CNM Short Takes

Bell Fund releases names of 19 winners in Feb. 1 roundSix new media-and-broadcast producers received production grants from the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund in its latest round of funding, including Shaftesbury Films for 11 Cameras, Breakthrough Entertainment for Captain Flamingo, Nelvana Ltd. for Digata Defenders, Productions Pixcom Inc. for Les Superépiciers, and Marblemedia’s This Is Emily Yeung. Also securing production funding is Erky Perky, a collaboration between two Canadian firms, London ON’s Digital Wizards and Toronto’s CCI Entertainment, and several Australian producers. The venture is the first Canadian-Australian co-production in the Bell Fund’s history. Canadian NEW MEDIA will have more on Erky Perky in a future issue.Meanwhile, seven projects received development grants from the fund, including Xenophile Media’s The Hive and Flourish Media Inc.’s Jetstream Interactive. Six organizations also received funding for professional development, including the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec, The Banff Centre, New Media BC, and the Alliance for Children and Television. Canadians taking to Web banking: surveyRoughly three out of every five Web surfers in Canada now use the Internet for banking, according to a recently released survey from Markham ON’s ACNielsen Canada. Since 2002, the number of Canadians conducting banking online has grown, to the point where 59% of Internet users do their banking over the Web. Men are more likely to embrace the technology than women (56% to 45%), and the most commonly reported online banking tasks were checking account balances (53%), paying bills, (44%) and checking credit card balances (36%). The survey also gauged respondents’ attitudes towards online retailers and offensive and illegal content on the Internet, finding that many Canadians expect lower prices from online stores versus bricks-and-mortar retailers, and expect law enforcement agencies to act on content contravening laws. AirG adds content monitoring tool to suiteMobile social networking firm AirG of Vancouver unveiled a new content monitoring product for use with its forums. Available as either a per-seat software licence or as a managed service, Community Patrol is a software filter designed for use by mobile network operators as well as other third-party social network and community software developers and vendors, and gives administrators the ability to filter and monitor user-submitted posts both before and after they’re published. As a managed service, multilingual and security-screened AirG staffers will keep an eye on content around the clock. Community Patrol can also be configured to automatically ban users from a service entirely, as well as manually imposed bans by username and handset ID. Toronto hospital’s pediatric patients get wireless networkAbility Online, a Scarborough ON-based charity that helps connect kids with disabilities through the use of technology, has donated computer hardware for a new wireless network at Toronto’s Humber River Regional Hospital. The laptop and desktop computers provided by the charity will be used in the hospital’s pediatrics wing, and will allow young patients to stay in touch with friends, family and others while undergoing care. In a media release, Humber River Regional Hospital women’s and children’s program director Bev Philp said: "It’s great for the whole family because parents can also chat with parents in other hospitals and share resources and experiences." Montreal’s Extenway in hotel iTV partnershipExtenway Solutions Inc. of Montreal, which provides interactive TV applications for the hospitality industry, announced a strategic partnership with Niantic, CT’s INNCOM International Inc. that will see the two firms offer a room management system through television sets. Using the system, guests can individually adjust settings within their rooms such as fan speed, temperature, radio position and volume, and can also check out of their room. The settings can also be saved to a customer profile for use on future visits. FUN Technologies buys NASCAR game providerToronto-based skill game developer and distributor FUN Technologies Inc. has acquired Fantasy Sports Inc., a provider of NASCAR-themed fantasy sports games headquartered in York PA, for US$3.85. Through its SkillJam Technologies Corp. unit, FUN Technologies will integrate the American firm’s offerings with its fantasy sports division. FUN Technologies’ all-cash offer was accepted by Silverstar Holdings Ltd., Fantasy Sports’ parent company. Although the Canadian firm already has a NASCAR-based offering, "Fantasy Sports’ NASCAR product complements our existing fantasy product, and provides natural cross-sell opportunities," FUN Technologies CEO Lorne Abony said in a media release announcing the deal. Radio ringtone market next on the TruePathA Vancouver firm, TruePath Mobile, is helping conventional broadcasters get into the ringtone retailing game with its new software offering, TruePath for Broadcasters – Radio Station Edition (RSE). The product gives radio stations the power to tie their current playlists into an e-commerce offering and offer downloadable ringtones either through mobile phones or the Internet. TruePath for Broadcasters – RSE is available as a managed service, allowing them to skirt the costly investment of building ringtone retailing capability in-house, but giving them full control over the delivery of the service. AskMeNow comes to Rogers Wireless networkRogers Wireless Inc. has inked an agreement with information service provider AskMeNow of Irvine CA that will see the US firm offer its query-driven content over Rogers’ network. The two services on offer from AskMeNow, AskMeNow and AskMeAnything, will give Blackberry users on the Rogers Wireless network access to directory inquiries, flight schedules, news headlines, hotel information, weather forecasts, stock quotes and more. The AskMeNow application can be downloaded from the Business Navigate deck on Rogers’ Blackberries, and is free for 30 days. Transcontinental buys into digital signage firmPublishing and media conglomerate Transcontinental Media Inc. recently announced the acquisition of the majority of shares in Enixa Media, a digital signage firm with approximately 400 displays located in 45 grocery stores throughout the Montreal area. Enixa has already earmarked the funds for a growth program that will see its network quadruple in size within the next two years. "This extension of our presence on multi-channel platforms is in line with our Evolution 2010 business plan," said Transcontinental Media president and CEO Luc Desjardins, referring to the company’s plan for increasing both market share and breadth of content available by the year 2010. Pirelli makes digital tracks with help from NurunMontreal-based interactive marketing agency Nurun Inc. has been tasked with rethinking Italian tire maker Pirelli’s global interactive branding and online presence. First up for the Quebec-headquartered firm will be a microsite devoted to The Call, an eight-minute short film created for Pirelli starring John Malkovich and Naomi Campbell. Nurun will also be creating and disseminating supplemental material relating to the film, such as "the making of"-type content and a marketing campaign. The Call and Nurun’s other efforts on the tire maker’s behalf such as a redesign of its famous calendar, are scheduled for launch in June. Nurun’s Milan, Shanghai, Paris and Atlanta offices are working together on the project. ExtendMedia wins broadband movie contractToronto’s ExtendMedia Inc. will work with Santa Monica CA-based ClickStar Inc. to deliver broadband movies to North American clients, the two firms announced recently. ClickStar, which plans to offer newly released Hollywood movies before they’re even available on DVD, will use ExtendMedia’s OpenCASE software for the content management compontent of its service. Existing customers of ExtendMedia’s solution include Bell Canada and Bethpage NY-based CableVision Systems Corp. The fully DRM-compliant service is targeted at users of "media centre"-type personal computers, including Intel Corp.’s new Viiv platform.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | April 28, 2006

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