Village Gamer

Vancouver’s Thinware Media Ltd (Thinware) has officially launched StudioCAP (CAP=Computer Aided Production), a completely new workflow automation and asset management solution for animation studios. This new cloud-based system enables studios to more efficiently store, track, and move 2D and 3D CGI (computer generated image) assets through the creation process without having to install and manage a costly IT infrastructure to do so.  StudioCAP is available immediately for site evaluation and trial.

The StudioCAP process was developed in a real-world production environment by Mark Rocchio, CEO of Thinware Media, while creating thousands of hours of high-quality animation projects. StudioCAP eliminates and/or automates many expensive and time consuming manual processes, improves control of digital assets, and features built-in project planning and budgeting.  Once created, studios can search for assets, reuse them as production sees fit, or re-purpose them for marketing, merchandizing, and other revenue streams.

StudioCAP combines asset management with a number of project management and communication features to move assets more efficiently through the creative process. Studios can assign user roles and staffing levels, send messages about asset status, set tasks, automate tasks such as rendering, and define milestones, timelines and deliverables. StudioCAP can also manage project budgets and tie asset creation to asset costs with insightful reports. Collectively, these features simplify asset creation and the management of highly complex productions.

As a completely Web-based solution, StudioCAP is HTML 5 compliant, supports many mobile devices, and does not require studios to install software or procure, configure, and manage hardware. Unlike other asset management solutions on the market, StudioCAP is billed like a utility, so studios only pay for what they use—with introductory prices starting as low as $145.00 per-user, per month. This unique combination makes it easier and more flexible for studios to get started, and far more cost-effective to maintain.

“We developed StudioCAP because there was no other asset management system on the market capable of helping us produce animations faster and more cost effectively,” said Mark Rocchio, CEO of Thinware Media. “Most asset management systems are either too complicated, too lacking in features, or require some sort of costly infrastructure set-up. StudioCAP addresses all of those issues with a feature-rich system that is flexible, simple to set up and use, and more competitively priced to operate than other asset management products available now,” added Rocchio.

To celebrate the long weekend, XMG Studios wants to give mobile gamers a reason to pick up some new titles. Two of the studio’s releases are available in the iTunes store for the sale price of 99 cents.

Drag Racer: Pro Tuner, a reinvention of the classic flash game Drag Racer, this game will appeal to those of you who enjoy burning up the race track and saving $2.00 at the same time. Drag Racer: Pro Tuner offers new features, more customization and new racing modes, as well as the ability to share your car designs with your friends on social media.

Each car can have its own unique look, with custom paint jobs and over 70 decals to choose from. If you want even more customization, you can create your own decals from photos or images on your device for a truly one of a kind car.

Once you’ve created your dream car it’s time to race. Drag Racer: Pro Tuner lets you race head to head in more than 20 challenges, including a new Street Race mode which puts you bumper to bumper with some of the toughest drag racers on the street. Fans of Drag Racer: Online will be happy to hear that Nitrous Oxide, gear tuning, and other performance options have been included in Drag Racer: Pro Tuner as well as the ability to race against your friends over BlueTooth or Wi-Fi.

If designing the next greatest fashion look is more your thing, Style Studio is also on sale for $2.00 off the regular price. Style Studio: Fashion Designer allows users to create a full line of men’s and women’s clothing from dresses to tops, outerwear, pants and skirts.

The easy-to-use interface is simple enough for the younger user, but provides options to keep even the most experienced designer entertained. Users can choose one of the basic product designs, and alter it to fit their style. Then they can choose from thousands of materials, prints, belts, buttons, zippers, bows, pockets and accessories to further customize their design. Clothing can be tried out on any of the models included within the application, or designers can upload a photo of themselves or friends to try on the new fashions.

Once clothes have been designed, they can be showcased on fashion magazine mockups or turned into an entire fashion show. Designs can be shared with friends through Facebook, Twitter and Email integration into the app. Additional styles, materials and accessories can be purchased through the in-app store with more content being added all the time.

Style Studio: Fashion Designer has the most extensive customization engine for clothing design ever seen on the iPhone. It takes XMG’s powerhouse customization engine and applies it to the world of fashion, making this App for more compelling then the many dress-up-doll types of applications found in the App Store.

Style Studio: Fashion Designer is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch in both a free version and the full version, as well as for the iPad. Style Studio has been featured by Apple in their Fashion Week roundups and in the App Store’s “What’s Hot” sections.

Ceridian Canada Ltd. has launched the Powerpay Web Mobile app, already available to BlackBerry users, on iTunes for iPhone and iPad devices. Available for $6.99, Powerpay Web is Ceridian’s flexible payroll solution that enables small businesses to process their payroll online. The Powerpay Web Mobile app gives Ceridian Powerpay Web clients the ability to review and then submit their payroll figures directly from their smartphone.

“This app will definitely make processing payroll much easier because you can approve from anywhere without having to find a computer with an Internet connection,” says Anthony Jacobelli, Controller, Eden Oak. “It’s also easy to use.  The various screens are very similar to, if not exactly like, the screens I’m accustomed to.”

Later this summer, an updated edition of this app will be released that to provide further functionality such as the ability to add and edit employee profiles and quickly enter time information. If a manager is at off-site meetings or travelling for business, the Powerpay Web Mobile app will ensure all employees – full time, part time or occasional – are paid correctly and on time.

Radio IP Software Inc., developer of advanced mobile Virtual Private Network (MVPN) software solutions, has announced a co-marketing and co-selling agreement with Bell Mobility. Radio IP’s Mult-IP and ipUnplugged mobile VPN software solutions will leverage Bell Mobility’s nationwide 3G/4G wireless network to provide public safety and enterprise customers throughout Canada with MVPN services that offer unprecedented performance, seamless roaming and flexible management.

“Radio IP is pleased to continue working with Bell Mobility, bringing powerful, secure and flexible mobile VPN solutions to mobile workforces across Canada,” said Frank Draper, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Radio IP Software. “We’ve combined the 100% coverage, unmatched quality and carrier-grade reliability of Canada’s premier broadband mobile network with Radio IP’s network agnostic VPN solutions to provide our customers seamless mobility without sacrificing security,” he continued. “Together we elevate the user’s mobile experience while meeting IT administrative needs for increased ROI, improved productivity and reduced support costs.”

Radio IP’s Mobile VPN solutions are engineered to address the needs of commercial businesses and public organizations requiring ubiquitous and secure remote coverage across disparate wireless networks using the highest encryption standards resulting in persistent connectivity and data integrity. By partnering with leading mobile technology firms and network providers, Radio IP delivers a robust and secure end-to-end solution in any environment.

Digital publisher Mygazines has launched On-Page Widgets and the Library App. On-Page Widgets are an HTML5-powered mobile publishing tool for creating true app-like experiences on any device browser, including iPad, Playbook, iPhone, Android phones and desktops. Content creators can now easily offer readers web-apps with Twitter feeds, Facebook “Like” buttons, annotations, Youtube videos and other enhanced interactivity on any page of their digital editions.

“Enhancements are easily added via Mygazines’ Page Editor, where users predefine zones for desired interactive elements. Other uses include embedding forms, games or any type of HTML-based element. The possibilities are endless and the software is extremely natural to use”, explained Mygazines Chief Marketing Officer Randy Frisch.

Mygazines’ digital publishing software also offers tools like links, location-based rules and analytics. “The process converts magazines, brochures, flyers and beyond from a PDF format to an enhanced digital edition viewable on any web-enabled device. Content is distributed via a branded URL, Mygazines’ system automatically detects the device and shows a unique experience”, Frisch added.

Mygazines also announced the Library App, which gives readers the flexibility to discover, browse and navigate through content online or offline via a downloadable App. Powered by Mstand, it is a hybrid of web-app and native-app technologies and is available for iOS (iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch), Android (phones and tablets) and desktops.

“The Library App is a cutting edge and still affordable way to offer content on popular app storefronts,” explained Frisch. “Combining the Library App with On Page-Widgets allows any sized organization to present an experience that is sure to attract audience engagement.”

Absolute® Software Corporation has announced the general availability of Absolute Manage 5.4.2, allowing for customer upgrades to Apple’s newest operating system without any interruption to the endpoint management processes they depend on to effectively manage their cross-platform deployments. In addition, Apple Open Directory integration means organizations can now better manage users’ access to resources used on iOS 4 devices.

“Absolute Manage is truly cross-platform and provides endpoint management capabilities for PC, Mac®, and iOS devices,” said John Livingston, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Absolute Software. “Our customers expect us to keep pace with the market and we do, ensuring our solutions support the most current operating systems and form factors on the market today.”

Absolute Manage allows organizations to efficiently manage all their assets by automating time-consuming IT processes such as software distribution, patch management, asset inventory and imaging. Additionally, it helps organizations save money by allowing them to track installed applications and licenses, redeploy under-used licenses and hardware to optimize inventory, and avoid non-compliance fines.

OpenText™ has announced delivery of its comprehensive vision for Customer Experience Management that addresses the needs of marketers and the challenges of managing major global brands. To complete this vision, the company has formed an alliance with US-based digital marketing agency VML, bringing together the full range of OpenText Customer Experience Management technologies with VML’s creative and implementation capabilities.

Customer Experience Management (often referred to as CEM or CXM) addresses the key business transformations marketing teams are embarking upon today: embracing a social business strategy, driving customer-centric mobile and online marketing, managing their brands globally, raising customer satisfaction for online service, and delivering tailored customer communications online and offline.

Over the past two years, OpenText has delivered and integrated a robust set of Web content management, semantic search, analytics, media management, social, mobile, portal, campaign management, and customer communication management technologies. As a result of this concerted focus on Customer Experience Management, OpenText now offers the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions that marketers need for rich, interactive campaigns, managing brand consistency and adopting a social business culture that enables the agile, adaptive enterprise.

By joining forces, OpenText and VML give marketers a one-stop option for developing Customer Experience Management solutions spanning both the technical and the creative sides of marketing. The agreement formalizes an already strong working relationship between the two companies – one that already includes many mutual customers, encompassing business development, consulting, development, implementation, technical training and customer support. VML brings impressive credentials as a member of the WPP Group and the proven ability to bridge the worlds of marketing and technology.

“As a marketer, the only way to succeed in the face of rapid and constant change and disruption is to create deep and lasting connections to customers,” said James Latham, Chief Marketing Officer, OpenText. “This requires comprehensive integration of customer information across engagement platforms, portals and mobile, together with cohesive creative concepts. This level of integration is extremely difficult to create and maintain on an ad hoc basis, but without it the customer experience is fractured. We are delivering this today.”

“We share OpenText’s vision of integrating Web, social and mobile together with community and collaboration portals in order to create the type of personalized experience customers expect online,” said Martin Coady, Director of Technical Strategy of VML. “By working more closely with OpenText, we significantly enhance our ability to help some of the world’s top brands develop a digital roadmap to move toward a smoother, more sophisticated and effective relationship with their customers.”

To help organizations design their Customer Experience Management strategies, OpenText recently launched a Customer Experience Management website that features numerous videos and stories of how marketing innovators have applied online technologies to strengthen connections with their customers.  It also features an ongoing conversation fueled by the new blog titled Engage U authored by OpenText experts and guests.  Core subsections include Online Marketing, Global Brand Management and Adaptive Enterprise with Customer Self-Service and Customer Communications Management on the horizon.  Finally to round out its vision, the OpenText Value Engineering team can help customers, analyze, document, and quantify the positive impact to strategic business processes that could result from the

Following recent App Store policy changes imposed by Apple, Kobo has announced that development is underway on an HTML5 eReading web app. With the development of the HTML5 app, Kobo will continue to provide the most optimized experience for iOS users and users on other Kobo platforms.

Kobo is dedicated to an open-platform experience and believes that consumers should have the freedom to read on any device, at anytime, anyplace in the world. With the new HTML5 web app, Kobo remains committed to open solutions and extends eReading capabilities to a platform that can be quickly enhanced and updated with the latest eReading features and functionality. Kobo’s HTML5 app will not replace the company’s existing apps, but extend its read-across-any-device strategy to reach a broader set of users and add additional value for their current customer base.

Over the past weeks, Kobo has worked with Apple to create a solution that would benefit the iOS eReading community within Apple’s new App Store guidelines. Unfortunately, Apple has mandated that Kobo, along with all eBook retailers, substantially change the eReading experience for consumers by removing in-app access to the Kobo store.

Even after modification, Kobo’s hugely popular and heavily downloaded eReading iOS apps continue to offer powerful features in the new 4.5.1 version, from the Reading Life social platform to the app’s industry leading reading experience. Kobo users can continue to use the Kobo app to read existing books in their library, purchase new books from Kobo using any popular web browser and shop from Kobo’s selection of over 2.4 million eBooks – latest New York Times bestsellers, new releases and more. Any books purchased on Kobo.com are automatically updated in the iPhone or iPad Kobo app.

This change does not affect Kobo’s other free eReading apps, all of which retain the integrated eReading and in-app Kobo Store access. Kobo’s move to provide an HTML5 web app will offer additional convenience to consumers and deliver a rich and seamless experience to Kobo app users across platforms, including Android, RIM and HP WebOS.

“Kobo believes in providing an open platform for users, and our HTML5 development will support the company’s current app strategy to reach a broader base of users worldwide,” said Michael Serbinis, CEO, Kobo. “HTML5 allows us to add more features and update our popular Reading Life social experience far more quickly, providing an agile method to deliver advanced enhancements to consumers without limitation.”

Kobo continues to innovate, and the HTML5 app development will let Kobo users enjoy the best eReading experience worldwide, allowing consumers to read, browse, shop and share on dedicated eReaders, smartphones, tablets, netbooks, laptops and desktop computers. Kobo’s HTML5 web-based app will continue to offer the company’s popular, industry-leading features to readers around the world, as well as quick and easy access to Kobo’s massive eBook store of over 2.4 million titles. Kobo expects to launch the new HTML5 web app later this year.

Microsoft has announced the availability of OneNote Mobile 1.2 for iPhone – and it’s free to download for a limited time. This latest version of OneNote Mobile introduces the new search, sharing, and customization capabilities that users have been asking for. Microsoft has also made the OneNote iPhone app available in five additional markets worldwide today: Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Here are some of the new features and improvements in OneNote Mobile 1.2 for iPhone:

• Search — retrieve important information quickly within text in your notebooks, sections, and pages.
• Pin recent notes — keep your favorite notes at the top of the Recently Viewed list.
• Sync shared notebooks — sync notebooks that others have shared with you on Windows Live SkyDrive.
• Choose which notebooks sync to your phone — save bandwidth by excluding less important notebooks.
• Set the image size for photos — choose between faster syncing or higher quality images.

Those of you who are using a previous version of OneNote Mobile on your iPhone willl notice a new color scheme in this version, giving the app a lighter look than before. Microsoft has also updated the OneNote Mobile 1.2 Help page with the newest information about the app. To visit this Help page directly from inside of the OneNote Mobile app on your iPhone, tap Settings, tap Help and Support, and then tap the first link that appears on the screen.

Project Box LLC, creator of Pocketbooth has announced a special summer promotion. From July 25th to August 22nd, Pocketbooth will be specially priced at 99 cents in the Ovi Store (pricing may vary by local market). Pocketbooth perfectly replicates the intimacy, spontaneity, and hilarity of a traditional photobooth. Take it to your next party and watch as your friends strike a pose. Meticulously designed to emulate the experience of a 1950s-era Model 11 Photobooth, the Pocketbooth mobile application is as beautiful to look at as it is fun to use. The interface makes taking self-portraits a snap.

Pocketbooth allows users to choose between the front-facing or rear-facing camera on Nokia smartphones and take pictures in color, black and white, sepia, 1975, or antique filters. The application automatically saves photostrips and can export them to the camera’s photo library. Users can then share the photostrips via Facebook or Twitter, and email them to their friends around the world.

“We are excited to offer Pocketbooth to Nokia smartphone users around the globe at a special lower price during this summer promotion, and to make it available in five additional languages. Pocketbooth is the perfect showcase for the best-in-class camera technology on devices like the Nokia N8,” said Tim Garrett, CEO of Project Box.

Pocketbooth is currently available in the Ovi Store and is compatible with Nokia models C6-01, C7, C7 Astound (from T-Mobile), E6, E7, N8, and X7. The application is available globally and is now available in six languages (English, Chinese, Spanish, German, French and Italian)