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13th November 2010

Transgaming and Rockstar Bring Grand Theft Auto To Mac

TransGamingRockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. and TransGaming, Inc. have released the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto Trilogy for the Macintosh. The Grand Theft Auto Trilogy revisits the classic entries of the series and includes Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The Grand Theft Auto Trilogy is available via TransGaming’s GameTreeMac.com Mac gaming portal for 30 days starting today and at retailers across Europe. It will be available at retail in North America starting November 22.
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto III introduced a 3-dimensional Liberty City and a completely open and interactive world, filled with hidden challenges and innovative 3D gameplay. The immense map offered players a scope and depth never before seen in games. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City took a trip back in time and revisited the 1980s, complete with the era’s unique fashion and classic pop music. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City follows Tommy Vercetti, as he attempts to navigate the city’s tropical environment rife with gangsters and other seedy citizens. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas introduced San Andreas, the largest map of the series, which boasts three enormous cities. The narrative explores the life of Carl Johnson as he returns home to San Andreas after learning of the mysterious events surrounding a death in the family.

All three games feature thrilling, deep narratives, acerbic and witty dialogue, a cast of superbly voiced characters, a fleet of vehicles, and hours of music through in-game radio stations ranging from reggae, 80s pop, disco and hip-hop.

“The Grand Theft Auto series has been one of the most highly demanded titles by the Mac community. The availability of this incredible franchise on the Mac underscores TransGaming’s role in transforming the overall Mac gaming market,” commented Vikas Gupta, President & CEO of TransGaming. “These games will be broadly available and will be a great catalyst to the increasing popularity of gaming on the Mac.”

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12th November 2010

D-Box Expands To Casinos While Kobo Invites Readers To Stack and Win

D-BoxD-BOX Technologies Inc. has signed a multi-year development and sales agreement with US-based WMS Industries Inc., a leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of games and gaming machines to the global gaming industry. Under the terms of this agreement, D-BOX’s realistic motion technology will be incorporated into future WMS products that will enable casino players to hear, see and feel their gaming experience. This agreement provides WMS with the capability to maintain exclusive rights to D-BOX’s motion technology for casino gaming applications subject to the achievement of specific performance thresholds.

“We are very pleased with this multi-year agreement with WMS Industries and D-BOX’s breakthrough into the casino gaming segment.” declared Claude Mc Master, President and Chief Executive Officer of D-BOX Technologies. “Over the years, WMS has built a distinctive culture of innovation which aligns perfectly with D-BOX’s own vision. This agreement also fits in very well with our strategy to expand outside our core segment of commercial theatre applications to other markets, allowing us to accelerate our growth based on the strengths and networks of quality business partners.”

Commenting on behalf of WMS Industries, Larry Pacey, Executive Vice President – Global Products and Chief Innovation Officer of WMS, added: “As part of our ongoing player-driven focus, our creative teams continuously seek new and advanced technologies that will enable us to set new standards for innovation and gaming excitement. D-BOX Technologies has demonstrated innovative leadership in developing and utilizing motion technology, and this agreement will expand our range of capabilities. We see D-BOX as a key collaborator in the future in establishing new entertainment experiences, and we look forward to building a strong relationship with them.”

koboKobo, a global digital reading service, today announced a contest in which all Kobo customers, with the purchase of an eBook, are eligible to win one of many exciting prizes – including the grand prize: a one week stay at a Fairmont Hotels Caribbean Resort. The “Kobo Stack and Win” contest, ending November 19, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. ET, makes shoppers eligible for a prizing category based on the number of eBooks they purchase.

“We are very excited to be able to offer really great prizes to Kobo customers right before the holiday season,” said Liz Ridout, V.P. Marketing and Communications at Kobo. “People can treat themselves to great new reads and be entered to win one of many fantastic prizes to make their holidays even more enjoyable.”

Separate prize drawings will take place after the conclusion of the contest on November 20, 2010. All eligible shoppers during the contest period will be automatically entered into different prize drawings based on the number of eBooks purchased throughout the contest.

The prize draw categories are as follows:

* 1 eBook = an Apple TV
* 2 eBooks = Kobo Wireless eReader
* 3 eBooks = Wayspa gift card
* 4 eBooks = Apple iPad
* 5 eBooks = Microsoft Kinect Xbox 360 Package

PLUS – all shoppers who buy eBooks during the prize window will automatically be entered into the grand prize draw for a week’s stay at a Fairmont Hotels Caribbean Resort – in addition to being entered into the draw for the prizes outlined above.

Kobo offers over 2.2 million eBooks, from New York Times best sellers, the hottest new releases, romance, suspense, and more. Consumers can try eReading for free by selecting from hundreds of thousands of free titles, ranging from 18th century romance novels to thrillers, to the most famous literary masterpieces. With Kobo, users can read across a selection of popular devices ranging from smartphones, tablets, desktops, laptops by downloading the free Kobo reading app, or read on the Kobo Wireless eReader – in addition to other eReaders. Reading is seamless across devices, as users can pick up on the last page they were reading with Kobo Sync.

Kobo also offers a selection of the most popular newspapers and magazines, delivered automatically to the Kobo Wireless eReader as well as the Kobo iPhone and iPad reading apps. With Kobo eReading is easy.

Roaring PenguinIn response to Red Hat’s announcement of the general availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (RHEL 6) Roaring Penguin Software Inc., makers of the acclaimed CanIt line of anti-spam solutions, today announced the availability of packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 on Intel i386 and x86_64 for CanIt-PRO and CanIt-Domain-PRO.

RHEL 6 features a completely updated core and a newer Kernel. Also included are support for virtualization and next generation networking (including comprehensive IPv6 support). We expect that Roaring Penguin’s core customer set will take advantage of Virtualization and IPv6 support features.

Roaring Penguin Software offers three anti-spam solutions. CanIt-PRO is available as a software solution or as an on-premises “soft-appliance” for the client’s site; CanIt-Domain-PRO is a centralized spam filter for the solution provider who provides anti-spam to multiple clients from their Data Center; and Hosted CanIt, a completely outsourced anti-spam service hosted by Roaring Penguin. Hosted CanIt is not affected by the release of RHEL 6.

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12th November 2010

New Options For Learning, Development and Shopping

Mindshare LearningMindShare Learning has partnered with San Diego based Tech4Learning Inc. to win a bid to provide 21st Century skill based creativity software to all Ontario public elementary schools.

“With the Ontario Ministry of Education’s licensing of Tech4Learning’s Pixie 2 software, one of the Ontario Software Acquisition program Advisory Committee’s (OSAPAC’s) key licensing mandates was met. The committee sought to recommend software that would address graphic painting software needs for students in Grades JK-3. Pixie 2 is engaging, award winning, educational software elementary students can use to further their exploration of the world around them. Pixie 2 combines a paint program with text options, clip art, voice recording, and standards-based curriculum activities, helping students build 21st century skills as they develop podcasts, online storybooks, videos, and Flash animations,” said Mark Carbone, OSAPAC Committee Member & Chief Information Officer.

“The OSAPAC Committee is excited by the licensing of Pixie 2, which will perform well in Windows and Macintosh computing environments in our Ontario classrooms,” said Mark Carbone, OSAPAC Committee Member & Chief Information Officer for the Waterloo Region District School Board.

The Tech4Learning Pixie 2 software will begin shipping to Ontario school districts later this fall. Pixie 2 is available to Ontario teachers through their educational site Ontario Educational Software Service (O.E.S.S.) representative.

“We are thrilled to see Pixie selected as a tool to help students across Ontario build 21st century skills as they develop podcasts, online storybooks, videos, and Flash animations,” said David Wagner, CEO, Tech4Learning, Inc.

tvokidsTVO invites young viewers and families across the province to tune in to TVOKids between 4-5 pm on Tuesday, November 16 to find out who will be the Grand Prize winner in the “Where’s Polkaroo?” photo contest. The announcement will be made live in The Space, TVOKids’ interactive after-school program block (weekdays from 3:30 pm – 7 pm).

The Grand Prize winner will receive a day behind the scenes at TVO’s Toronto studios for up to six people, including:

* A tour of TVO’s Toronto studios and sets
* A meet and greet with TVO’s hosts
* The opportunity for kids and adults to attend production meetings and rehearsals
* An inside look at a live TV production from the control room

Since the contest launched in September as part of TVO’s special 40th anniversary initiatives, the iconic Polkaroo has been captured in photos from all over the province including: Kingston, Ottawa, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Toronto, North Bay, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Waterloo, London and Windsor.

The “Where’s Polkaroo?” photo contest encouraged Ontarians to upload photos to polkaroo.com that reflected their pride-of-place. Entries included a diverse range of beloved landmarks such as: Canada’s Wonderland, Saunders Farm in Ottawa, Niagara Falls, Toronto Zoo, Marine Land, and beautiful parks and beaches across Ontario.

Rogers WirelessConsumer appetite for mobile apps is growing at a rapid pace and the mobile application market is poised to generate revenues reaching $10 billion by the year 2015, according to data from the North American Mobile Market Report (North American Mobile Market, Commerce, Content & Applications 2010-2015). To cater to Canadian consumer demand for new, next-generation mobile applications, Rogers Communications Inc., has announced that it is giving the developer community unprecedented access to Rogers’ wireless network assets through the new Rogers Catalyst beta program, designed to enable the cost-effective, fast creation of mobile apps and services customized for the Rogers network.

A centralized, no charge, third-party developer portal, Rogers Catalyst provides online access to several of Rogers’ application programming interfaces (APIs) including SMS, location-based services and carrier billing. Leveraging the power of Rogers network API’s, the handset-agnostic platform enables smartphone-like functionality on a large variety of Rogers mobile devices. With faster time to market, Rogers Catalyst allows developers to innovate quickly, test applications in minutes and enable a variety of mobile apps and services that can be accessed by Rogers’ more than 8.5 million wireless subscribers.

Through a simplified registration and project creation process, Rogers Catalyst enables developers to gain access to a number of SOAP and RESTfull APIs that will allow them to build compelling new cloud-based services which leverage the Rogers network. In addition, Rogers Catalyst includes access to click through agreements, code samples, documentation, tips and tricks, a development sandbox, as well as a larger developer community and the ability to interact with Rogers Catalyst program managers.

Rogers is committed to working with developers and customers to provide the means to bring new wireless data solutions, products and services to Canadians. In addition to the newly-launched Rogers Catalyst program, Rogers has launched several initiatives to promote and foster innovation in Canada including the Rogers Data Alliance, a technology program designed to help machine-to-machine solutions and connected device providers bring their products and services to market quickly and easily on the Rogers network.

tiger directTigerDirect.ca® has announced the unveiling of its six remodeled Canadian retail outlets featuring Retail 2.0® technology.

Retail 2.0 provides online product information to in-store customers as they shop: product-by-product, aisle-by-aisle. Customers can access all product information, owner’s manuals, reviews, product tutorials, pictures, installation detail, and availability—whatever they need to make purchasing decisions—literally right at their fingertips. Customers are also free to browse competitor sites and comparison shop as if they were in the comfort of their own home or office.

All desktops, laptops, monitors and televisions – more than 200 screens per store—are connected to dedicated computers, providing direct, single key access to all production information on the item from the Internet and allowing further discovery—even outside of the TigerDirect.ca website.

“We are happy to now offer our Retail 2.0 concept in all of our TigerDirect retail stores in Canada,” said Gilbert Fiorentino, Chief Executive of the Systemax Technology Products Group, which includes TigerDirect. “With touch screens, hands-on product/internet capabilities and greater communication of promotions to our in-store customers, we feel that this enhanced new take on retail will provide a richer shopping experience for our customers.”

The enhanced Markham store will provide shoppers the ease of finding extensive product information for many devices including GPS, cellphones, MP3 players and cameras. These items are attached via a “waterfall display” allowing customers to touch & feel each item—activating Retail 2.0 by simply lifting the item from the unit.

The Retail 2.0 concept empowers and educates consumers as well as employees who can easily access all product information…a resource that has increased customer service and satisfaction. “Knowledge is power,” added Fiorentino. “Retail 2.0 has made our staff—and customers—instant experts in electronics.”

The Markham TigerDirect retail store is located at 8401 Woodbine Avenue in Markham. Store hours are Monday–Saturday 9am–9pm; Sunday 11am–6pm.

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12th November 2010

Wii Version of NBA Jam From EA Sports Gets Political

EA GamesEA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. has signed an agreement with independent Montreal developer Trapdoor, to publish Warp™. This unique stealth action game features a top-down sci-fi world with a distinctive art style, addicting levels, hazardous traps and challenging puzzles. The new game will debut on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PlayStation® Network and PC in Summer 2011.

“Working with EA Partners allows us to expand our distribution to a much larger audience while still being able to retain our creative vision and identity,” said Ken Schachter, Founder of Trapdoor. “As an independent studio we are thrilled with the opportunity to leverage the expertise and talent of EA’s publishing organization to bring our very first game on console to life.”

“One of our goals at EA Partners is to seek out the leading independent developers within the downloadable games market and publish their titles to a wide audience,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners. “We are thrilled to add Trapdoor to the EA Partners family and bring this EA Sportsbest-in-class sci-fi stealth action title to gamers everywhere.”

EA Sports has released a new video for NBA Jam, which is scheduled for release on November 26th for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Titled Politicians, this new video features appearances by several well known American politicians forming a team of Democrats and a team of Republican. Thus far, these two unlockable teams have been announced as being available only on the Wii version of the game.

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The Democratic team includes President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore.  The Republican team features George Bush, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin and John McCain.

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12th November 2010

New From Ubisoft Montreal

UbisoftUbisoft Montreal has announced a further expansion for its successful Assassin’s Creed franchise, which has sold more than 19 million units worldwide to date, by developing and producing a new animated short story called Assassin’s Creed Ascendance. The animated short will launch in conjunction with the highly anticipated release of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood in North American on November 16, 2010.

Assassin’s Creed Ascendance is a short animated story developed by Ubisoft Montreal. It bridges the narrative gap between Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Assassin’s Creed Ascendance follows Assassin Ezio Auditore as he struggles to remove the treacherous Borgia family from their papal throne. Ezio will learn the brutal truth behind Ceasare Borgia’s rise to power to control Italy. Assassin’s Creed Ascendance will be available on PlayStation®Store, Xbox LIVE® for the Xbox 360®, and other digital channels for a suggested retail price of $1.99. This film is not rated by the ESRB.

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The rich universe of the Assassin’s Creed franchise allows artists from other media to create extensions of the original Assassin’s Creed storyline beyond video games. In addition to Assassin’s Creed Ascendance, fans will Assassin's Creed The Fallbe able to immerse themselves even further into the Assassin’s Creed world with the release of an Assassin’s Creed comic book series, figurines and the recently launched Assassin’s Creed Project Legacy Facebook® game.

Assassin’s Creed The Fall, Issue 1 is now available from UbiWorkshop. This comic series follows 19th century Russian assassin Nikolai Orelov as he strives to claim an artifact of immense power from the hands of the Templars, leading to a climactic and violent showdown with the ruthless Tsar Alexander III aboard a speeding train. Meanwhile, his modern-day counterpart is a troubled young drifter rife with unsettling visions of a possible past life – visions that have irreversible consequences for the present.

The Fall was written and illustrated by Karl Kerschl and Cameron Stewart, with colour by Nadine Thomas, and is comprised of 32 pages. There are three different covers for the launch issue – the official Ubisoft cover, a Target exclusive cover and a GameStop exclusive cover.

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11th November 2010

In Honour and Remembrance

As we prepare to converge on our local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion for this year’s Cenotaph Ceremony of Remembrance, I find myself thinking about the many sacrifices thousands of men and women have made to protect the freedom and honour of our country. By extension, thousands of families have made a similar sacrifice, giving up the comfort of having their father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband or wife near to them. They have spent countless hours wondering and worrying, loathe to receive that unwanted message stating that the ultimate sacrifice has been given by their cherished family member.

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Many Canadians express their patriotism as November 11th nears, but our soldiers, past and present, do not have the luxury of remembering the fallen at an annual ceremony. They live those battles and conflicts daily, whether they are still on the front line or haunted by the darkness or wars past. I find it ironic, as the Government of Canada strives to make detrimental changes to our Veterans’ pensions for retired and/or wounded soldiers, they flood the airwaves with advertisements telling us to make Remembrance Day something more than just something we do, to make the day something more than what we feel. A call to action, if it were. Yet here we have the Government wanting to treat our Veterans in a manner which they certainly do not deserve. These men and women deserve the utmost of honour, courtesy and support; they should not have to continue fighting the Government they served in order to maintain a reasonable lifestyle when their duty is done – whether they have retired in full physical health or not – whether they have served overseas or not, they are still our military veterans, and the Government of Canada needs to step up and make some huge improvements in Veterans Affairs. Do not sell Canadian citizens on the ideals of honouring our soldiers, only to turn around and treat them with dishonour behind the closed doors of a bureaucratic office.

Equally despicable is the car thief who made off with a car in New Westminster, leaving the Seaforth Highlanders searching for and hoping that their Regimental Mace will be returned to them – intact. I hope that those of you reading this will make use of your contacts network, and maybe someone, somewhere, will know something and the Mace can be returned. (see the full story here in the Province).

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And then there is the Royal Canadian Mint, whose graphic artists can’t seem to wrap their heads around the importance and patriotism of our Highway of Heroes, declaring that the task is proving very difficult to translate into a coin design. Fine – they can’t do it, open up the design process to the general public. I am sure that somewhere in this big country is a designer who can articulate the overwhelming show of respect shown to our fallen by members of the fire and police departments, along with the growing numbers of ordinary citizens who line the highway to honour not only the soldiers on their final journey home, but also their families.

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But then there are the positives – those who come home safe, and those who pick up the task of supporting our soldiers and their families long after their time on the front has ended. These organizations work hard, raising the money to send children to school, to provide medical treatment and support for our wounded, and to keep the memories of our soldiers alive, passing on the priceless knowledge and experience that can only be shared by one who has been there.

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Please take the time to support those who say nothing is too difficult to help our soldiers and their families. Support the Canadian Hero Fund in their 11 for 11 drive, which will help send the children of soldiers to school. Support Wounded Warriors, The Royal Canadian Legion, and the True Patriot Love Foundation, the Canadian Military Families Fund and Boomer’s Legacy, who all work tirelessly to help those in need.

Buy the music produced by Canadian artists, who gave of their time and talents to create songs whose monetary proceeds support organizations like those mentioned above. Here are only a few of the songs out there whose sales help our military families:

The Trews – Highway of Heroes

Basia Lyjak – Waiting

Julian Austin – The Red and The White

Canada’s Country Artists – Standing Strong and True

And most importantly of all, please thank a soldier.

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10th November 2010

Nintendo Files Trademark Application

source studioSource Studio is holding a little code hunt contest on their site this week. Galactic Treasure Hunt will give site visitors a to win a free copy of their action title, ProtoGalaxy. Sometime on Friday, November 12, a special code will be hidden somewhere on the Source Studio web site. The first person to find the code and e-mail it to the address provided on the site will win a free copy of ProtoGalaxy, which was launched on Steam in October.

Nintendo CanadaNews out of the Nintendo Canada office today is that in honour of the upcoming Nov. 21 launch of Donkey Kong Country™ Returns for the Wii™ console, Nintendo has filed a request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the pop-culture phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong.” For those unfamiliar with the term, “It’s on like Donkey Kong” is an old, popular Nintendo phrase that has a number of possible interpretations depending on how it’s used. In addition to Nintendo’s use, it has been Donkey Kong Country Returnsused in popular music, television and film over the years, pointing to Donkey Kong’s status as an enduring pop-culture icon and video game superstar.

Donkey Kong™ is one of the oldest and most recognizable video game characters. He has been a pop-culture icon since the launch of his 1981 self-titled arcade game. Donkey Kong again rose to prominence in the 1994 Super NES™ game Donkey Kong Country – one of the games which I used to introduce the CaveChild to the world of video games oh so long ago. DK’s new game, Donkey Kong Country Returns, marks his triumphant return in a new side-scrolling adventure with new challenges amid a beautiful setting. The game features the first simultaneous cooperative game-play mode for the series, with one player controlling Donkey Kong and the other controlling his agile pal, Diddy Kong™. And yes, we have this title on pre-order at our local-ish EB Games outlet.

Nintendo Canada has a full line-up of holiday titles perfect for giving this season for everyone from the classic gamer looking for nostalgic appeal, social gamers looking for a little friendly competition or adventure seekers looking to explore new worlds Nintendo is sure they will have something for you this holiday season.

Rusty Axe GamesBC-based Rusty Axe Games has partnered with UK developer Rigzsoft to create a new value package called The Game Designers Toolkit. TGDT combines The Timeline FX Editor which is a great particle effects creation tool and Dungeon Demon which is a dungeon editing tool for both computer and RPG game designers. TGDT is available for the low price of $49.99 – that’s about $30 off the combined price of both packages!

Dungeon Demon comes with roughly 200 pieces of artwork that you can use in your games royalty free, and there are more low cost art packs available from the Rusty Axe website. Timeline FX comes with a ton of canned particle effects that can be written out directly as bitmaps or imported into games using the tools XML output format. The Dungeon Demon 1.1 release roadmap is now available – Dungeon Demon is sold with a free updates forever policy, and if you are working on a top down 2D game of any kind, you should really take a look as the canned effects and prepackaged artwork alone are going to save you money.

Rogers WirelessRogers Communications Inc. today announced it is bringing another of those new digital products that I wish I could afford to the Canadian wireless market. The Dell Streak mobile pocket tablet features a 5-inch display that combines touch screen entertainment, gaming and navigation experiences.

According to recent data by Juniper Research (Tablets & Connected Devices, Opportunities, Strategies & Forecast Scenarios 2010-2015, Juniper Research, 01/11/2010), annual shipments of tablet devices will hit 81 million by 2015. With built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth capability and available 3G wireless connectivity, the Dell Streak, while the smallest tablet available in Canada, makes no compromise in delivering a high quality viewing experience. Leveraging the strength of Rogers’ 3G reliable wireless network and joining Rogers’ high definition device lineup for gaming, photos and entertainment, the Dell Streak’s high resolution 5 MP camera and 5-inch multi-touch high quality WVGA display enables full-size web page browsing and integrated Google Maps with turn-by-turn navigation, street and satellite views.
Dell Streak
“The tablet category is changing the way people interact, transact and stay entertained,” says Raj Doshi, Vice President, Mobile Product Management, Rogers Communications Inc. “The Dell Streak represents an innovative offering, giving customers the next-generation experience of a tablet with the portability and connectivity of a smartphone. Rogers is pleased be first to bring the Dell Streak to our customers and further extend our leadership as the carrier with the most Android choices in Canada.”

Designed with the future in mind, the Dell Streak will support over-the-air updates including Android platform upgrades, Adobe Flash 10.1, video chat applications enhancements and other software innovations.

“The Dell Streak does something no other tablet does – it delivers your whole world on a 5-inch screen that easily fits in your pocket. Its unique size will help Rogers’ customers discover new ways to enjoy the web, connect with friends, and navigate their lives..” – Michael Tatelman, Dell vice president and general manager, Dell consumer sales and marketing.

The Dell Streak is available today exclusively through Rogers for $149.99 on any three year voice and data plan, backed by Rogers’ exclusive Handset Protection Guarantee Program in the event a customer’s device becomes lost, stolen or broken.

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10th November 2010

Wee Black Sheep Launches Debut Title

wee black sheepLadies, are you looking for a fun way to spice up your night? Then grab your iPhone / iPod Touch and get ready for a new type of Girls’ Night Out courtesy of new Vancouver studio Wee Black Sheep Entertainment. Part scavenger hunt, part “Truth or Dare,” this entertaining mobile game is the perfect addition to a bachelorette party, a birthday celebration, or a night out with your girlfriends.
Girls Night Out
Girls Night Out, available now in the App Store for $0.99 USD, turns a night at the bar into a wild game of chance encounters and cheeky challenges. With more than 175 virtual cards in six categories including “Truth Be Told,” “The Hunter,” and “Naughty Girl,” the app sends players on hilarious missions around the bar and awards points to those who rack up the most wins. Highly customizable, this digital party game lets you complete individual or team challenges, race against friends, and even create custom cards to personalize the game for your special occasion.

Girls Night Out is the first release from Wee Black Sheep Entertainment, a Vancouver-based company that creates entertaining apps for a variety of life’s events and celebrations. “If you’re a woman with an iPhone or iPod Touch and you like having fun with your girlfriends, then Girls Night Out is for you,” says Jenny Ramsay, Wee Black Sheep’s founder and CEO. “This app is an instant party—it turns an otherwise ordinary night out with the girls into a wild experience you’ll be laughing about for a long time afterward!”

sierra wirelessFlorida-based Accel Networks and Vancouver’s Sierra Wireless have announced a joint marketing agreement to promote secure, reliable cellular solutions for customers deploying retail transaction and networking applications. This agreement formalizes a relationship that has already enabled Accel to deploy PCI-compliant cellular fixed wireless solutions for primary and back-up connectivity. Accel Networks, utilizing Sierra Wireless AirLink™ intelligent gateways and routers, has provided reliable and secure solutions for several major national retail customers and food service chains.

By standardizing on the Sierra Wireless AirLink line of devices, Accel Networks confidently deploys business critical solutions for its customers. The combination of Accel’s proprietary antenna technology and monitoring platforms with Sierra Wireless’s best-in-class intelligent wireless gateways and routers makes cellular fixed wireless an effective enterprise-wide solution for mission-critical applications and enables enterprise customers to expand into areas where wired broadband connections are not available or not practical. Powered by ALEOS™ embedded intelligence and managed by AirLink management software, AirLink devices provide a persistent, secure data connection and can be easily configured and controlled from any location with an internet connection.

“We are extremely pleased to have been selected by Accel Networks as the preferred connectivity device for its managed network solution,” said Justin Schmid, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Solutions and Services for Sierra Wireless. “This relationship facilitates a turn-key solution for wireless payment and business continuity applications, which is vital for the growth of the M2M business.”

According to Elaine Healy, President and Chief Operating Officer of Accel Networks, “The reliability and ease of integration offered by the Sierra Wireless devices made AirLink an easy choice for our standard connectivity platform. Formalizing and announcing our JMA with Sierra Wireless at the Customer Engagement Technology World (CETW) show is particularly timely since there is no better connectivity solution for kiosks and digital signage than Accel’s fixed cellular solution.”

Sierra Wireless provides a broad portfolio of high performance mobile computing and M2M solutions, including mobile broadband modems, embedded wireless modules, intelligent gateways and routers, as well as extensive software platforms that enable its customers and partners to deploy powerful solutions. By leveraging the AirLink line of intelligent gateways and routers from Sierra Wireless, Accel Networks is able to provide its customers a consistent and robust fixed cellular broadband experience across all sites, facilitating asset tracking as well as real-time traffic utilization and management, leveraging a private PCI-compliant gateway. In addition, Accel offers a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to its customers, providing peace of mind for those concerned about continuity of mission-critical business functions.

Accel’s approach to connectivity is unique with its primary focus on the “last mile.” Accel’s innovative family of proprietary antennas and monitoring platforms was developed with the deep understanding that RF is dynamic and local. With this combined solution, customers no longer have to choose between the quality of a wireline service and the flexibility of wireless. Furthermore, the AccelView™ portal provides customers access to real-time information about the quality of each link in addition to data utilization and asset tracking.

Accel Networks and Sierra Wireless will be co-exhibiting at Customer Engagement Technology World in New York City from Nov 10 – 11. Visit them in booths # 237 and 336.

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10th November 2010

Pfizer Announces New Contest For Young People With A Vision

pfizerStarting today, young adults across the country aged 16 and up are invited to Start Something with Alesse. This one-of-a-kind Canadian initiative empowers young adults to creatively articulate their personal goals and will provide two winners with mentoring and financial support to help make that vision a reality. Entries can be submitted online until 9:00am ET on Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

Inspired by the resourcefulness and community focus characteristic of Generation Y (or those born between 1980 and 1999), the Start Something with Alesse contest is designed to solicit innovative proposals from young adults committed to bringing about positive change in their own lives and the lives of those around them. Examples include creating a charity, producing a play or film, or starting a company. The possibilities are endless. (Editor’s Note – for those who do not know – Alesse is a contraceptive prescription for women.)

Christine Ho, co-founder of Well of Change, and Marième Ndiaye, a former MusiquePlus VJ and member of the singing group CEA, will serve as both contest judges and mentors to the two winners. Both of these women have significant experience starting something unique.

As the co-founder of Well of Change, a non-profit organization that has revolutionized the way people support not-for-profit organizations, Christine, along with partner Kevin Tsoi, has created an online platform that gives people and organizations the flexibility to donate either time or money to their charity of choice.

“I’ve always been passionate about giving back to the community, and I wanted to find a way to encourage young people to support their charities of choice,” says Christine. “Kevin and I have been fortunate to see Well of Change continue to grow and to see the impact our work has had on various Canadian charities. I look forward to sharing my personal experiences and providing guidance to help the Start Something with Alesse winners pursue their goals.”

Marième Ndiaye has pursued a decidedly different, but no less important, vision. Since 2003, Marième has been singing with the group CEA, a collective in Quebec that marries urban musical genres including funk, hip hop and soul. Her motto: “You can reach more people with celebration through music and dance.”

“CEA prides itself on positive messaging and has given me the opportunity to realize my dream of being a singer while growing as an artist,” says Marième. “The Start Something with Alesse contest will open many doors for the lucky winners. It is a phenomenal chance to help them realize their dreams.”

“We want to see today’s generation change the world,” says John McKendry, Commercial Director, Pfizer Original Brands, Established Products Business Unit. “By providing resources and support to two creative and passionate individuals, we are hoping to help support them through a truly unique and self-fulfilling experience. Alesse is proud to be able to provide resources to young Canadians to help them pursue their goals and ‘start something’ of their own.”

To view the official contest rules and regulations along with an overview of how to enter the Start Something with Alesse contest, visit the Start Something With Alesse site. All proposals will be reviewed and six finalists will be chosen by Christine and Marième. Winners will be determined based on votes earned through online voting by the general public. The two winners will be contacted by Thursday, March 8, 2011. Alesse will provide each winner with a $5,000 grant to help them start realizing their dreams.

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10th November 2010

Open Text Showcases Native Client Apps for Mobile Platforms

Open TextToday at Content World 2010, Open Text Corporation showcased a new release of Open Text Everywhere with native client applications for Apple iPhone and iPad. With a growing library of business applications, Apple’s popular smartphones and tablets are quickly gaining momentum as an enterprise client platform. With client applications from Open Text, business users gain access to critical content and processes from their iPhones and iPads.

The new applications were revealed for the first time at Open Text’s annual Content World user conference where attendees were able to experience Open Text Everywhere in action on iPads and iPhones.

“By themselves, the iPhone and iPad are fantastic devices. But it’s not until you add content that they become truly transformative,” said Eugene Roman, Chief Technology Officer, Open Text. “With Open Text Everywhere, we are putting the content and business applications on these devices that will absolutely change the way people work, and result in big gains in productivity across the board.”

In today’s fast moving, globally connected work environment, business doesn’t stop when users walk away from their desks. According to a recent Forrester Research survey (Workforce Technographics US, Canada, and UK Benchmark Survey, Q3 2009), workers are much more likely to use their smartphone – or instant-on tablets like iPads – while travelling, commuting, in coffee shops or even in different buildings than laptops. While the productivity benefits of delivering enterprise content to smartphones can be substantial, information technology managers face steep challenges to maintain security, control costs and deliver sophisticated applications.

Open Text Everywhere lets users natively and securely access a full set of Open Text ECM Suite 2010 capabilities from both RIM BlackBerry and Apple iPhone and iPad devices. It provides secure end-to-end communication between the ECM Suite and mobile devices, and pushes the permission model and audit capabilities of the ECM Suite right to the device.

Open Text Everywhere provides a comprehensive view of business processes, content and social collaboration tools. On the device side, it gives users a native application that delivers a rich, intuitive and fast user experience. On the server side, Open Text Everywhere is fully integrated with Open Text Content Server, the heart of the ECM Suite, for rapid deployment and minimal impact on IT, with low ongoing maintenance and support requirements.

By marrying mobility to content management, Open Text makes it possible for employees to access and act on the information they need in a variety of scenarios. It provides them not only with core content, but provides search and workflow that enables them to complete tasks using only their smartphones.

In the coming months, Open Text will be adding more features, capabilities and mobile platform support to the Open Text Everywhere offering. This will include:

* A mobile email management application that lets customers manage email for legal, regulatory or corporate governance rules.
* A new social interface for smartphone devices that incorporates access controls, auditing, and other ECM Suite capabilities while enabling new levels of collaboration.
* Integration with Web Experience Management (formerly Vignette) that will provide an on-demand mobile application platform enabling organizations to deliver fast and reliable mobile solutions that are as rich and interactive as advanced Web solutions found on the fixed internet.

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