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A new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll shows very clearly the recognition by Canada’s small and medium business sector (SMB) that the Internet is a key element of business strategy. However, the study also suggests that the country’s SMB sector may be reluctant to expand capacity to use the Internet and to hire or train people with the appropriate skills.

The survey, commissioned by Intel Canada, indicates that 90% of companies employing less than 100 people conduct at least some of their business with customers or suppliers over the Internet (with 38% saying they do “all” or “most” of their business using the web). Furthermore, 2/3 (67%) of companies believe that universal access to the Internet is “important” to their business.

“Clearly, we’ve passed the point where the Internet is a luxury or an add-on to a business’s operation,” said Doug Cooper, Country Manager, Intel Canada. “Canada’s small business segment wants, needs and uses the Internet to advance their company goals. The SMB sector is an absolutely crucial economic driver whose increased Internet adoption will, ultimately, benefit all Canadians.”

“For my business to succeed, I need fast, reliable, uncapped internet capabilities to move huge amounts of data into the cloud and deliver our creative work to clients,” said Chandra Clarke, owner of Chatham, Ontario-based Scribendi Inc. “Having my business located in a small community, I often feel the effects of the lack of digital infrastructure in Canada.”

The survey also points out a possible disconnect between companies wanting to offer more Internet-based services and investing in acquiring the skills to do so: More than 8-in-10 (82%) company owners said that hiring for or training people to improve either digital skills or the ability to do business on-line was “not a priority”. At the same time, almost 2/3 (63%) of all small and medium business owners surveyed believe they are currently spending “enough” on Internet-based technology with just under 2-in-5 (19%) believing they should be spending more.

Interestingly, almost 9 out of 10 (89%) respondents were not aware of Canada’s “moon shot” goal of ensuring that: “Anyone can do anything online in Canada by 2017″. This moon shot goal arose from the Canada 3.0 Forum this past spring which brought together industry players and entrepreneurs, government, academics, creators and journalists to discuss the future of the digital economy in Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

The first-ever study on Canadians’ viewing habits of online video conducted by Ipsos Reid and M Consulting finds 80 per cent of all Canadians indicate watching some video content online. Among those that have watched video online 41 per cent watch more online video content than they did last year. A growing audience means a bigger business opportunity for brand marketers and the Canadian film community to produce original online video content.

“A loyalty of sorts is being developed for online video,” says Bill Mohri, president of M Consulting who commissioned the study, which will be unveiled in full at the MergeMedia: Online Branded Entertainment Conference on October 22 at the MaRS Discovery Centre in Toronto. “There is the potential that a critical mass of Canadians could be watching more online video than TV much sooner than experts predicted.”

While males between the ages of 18 to 24 comprise the biggest, most frequent audience, 41 per cent of all Canadians say they watch online video at least a few times per week. And the study found that people who view online video at least once per day are more receptive to branded entertainment, with 18 per cent indicating positive purchase intent for brands that have developed entertaining content online.

“It’s clear that brands have an impact with more frequent viewers of online video. It’s a more engaging, interactive medium,” says Bill Mohri. “Brand marketers and content producers need to pay attention to this growth area because it’s much less expensive than TV advertising and has real potential to reach consumers more effectively than TV.”

More research highlights include the following:

* Almost 100 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 18 to 24 watch some video content online, with 76 per cent watching at least a few times per week.
* Even though the incidence of viewership declines with age, fully 68 per cent of Canadians over the age of 55 indicate watching some video content online.
* 49 per cent of respondents cited poor production quality as a main downside to watching videos online compared to TV.
* Comedy is the most popular online video genre, with 65 per cent of respondents who already watch video on the internet say they watch this genre most often.

The MergeMedia Conference will showcase full results of this benchmark study and explore implications through an interactive presentation by Ray Kong, senior vice president at Ipsos Reid, which includes a group of actual respondents who participated in the study that will be on-hand to answer audience questions about individual online video viewing habits.

The full-day conference will also bring together leading marketers and content producers to provide insights on online branded entertainment. The roster is long and includes Canadian producer Fred Fuchs, actress Illeana Douglas who created and stars in IKEA’s hit series Easy to Assemble, Alison Leung, marketing director, hair care and deodorants at Unilever Canada and Joe LaMuraglia, social media manager at General Motors.

For most Canadians, coming up with an idea for a successful small business is the easy part. Finding the money to get started is what’s hard. Nearly 70 per cent of Canadians believe the idea is easy, but even more, 72 per cent, say they’re concerned about finding start up money.

These are among the findings of a second Canada-wide survey commissioned by Intuit Inc., maker of QuickBooks, to determine Canadians’ attitudes around entrepreneurship. The latest effort coincides with the start of Canada’s Small Business Week 2010.

Several key motivators were cited by poll respondents who were interested in starting a small business:

- A desire to no longer work for someone else (43 per cent)
– Control of their own destiny – (43 per cent)
– A means to a better quality of life – (35 per cent – up six points
from February)
– Starting something new – (33 per cent – up nine points from February)

But they’re concerned with the challenges of getting started. These include

- Finding the money for start-up costs – (72 per cent)
– Convincing lenders that they’re a good risk – (71 per cent)
– Navigating the tax and finance requirements – (61 per cent)

HST is also a big factor in Ontario and British Columbia. Half of those surveyed in those provinces believe it will do more to discourage people from starting a business, while only five per cent say it would have a positive impact. This may be why a slight majority of Canadians (51 per cent) believe it’s harder to start a business today compared to a decade ago.

Younger Canadians seem more optimistic about starting a business. Forty-two per cent of respondents between the ages of 18-34 say it’s more difficult to start a business today compared to 61 per cent of Canadians age 55 and over.

Despite this, more than one third of all respondents say they are interested in starting their own business, and 43 per cent of those say they plan to do that within the next two years.

“There’s no shortage of reasons for Canadians to stifle entrepreneurial pursuits but, we’ve found that simply isn’t happening,” said Barb Anderson, Intuit’s product marketing leader for financial management software. “The market uncertainty, grim headlines and general anxiety of the past six months haven’t affected the entrepreneurial drive.” Read the rest of this entry »

The largest ever global research project into people’s online activities and behaviour – Digital Life – was released today, Digital Day, by TNS, the world’s largest custom research company. Covering 88% of the world’s online population through 50,000 interviews with consumers in 46 countries including all of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the study reveals a number of very significant findings and provides indicators for the future of the world’s online behaviour.

Core data from the study is being made publicly available via an interactive website, with TNS providing more detailed reports and breakdowns to its clients.

“This study covers more than twice the markets of any other research of this kind. So, it will really allow us to determine Canada’s position in the online world.” said Michael Ennamorato, TNS Canada’s Managing Director. “Plus, we have taken the research to the next level by going beyond basic behaviour to provide more detailed data into attitudes and emotional drivers of that behaviour.”

A main take-away is that when it comes to online behaviours, Canada, despite being a mature market with advanced infrastructure, is being hopscotched by the rapid growth markets:

* Canada lags in digital engagement. When looking at behaviour online, rapid growth markets such as Egypt (56%) and China (54%) have much higher levels of digital engagement – that is, they are more active with the technology – than mature markets such as Canada (37%), Japan (20%), Denmark (25%) or Finland (26%). Read the rest of this entry »

The federal government’s use of handheld communications devices and its practices for disposing of unneeded paper documents and surplus computers could expose the personal information of Canadians to unauthorized disclosure, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart has warned.

The findings, stemming from two separate privacy audits conducted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), were highlighted in the organization’s 2009-2010 annual report on the Privacy Act, tabled in Parliament today. The Act applies to federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations.

“Our audits turned up some disturbing gaps in the privacy policies and practices of government institutions,” Commissioner Stoddart said. “Whether they’re using a BlackBerry, shredding old papers or disposing of outdated computer equipment, public servants need to know that the security of people’s personal data is a top priority.”

The annual report examines how the government’s holdings of personal data are affected by technology and considers the impact of full-body airport scanners and other national security measures on the privacy rights of Canadians. The report also summarizes key investigations into privacy complaints and data breaches that the Office conducted under the Privacy Act in 2009-2010.

“Considering the vast amounts of personal information on Canadians that the government holds, problems are relatively rare,” the Commissioner acknowledged. But, she noted, the data that the government collects, for purposes such as taxation, income support, the correctional system and international travel, is highly sensitive. Any unauthorized collection, use or disclosure of such data could therefore have serious consequences.

“When it comes to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to it, the government of Canada must always be held to the very highest standards of account.”

Here are some highlights of today’s reports:

* Wireless audit: Of five federal entities examined, none had fully assessed the threats and risks inherent in wireless communications. Gaps in policies and/or practices resulted in weak password protection for smart phones and inadequate encryption for Wi-Fi networks and data stored on mobile devices. Shortcomings were also noted in the disposal of surplus handheld devices and the use of PIN-to-PIN messaging, a form of direct communication between two smart phones that is vulnerable to interception. Read the rest of this entry »

Telefilm Canada is has mad public its 2009 International Markets Report (PDF). The report spotlights Telefilm’s key role in supporting Canada’s audiovisual industry at foreign markets. Despite the economic downturn during the year, the report highlights the remarkable increase in foreign sales achieved by Canadian producers and distributors at international markets and festivals where Telefilm organizes and runs the Canada Pavilion: the European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival, MIPTV, the Cannes Film Market and MIPCOM.

Highlights

* Telefilm invested about $1.2M in support of Canadian companies’ participation at international markets. Every dollar invested by Telefilm within the framework of its foreign activities generated $16 in sales deals for Canadian film companies, compared with $11 in 2008 and $9 in 2007. If we include pre-sales and probable sales (that is, sales deals likely to be closed quickly after the market), this figure jumps to $100 for every dollar invested.
* In 2009, total sales and pre-sales of Canadian films and television programs stood at $17.6M, a 26% increase over the $14M earned in 2008. Negotiations conducted during the international markets generated $90.7M in probable sales. This brings the total of sales, pre-sales and probable sales to $108.3M, a 27% increase over the previous year’s total of $85M.
* In 2009, the Cannes Festival was the most profitable market in terms of the ratio of sales, pre-sales and co-production/co-venturing agreements per dollar invested: every dollar invested by Telefilm generated more than $333 in economic activity.

“There’s no doubt that Canada’s audiovisual industry benefits from the strategic support it obtains abroad from Telefilm,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “We’re very pleased to see how dynamic our companies are when they negotiate co-production and co-venturing agreements with foreign partners. Telefilm’s activities at international markets provide a real showcase for Canadian talent abroad and prove that Canadian products can compete on the world stage.”

On the international stage, Telefilm, in partnership with members of the International Business Development Group, offers strategic and operational support to Canadian companies by organizing the Canada Pavilion at a number of international markets and festivals. At the Pavilion, Telefilm supports producers’ and distributors’ sales promotion efforts through initiatives that target investors and buyers from around the world. These activities also allow Canadian and foreign producers to pool their resources in order to co-produce films and television programs. Finally, Telefilm supports the international launch of Canadian productions through special marketing activities at festivals deemed to provide the best business opportunities for Canadian companies.

Overall, Canadian companies stated that they were very satisfied with the full range of services that Telefilm offered abroad in 2009.

EA has revealed results from a study conducted by The Nielsen Company which shows the degree to which brand advertisements within video games can boost real life sales. The study, commissioned by EA on behalf of Gatorade, shows that in-game advertising increased household dollars spent on Gatorade by 24%, and offered a return on investment of $3.11.

The study focused on households that purchased at least one of six EA SPORTS™ titles: NHL® 09, NHL 10, NBA LIVE 07, NBA LIVE 08, NBA LIVE 09 and NBA Street Homecourt. Gatorade had a variety of product placements within the games including arena signs, players’ water bottles, score updates and other call outs.

The study was based on Nielsen’s US Homescan panel of more than 100,000 households, representative of the US population, including a subset of Homescan homes that scanned video game UPC (Universal Product Codes) barcodes. The scanned barcodes were matched to a reference library of more than 14,000 video game titles. Nielsen compared the households that purchased at least one of the studied games before and after Gatorade branding was integrated into the games (the test group) with households that didn’t purchase one of the games (the control group).

These test and control group homes are projected out to the broad Homescan panel by matching them with the larger Homescan household universe based on similar purchase patterns and demographics in order to achieve a statistically reliable sample. Finally, the sales impact of Gatorade advertising was measured by analyzing and comparing Gatorade purchase behavior between the households that had and hadn’t purchased the games that carried Gatorade advertising.
Read the rest of this entry »

Bitstrips Inc. released data today showing that its popular educational comic-making tool, Bitstrips for Schools, is helping close the gender literacy gap by motivating male students to write as much as their female counterparts.

An analysis of over 400,000 students who used Bitstrips for Schools during the 2009-10 school year revealed that boys wrote as many comics on a per-student basis as girls. The analysis compared usage across grades 1-12, and showed that the number of comics made by students of both sexes was virtually identical in each grade. In total, students combined to create over 2 million comics on Bitstrips for Schools in under 10 months, most of them in Ontario, Canada, where the service is available to all of the province’s 5,000 publicly funded schools through a license from the Ministry of Education.

Featuring online tools that let any student create and share comics without having to draw, and a growing library of activities covering English, Math, Science, History and Social Studies, Bitstrips for Schools is striking a chord at a time when comics are becoming recognized as having an important role to play in the classroom. School librarians are adding graphic novels to their bookshelves in growing numbers, and in July, the Canadian Council on Learning published a report detailing the potential of comics in boys’ literacy development.

“More and more, researchers are pointing to comics as a way to engage boys in reading, but you don’t really hear about their potential to boost the other half of the literacy equation – writing,” said Bitstrips CEO, Jacob Blackstock. “The results from our first year in schools show that we’re starting to have a real impact in that respect.”

Bitstrips for Schools has experienced explosive growth since launching last September. In Ontario, over 25,000 teachers have created accounts across 85% of the province’s schools. Many more have subscribed across the rest of Canada, as well as in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the U.S., where the site is a featured partner in the National Writing Project’s Spotlight on Literacy. By the end of June, students were making 15,000 new comics every day.

“The response from the start has been incredible,” said Blackstock. “We hear from teachers almost daily that Bitstrips for Schools is helping students become much more communicative by making the process of writing more visual, interactive and fun.”

“Bitstrips for Schools is a great motivational tool for reluctant writers,” said Lindsay Porter, a Grade 3/4 teacher at Tecumseh Public School in Mississauga, Ontario. “Students who would normally shut down at the thought of a traditional writing assignment end up asking to stay in at recess to work on their comics. Knowing that I have something to help differentiate learning for those students and sustain their interest in a classroom task makes my job a little easier.”

Discussing the impact of Bitstrips for Schools on her seventh grade Language Arts students, teacher Shannon Powell at Central Montcalm Middle School in Michigan said, “Some of my most highly reluctant writers were among the first to accomplish the assignments I gave, and proved that they can write after all. With this program students don’t have to be limited by their drawing talent.”

An end-of-year survey of teachers who use Bitstrips for Schools revealed that 98% find the website easy to use, 97% plan to use it again in the coming school year, and 98% would recommend Bitstrips for Schools to their fellow teachers.

The company recently renewed its license in Ontario for the 2010-11 school year, once again making Bitstrips for Schools available to the province’s 2 million students.

“It’s thrilling to have become a valued part of the literacy toolkit for so many teachers so quickly,” said Blackstock, adding, “We’re really excited to kick off another amazing school year and take things to another level.”

Now you can compete against your Facebook and Twitter friends in the latest release of ApeZone’s SoliScare card game for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. The new version adds 11 leaderboards and 18 achievements to this already addictive little card game.

SoliScare lets you embark on a fantastic journey through graveyards, haunted houses, and spooky castles. Put the beat down on ghosts, zombies, and classic movie monsters in 100 levels of play.

Game play follows one simple rule: move monster cards to your hero pile by choosing cards that are one higher or lower than your current hero card. As you make longer card runs, you’ll capture these creatures and add them to your jailhouse. Capture all 37 ghosts, zombies, and monsters to become the new Van Helsing.

Ludia Inc., and Sony Pictures Consumer Products announced today that Ludia will create video games based on the hugely popular Pyramid series of television game shows. The licensing deal will result in games across major console platforms, PC/Mac, iPhone/iPod touch and iPad, the first of which games is slated for release in Q1 2011.

“Pyramid is a classic TV game show favorite, and we are thrilled to create games around the property so that fans of the show and broader audiences alike are able to feel the thrill of reaching ‘Winner’s Circle’ from home,” said Alex Thabet, Founder and CEO of Ludia Inc. “This deal serves to further expand Ludia’s prominence across platforms in the game show video game category, which has been a successful growth strategy for us.”

Pyramid will feature all the favorite elements from the show as the game pits pair against pair in a bid to reach the coveted ‘Winner’s Circle’. Players pick from six categories on the pyramid-shaped game board, and guess a series of words or phrases as described by their team mate. The duo that scores more points than their opposing team wins the match, and gets a shot at the grand prize. Additionally, the Pyramid video games will incorporate thousands of questions, connected gaming elements, single and multiplayer game modes, as well as reward systems to fuel the competitive fun between players.

“Pyramid has been a long-standing and successful game show franchise, and we are delighted to work with Ludia to create new opportunities that will bring an engaging entertainment experience to fans of the show,” added Mark Caplan, Vice President Licensing, Sony Pictures Consumer Products.

Three of EA Sports’ titles are vying for the top spot in the Golden Joystick Awards. FIFA 10, Skate 3 and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa are all in the final run to the top. Ubisoft Canada is also competing against itself in the Action Title category, with both Assassin’s Creed 2 and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction in the running.

Assassin’s Creed 2: Bonfire of the Vanities and FIFA 10 are finalists for Downloadable Game of the Year while Next Level’s Punch Out!! and EA Sports’ Fight Night Round 4 have entered the ring for Fighting Game of the Year. EA Blackbox is trying to be first over the finish line in the Online Game of the Year with Need For Speed World while franchise twins Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines and Assassin’s Creed Discovery are both in the running for Portable Game of the Year. We have a cross-country showdown going between EA Montreal’s NFS Shift and United Front’s Modnation Racers in the Racing Game of the Year category.

Bioware fans will have a real problem voting in the Role Playing Game of The Year category as Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age Origins Awakening have all made it to the final list. In the soundtrack category, we have Mass Effect 2 competing against Assassin’s Creed 2, and in the RTS category we have household favourite Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Chaos Rising from Relic. The voting for Ultimate Game of the Year is going to be hot and heavy with Assassin’s Creed 2, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins all hoping to take the podium. Read the rest of this entry »

A quick reminder that Microsoft Tech Days will be touring across the country beginning next month. You may still have time to get in on the Early Bird pricing if you act fast. Early Bird prices close six weeks prior to tour arrival dates.

Vancouver: September 14-15
Edmonton: October 05-06
Toronto: October 27-28
Halifax: November 02-03
Ottawa: November 09-10
Montreal: November 23-24
Winnipeg: December 07-08
Calgary: December 14-15

If you are a Joss Whedon fan, then you will want to be spending some time at Whedon Fest, a 3 day unofficial convention to celebrate all that is Whedon. The convention will feature guests and events from Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr. Horrible and Dollhouse. Organizers and fans will be celebrating the Joss ‘verse from Friday October, 1st to Sunday October, 3rd 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Centre in Toronto, Canada. The unofficial Whedon Fest convention will comprise of guest talks, autograph and photograph sessions, charity auction, a Saturday night masquerade and dance, contests, and more.

BattleGoat Studios and Paradox Interactive are pleased to announce that Supreme Ruler Cold War, the next title in the Supreme Ruler series, is scheduled for release in Q2 2011. Building on Supreme Ruler 2010 and 2020, BattleGoat Studios invites you to relive the tension and uncertainty of the Cold War. As the 1950’s approach, the Korean War looms, the Arms Race intensifies, the Berlin Crisis leads to the formation of NATO, and the world anticipates a new World War.

As leader of the United States or the Soviet Union, you must make the correct Economic, Diplomatic, Domestic and Military decisions to successfully navigate your country through this dangerous historical era and increase your nation’s Sphere of Influence on the world stage.

Features

- Play as the United States or Soviet Union in Campaign Mode
– Control any Nation in Post-World War II Era in Sandbox Mode
– Use Diplomacy, Trade and Espionage to influence the policies of other nations
– Research new Technologies to give your nation an edge
– Grow and Modernize your Economy
– Control Military production and deployment, or let your Ministers take care of the details
– And when Diplomacy Fails… Sophisticated Real-Time Strategic and Tactical Control of your Military Forces!
– Enhanced Graphics and Sound including New 3D Terrain
– Experience the redesigned GUI with improved On-Map feedback and streamlined controls
– Up to 16 players in Multiplayer over local network or Internet

ApeZone has released a free version of SoliScare for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, letting you take a free peak at their whimsical card game, specifically designed for the iPhone’s touch screen. The free version lets you play though ten ghost levels, where you will use your astral weapons of everyday objects to beat down ghosts. Drawing a club, gives you a golf club, a spade gives you a shovel, and so on. As you make longer runs of cards, you’ll capture ghosts and place them in your jailhouse. Try to capture all 13 ghosts. Collect coins as you clear cards and buy game perks to help you out.

Paradox Interactive and Vancouver’s Kerberos Productions have released new screenshots and gameplay scenes from Sword of the Stars II, the sequel to the hit 4X franchise, Sword of the Stars. Scheduled for release in Q2 2011, Sword of the Stars II will feature the six races from SotS and its expansions, as well as revealing the dark, running secret of the original series, the Suul’ka – an ancient race that is responsible for tampering with other races in the Sword of the Stars universe.

“We’re really excited to have the Sword of the Stars II as a part of our lineup at Gamescom” Says Executive Producer Mattias Lilja at Paradox Interactive. “PC gamers have a lot of love for the genre and we’re no exception. The game looks and plays great already and we’re really looking forwarding to showing off the game.”

nGen, Niagara’s Interactive Media Generator is pleased to announce the opening of its $3 million, state of the art facility designed for digital interactive media advancement. Funded by the Community Adjustment Fund, a government fund established as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan to address the short-term economic needs of Canadian communities impacted by the global recession. The new facility houses cutting edge digital interactive media technologies and will undoubtedly increase Niagara’s already growing reputation as a hub for digital interactive media. The expanded facility has been branded the Generator at one. Located at one St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines the facility has the capacity to enable entire media projects to be created at one location. Read the rest of this entry »