Village Gamer

Desktop and Asset Management software specialist NetSupport has announced the immediate availability of the NetSupport DNA mobile console app – giving your IT support team and field engineers continuous access to essential customer PC data via their mobile devices.

Delivering a wealth of data for the target machine, NetSupport DNA is recognised as providing one of the most comprehensive and detailed hardware inventory modules available on the market today. Compatible with Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the new DNA mobile app connects with your central DNA inventory database, giving you access to accurate, up-to-the-minute asset management data wherever you are.

Key features include the ability to instantly call up the current hardware inventory for the target machine; view a detailed list of any historical changes to the hardware and software, and assess the cause of any logged PC alerts.

Expanding on the latest release, NetSupport’s Development Director Rob Hawkins explains: “Knowing the inventory of your IT assets is essential to the successful day-to-day management of any IT infrastructure. By making this data available on the move with our new mobile console, support engineers can now provide a much more effective service to customers while improving their own productivity.”

The NetSupport DNA mobile console app can be downloaded for free from the Android Marketplace, the Apple iTunes App store, Ovi and will soon be available for BlackBerry. The NetSupport DNA mobile console app is for use in conjunction with the NetSupport DNA Asset Management suite. Net Support is a UK-based company with an office in Markham.

Montreal’s Radialpoint has announced that Garlik, Trusted ID and Xooloo have joined Radialpoint’s partner program, expanding its ecosystem of digital home services. With these new additions, Radialpoint’s technology brand customers have a new suite of monitoring services that they can provide their customers in support of the Connected Home.

“We are committed to helping our customers monetize the Connected Home opportunity, and we are pleased to be working with the leading ID Theft Monitoring, Credit Score Monitoring and Parental Control firms to continue to bring our customers the services that end-users are spending billions of dollars on today,” said Michael Wexler, Vice President Business Development and Product Strategy at Radialpoint. “With our robust ecosystem and the unique delivery of our services, Radialpoint is further demonstrating how we differentiate our offering – by providing technology brands with value-added solutions to meet the consumer need.”

As consumers become more technologically sophisticated, electronics retailers, PC OEMs, MSOs and Telco’s are looking to drive a seamless experience for their customers that is more than just tech support. With an open SaaS platform, Radialpoint brings a rich line up of in-demand consumer services to their customers; services that help these customers to generate millions of dollars in consumer spend.

With losses from ID Theft reaching $37 Billion in 2010 (according to Javelin Strategy & Research July 2011), credit score monitoring technology emerging as a viable service category, and with an increase in demand for simple, yet functional, Parental Controls, Radialpoint offers its customers improved monitoring and protection options that they can in turn offer to their customers.

“We are extremely pleased to partner our identity protection service with Radialpoint,” said Andy Thomas, Managing Director at Garlik. “Now consumers have a robust and complete Connected Home solution that they can trust especially as more people are shopping, banking and sharing personal information online.”

“With the rapid growth of identity theft, protecting your credit and personal information both online and off is extremely important,” said Scott Mitic, CEO of TrustedID. “We are delighted to be working with Radialpoint to provide these key protections as part of the Radialpoint Connected Home solution.”

“The digital-life of kids is becoming one of the hardest challenges parents today have to face because they want to make sure that they are keeping their kids out of trouble while they are online, without hindering their independence,” said Gregory Veret, President of Xooloo. “We are excited about our relationship with Radialpoint and to be included in their award winning cloud based platform. Together we provide a strategic point of control giving parents peace of mind when their kids are online.”

Nokia has entered into an agreement with Polar Mobile to launch over 300 mobile apps for Nokia smartphones over the next 12 months. Polar Mobile will be launching apps on Nokia smartphones for over 300 top tier media brands globally, including the likes of Wired UK, Kompas, Advertising Age, Globe and Mail, Shanghai Daily and 7DAYS. The apps will be made available to consumers of Nokia’s Symbian smartphones, the recently announced Nokia N9 and future Nokia with Windows Phone devices.

“Nokia is excited about the opportunity to team up with Polar Mobile to bring hundreds of quality apps to consumers around the world. Polar Mobile’s ability to scale and attract a global set of brands is strategic in supporting Nokia’s efforts in offering compelling apps and experiences for our users,” said Richard White, General Manager, Nokia Canada.

The first set of 50 apps under this new partnership will be available on Nokia’s Symbian devices by next month and will be available globally through Nokia’s Ovi Store.

“We are thrilled that Nokia has chosen Polar Mobile to provide top tier media apps for their devices. Nokia’s global consumer reach is important for many of our customers, especially in Europe, Middle East and Asia,” says Kunal Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Polar Mobile. “Partnering with Nokia helps our media customers continue to grow their mobile audiences”.

Polar Mobile provides a software Platform to top-tier media companies to make it fast & easy to launch mobile Apps across multiple smartphone and tablet operating systems. Using Qt as the basis for its Platform on Nokia smartphones, Polar Mobile can deliver rich user experiences for their customers. To date, Polar Mobile has launched over 1,200 mobile apps across other major smartphone devices for more than 300 media brands in 10 countries. Now, in partnership with Nokia, Polar Mobile can extend support for Nokia smartphones reaching consumers in 190 markets.

Poynt Corporation has announced that the Poynt app is now available to Virgin Media’s mobile customers purchasing the newly launched Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro in the United Kingdom (UK). Poynt appears as a preloaded icon on the device.

The preloading of the Poynt App on mobile devices facilitates user trials and continued usage, and has proven highly effective in bridging the gap between general product awareness and actual user adoption. Previous preloads, or embeds, have resulted in high user adoption and monthly user retention rates over 50%. Additional users lead to increased user activity, which is then monetized through searches and display advertising within the Poynt platform. On average, users gained through a preload agreement perform 23 searches per month.

“Preload agreements with mobile operators, like Virgin Media, are helping drive Poynt’s user base to quickly become one of the most widely-adopted mobile applications worldwide,” said Andrew Osis, president and CEO of Poynt Corp. “In fact, of our 700,000 new users in June, existing preloads contributed more than 300,000 new users. We are working on signing new preload agreements with additional carriers in the U.S., Western Europe, and Asia, which together could add up to more than 50 million new users of Poynt.”

In addition to the current deployment on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro, the Company also has an agreement with Virgin Media for a Virtual Preload on several BlackBerry devices.

Poynt is a convenient and timesaving GPS-enabled mobile application that connects consumers to local businesses, events, restaurants, movie theatres, gas prices and weather information at the moment they are looking to buy or acquire products or services. Poynt provides consumers with the ability to move beyond discovery of their local area to view movie trailers and reviews, buy movie tickets, click-to-call businesses, get directions, browse listing websites and read reviews and book dining reservations.

Poynt provides contextual and relevant advertising to users performing local queries and its revenue model is based on user queries, page views, advertising and transactions within the App. Each user query generates several page views, which are monetized through display advertising and sponsored listings paid for by advertisers. These advertising placements generate revenues on a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) basis or on a cost per click (CPC) basis. Transactions, such as ticket sales and restaurant reservations, also contribute to revenues on a fee for service basis.

Poynt is available as a free download for users in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Australia on BlackBerry® smartphones, BlackBerry Playbook™ tablet, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Nokia devices from the respective App Stores. Poynt is also available via Over the Air download at m.poynt.com.

According to Calgary home automation company Vivint™, Canadian customers are adopting smart home technologies at a higher rate than customers in the United States. As of July 2011, 54 percent of new Canadian customers added smart home features like remote door locks, video surveillance, energy management, and lighting and small appliance control to their basic security packages—compared to 48 percent in the United States.

Smart home features are easier to use and more affordable than ever—with full packages running about the same price as a cell phone plan. New technologies, professional installation services, and innovative financing plans have made the safety, convenience, and energy management benefits of home automation accessible for a wide variety of consumers.

Gail Albin and her husband Michael of Qualicum Beach, B.C., use Vivint’s smart home technology to stay safe, and stay connected: “My husband travels overseas for his job and the big time change can make it hard for us to stay in touch,” Gail said. “Michael uses the Vivint app from his smart phone to check the system log, which tells him when I have armed and disarmed our system. That way, he knows that I’m safe at night, and when I’m awake and he can call me in the morning.”

Ted and Karen Betts of Lethbridge, Alberta, use Vivint to manage their energy use and give family members access to their house while they are away. “My husband and I own a business that takes us away from home quite regularly. It’s great to be able to adjust our thermostat, from the Vivint website, to make sure our house isn’t too warm or too cold—especially during the winter months.” She continued, saying that “My sister checks on our house regularly, when we travel, and it’s so much more convenient to just give her a personal code she can use to get inside. She doesn’t have to worry about keeping track of a key, and the system arms automatically when she leaves. The ability to access the Vivint website and monitor all entry and exits taking place, regardless of where in the world we might be, provides us with an extraordinary sense of security and control of our home while we are away.”

Alberta led the country with 66 percent of new customers adding smart home features. The lowest adopting province is New Brunswick at 33 percent—which is still higher than 18 U.S. states and territories.

New customer smart technology adoption by province:

From the 2011 Concours on the Avenue, exhibition in California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea,  Vancouver’s LiveCast Media has announced the first unified live 3D video streaming and delivery platform. LiveCast’s cloud based architecture enables anyone to broadcast 3D video up to 1080p/i HD quality and instantly have it viewed on any 3D video enabled device, including: home theatres, set-top boxes, laptops and mobile phones.

WinMagic^® an innovator in full-disk encryption (FDE), has announced that in response to rapidly-increasing Global demand for its SecureDoc full-disk encryption technology it has opened an office in Frankfurt am Main in Germany to better serve the German, Russian and Eastern European markets. The Canadian company is deploying a knowledgeable local sales force and increasing its local marketing activities to significantly expand its services to mid-size and large enterprises in Central Europe over the next year.

WinMagic is the sole manufacturer to specialize in data security for portable devices. WinMagic’s SecureDoc is a powerful solution designed to protect sensitive data stored on laptops, tablets and removable media, such as USB thumb drives, CD/DVDs and storage cards. SecureDoc enables administrators to encrypt entire hard drives and provides convenient management and configuration options. Its central administration makes the creation and distribution of keys extremely simple. In addition, SecureDoc provides options to further protect encrypted data using new authentication technologies such as biometric systems.

WinMagic is the first vendor to support network connections in the pre-boot phase (PBConnex), thus permitting encryption to be introduced without the need to adapt existing IT processes. All new Opal-compliant self-encrypting drives (SEDs) are also supported. Furthermore, WinMagic is the first producer to offer high-performance, secure encryption for solid-state disks (SSDs). SecureDoc is compatible with all current versions of Windows, Mac OS X and Linux – making it simple to implement uniform security standards in heterogeneous environments.

“As an independent manufacturer of mobile data security solutions, WinMagic is currently experiencing tremendous growth in demand in its home market Canada, as well as in the United States and Japan, mainly due to its outstanding technology,” explained Georg Gann, WinMagic Director DACH & Eastern Europe. “Despite enterprises in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the rest of Europe placing particular value on technologically-advanced products, numerous competitors have lost their product development focus due to the consolidation in our industry, and as a result many customers are dissatisfied,” Gann continued. “WinMagic is totally focused on providing innovative solutions that simplify strong data protection for both users and administrators, and so we are confident that WinMagic and its distribution partners can meet all the expectations of increasingly-demanding customers far better than the antivirus vendors.”

Imagine if you could feel closer to home,even when your front door is far away. You can now truly be the master of the house with Smart Home Monitoring, an innovative home monitoring and automation service launched today by Rogers. From remotely controlling thermostat levels, to scheduling lights to turn on when you get home, this new system delivers a connected personalized experience at home, at work or on-the-go. Powered by both Rogers cable and Rogers wireless networks, Smart Home Monitoring lets consumers automate and manage sensors, cameras, thermostats, lights and small appliances from their computer or smartphone. This service is currently only available to Rogers Hi-Speed Internet customers in the Rogers cable footprint across Ontario.

“Consumers are looking for solutions to enable their connected home seamlessly, reliably and securely,” said Ian Pattinson, Vice-President & General Manager, Smart Home Monitoring, Rogers Communications. “With Smart Home Monitoring, we have reinvented home security with easy home automation and energy management providing Rogers customers with a truly connected home of the future.”

At the heart of the system is an ultra-rugged, easy-to-use touchpad that consumers use to arm/disarm and manage their system. Available in wall-mount or table-top, the touchpad provides quick 1-touch access to home security functions, home automation apps for lighting, cameras and thermostats as well as multimedia apps for photos, traffic, weather and sports. When an alarm occurs, the touchpad instantly connects with the Rogers central monitoring station simultaneously over both Rogers cable and wireless networks. The touchpad constantly communicates with its highly encrypted smart sensors throughout the home, checking their status, signal strength, battery level and even room temperature.

Staying connected to your home is easy – consumers can securely connect to their Smart Home Monitoring service through any computer or a smartphone allowing them to view, manage and secure their homes through a two-step security process at any time from any internet-based location.

Additional features and benefits of the service include:

• Real-time, 24/7 monitoring at the Rogers Central Monitoring Station provided by certified security experts with over twenty years of experience in security, monitoring and emergency services
• IP-based dual network connections ensure constant connection of the home to the Rogers Central Monitoring Station
• Real-time sensor and video alerts sent via text and email
• Remote access from a computer or smartphone to securely view, control and arm/disarm the home
• Professional installation by specially-trained Rogers cable technicians

“Consumers want a next generation system that protects and connects their home seamlessly with their connected lifestyle,” Pattinson said. “Smart Home Monitoring is a natural evolution for our business that leverages our proven networks, expertise in communication and commitment to innovation and next generation connected experiences.”

Smart Home Monitoring has three rate plans, each including always connected wireless-data backup, starting with the Home Basics plan at $39.99 per month. Rogers Cable Hi-Speed Internet required.  The Touchpad starter kit is $149.00 on a three-year term, or $749 with no term, with optional sensors available a-la-carte and in discounted Value Packs.   All systems are professionally installed for a one-time fee of $99.00.

But will it turn off the iron? 😉

SurfEasy is pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind product that makes it plug-and-play easy for anyone to protect their Internet privacy and online freedom from any computer. The Company has developed its secure personal web browser technology around the SurfEasy USB key and is now ready to introduce the product and make it available for pre-ordering on KickStarter.

SurfEasy’s patent-pending technology has been custom-designed to address four key concerns that affect hundreds of millions of Internet users on a daily basis:

•     Internet Privacy – SurfEasy encrypts all Internet traffic to prevent third parties from spying on your online life, making it easy to browse privately on any network or computer.
•     Internet Security – Unlike normal web browsers that store personal information on a computer for others to find, SurfEasy leaves nothing behind on any computer. All web browsing data including history, passwords and bookmarks are stored safely on the password-protected SurfEasy key.
•     Internet Freedom – SurfEasy enables users to access their favourite web sites from any computer or network without censorship. Bypass firewalls and most other tools that may monitor, block or restrict access to important sources of online information like Facebook and YouTube.
•     Portability – No matter where you are, SurfEasy’s portable, plug-and-play form factor offers the same level of protection and security on any web-enabled computer or network. Seamlessly continue browsing sessions from computer to computer, while having secure access to your bookmarks, passwords and other web browser preferences.

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SurfEasy’s mission is to make it plug-and-play simple for anyone to secure their online privacy and freedom, and the company has gone to great lengths to make sure of that. Behind SurfEasy’s unique hardware, is a customized software layer that interacts with a private global network of proxy servers, offering the same level of data encryption as used by the world’s leading banks. SurfEasy wants to put that kind of online security in the hands of millions of Internet users and promote the principles of online privacy and Internet freedom.

As part of the Kickstarter soft launch and product pre-sale, the first 100 contributors of US$30 or more will receive a SurfEasy key at almost half of the expected retail price. Any contribution, big or small, is welcome in assisting SurfEasy and promoting the values of Internet Privacy and Freedom. Rest assured that every penny raised goes to supporting our mission to protect your online identity.

A collective licensing agreement, representing more than 1500 major and independent record labels in Canada, has facilitated the launch of Galaxie Mobile by Stingray Digital, the first Canadian-owned commercial-free mobile streaming music service.

The agreement with Stingray is Canada’s first collective semi-interactive agreement and was negotiated by AVLA and SOPROQ on behalf of their members who represent the majority of recorded music in Canada, laying the groundwork for future agreements of its kind.

Music Canada, which represents Canada’s major record labels, spearheaded the negotiations, empowering AVLA to act on its behalf.  Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada, points out that the major labels want to see more digital services operating in Canada as quickly as possible, “We aggressively pursued this pioneering agreement because we understand how cumbersome our regulatory environment can be, and we want to help services better navigate it.  We hope the Stingray agreement sets the stage for other online and mobile services, and signals to the marketplace that Canada is open for business.”

“For digital music services who are eager to enter the Canadian market, it is an enormous benefit to be able to negotiate with one or two organizations rather than 1500 plus rights holders,” says Victoria Shepherd, Executive Director of AVLA.

“By enabling Stingray to clear all rights necessary with both major and independent music labels, we have created an accessible template for other semi-interactive services that want to come to Canada.  In addition, AVLA’s independent members benefit from being at the ground floor of a deal that may otherwise have begun only with the largest rights holders.  Developing the digital business here will remain an important priority for us in the months ahead,” adds Shepherd.

Stuart Johnston, President of the Canadian Independent Music Association welcomed the agreement, “This agreement with Stingray is an exciting and important step forward for the Canadian music industry, and we are hopeful it will serve as a template for other services going forward. Any agreement that serves to streamline the approvals process while providing a broad licensing deal for the benefit of our industry is most welcome.”

The new music service offers all of Galaxie’s 45 commercial and talk-free channels, already available online and via cable satellite and IPTV, on mobile devices.  Interactive controls allow listeners to skip songs and purchase their favourite songs directly on iTunes via the Galaxie Mobile player.  The player is available immediately in Canada for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and all Android devices.