CNM Short Takes

Toopy and BinooA new interactive toy box for kids, the Toopy and Binoo website invites both English and French speaking little ones aged four to six to delve into the imaginary world of their favourite heroes. The Web site is the interactive alter ego of the animated series of the same name, broadcast in English on Treehouse and in French on Télé-Québec. The site was produced by Spectra Animation and created by Tribal Nova. Twelve online games inspired by the televised series rival the show in terms of their humour and creativity. A magic mirror lets kids disguise Binoo, and in the fruit chase game they have to catch fruit to feed the hungry clouds. The site also includes twelve easy-to-print activities. Puzzles, puppets and mobiles are just some of the great things kids can do at home or at daycare. Using the interactive features, kids can change the look of Toopy and Binoo’s house and launch surprise animated sequences. Instructions are spoken aloud so that preschool-aged kids can navigate the site alone. Like in the series, the French version of the site features Quebec star Marc Labrèche as Toopy; Franck Meschkuleit plays Toopy in the English version. In just three months the website has received more than 160,000 visits, with a return rate of 60 percent. The average visit length is 17 minutes, which further illustrates the site’s popularity. You can visit it in French at www.toupieetbinou.com and in English at www.toopyandbinoo.com. D-Box posts weaker numbers post-reorganizationD-Box Technologies Inc., a Longueuil QC maker of motion-enabled furniture and accessories for the home entertainment market, recently issued earnings for the third quarter of its 2005 fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31, 2005. The firm brought in nearly $100,000 less in revenues than it did during the same quarter in 2004, sliding from $874,183 for the three-month period ending Dec. 31, 2004 to $778,763 in its most recent quarter. As a result, D-Box’s net loss also rose from $444,552 in Q3 2004 to $573,339 for the same quarter in 2005. Anticipating the weaker results, the firm reorganized its administrative, accounting, and sales and marketing efforts during the quarter and also formulated a plan to work with entertainment industry movers-and-shakers to establish its proprietary motion simulation technology as the standard for such offerings. D-Box also hired a new VP of sales and marketing, Robert Desautels, to strengthen its business development activities. Despite the disappointing performance, president Claude McMaster predicted stronger performance in the coming months and pointed to the firm’s achievements so far in 2006, such as an award garnered at the CES Innovations consumer electronics trade show earlier this year and partnerships with seating manufacturers Continental Seating and Cinema Starline Seating. The firm has also begun to make inroads into the video game market, a move McMaster said gives the company another market to tap into. "We now find ourselves working in two major growth markets," he said in a media release. Interactive marketer turns to WitnessFirst Person Plural Inc., a Montreal Internet marketing firm, has launched a new product for delivering marketing messages through interactive content. Witness allows users to deploy marketing material using "advergames" and Internet content, tailor their message to suit very fine-grained target audiences, and gather demographic data from subjects. "Advertisers are increasingly faced with the difficulty of finding the elusive consumer, especially in the coveted 18-34 demographic, which is increasingly abandoning traditional media for the Internet," said COO Darren Henriet in a media release. "Using our technology, marketers are able to position their products and services in this rapidly growing interactive space." Quebec invests in A2M’s workforceThe Quebec government’s record of providing financial assistance to the province’s video game industry continues with its latest investment, a staffing and training grant provided to independent developer Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M) of Montreal. The Quebec Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity announced it will provide at least $807,000 worth of funding for a $3.2-million plan being undertaken by A2M, which focuses on upgrading the skills of the game developer’s 219 existing employees, as well as hiring and training 150 new ones. According to Jacques Chagnon, Member of National Assembly for A2M’s electoral district, Montreal is currently the fourth-most important city in the world for video game development, and the size of the video game workforce in the province is expected to grow by more than a third from its current 3,000 employees over the course of 2006. Founded in 1992, A2M has created interactive games for such movie and television tie-ins as Teen Titans, Scooby-Doo, Kim Possible and Monsters Inc., as well as their own original in-house concepts such as Get On The Mic and Scaler. Montreal’s Technomedia signs French partnerMontreal-based e-learning and HR management systems developer Technomedia Training Inc. has signed a five-year partnering deal with Crossknowledge of Puteaux, France. Under the terms of the agreement, Technomedia will convert all clients currently using Crossknowledge’s online training modules to its TM SIGAL learning management solution, and host their websites at a location where Technomedia can monitor and maintain their servers and applications. In return, the French firm will get a multi-year license for TM SIGAL, including maintenance and development services. Technomedia will also gain access to Crossknowledge’s roster of high-profile European clients, including Danone, France Telecom, Nestlé, and Sanofi-Aventis. "Replacing our current proprietary platform will improve reliability, as well as compatibility with our clients’ technological configurations and…international…standards. The new functionalities and multilingual management offered by Technomedia’s solution will also allow us to better serve our clients and their international affiliates," said Crossknowledge president Mickaël Ohana in a media release. LiveHive builds buzz for Survivor bettingCombining reality TV with the competitiveness of the office pool, Waterloo ON’s LiveHive Systems Inc. has teamed up with Survivor.com, the unofficial fansite for CBS Broadcasting Inc.’s Survivor television show. Adherents of the popular show can make real-time wagers with virtual money and predict the twists and turns of life "on the island", while LiveHive staffers simultaneously follow along and adjust the odds instantly. Anyone can join up and claim their $100 worth of play money at http://www.betonsurvivor.com, a site set up by LiveHive and Survivor.com owner Walton Communications of El Segundo CA. Distribusoft inks deal with four foreign publishersMontreal software distribution firm Distribusoft recently signed up four new game publishers for distribution in both French and English markets. Cenega Publishing of the Czech Republic, CDV Software Entertainment of Germany, Australia’s Auran and France’s Monte Cristo Multimedia will all have their offerings distributed in Canada by the Quebec firm. Between them, the four foreign game companies have generated such notable titles as Blitzkrieg 2, War on Terror, and Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006. With more than 20 staffers working on game publisher accounts, Distribusoft has been successful at getting its partners’ products into computer stores, bookstores, newsagents, department stores and online retailers across Canada. Law blogger covers SCC appointmentLast month Simon Fodden, a professor emeritus as York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, launched a new blog resource dedicated to the newest nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court of Canada. Justice Marshall Rothstein was interviewed by an ad hoc Parliamentary committee on February 27, and Fodden’s coverage and analysis of the appointment hearings is covered in detail on SLAW, a website Fodden created to enable open blogging about law and technology in Canada.

CNM Short Takes

News | 03/20/2006 5:00 am EST

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