CNM Short Takes

Market research and prototype winners announced by CNMFTelefilm Canada has announced the results for its most recent funding round for the Canada New Media Fund’s market research and protyping phase envelopes. The agency will dole out $2.2 million for 2005-2006. The next deadline for all phase envelopes in the fund is October 19, 2005. In this round, 34 projects were approved. The full list of funding winners is available at www.telefilm.gc.ca/data/communiques/rel_593.asp. Dose to use Shoom e-tearsheetDaily commuter paper Dose will use an electronic tearsheet system that provides advertisers with a web-based service delivering thumbnail images of newspaper pages on the day of publication. The system is being provided by Los Angeles-based Shoom Inc., represented in Canada by Ad Express. Dose, published by CanWest MediaWorks, has big hopes for the system. In a media release, Dose VP of advertising sales Greg Morton said, "Shoom’s eTearSheet is one of the most significant breatkthroughs in print advertising management. It’s great for our advertising partners who want to monitor their ad placements and now no longer need to sort through thousands of paper tearsheets. It’s also tremendously beneficial for us as it will lead to faster invoicing and reporting processing." The system has been customized, noted the media release, to account for Dose’s non-traditional ad formats. The same press release notes that 20 Canadian newspapers already use Shoom’s system. Impact offers SMS donationsImpact Mobile is offering cell phone users the ability to donate a dollar to the Molson Indy Festival Foundation by text messaging. Users can text the word RACE to 100100 to make the donation, which will appear on their phone bill. The donation will qualify participants to win two gold passes to the Molson Indy. Money will benefit The SickKids Foundation, Operation Herbie, Variety and others. The campaign is being touted as the first short code donation service in Canada. CSPI rises in April: StatsCanThe Commercial Software Price Index rose in April by 1.5% over the previous month to stand at 78.3. The CSPI was set at 100 in 2001. Japan-based Cybird acquires Airborne EntertainmentCybird Co. Ltd., Tokyo, has purchased for $90 million Montreal-based Airborne Entertainment Inc. A media release notes that Cybird will exploit Airborne’s library of original and branded content, as well as Airborne’s strong distribution channel in North America. In an interview with CNM affiliate publication Report on Wireless, Airborne CEO Garner Bornstein says Asian companies are gearing up to acquire further North American wireless content companies. He sees several other recent deals by Japanese companies as a portend of things to come. "The sign is that the countries where (wireless content) is most evolved see the potential because of what’s happened there and they realize the massive potential of North America in this space and want to get in on the ground floor before the market becomes more mature," Bornstein says."There’s a limited amount of product and content that goes back and forth between North America and Asia just because the cultures are very different. The synergies that we saw with Cybird are less about taking our products and distributing them in Japan and vice versa, although that will be the case on a when-it-makes-sense basis; the real synergies were taking advantage of their technology to be able deliver products in new technologies as they’re developed here, even though the actual content will be North American targeted. But the ability to be ready for new technologies as they’re developed because Japan is far ahead is very valuable for us. And they also have tremendous experience in how business develops and in how the market has moved there that allows us to think ahead a bit." QSound licenses tech to BenQBenQ, formerly Acer Communication & Multimedia, has licensed several of QSound Labs Inc.’s sound enhancement technologies for integration into a range of mobile phones using various operating systems. Components include QSound’s microQ Synthesizer, QXpander and QSizzle/QRumble to improve high and low frequency audio components. One of the devices likely to make use of the technologies is BenQ’s P50 mobile device based on Intel’s PXA272 processor with Wireless MMX. The P50 was recently launched in Asia and will be available worldwide before the end of the year. Cryptologic introduces new casino gamesOnline gaming software company CryptoLogic Inc., Toronto, has introduced 14 new casino games bundled into its Bonus Pack 7 offering, and being offered through CryptoLogic’s subsidiary WagerLogic Ltd. The games include 12 new variations of video slots and two new scratch card games, which are a first for the company. Heritage funds new children’s TV series and web siteCanadian Heritage has provided $50,700 in funding to Nexus Media Inc. to build a children’s television series and web site based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Nexus will create eight half-hour programs focused on the seven basic freedoms shared by Canadians, along with an interactive component to offer children a place to learn about the democratic process. Nexus was already involved in the development of A Child’s Guide to Government. The money is being provided out of the department’s Canadian Studies program that supports the production of educational material, particularly in under-studied areas. "Multimedia resources are an effective tool for getting key messages into schools and homes across the country. We must show our children that no matter who we are, what we believe, or where we live, we all share the same basic rights and freedoms in Canada," said Liberal Cabinet minister Geoff Regan on behalf of Heritage minister Liza Frulla. Alberta new media association simplifies membership feesAlberta New Media announces that it has simplified membership fees for the association. 2005 membership rates are $50 for individuals or the self-employed, $500 for corporations of 10 or more people, and $20 for students. There were previously no rates for large companies or government bodies to join the association. Members are entitled to discounted admissions to the group’s social monthly mixers, educational seminars, and access to members-only sections of the web site, including corporate profiles, a job board and events calendar. Wireless development fund launched in P.E.I. Technology PEI, Rogers Wireless and Ericsson Canada have issued a first request for proposals for their new Wireless Technology Development Fund. The $1-million pot will be used to support the develpment of new products and services for wireless applications. Rogers and Ericsson contributed $500,000 to the fund, matched by the provincial government. A media release noted that the "fund is intended to encourage and support development of a wide range of projects aimed at developing services or products based on wireless network technology including, but not restricted to, cellular network technology. Projects should be based on the development of a service or product that will deliver revenue opportunity to the innovative company demonstrated through a business plan." The same release notes ringtones, text messaging and video games as examples of what the fund might support. It will provide up to 50% of the total development project staff budget to a maximum of $50,000. Further details are available on TechPEI’s site, www.techpei.com. "The idea is to both encourage the development of products and to encourage the development of a skilled workforce," said P.E.I.’s Development and Technology minister, Mike Currie. "Wireless technology is a fast growing industry and we need to further develop our capacity to attract new businesses to the province and encourage existing businesses to explore new opportunities." The fund will provide loans that must see the principal repaid along with an agreed royalty based on the future gross sales of the product or service developed from the project. Aliant introduces IPTVAtlantic Canadian telco Aliant has introduced a new Internet Protocol television service dubbed Aliant TV in Halifax. The service offers over 150 digital channels including four local ones, and 70 digital music channels. The service is expected to be expanded to the rest of Aliant’s serving territory in future. It will cost as little as $29 per month for the first 12 months, and is already being marketed as part of a bundle of other telecom services. Aliant has been on a rollercoaster ride with its television offerings, first marketing its VibeVision product until June 2002, then offering TV on my PC. Subscribers to its VibeVision product were converted to Bell ExpressVu when it was shuttered.

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | June 24, 2005

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