CNM Short Takes

CTV launches broadband news serviceToronto-based broadcaster CTV Inc. had launched what it calls "phase one" of a new TV-over-broadband service, the CTV Broadband Network. The offering currently consists of four dedicated channels: CTV Shows, which features full-length prime-time programming; CTV News and Docs, composed of current affairs and new programs updated hourly; eTalk on Broadband for entertainment news buffs; and Discovery Channel on CTV, for science, nature and travel programming. More programming is anticipated to be added this fall, when phase two of the network gets underway. Kris Faibish, VP for digital media at CTV Television, says the news clips are "edited for length and content to be more concise and phone friendly," adding that CTV has added additional content creation staff to help manage the process. Brighter Minds sees brighter Q1The first three months of the year were kind to Toronto-based Brighter Minds Media Inc., a producer of interactive DVD games, casual games and other multimedia for the educational market. The firm brought in US$883,660 worth of revenue during the quarter ended March 31, up from US$453,034 for the same period in 2005 – a 95% growth rate. However, after operating costs, the firm’s net loss widened from $278,693 in Q1 2005 to $341,653 in the current quarter. In a media release, president and CEO Vivian Antonangeli noted that the first quarter is traditionally the slowest for the firm: historically, 50% of Brighter Minds’ revenues are realized during the last four months of the year, with the back-to-school shopping period, Thanksgiving and Christmas all in those months. Wapikoni Mobile wins Astral prizeWapikoni Mobile, a traveling multimedia laboratory and classroom designed to help younger members of the Atikamek and Algonquin nations learn more about digital media production and webcasting, won the grand prize at Astral Media Inc.’s Télédiversité awards, held in Montreal May 25. The project also netted a $5,000 cash prize for its contribution to integrating ethnic and cultural minority groups into the media world. Last year, Wapikoni Mobile was also awarded $50,000 worth of funding last year through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canadian Culture Online program. New site for Chinese-Canadian genealogy onlineLibrary and Archives Canada has teamed up with the Vancouver Public Library to offer a new website aimed at Chinese-Canadians looking to explore their cultural heritage. The Chinese-Canadian Genealogy portal gives members of the community – as well as researchers, historians and others interested in the history of Chinese immigrants in Canada – the ability to learn more about the basic and advanced techniques used to trace family trees through records, archives and other stores of information. Special attention is given to the fact that many Chinese names were roughly translated into English upon arrival in Canada, and the site also features supplemental information such as patterns of Chinese settlement in the new world, links to stories about prominent early Chinese-Canadians, and more. http://www.vpl.ca/ccg MusicIP awarded US$2M in VC fundingToronto’s MusicIP Corp., which owns and operates a worldwide search engine for the music industry, announced a US$2 million round of venture capital financing recently. The firm – formerly known as Predixis Corp. – has gathering "fingerprints" allowing it to tag and analyze the attributes of more than 19 million songs from around the world. In turn, that relational database allows users to discover and hear new bands based on their current favourites. The funding comes courtesy of J.L. Albright Venture Partners, a Toronto-based venture capital firm that specializes in communications, systems, Internet and media start-ups. CommandN picks PodZinger to supply search engineWeekly video podcast commandN has chosen a specialized search engine from Cambridge MA’s PodZinger to help its viewers find archived content more quickly. The American firm’s software incorporates speech recognition capabilities to allow keyword audio and video searches of podcasts and other multimedia content, and can jump directly to the point in the content where the keyword is spoken. With a 15-minute show posted online each week, commandN’s back catalog contains a lot of data, host and co-founder Amber MacArthur noted in a media release. "With the addition of Podzinger video search, our viewers have quick and accurate access to the information within commandN’s ever-growing video archive," she said. Zi Corp. launches Qix music search toolCalgary-based Zi Corp. recently announced the release of Qix, a search engine for music and other content that resides on mobile handsets rather than on the network. The tool allows users to quickly find content by keyword or playlist without having to navigate the various decks on their phone, thus boosting carriers’ average revenue per user (ARPU) by making content transactions easier and quicker. Qix recently concluded a trial with UK mobile network operator Virgin Mobile UK, and Zi CEO and president Milos Djokovic said the product is primed to capitalize on what could be a $725-million market for mobile music by 2009. "The boom in music downloads is a prime example of this vast market potential and we are tremendously excited by what Qix can now offer to users and their revenue-hungry service providers – the network operators," he said in a media release. Alchemic turns MMOG into gold for SylienAlchemic Dream Inc. of Shawinigan QC has partnered with Ottawa’s Sylien Entertainment Corp. to create a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) around the latest installment in the Ontario firm’s Trade Wars series of games. Trade Wars: Tournament is a 2D casual MMOG that draws on the more than 20 years of history around Sylien’s vintage multiplayer space commerce game; once that project is up and running, the two companies will follow up with a new 3D MMOG offering dubbed The Paradise Project. Alchemic Dream has already met with success in creating MMOG strategies for such games as Dungeons and Dragons Online, Second Life, Project Entropia and Dark and Light. In a media release, Sylien president Sylvain Rochon said Alchemic Dream’s involvement in the Trade Wars MMOG will allow his firm "to focus on what we do best: design and develop innovative game concepts." Ottawa’s Magmic signs deal with Exit GamesMagmic Games, an Ottawa-based developer of gaming content for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry handheld device, has signed an agreement to publish its titles on a multi-platform environment from Hamburg, Germany’s Exit Games. The Canadian firm will now be able to access the newly released Exit Games Neutron 3.0 proprietary system to make its games ready for such platforms as the BlackBerry operating system as well as J2ME and BREW environments for mobile phones. Axxium Canada grabs rights for "cell phone gas pump"Cell phone battery specialists Axxium Canada of Montreal have acquired the Canadian rights for a electronic device recharging kiosk patented by the UK’s Kwik-E-Charge LLC. The RapidRechargeRapide (R3) kiosks, as they’ll be known in Canada, allow users to fill the rechargeable batteries in their mobile phones, notebook computers, digital cameras, MP3 players and other portable electronic devices in just three minutes. Although each charge will cost $3.00, the kiosks also come equipped with colour display monitors that can loop advertisments and other paid content, creating additional revenue streams. The kiosks will be placed in hotels, airports, convention centres, coffee shops and other high-traffic public locations. Toronto’s interactive "street furniture" wins design awardMontreal’s Astral Media Outdoor and design firm Kramer Design Associates recently announced that their INFOTOGO street information pillar – a device the two firms dub "the City of Toronto’s first-ever interactive, stylized street-level furniture" – has won an award from the Society of Environmental Graphic Designers. The pillars are equipped with coin-operated map dispensers and an automated push-button audio system that features tourist information; some kiosks also come with an LED public notification system that can be programmed to alert users of local events. Jeremy Kramer, principal and creative director at Kramer Design Associates, said in a media release: "Designing the INFOTOGO pillar was an exciting opportunity to create something that was uniquely Toronto, expanding on KDA’s transit shelters, with the purpose of working toward an overall, integrated street furniture program." AirG makes move into Australia’s mobile marketplaceVancouver-based mobile social networking software provider AirG has inked a deal with Australia’s Optus, a mobility network boasting more than six million customers in that country. With a variety of themed "micro-communities" including Sports Chat, Games Room and AirDate, the venture will connect Optus’ users with the existing AirG subscriber base of 7.5 million worldwide. In a media release, AirG director Frederick Ghahramani noted that Optus’ Zoo content portal will be a high-profile venue for the Canadian firm’s product, and "AirG is pleased to be an integral part...by powering Optus’ mobile community solution."

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | June 26, 2006

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