of consumers interested in watching hit movies on whatever device is convenient for them,” said Wayne Purboo, president and CEO, QuickPlay Media. “The Multi-Screen Movie Solution enables operators to increase customer loyalty and generate incremental revenue by providing a ‘follow me’ service that feeds the subscriber’s desire for both easy access to quality content and flexible viewing experiences.”

Powered by QuickPlay’s OpenVideo Platform™, the fully managed Multi-Screen Movie Solution delivers cutting-edge features that effectively address consumer needs and key business and technical requirements. Noteworthy features include:

Complete Storefront Capabilities: The solution enables service providers to present subscribers with a catalog of premium movie content for rental or purchase in a feature rich storefront. The storefront has been designed to ensure that service providers retain ownership and control of the user experience with customization options that enable them to control all branding, navigation and merchandising options. Read the rest of this entry »

Investintech PDF solutions is a leading provider of desktop, server and developer software for reading, converting, editing, creating and securing PDF documents. Today, Investintech.com is pleased to announce the release of the all new version 7 of its flagship PDF Converter software – Able2Extract. It is the first PDF converter to convert into all major Microsoft Office formats in a single product.

Version 7 is the biggest improvement in their product to date, from a totally new interface to the new and improved conversion outputs, here is a taste of what the new Able2Extract can do:

Able2Extract’s graphical user interface has been totally updated and includes a new streamlined toolbar to ensure an easier and less confusing experience. The new toolbar features and PDF conversion processes make viewing, selecting and converting PDF documents simpler and more efficient.

The most popular PDF conversion options have received attention and the result is better, faster and more accurate conversions. The developer has increased custom options for power users who want granular control over their conversion process.

Investintech’s flagship PDF to Excel conversion has a redesigned custom conversion feature which gives users of version 7 the ability to not only designate vertical column structure but also horizontal row structure. This will ensure maximum conversion accuracy for difficult PDF tables. Read the rest of this entry »

iPerceptions Inc., a leading provider of web-focused Voice of Customer (VoC) analytics, today announced the expansion of its successful 4Q Free product offering to a family of four products. For the first time, companies can choose from a cost-effective, yet sophisticated suite of online analytics tools that analyze individual customer experiences based on the combination of VoC and Google Analytics (GA) data. The 4Q suite includes Facebook and Twitter links, automatic alerts when significant changes occur within the data and global industry comparisons from over 6000 websites across 35 industry verticals.

The 4Q product suite is a simple-to-deploy Software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution and includes the original 4Q Free version, which was developed in collaboration with Avinash Kaushik, a noted web analytics author and blogger. The suite has been expanded to include: 4Q Basic, 4Q Plus and 4Q Premium.

“Limited time, resources and budgets have made it difficult for many companies to take advantage of Voice of Customer analytics,” said Claude Guay, president and CEO of iPerceptions. “Because the price is right, many companies have adopted free web analytics tools such as Google Analytics to answer the what and 4Q Free to answer the why. But the 4Q suite offers companies of all sizes a low-cost, simple-to-deploy solution that combines the what and the why for more accurate and complete customer analysis.”

While the overall premise around asking the four most important survey questions remains the same as 4Q Free, the 4Q suite offers the following innovations:

* Individual Behavioral & Attitudinal Analysis – Allows companies to analyze individual customer experiences, including their open-ended feedback, based on the combination of VoC and GA data. This multi-perspective, session-level analysis provides a broader and more accurate view of the customer experience, which often unveils surprising insights and requires a different company response. Read the rest of this entry »

Montreal’s MEGA Brands has entered into a global licensing agreement to develop construction toys based on the new Cartoon Network boys’ action series, Generator Rex. The global partnership marks the first time the two companies have partnered on product development, and will bring a full line of toys to international markets through a three-year agreement. MEGA Brands’ Generator Rex construction toy line is scheduled to launch in the construction toy aisles in the U.S. in fall 2011, and will roll out in additional territories thereafter.

“There is a tremendous amount of excitement and momentum surrounding Generator Rex and the addition of MEGA Brands to our consumer products offering presents a great opportunity for the brand from a global perspective,” said Christina Miller, senior vice president, CNE. “Construction toys are such a crucial element of how boys play and we’re excited to work closely with MEGA Brands to bring Rex’s world and abilities to life for our fans.”

“We’re very excited to have this exclusive opportunity to partner with Cartoon Network Enterprises and create the first construction toy line for their newest action series, Generator Rex,” said Vic Bertrand, Chief Innovation Officer of MEGA Brands. “We look forward to bringing Rex and his powers to life through Mega Bloks and offering fans an action-packed building adventure.”

The newest action-adventure original series from Cartoon Network, Generator Rex is created by Man of Action (creators of the Ben 10 franchise) and produced at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, CA. The series follows Rex, a 15-year-old typical teenager with abnormal powers – including the ability to make his fists the size of boulders, sprout a jet pack out of his back and turn his legs into a lightning-fast motorcycle, among other talents – as he uses his superhuman abilities to help fight mutant creatures known as E.V.O.s (Exponentially Variegated Organism).

In the U.S., new episodes from the series debut on Cartoon Network on Fridays at 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT), with replays on Saturday mornings, and the network has committed to at least 40 episodes of the series. The brand is also supported by a massive online machine that includes the Nanite Master game featured at CartoonNetwork.com that has had more than 6.9 million game plays since its launch in March (source: Omniture SiteCatalyst data), as well as the show’s page and a Facebook fan page.

Bell Canada today announced its purchase of Hypertec Availability Services‘ hosting division, the leading top-tier data hosting provider in Québec. The acquisition provides Bell with more than 100,000 square feet (9,290 square metres) of hosting space in a state-of-the-art Montréal data centre, enhancing Bell’s ability to provide co-location and managed data centre services for corporate and public sector clients.

“Bell’s acquisition of our newest data centre builds on our National Data Hosting Services portfolio’s ability to deliver secure and reliable mission-critical communications services to government and corporate clients in our data centres and across our high-performance fibre networks – while also enabling the next generation of cloud computing services,” said Stéphane Boisvert, President, Bell Business Markets. “It’s an acquisition that underscores Bell’s commitment to investing in broadband networks and services and to the continued expansion of Québec’s information technology infrastructure.” Read the rest of this entry »

Ahoy, mateys! Global video game publisher 505 Games and developer Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M) today announced the latest downloadable chapter for Naughty Bear is available now for Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation® Network. The new pirate-themed Chapter 9 pits the naughtiest bear around in a bid to lay siege to the Island of Perfection with even more mischievous action, including all-new characters, costumes and challenges.

Filled with exclusive hidden treasures, deadly weapons and brutal buccaneers, Chapter 9 serves up four new challenges to swashbuckle while taking up arms against baddie bears and their leader, Admiral Giggles, as well as The Pirates and their leader, The Great Bear Beard.

To commend their efforts in combat, Chapter 9 players can dress Naughty in his own version of the Pirate Bear costume or even assume the identity of The Great Bear Beard, find two new hats and collect the lethal cutlass, with unique ultra-kill capabilities.

Naughty Bear is available now for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and also for iPhone & iPod Touch through the Apple App Store for $2.99 CAD. The downloadable Chapter 9 is available now on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 400 MS points and on PlayStation Network for the equivalent of $4.99 USD.

Sierra Wireless today announced a multi-year strategic agreement for the company to provide M2M (machine-to-machine) Services Management for Telus. Telus will integrate the Sierra Wireless AirVantage™ Services Platform into their network operations to provide M2M customers with online access to a comprehensive suite of M2M service creation, delivery and management capabilities, making it simpler and faster to bring M2M services to market and opening new service opportunities for Telus and its partners.

ABI Research forecasts M2M connection revenue in Canada to grow at a rate of 26 per cent per year from 2010 to 2015, to a total of $575 million (M2M Market Forecasts, ABI Research, Q3 2010, Total Cellular M2M Connection Revenue by Region, World Market Forecast 2007 – 2015 ). M2M services cover a wide range of applications, including remotely collecting vehicle data, remotely monitoring equipment such as pipelines and wind turbines, wireless point-of-sale devices, and connecting innovative consumer devices such as e-book readers, personal navigation devices, and cameras. Read the rest of this entry »

Toronto’s BlueCat Networks, the IPAM Intelligence™ company, has won a prestigious Pilot Award at the 2010 American Security Challenge (ASC). Under the auspices of the National Security Initiative (NSI), the ASC is the largest U.S. competition devoted to bringing the latest and best security technologies to market for homeland security – making it the center of gravity for security technology stakeholders looking to improve long-term U.S. national security. Pilot award selection by ArcSight, a leading global provider of cybersecurity and compliance solutions, underscores BlueCat Networks’ position as the IP Address Management (IPAM) leader in the U.S. government sector.

The ASC is focused on increasing the visibility of innovative technologies so that they can more quickly reach both the public and commercial marketplace. The ASC Pilots provide challengers with the opportunity to have their technologies thoroughly tested by qualified potential customers who have ready contract vehicles and funding. These customers may include various groups within the Department of Defense, Fortune 500 and members of the Intelligence Community. By quickly identifying solutions to mission critical and highly visible issues, the ASC public/private partnerships are helping to secure U.S. citizens, U.S. assets and the U.S. economy.

“BlueCat’s innovative solutions are exactly the type of technology the customer believes can deliver real and immediate security advancements today,” said ASC Chairman Roger London. “We don’t simply award demos just to benchmark technology performance, but rather we set up true pilots with qualified and engaged customers to accelerate the introduction and ultimate deployment of valuable technology by connecting innovative vendors like BlueCat with legitimate customers who might not otherwise meet,” London continued. “Technology is wasted and our national security is unnecessarily exposed if great technology stays on the shelf – so, expediting the adoption and deployment of valuable security technologies, such as BlueCat’s, helps safeguard our technology networks protecting America’s citizens, assets and economy.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Woozworld, a virtual world powered by tweens, announces today it now has more than 1 million avatars created in over 80 different countries, and 2 million user-generated virtual spaces in just over eight months since its late December 2009 launch.

“We are extremely proud of what Woozworld has accomplished in just eight short months,” said Eric Brassard, CEO of Woozworld. “Through our highly engaging worlds that offer relevant user experiences to our tween and teen audiences, a safe online environment where parents can let their kids have fun and learn at the same time, and a smart business model, we’ve made Woozworld a success in less than a year.”

Targeted for kids ages nine to 14, Woozworld provides an engaging and interactive experience by letting them create their own world where they can fashion their own characters, make new Woozworld friends, do virtual business, set-up activities and essentially drive the show. All personal information is protected and Woozworld strictly conforms to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection act.

In addition to hitting more than 1 million profiles in eight months, Woozworld has also partnered with some of the leading companies today, including Facebook;  Wallie Card, a payment method card for Internet payments; and Zong, the leading mobile payments platform for digital goods and services sellers.

“We’ve worked with many different companies and we truly believe in our partnerships given what they represent and have to offer,” says Mathieu Lampron, VP of Operations for Woozworld. “In fact, we’ve seen our sales rapidly climb in the last few months; we’re excited to see our business relationships grow.”

Moneyville.ca has opened the town gates to financial empowerment. With Canadian-focused content, interactive tools and an online community, Canadians now have access to everything they need to take control of their finances, all in one place. Moneyville.ca will draw on experts to provide the straight talk on personal finance for Canadians at every stage of life.

“We are overloaded with complicated financial information, and often don’t have the tools available to fully understand how the news of the day will impact personal finances,” says Adam Mayers, editor of Moneyville.ca. “With fresh content offered daily, Moneyville.ca will be a trusted resource giving visitors the tools they need to be successful.”

This week on Moneyville.ca:

• Author of The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, gives an exclusive peek at his new book, The Wealthy Barber Returns: Significantly Older and Marginally Wiser, Dave Chilton Offers His Unique Perspectives on the World of Money.
• Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty shares five tips he is giving his three 19-year-old sons.
• Mutual fund expert Gordon Pape takes us through the deadly sins of investing.
• Veteran financial journalists Ellen Roseman and James Daw share the most important lessons they’ve learned in 25+ years of covering personal finance.

Moneyville.ca will cover a wide spectrum of personal finance topics, such as budgeting, saving, borrowing, investing, retirement, insurance, tax and real estate in relationship to every stage of life. The “Moms on Money” columnists will arm families with the information they need to nurture the financial health of the whole family. Well-known television personality Alison Griffiths kicks off her new column with a series of videos on investing. And, setting 20 and 30-somethings on the right track to financial know-how, bloggers Adam Goodman and Krystal Yee will share their secrets to turning their finances around.

Whether you’re wondering if your investment philosophy makes sense, or thinking about going fixed or variable on your mortgage, Moneyville.ca will give visitors access to more than 30 tools and calculators.

According to a recent survey conducted on thestar.com, two-thirds of people feel comfortable with their finances, but only one-third feel in control. “I feel passionate about helping people get to a point where they feel they can count on themselves to be in control of their own financial situation,” says Alison Griffiths. “You have to devote a bit of time up front to get the money side of your life in order, particularly with respect to investments, which are a big mystery to most people. But after that it only takes 30 – 60 minutes a month to stay on top of your financial goals.”

Future Shop is using a modern form of recruitment to hire more than 4,000 tech savvy seasonal associates by turning to social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Canada’s largest consumer electronics retailer and e-tailer currently employs nearly 10,000 in its 146 stores, meaning its seasonal hiring blitz will add more than 40 per cent more employees to stores across the country.

“To find an educated team of associates to help shoppers find the most exciting gifts this holiday season, Future Shop’s recruitment plans go beyond traditional job postings,” said Chris Taylor, Vice President, HR, Future Shop. “We recognize that most of our customers and associates are social media savvy, so what better way to recruit them through channels they frequently use.”

Future Shop’s hiring blitz begins nationally at the start of October, allowing the company enough time to properly train the thousands of seasonal associates that will support our current full and part-time Product Experts and Associates. The new hires will be in stores until January to help customers find exciting gifts in all areas including Cellshop, appliances, gaming and mobile audio.

“With the holidays being Future Shop’s biggest and busiest season, we’re thrilled that we can create thousands of new jobs for Canadians as we prepare for another successful shopping season in our stores and on our website,” said Taylor. “There are currently nearly two million employees in Canada’s retail trade and we are proud to be a major player in that space.”

Vancouver developer Themis Solutions’ web-based practice management application Clio is celebrating its second anniversary. In two short years Clio has grown from a handful of early-adopters to a thriving community of happy customers numbering in the thousands. These firms are collectively managing millions of contacts, matters, tasks, documents and bills with Clio’s easy-to-use cloud-based software. This number has expanded due to Clio’s recently released e-mail integration, which is now indexing over 100,000 e-mail messages and communications, and growing by thousands of messages per day.

The past year has been one of exceptional growth and recognition for Clio. At LegalTech New York, Clio was the first and only cloud-based practice management system to bring home a Law Technology News LTN Award in the practice management category. Clio was also named to the ABA TECHSHOW’s “Best in Show” list for the second year in a row. In addition, more than 95% of Clio’s users said they would recommend the software to others according to the company’s latest Customer Satisfaction Survey.

In May 2010, Clio was the first SaaS case management product to launch a partner program, namely the Clio Certified Consultant Partner Program, which now has a total of 80 companies among its ranks including legal technology luminaries like Ross Kodner of Microlaw, Adriana Linares of LawTech Partners, Nerino Petro of the Wisconsin Bar and John Heckman of Heckman Consulting.

New features and additions to Clio in the past year include:

* New Billing Template and Batch Billing systems
* New e-mail integration with “e-mail dropbox” technology
* Dramatically improved Clio Calendar capabilities
* Mobile technology support for iPhone, iPad, Palm Pre and Android-based phones

According to Clio President Jack Newton, “I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish over the last two years. The explosive growth we’ve seen is yet more evidence that cloud computing is entering the mainstream, and that our efforts to innovate rapidly and deliver top-tier customer support are paying off. We’re grateful to our customers, partners and friends that have contributed to the strength of Clio and look forward to an exciting 2011.”