Village Gamer

Toronto – Destiny Solutions Inc., the leading provider of administration software for Continuing and Professional Education announced the renaming of the Destiny OneCE Scholarship to the Mary Cone Barrie Scholarship.

Dr. Mary Cone Barrie specialized in the art and science of teaching adults as the Director of Continuing

Mary

Studies at the University of Toronto. Mary was committed to the community, learning and had a passion for the implications of technology on adult learners. “Dr. Mary Cone Barrie was an inspiration and mentor to Destiny Solutions, providing her vision and leadership during our first decade,” said Shaul Kuper, CEO of Destiny Solutions. “Destiny is honored to present this scholarship in her name as recognition of her contribution to so many during her lifetime.”

The Mary Cone Barrie Scholarship is distinctive because there are few scholarships devoted specifically to continuing education (or “non-traditional”) students. Not all employers offer financial assistance and many students are between careers.
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Montreal – Vantrix, the leading provider of content adaptation and optimization solutions for converged wireless, broadband and cable networks, today announced the opening of its new office in Dubai Media City. The rapidly growing Dubai Media City provides the perfect central location for Vantrix sales and support operations in the Middle East and African markets.

Vantrix — already working with several of the top carriers in the region — is globally recognized as a leader in delivering the best multimedia end-user experience over converged networks. With the only fully indemnified codec license, largest codec pool and best device support on the market, Vantrix is the innovation leader in delivering solutions that help these networks monetize their mobile content while encouraging consumer adoption through the highest quality experience available.
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Montreal – UpClick today launched the industry’s first free payment processing solution for online merchants. UpClick’s customers are using its platform to eliminate all processing fees while increasing revenue through the company’s unique cross-selling platform. The company also today announced early adoption of its platform by more than a dozen software publishers, including Avanquest Software, Sunbelt Software and Ashampoo.

Payment processing has become a burden for online merchants who typically pay seven to ten per cent, and sometimes as much as 15 per cent of each transaction in various fees. As a result of the high costs, credit cards have become an unpopular form of payment among all merchants, who paid an estimated $48 Billion in fees last year according to the National Retail Federation.

“Online shoppers expect to be able to pay for their goods with credit cards—it’s an extremely basic ‘must have’ for merchants. However, the high costs put online merchants such as software companies in a difficult position – by conservative estimates, they are essentially writing off a tenth of their revenues,” said Daniel Assouline, UpClick’s CEO and co-founder. “Alternative payment options such as PayPal, Google Checkout and Amazon Payments have emerged with attractive promotions, but they provide only a subset of services that software merchants need and have failed to permanently address the costly strain on a merchant’s bottom line.”
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Ottawa – MSP Partners, an alliance founded by Cisco, Ingram Micro, Intel, Level Platforms and Microsoft in conjunction with the active participation of more than 20 leading IT vendors and thousands of solution providers and Managed Service Providers (MSPs), today announced with IT industry trade association CompTIA and Everything Channel’s research division the Institute for Partner Education & Development (IPED), the availability of MSP Pro, a new third tier of membership that allows MSPs to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Managed Services best practices.

This new level of membership entitles members to take the “MSP Pro…powered by CompTIA” exam, which thoroughly tests members on Managed Services best practices in Marketing, Sales, Operations and Finance. The exam is based on the extensive IPED training and education resources available on the MSP Partners member website. Once successfully completed, MSP Pro members receive the MSP Pro logo, plaque and certificate demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of established Managed Services best practices. MSP Pro membership is available through the MSP Partners website for $399 annually or $200 for current Master members.
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Toronto – TransGaming Inc., has announced the creation of a game development studio and is partnering with Foreign Media Games (FMG) on the development of its first title, “Armin van Buuren – In the Mix” for the Nintendo Wii™ console. TransGaming specializes in the development of innovative products for the electronic entertainment industry and is working with leading publishers on many of the top global gaming franchises. The creation of a game development studio will allow TransGaming to leverage its depth of technical experience while broadening its strategic relationships with game publishers globally.

“This is an exciting time for TransGaming as we expand the company to embrace new strategic opportunities that will provide new revenue streams from core game development projects.” commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming. “It’s an absolute thrill for our first game to be a new global franchise based on the top DJ in the world, Armin Van Buuren. We are confident that “Armin van Buuren – In the Mix” will propel the highly popular music gaming genre to new heights with its innovative game play experience that embodies the creativity, energy and artistry of the ultimate DJ.”
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Toronto – The latest Delvinia INSIGHTS report on the digital behaviours and attitudes of Canadian consumers, unveiled that Canadians have a strange juxtaposition with their digital social needs and their reluctance to share information. The release of Online Communities and Information Sharing shows that there are differences between the genders as well as the ages, and how even the Net Generation (18-30) finds some activity uncomfortable in the digital space.

“While the proliferation of social networking in Canada has made the space comfortable for many, the majority of Canadians still have concerns of privacy, security and trust,” said Adam Froman, President and CEO of the Delvinia Group of Companies. “Social networking can be a formidable channel if used appropriately and for the right audience, but it’s imperative to understand a customer’s digital behaviour first. Companies just learning to integrate social networking into their digital strategies should begin by leveraging the powerful and largely populated social networks that already exist.”
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Ottawa – The CFTPA is pleased to announce the results of its recent Board elections.  The new Board of Directors will serve a two year term commencing this June 2009 and ending in June 2011.

“On behalf of the Association I take this opportunity to thank the current Board of Directors for all of their dedication, time and effort in serving the CFTPA over the past two years,” says Ira Levy, Chair CFTPA Nominating Committee. “The Association relies upon the involvement and effective participation of its Directors.”  Norm Bolen, President and CEO, added “the current Board has been unwavering in its commitment to serve in the best interest of all CFTPA members.  We look forward to working with the new Directors of the Board who collectively bring a wealth of experience to the table.”

The 2009-2011 CFTPA Board of Directors is as follows:
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The Canadian Consulate General in Seattle will be a lead sponsor of Casual Connect this year in conjunction with any in-Canada partners who want to join – DFAIT can have one display table or several, depending on the level of participation. Being a part of the DFAIT contingent will allow access to the entire event (receptions, etc.), a profile on the website and the meeting scheduler, booth space on the conference floor and more.

Casual Connect is a trade show which highlights all of the great aspects of the casual game industry and is full of opportunities for established game designers and students alike. Casual Connect takes place this July 21 – 23 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington. Interested parties should contact Neil Swain at DFAIT as soon as possible. One point to remember – all travelers (air, land and sea) to the USA after June 1 must have either an enhanced driver’s license or valid passport as proof of citizenship to present to US customs and immigration inspectors.

Toronto – Kaboose Inc., one of the largest family-focused media companies in the world, today received approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice of its statutory plan of arrangement under section 182 of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the “Arrangement”). The plan of arrangement was previously approved by the shareholders of Kaboose at a special meeting held on May 21, 2009.

With the Court’s approval of the Arrangement:

– Kaboose will sell substantially all of its North American assets to Disney Online for approximately $23.3 million in cash (subject to a working capital adjustment) (the “North American Transaction”). It is expected that the North American Transaction will close on June 1 2009, following the closing, on the same day, of the sale of Kaboose’s UK subsidiary, Kaboose Acquisition (UK) Company, to Romeo Bidco Limited, an affiliate of Barclays Private Equity Limited, for a purchase price of £54 million in cash less third-party debt outstanding at closing (expected to be approximately £10 million) (the “UK Transaction”); and

– Following the completion of a court-approved creditor claims process and liquidation, pursuant to which Kaboose expects to distribute approximately $0.65 in aggregate per common share to shareholders, Kaboose will be dissolved. The first distribution, following the completion of the creditor claims process, is expected to occur during the third quarter of 2009, depending on the nature of claims that are made during the creditor claims process. To the extent that, among other things:

(i) transaction and wind-up costs;
(ii) Kaboose’s net cash position at closing of the UK Transaction and North American Transaction; (iii) the absence of unidentified claims;
(iv) working capital of the North American business at the time of closing; or
(v) foreign exchange rates, are different than assumptions made by management, shareholders may receive aggregate distributions amounting to less than $0.65 per common share. Accordingly, Kaboose can give no assurances as to the total amount or timing of distributions to shareholders.

Ottawa – A coalition of consumer groups and telecommunications service providers has asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to rescind a November 2008 decision regarding the ‘shaping’ of Internet traffic and to order Bell Canada to immediately cease and desist from further interfering with the traffic of Internet users.

In April 2008 the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) filed a complaint with the CRTC over Bell Canada’s traffic management practices of certain last-mile wholesale services used by independent Internet Service Providers to reach their customers. Seven months later, the CRTC denied the CAIP complaint largely on the basis that Bell was throttling the traffic of its wholesale customers in the same manner as it managed the traffic of its retail customers.

Today’s application asks the CRTC to reconsider their decision based on factual and legal errors in the decision and because the decision undermines the public interest in a vibrantly competitive market for Internet access services.
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