CNM Short Takes

Palm, Nettwerk strike mobile music dealLeading Vancouver indie music label and artist management firm Nettwerk Records has teamed up with handheld device maker Palm Canada Inc. to offer a new music service offering exclusive content. The Nettwerk-to-Palm channel, as it’s been dubbed, will feature digital music and screen image files available to download for users of Palm’s Treo 650 smartphone, and music, screen images and video files for LifeDrive mobile manager hardware users. Among the more than 10 Nettwerk-represented artists to be profiled under the program are Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Swollen Members and the Be Good Tanyas. The Treo 650 runs on the Bell Mobility network, while the LifeDrive features built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Palm says both devices share a common user profile: over 25 years old, frequently online while on the road, and enthusiastic about embracing new technology and content channels. XM readies for rollout in CanadaOne of the two U.S.-backed satellite subscription radio services approved for distribution here has rolled out its Canadian marketing strategy and brand. Canadian Satellite Radio Inc.’s XM Canada, which is partnered with XM Satellite Radio of Washington DC, will have its receivers available for sale through electronics and entertainment retailers as well as General Motors dealers and XM’s own website in time for the holiday shopping season. To promote the launch of XM Canada, the firm is offering the first round of Canadian subscribers membership in something it calls the XM Canada Founder’s Club. As mandated by the CRTC during its licencing hearings, XM Canada will feature eight Cancon-compliant channels, four in each official language, and will also offer more than 1,000 NHL games during the 2005-2006 season. The Score set to launch wireless channel?Hamilton ON’s Score Television Network Ltd. may be expanding its content to mobile delivery channels, according to a trademark filing on the Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s web site. The round-the-clock sports specialty channel has registered the trademark Score Anywhere with CIPO, and described the proposed service as "providing information and entertainment services relating to sports and/or sports associated events via the Internet and via wireless telecommunications." Wave Generation supplies sound for world’s game shopsWave Generation of Montreal is making waves with its sound production offerings for video game developers. The firm, which was founded in 2001, recently announced that such major gaming studios as Vivendi Universal Games, Ubisoft, Atari, Rockstar Games and Electronic Arts had contracted it to provide music, voice and sound effects audio tracks for more than 20 titles so far this year. Wave Generation has also set up a unit devoted to providing game sound services for the mobile gaming market; it has already produced more than 200 sound tracks for mobile wireless games. In addition to the Canadian market, the firm has clients in China, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States. Accessibility partners team up in QuebecThe W3Québec web standards group and AccessibilitéWeb, an initiative to improve accessibility on the World Wide Web, have joined forces to further develop strategies for providing access to online content for the visually impaired. Consulting, evaluation and certification expertise will be provided by AccessibilitéWeb, which partners with the Québec Foundation for the Blind, while W3Québec will provide training in accessibility-friendly web standards and practices. Diversinet secures Magna betting offeringsDiversinet Corp. of Toronto has been contracted by fellow GTA firm Magna Entertainment Corp. to provide the security component of Magna’s mobile betting product. Aurora ON-based Magna Entertainment, which bills itself as North America’s number one owner and operator of horse racing tracks, will use Diversinet’s MobiSecure Soft Tokens and MobiSecure Authentication Service Center for authentication of bettors both on Magna Entertainment’s premises and over the broader Internet and mobility networks. The MobiSecure products will help protect Magna Entertainment’s customers against identity theft and "phishing," the two firms say, as well as provide age verification and geo-fencing. RFID-triggered signage unveiledMississauga ON’s BTV+ recently introduced an RFID display-triggering system for retail installations of digital signs. Ranging in cost between five cents and 20 cents each, the RFID tags can be placed on merchandise, then trigger informational or marketing content when brought in proximity to nearby digital signage. The tagging system will work both with BTV+’s proprietary ADvantage technology as well as third-party display systems. Maclean’s mag makes move into digital publishingVenerable Canadian institution Maclean’s magazine will be marking its centenary with a new digital edition, offered in conjunction with digital publisher and marketer Zinio Systems Inc. The digital version of the magazine will be an exact replica of the print offering, but will be downloaded automatically to subscribers as soon as each issue is finished and ready for the press. The magazine’s management say the digital edition will allow international readers to get the latest issue without having to wait for distribution of the printed version. PokerRoom.tv sits down with Maple Leaf SportsPatrons at the Air Canada Centre will soon be able to pass the time between periods or quarters with a round of poker. PokerRoom.tv, a "for-fun" online poker site, will partner with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to promote its online poker offerings to crowds at hockey and basketball games, as well as other events. The deal will see a Toronto Maple Leafs-branded Texas Hold ‘Em game on offer to audiences and spectators at the Air Canada Centre as well as signage advertising PokerRoom.tv’s properties. CryptoLogic cultivates players for Caribbean ClassicToronto’s CryptoLogic Corp. says licensees of its poker software will help players win their way into major international tournaments including the upcoming Caribbean Poker Classic, to be held in St. Kitts from November 25 to December 4. The Canadian firm’s WagerLogic subsidiary licences its poker software to online tournaments at such web sites as William Hill, Littlewoods and the Ritz Club London, allowing players to compete to join land-based players including actress Jennifer Tilly - the World Series of Poker’s reigning ladies champion - and Robert Varkonyi in St. Kitts. Trapeze takes on Habbo Hotel challengeCharlottetown’s Trapeze Animation Studios Ltd. has been selected to compete in the Habbo Hotel Animation Challenge, a competition staged by Sulake Corp. Oy, the Finnish firm responsible for the popular Habbo Hotel animated online community. Sulake has asked 15 animation studios around the world to each create a three-minute "Habbosode" set within the Habbo Hotel universe. The Finnish company will then compile a DVD containing all entries and send it to members of the online community, who will vote for their favourite short. The winning entry will be used as the foundation for a series of "Habbosodes" to air on television and other forms of media. "The challenge is to create a unique property that both respects the ideas and concepts of the online experience and is TV friendly," said Trapeze studio manager Brian Sharp in a media release. Nintendo announces free Wi-Fi hotspotsNintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan released details of a new program called Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for users of its Nintendo DS portable gaming hardware. The program will see Nintendo set up more than 1,000 public hotspots in the near future offering free access to wireless gamers. In the meantime, gamers can connect through other Wi-Fi connections, or at home through a wired connection to an ISP using a USB connector. Upcoming games for the Japanese firm’s DS hardware, including Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, and Metroid Prime Hunters, will have wireless gameplay built in. AMD launches contest for digital media buffsSunnyvale CA microprocessor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., better known as AMD, is looking for artists, illustrators and other creative types to provide their definition of "waitlessness." The chip maker says its new Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors mean less waiting for computing-intensive applications such as video editing and 3D rendering, and has launched the "64-Second Film Contest" to help get the word out. Entrants need only send in a 64-second-long piece of work illustrating their take on working without waiting to qualify for the grand prize. More details can be found at http://www.64seconds.com.

CNM Short Takes

News | 10/14/2005 4:00 am EDT

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