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In a move that broadens the company’s relationship with Walmart, Kobo has announced that they’re now a featured partner on walmart.ca. With this new agreement, Walmart Canada customers gain one-click, direct access from the Walmart site to Kobo’s eBook library containing more than 2.3 million books, newspapers and magazines with over one million free titles. Walmart carries Kobo’s Wireless eReader in-store and features it on walmart.ca, giving Walmart shoppers access to one of the world’s largest eReading catalogues.

Walmart was among the first retailers to sell the Kobo Wireless eReader in Canada, and Kobo serves as an integral part of Walmart’s ever-progressing eReading strategy. Kobo eReaders have been available in Walmart stores since May 2010, and Kobo’s Wireless eReader has become a top selling eReader for Walmart Canada. Kobo’s eBook library provides up-to-the-minute and classic content to Walmart shoppers. Walmart carries the Kobo Wireless eReader in Onyx, Metallic Silver and Pearlized Lilac colours.

“With the addition of Kobo’s tremendous eBook library, Walmart has shown its commitment to offer its customers not only a top-rated device but also extensive content making it easier than ever to enjoy the eReading experience,” said Todd Humphrey, executive vice president of business development , Kobo. “Over the past two years, we’ve built a solid relationship with Walmart Canada, with continuing support for our wireless eReaders by Walmart customers. Our new featured partner status promises to expand our footprint among the growing eReading community, and we expect that the Kobo eBooks will be a popular destination for online shoppers.”

The compact, light and simple-to-use Kobo Wireless eReader features an eInk screen that reads like paper and is easily adjustable to personalize reading with customizable font sizes and styles. Perfect for reading on-the-go, Kobo’s Wireless eReader holds up to 1,000 eBooks, and with a SD expansion slot approximately 10,000 eBooks. Supporting open standards – ePUB, PDF, Adobe DRM – with Kobo customers can borrow books from their local library – for free! Pre-loaded with 100 ready-to-go classics, the Kobo Wireless eReader gives customers a robust, a dedicated eReading experience that’s ready to go. With the ability to shop on the go, anytime, anyplace, directly from their Kobo eReader using unlimited, free access to Bell’s Wi-Fi network, readers can find a rich assortment of the latest content with just the press of a button. Read the rest of this entry »

IGLOO Software, provider of community solutions in the cloud, today announced the release of a suite of self-service collaboration templates for the PlayBook^TM, at BlackBerry World in Orlando. These templates will enable mobile professionals to easily create and manage an online business community, in order to access corporate knowledge and expertise, anytime, anywhere, right from their tablet.

Communities, powered by IGLOO, allow business professionals to share files and capture knowledge, locate documents and expertise, communicate with colleagues and customers, build connections and work better together around projects. In the first iteration of the app, BlackBerry® users will be able to start an online community by choosing from a variety of business templates, including social intranet, extranet, virtual boardroom and collaborative file sharing, right from within BlackBerry App World™.

At BlackBerry World this week, attendees have had the opportunity to experience the future of collaboration on the world’s first professional-grade tablet:

• Online File Sharing: ability to organize, manage and share documents, such as PowerPoint files and .PDFs, right from a mobile device.
• Internal Collaboration: team collaboration tools for managing projects, interacting with people and accessing information.
• External Collaboration: information sharing and networking tools to build better relationships with customers, partners and suppliers.

“We launched our first native BlackBerry® app over two years ago now and it is truly amazing to look back and see how far workplace collaboration has come,” remarked Dan Latendre, CEO of IGLOO Software. “The rise of tablets, combined with the ubiquitous access to broadband and the emergence of cloud computing, is particularly exciting as it is taking mobile computing to the next level, enabling us to create and consume content in a totally different way.”

The IGLOO Software PlayBook™ App will be available for free on BlackBerry App World^TM.

Canadian eReader device platform Kobo has announced that the Kobo Wireless eReader is now available in Best Buy stores throughout the United States as well as in the American Best Buy online store. Now customers can visit any U.S. Best Buy location to get hands-on experience with the affordable, Kobo Wireless eReader as well as access to over 2.3 million eBooks, Newspapers and Magazines in the robust Kobo store. Starting today through May 14, 2011, U.S. Best Buy locations are offering the Onyx Kobo Wireless eReader in stores and online for the special discounted price of $99.99 in celebration of Mother’s Day. At the end of this promotion, Best Buy will resume selling the Kobo Wireless eReader for $129.99.

The Kobo Wireless eReader comes pre-loaded with 100 free eBooks, so purchasers can read right out of the box. Users can easily shop the Kobo store that offers over 2.3 million titles including today’s newest releases and bestsellers, newspapers and magazines – plus a selection of over 1 million free titles. Delivering open standards versatility (supporting ePUB, PDF and Adobe DRM), customers can also borrow eBooks from their local libraries and read them for free on the Kobo Wireless eReader.

The compact, lightweight, and simple-to-use Kobo Wireless eReader features an eInk screen that reads like print on paper and is easily customizable with a selection of font sizes and font styles. Perfect for reading on-the-go, Kobo’s Wireless eReader holds up to 1,000 eBooks and has a SD expansion slot that can increase capacity to hold up to 10,000 eBooks. Featuring a modern, clean design, with easy-to-use navigation and a unique soft quilted back, the Kobo Wireless eReader provides an intuitive user experience with access to a rich assortment of the latest content with just the press of a button.

To provide additional flexibility, free eReading applications are available online for most smartphones, desktops, laptops and tablets, and come pre-loaded on the recently released BlackBerry PlayBook. This multi-platform approach to reading freedom championed by Kobo offers consumers the ability to read across multiple devices while building a lifetime eReading library, available from anywhere, with Kobo.

“We’ve seen great success working with Best Buy in Canada and look forward to being available in-store in the U.S. with the Mother’s Day special,” said Todd Humphrey, vice president of business development, Kobo. “Having Kobo’s Wireless eReader in Best Buy stores throughout the United States and online provides the eReading public with more purchasing options and allows shoppers to compare our eReader to the competition to see the value and versatility we bring to the table. Best Buy is the ultimate electronic shopping destination, offering knowledgeable product experts and a low price guarantee.”

Kobo is changing eReading with Kobo Reading Life, an industry-first social experience that lets passionate readers, discover, track and share their love of reading. With Reading Life, Kobo users can connect with friends or book clubs and discuss their favorite books on Facebook. Statistics help users track their Reading Life, and earn awards – just for spending time reading.

Future Shop has released version 2 of the Future Shop App for iPhone. Future Shop’s App for iPhone gives Canadians instant access to all of the products and latest deals, right at their fingertips. The updated App is compatible with all generations of iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and packed with new features such as QR code scanner, enlarged product views and access to consumer ratings and reviews.

Future Shop App downloads place among the highest downloads in the Canadian App Store among free iPhone Apps with more than 260,000 downloads to date.

Key features of the updated Future Shop App:

• Scan barcodes and QR codes instantly.
• Browse and search over 100,000 products with detailed specs, including customer ratings and reviews.
• Easy, enlarged viewing to see the latest, hottest items on sale.
• Check stock levels in-store and online.
• Rate and review products directly from an Apple iOS device.
• Faster and more robust checkout process.
• Get items faster using the In-store Pickup feature.
• Geo-location powered Store Locator.
• Save products to Favourites and revisit later.
• Compatible with all generations of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
• Easy access to “Tech Yeah,” Future Shop’s leading online community for technology enthusiasts.

Canada 3.0 Platinum Sponsor PwC has announced the launch of its Digital Readiness Assessment (DRA). The DRA is a diagnostic business offering that helps companies to assess their current “digital state” and seek out new business opportunities to go digital.

At Canada 3.0 2011, attendees can try out a DRA survey on their mobile devices, a short online version that will help them self-assess in a few minutes where they are on their digital journey. It is made up of a short number of questions by priority areas including: Strategy & Innovation, Revenue Growth, Partner Ecosystem, Customers and others.

“Currently, most Canadian companies are moving to digital models in gradual steps that are being pushed forward by their more entrepreneurial managers and the tactical needs of the business,” says Jerry Brown, an associate partner in the Consulting practice in PwC’s Toronto office. “The goal of the DRA is to help companies create an effective digital strategy and really transform their business model to keep up with the quick pace of change.”

“The successful companies will be the ones who have the best strategy to engage with all of their digital partners – everyone from their customers, to their suppliers, vendors, distributors and other businesses.”

PwC, a keynote speaker at the Canada 3.0 Conference, will also be a judge at the first ever Road to Banff Pitch Off Contest. Hosted by the Banff Venture Forum and the Canadian Digital Media Network, the competition is open to early stage ICT, life sciences and clean tech companies with annual revenues of less than $5 million. The top three finalists will win an all-expense paid trip to the Banff Venture Forum, October 6 – 7 in Banff, Alberta. At the Forum, finalists will attend a one-day workshop where they will be introduced to potential investors and paired up with a Venture Capital (VC) mentor for the conference.

In a few weeks, PwC will hold its eighth annual one-day conference for CEOs of emerging Canadian technology companies, Connecting Vision to Reality 2011. This year’s conference is on May 11, 2011 at the Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas Street West, Toronto. The speaker roster includes a number of industry experts including keynote speaker Jeremy Gutsche, founder of TrendHunter.com. The results of PwC’s 2011 Report on Emerging Canadian Technology Companies will also be released at the event.

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has announced the company’s agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures to feature D-BOX’s immersive motion technology with the studio’s franchise finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in theatres July 15.

This final act is the third film in the series to offer D-BOX’s motionals effects. Fans of the movie franchise can expect to be transported back to Hogwarts with Harry and friends feeling sensations of motion along the way. Intense battles and exhilarating flights onscreen become real as D-BOX MFX Seats move in perfect sync with all ofals the onscreen action.

“Warner Bros. has been a tremendous supporter of our motion technology and this is such a legendary movie franchise for D-BOX to be associated,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “We have collaborated on a number of new releases over the past two years and look forward to partnering on future movie content with the studio.”

PEER 1 Hosting has announced the arrival of its IPv6 enabled 10GB backbone network today, bringing future-ready network reach to customers ahead of the imminent IPv4 address exhaustion.

PEER 1 Hosting’s network is one of the first supporting both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, ensuring customers’ websites remain visible to all users around the world, irrespective of the networks or hardware they are using.

The IPv6 upgrade is the result of $10M investment over the last three years by PEER 1 Hosting and has included a beta phase, allowing Colocation and transit customers to test the backbone through PEER 1 Hosting’s network of datacenters. Offering both IPv4 and IPv6 network capabilities will allow PEER 1 Hosting’s Colocation and hosting customers to adopt the new protocol at their own pace, by providing a bridge to both worlds as networks transition towards IPv6 as standard protocol.

“Ping is one of the things we pride ourselves on and here is the perfect example of how we’re making sure businesses are accessible and online,” said Jag Bains, director of Network Operations for PEER 1 Hosting. “IPv6 is the next wave and we’re at the forefront of the transition. When IPv4 reaches capacity we’re ready to support our clients with the new protocol.”

PEER 1 Hosting is ahead of the curve in bringing IPv6 online for its customers, while industry debate continues to linger over standards and adoption. The PEER 1 Hosting backbone will also offer the added network benefits of the IPv6 protocol including increased addressing capacity, more flexible security, the ability to expand infrastructure and accelerate business.

Peace Point Entertainment Group launched their latest mobile app. SuperBodies is an app that matches science and art through cutting-edge computer-generated imagery to explore athleticism of the human body. With the SuperBodies mobile experience, audiences navigate through the body to observe first-hand the effects, reactions and stressors endured by world-class athletes.

With cutting-edge 3D animation and original video, the SuperBodies mobile app allows users in a game play format to peel away the human skin, revealing what truly happens on the inside when star athletes perform. Choose from gymnastics, badminton, boxing, volleyball, 100m dash and swimming. Explore how highly-tuned bodies cope with such physically shocking tribulations as a knockout punch, a blow to the ribs or fierce muscle tear. See what happens to the circulatory, skeletal, muscular, nervous and respiratory systems, each rendered with vibrant computer graphic animations that appear to probe the human bodies’ intricate mazes.

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Showcasing summer sports in advance of the 2012 Summer Games, each athletic activity is teased apart in compelling short videos featuring the charismatic Greg Wells, Ph.D., a scientist and physiologist who works with elite athletes.  Dr. Wells is familiar to audiences as the SuperBodies TV host for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, regular contributor on CTV’s Canada AM, and medical analyst for ABC News Olympic coverage.  SuperBodies will be a staple feature during the Consortium’s coverage of London 2012.

With Dr. Wells as a guide, the hand held device acts as a camera pod that lets you fly through the body in any direction to see how an athlete’s skeleton, muscles and nerves perform as they compete in top level sports. The user navigates through the body of the world’s greatest athletes by dragging a finger or tilting the device.  Tap the screen once to view the athlete’s vital signs (heart rate, temperature and breaths per minute).  Tap twice to select a sport.

“SuperBodies makes complex physiology fascinating and easy to understand,” said Les Tomlin, CEO of Peace Point Entertainment Group, which produces the SuperBodies properties, including the Gemini Award-winning television documentary and segments for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium during its multiplatform coverage of Vancouver 2010. “From an adrenaline rush to a world record victory, we expose fascinating extremes from inside the human body, making biomedical mysteries accessible to everybody.”

The anatomically precise SuperBodies mirrors cutting edge research in the field of exercise medicine, which tests, trains and heals the human body. “SuperBodies shows people why top athletes are amazing and what makes them different from you and me,” said Dr. Wells. “Kids who see how mind-blowing we are on the inside, and who understand our human potential, may be more likely to participate in sports and take care of their health.”

Superbodies is produced with the participation of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium and the Bell Broadcast & New Media Fund and is available now in HD for the iPad, iPhone 4 and the latest gen iPod Touch for $3.99 USD as well as non-HD for older iPhone and iPod touch devices for just $1.99 USD.

Tactica Interactive, creators of the Tiga Talk Speech Therapy game have launched a contest with a 4G iPod Touch as the top prize.  The contest is open to anyone aged 15 and up (void in Quebec), and will feature 9 bi-weekly Tiga Talk prize packs on top of the Grand Prize:

Grand Prize Draw: One (1) Grand Prize draw will be made at 1 pm on Friday September 2, 2011. The Grand Prize winner will be randomly selected among the entries and the name of each winning entry will be declared the potential winner.

Bi-Weekly Prize Draws: Nine (9) Weekly Prize draws will be made every second Friday starting May 6th, 2011. Each of the Weekly Prize winners will be randomly selected among the entries and the name of each winning entry will be declared the potential winner.

All you have to do to win is talk about Tiga Talk by using the form or links on the Contest Info Page to share Tiga Talk with your friends on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr, or show them your  own Tiga Talk blog, YouTube video or other way you are spreading the good word about Tiga Talk. Please refer to the Contest Rules for full entry and prize details.

Tiga Talk, the companion game to APTN’s television show by the same name, is currently on sale for $1.99 USD in the iTunes App Store, and was developed with licensed speech and language pathologists. Tiga Talk is a fun way for children to develop speech sounds through playful voice-controlled games that can improve speech clarity, articulation, and instill confidence. The app is for parents and speech therapists working with toddlers and children with language delays, as well as any parent looking to give their child a head start in early language development.

Children learn fundamental phonetic sounds, that are the building blocks of language, as they play 23 fun voice controlled games on an imaginative adventure with Tiga and friends. Game play rewards are based entirely on participation, not accuracy, so the child is constantly getting positive feedback as long as they are trying to make sounds.

Game activities include piloting a boat, helicopter, hot air balloon, race car, train, submarine, and even flying a rocket ship to visit the moon. Players can pop balloons to reveal clues to guide them on their adventure as well as knock over obstacles that lay in their path, including towers of tires, ice blocks, hay bales, crates, logs or even moon rocks.

Before each game children are introduced to a new phonetic sound by game characters. They are shown a cartoon image representing the sound and are encouraged to try saying the sound aloud. The app listens to make sure they’re verbally participating and congratulates them if they are and showers them with friendly encouragement if they aren’t.

Tiga Talk’s other features include:

• Voice controlled games encourage kids to speak clearly
• Game play based on actual speech therapy sessions
• Beautifully vibrant graphics and a variety fun learning games designed to engage young children
• Entertaining cartoon characters deliver lots of positive feedback
• An exciting interactive story adventure
• Licensed speech therapists selected the apps 23 core phonetic sounds
• Audio and video hints help demonstrate the correct way to make language sounds
• A sound meter to measure voice volume levels
• Track progress and earn gold stars the more you play
• Children are able to practice specific sounds and games
• So easy to play young children can even use it by themselves

Here are just some of the benefits to be gained with Tiga Talk:

• A great way for all kids to get a head start on language development
• Kids learn to pronounce sounds more accurately including syllables, letters, and letter combinations
• Help your child improve coordination and strength of speech muscles
• Children learn through sound repetition and imitation
• Children differentiate between sounds they hear and create a broader base vocabulary
• Improve communication between the child’s brain and the body through visual and auditory aids
• Improve childhood communication with peers and adults
• Instill a sense of pride and confidence in your child

Tiga Talk is rated 4+ and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch (2nd, 3rd and 4th gen) and iPad. It requires iOS 4.1 or later. Tiga Talk is developed with the financial support of the Bell Fund.

marblemedia has launched Storm, the newest browser game for its hit YTV show Splatalot. Head on over to the Splatalot site and test your luck in dodging the obstacles as you battle your way to the castle. The bonus is that unlike the show’s competitors, you get to stay safe and dry. If you haven’t yet watched Splatalot, you really should check it out. YTV and Danone has also paired up to give kids a chance to be a contestant on the show – details are on the Splatalot Winalot page.

Those of you who are still celebrating in the euphoric cloud of last night’s Canuck win over the Blackhawks may not be aware that scheduling service Tungle has been acquired by Research In Motion. In a statement on the company’s blog this morning, Tungle CEO Marc Gingras stated that “We’re really excited about this. We know there isn’t an industry more exciting than the smartphone and tablet markets, and RIM is a dominant player in this space. As of today, the entire team is joining the ranks of RIM. It’s playoff season and the Tungle team is focusing on putting the puck in the net for you, our customers. You have kept us on our toes, given us great ideas and most importantly, have been great supporters. For that, we thank you. Our objective is to keep innovation at the forefront – to be rebels in our own way. Think, Create, Innovate.”

Roaring Penguin Software Inc. has announced the availability of CanIt Archiver, an e-mail archiving and e-mail business continuity software program for small business.  CanIt Archiver automatically archives e-mail and makes it available from anywhere via a web-based user interface, making it an ideal tool for e-mail business continuity.  In the event that your e-mail server disappears, it is comforting to know that you will be able to read your e-mail.

CanIt Archiver allows you to search based upon the date range, message subject, sender, recipients, message body, attachment filename and many more advanced criteria.  It also allows you to perform nested searches to narrow down your search criteria.  Also, CanIt Archiver can find “related messages” which finds all messages referred to by a given message.  This allows you to easily follow the thread of a conversation.  Best of all, CanIt Archiver allows end users to search their own archives, saving system administrators time and effort in tracking down old e-mails.

CanIt Archiver allows you to specify how long mail should be retained, thereby tailoring your e-mail retention policy to match your organization’s policies or regulatory requirements such as the Freedom of Information Act, HIPAA, SOX, etc.

CanIt Archiver is integrated with:

* CanIt-PRO, an anti-spam software solution suitable for small and medium business.
* CanIt-Domain-PRO, spam filtering software for MSPs to host anti-spam for their customers.
* Hosted CanIt, a fully outsourced, hosted anti-spam service.

Mobio Identity Systems, an international mobile payment and marketing company, is pleased to announce its exclusive partnership with Shaw Media to be Mobio’s first and only Canadian broadcast sales representative. For an initial term of 15 months, Shaw Media will be the official broadcast reseller of Mobio payment and marketing applications to advertising agencies, media buying services and direct clients across the country. The Mobio Smartphone app is available now via the company’s web site.

“Mobio’s innovative approach to interactive marketing and advertising gives Shaw Media an added edge in our highly competitive sales environment,” said Errol Da-Ré, Senior Vice President Sales, Shaw Media. “Together with Mobio, we will be able to deliver a uniquely personalized and valuable broadcast experience to all of our customers and clients.”

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Broadcasters and advertisers are quickly recognizing the potential for QR barcodes to change the face of their industry. With media fragmentation pulling the attention of consumers in multiple different directions, advertisers are having a difficult time reaching and meaningfully engaging their customers. By leveraging their core assets, Mobio and Shaw Media will bring broadcast media to life in two very powerful ways, engaging customers like never before through:

• Interactive Marketing – Allowing viewers to exchange information and receive personalized offers by scanning a barcode directly off of a TV with a Smartphone
• Processing Payments – Allowing viewers to securely purchase products and services by scanning a barcode directly off of a TV with a Smartphone

“According to our recent research, 77% of QR barcode scanning is occurring digitally – both online and on TV – so partnering with a high profile broadcaster like Shaw Media is a tremendous opportunity,” said Mark Binns, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobio Identity Systems, Inc. “This partnership will allow our collective customer base to engage on a whole new level, adding massive value for viewers and significant revenue potential for advertisers and brands.”

Intertainment Media Inc. has announced that Ortsbo, its social media, real time, language translation platform, continues to accelerate, reaching 13.1 Million Unique Monthly Users, month over month for the period ended April 25, 2011. Since launch in late July 2010, Ortsbo has recorded over 183 Million minutes of User Engagement, over 129 Million Page Views, approximately 40 Million Unique Users and in excess of 58 Million Online Sessions. All of the Ortsbo performance metrics are validated independently through 3^rd party verification including Google Analytics.

In the past week, Ortsbo has generated over 17 Million minutes of User Engagement, 12.9 Million Page Views, 6.2 Million Online Sessions and 4.8 Million Unique Users, a new record of Unique Users.

According to Google Analytics reports, over 80% of users visit Ortsbo web sites directly and are not using search engines or third party referrals. With over 110,000 Facebook Fans, over 15,000 joining this week, and over 12,500 Twitter followers, the Company continues to experience viral growth opportunities.

On April 20, 2011 Ortsbo announced that together with international rock legend, accomplished global entrepreneur, Ortsbo business partner and spokesman, Gene Simmons and sponsor Live Nation will present Gene Simmons Live & Global, an interactive global event allowing people all over the world to chat with Mr. Simmons in 53 languages. The event will be broadcast from the Rodeo Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel on Friday, May 20, 2011 beginning 7:30 am Pacific. Users can register online for the event.

Unlike other social media platforms that may experience limited revenue opportunities, Ortsbo has been developed with the ability, in time, to generate revenues from a number of key sources, including, but not limited to:

Social Media – as with many other social media platforms like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, Ortsbo has initiated advertising and sponsorship programs, allowing advertisers to reach users, through customized offers, on demand and targeted advertising. To maximize long term value, Ortsbo has made advertising available to companies around the globe and has been sharing its independently verified analytics with existing and potential advertisers.

Email – Ortsbo has developed an email translation platform that simply “plugs-in” to existing email applications. The first of these coming to market shortly is Ortsbo for Microsoft Outlook, or “O4O”. The product allows instant translation of email with original language attachments. Ortsbo has launched a pilot web site and expects to make it publicly available shortly. The email plug-in module will retail for $29.95 US. Ortsbo also offers a secure, multi-user, multilingual chat module for the commercial market. Read the rest of this entry »