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Babel Media Expanding Its Montreal Facility

Anime North [1]Hey all of you anime, cosplay and gaming fans – don’t forget that the Anime North Convention [1] is happening this weekend in Toronto.  Speaking at Anime North will be writer/actor Benjamin Israel, who will be showcasing his new cartoon-series-to-be The Dark Comedy [2]. Benjamin will discuss his struggles to turn an idea into a television show and his journeys in trying to find a market for his creation. On a side note, Anime North has issued a scam alert – an anonymous third party group is claiming that they have purchased a bulk quantity of memberships and are selling them to unsuspecting anime fans at a discount. Please be aware that these convention passes are fake, and you will not be able to get past the front door at Anime North if you’ve bought one of these counterfeit memberships. Play it safe and purchase your convention passes directly from Anime North.Province of BC [3]

Digital media developers in BC will be pleased to know that Bill 19 [4], which includes the Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit in Part 10, has passed its third reading in the Victoria legislature and is now officially on the books. The Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit [5] was announced by the Provincial Government in February, and through the diligent efforts of the BC Interactive Industry group, this new incentive will assist BC’s digital media companies as they move forward with new projects.

Big Blue Bubble [6]Big Blue Bubble Inc. announced today that Fighting Fantasy [7]: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain [8] and Fighting Fantasy: Deathtrap Dungeon [9] have been re-released to the iTunes Store and now have iPad support, so that you can now experience the books that started the massively popular series, which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, on your iPhone or iPad. Fighting Fantasy fans will love the classic story and original illustrations with a technological twist. No more dice, pencils, or bookmarks.

Fighting Fantasy readers will be excited to know that Big Blue Bubble will be releasing Fighting Fantasy: Citadel of Chaos shortly.Deathtrap Dungeon [10] Congratulations also to Big Blue Bubble on both of these games as well as another BBB title, Thumpies, being nominated to the Long List for the 2010 Golden Joystick Award in the Portable Game of the Year category.

Updated Features:

• New! Universal app iPad support
• New! Scrolling image gallery of unlocked in-game art
• Tap the on screen buttons to flip pages (No papercuts!)
• Shake to roll the 3D dice using the accelerometer
• Inventory items selectable via touch-screen
• Game-save feature allows you to retrace your steps
• Includes both original illustrations by Ian McCaig and digitally re-mastered versions
• Integrated iPod music library access

Banff World Television Festival [11]Ian Brennan, co-creator of the hit series Glee is coming to the Banff World Television Festival [11] to discuss the show that is redefining TV drama.

Learn about the creative process behind a show with an extreme cult following and fanatic fans who are watching, buying, and loving everything “Glee”. Join Ian for a sneak peek at Glee’s next season and potential story lines for the cast as he speaks about:

* The inspiration for writing Glee
* The importance of seamlessly incorporating musicality into the storyline
* Product placement, CDs, tours, downloads and how they affect today’s TV market

babel media [12]Babel Media is rolling out the next phase of its global expansion by significantly expanding its Montreal and New Delhi facilities as well as adding new positions in its Tokyo facility. By continuing to grow around the world, Babel is able to meet the game industry’s increasing need for flexible external resources providing immediate cost savings over in-house staff.

“I am really delighted to be able to announce our continued expansion around the world” said Richard Leinfellner, CEO of Babel, he added “Babel’s expansion is all about putting people in the right place, or “right shoring” as we call it, this means offering our clients cost effective locations where we can deliver high quality services, helping them to improve their profits by giving them the much needed flexibility and allowing them focus on their IP generation.”

As part of the expansion in Montreal, Babel will build extra test labs to accommodate testing on next generation motion controllers, and create new employment opportunities for functionality and localization games testers, as well as project managers and integration engineers, as the company continues to increase its North American client base. This expansion means Babel is recruiting for its PC, Console, Online and Handheld test labs, native speakers of French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Japanese and Swedish, for full time or part time positions. Babel will provide its industry recognized in-house training, plus for recruits wishing to relocate to Babel’s Montreal facility, Babel will assist with relocation & visa assistance.

wattpad [13]Toronto-based Wattpad [14], the world’s most popular ebook community, has released the Q1 2010 edition of its Global Ebook Metrics Report [15]. This comprehensive report covers both desktop and mobile ebook usage of subscribers from over 160 countries.eBook Consumption [16]

“Reading an ebook now involves much more than just reading fiction online. Our readers are mobile and interact with writers and one another, generating communications which are critical to driving the popularity of ebook titles,” explains Allen Lau, CEO of Wattpad. “We continue to see tremendous growth in the number of readers who are accessing ebooks and participating in the ebook community through mobile devices.”

Report Highlights:

– Interactions among users positively contributed to the viral effect and popularity of stories and writers
– English speaking users are far more likely to interact with other members of the ebook community than users of other languages
– In addition to reading ebook content, over a third of total users have interacted at least once with other community members
– iPhones were the most popular device to access ebooks in English speaking countries. Additionally, we saw considerable growth in the use of iPhones in both Japan and Spain

THQ [17]THQ Inc. has launched their new THQ Partners programme, providing select developers and publishers access to THQ’s global retail and online publishing network.

THQ Partners will be led by Tim Walsh, who brings extensive experience in global publishing and online distribution to the position. “I’m extremely pleased to join THQ and launch THQ Partners,” said Tim Walsh, Vice President, THQ Partners. “I’m looking forward to working with a select number of world-class developers and publishers to distribute their great games through our global network.”

“THQ Partners is charged with maximizing the efficiencies of our global distribution network by enhancing our product offerings with quality games from developers and publishers who don’t have the benefit of our extensive retail and online sales operations,” said Ian Curran, Executive Vice President, THQ Global Publishing.

Tim Walsh has more than 20 years of publishing experience, spanning interactive entertainment, in-game advertising and music. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Publisher Relations for IGA Worldwide. THQ Partners will be meeting with interested parties [18] at E3.

Titus Labs [19]Titus Labs [19] has been awarded a contract by Canada’s Department of National Defense (DND) for 90,000 licenses of Titus Labs Message Classification, which will be used by DND as their standard enterprise email security classification labeling software, and will be deployed to employees throughout the National Capital region and beyond.

“Titus Labs is known internationally for our email security solutions, which have become the de-facto standard for many military, government and commercial organizations in over 28 countries around the world,” said Tim Upton, President of Titus Labs. “To have our solutions recognized by the Canadian government – in our own backyard – is fantastic! We’ve brought our technology home.”

Titus Labs Message Classification enables users to classify, label, and protectively mark email in Microsoft Outlook, and helps to ensure that sensitive email are sent only to authorized recipients. Using techniques such as classification and content validation, TMC raises user awareness by enabling users to identify data sensitivity with classification labels and educates users on proper handling of sensitive information. This, in turn, assists organizations in preventing data breaches.

FPinfomart [20]FPinfomart.ca [21], a Toronto-based electronic resource for comprehensive Canadian news and business information products, has added social media monitoring to its stable of business intelligence tools.

“Business leaders understand the influence that social media can have on brands and reputations,” said Warren Cable, Vice President FPinfomart, Canwest Digital Media. “The real challenge is finding a way to manage the volume and turn it into business insight. FPinfomart Heartbeat does just that.”

FPinfomart Heartbeat, powered by Sysomos [22], is a cost-effective real-time tracking and measurement resource, and represents a powerful new addition to the FPinfomart arsenal of business intelligence services and solutions.

This fully-featured business resource allows users to:

* Monitor social media conversations
* Measure key metrics including buzz and sentiment
* Identify and engage with key influencers and opinion leaders
* Gauge share of voice with respect to competitors
* Conduct industry analysis
* Join in conversations directly from the FPinfomart Heartbeat platform
* Produce clear and concise reports – saving users’ time on data gathering and analysis

Understanding who is in on the conversation can be as important as the opinions expressed, and FPinfomart Heartbeat provides sociodemographic information on participants offering greater insight into what moves perception on a company’s brands and products.

The database, featuring billions of social media conversations, is continually refreshed by actively indexing blogs, social networks, micro-blogging services, wikis, message boards, video sharing sites and news sources. Updated snapshots of the on-line chatter are presented using easy to read graphics. Access to up-to-the-minute online conversations, chatter and mentions allows users to monitor for brand impact, corporate reputation, and competitive analysis that can be leveraged and acted upon immediately.

Wireless Amber Alerts [23]Canada’s wireless telecommunications industry, in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and AMBER Alert agencies across the country, today introduced Wireless AMBER Alerts [23]. The new initiative, hosted and powered in-kind by MyThum Interactive [24] Wireless Amber Alerts will allow customers of most Canadian wireless service providers to opt-in to receive free AMBER Alerts as text messages on their cell phones.

Wireless AMBER Alerts add a valuable new method to assist AMBER Alert agencies in providing the public with immediate and up-to-date information about a child’s abduction, and to solicit the public’s help in the safe and swift return of the child.

“Our government is committed to building stronger and safer communities,” said Vic Toews, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety. “Through cooperation between the RCMP and wireless service providers, this initiative will demonstrate how technology can help fight serious criminal activity and make the most vulnerable citizens in our society safer.”

“Canadians have been turning to their cell phones for safety and security for 25 years now,” said Bernard Lord, President & CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). “And now, if one of our most precious citizens is abducted, Wireless AMBER Alerts can put the immediate power to help in the hands of Canada’s 23 million cell phone customers”.

The completely free Wireless AMBER Alerts program is available to cell phone users in all 10 provinces and three territories. Subscribing is easy to do either online [25] or directly from your wireless device.

Subscribing with Your Wireless Device

Most customers can follow these instructions to subscribe to Wireless AMBER Alerts using their wireless device.

1. Send the keyword AMBER (or amber) to Short Code 26237 (AMBER).
2. You will be asked whether you would like to receive alerts in English or in French. Reply with either EN or FR.
3. You will receive a WAP Push link to a mobile site with your home province defaulted. For example, if you sign up using a mobile phone number with a 416 area code, you will automatically be signed up to receive AMBER Alerts originating from Ontario.

Subscribing Online [25]

1. Enter your 10-digit mobile number, including area code.
2. Click Submit.
3. Once you have entered your mobile number, you will receive a text message on your mobile phone with a 4 letter validation PIN code. Enter the PIN online.
4. Click Submit
5. The Subscription page appears, with your home province defaulted. Here you have the ability to check or uncheck additional provinces you wish to subscribe to.