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Vol 2, #15, April 13, 2010 |
Tony Clement to be keynote speaker at Canada 3.0 2010 Canada ’s Industry Minister Tony Clement will be the lead keynote speaker on the first day of the Canada 3.0 2010 digital media forum in Stratford May 10, the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) announced today. The two-day forum is dedicated to advancing Canada’s digital media industry, and Minister Clement is expected to share how Canada can leverage the strengths of this emerging sector for global economic advantage. “Industry Canada is committed to mobilizing science and technology to Canada’s advantage, and digital media has a key role to play in ensuring Canada’s ongoing economic success,” said Minister Clement. There are three key elements needed to sustain a strong technological lead for the country and those are: creating entrepreneurial advantage by translating knowledge into commercially viable products; knowledge advantage to build upon research and engineering to achieve excellence; and people advantage to attract and develop the talent needed to sustain a digital economy, Minister Clement said. Organizers highlight that the Canada 3.0 forum is an important milestone because it will bring together people with a common interest in making Canada a leader in digital media and achieving the ‘Moon Shot’ for ‘anyone to do anything on-line in Canada – by 2017’. “We are working to commercialize digital technology, increase R&D efforts and collaboration across the country, and grow the skilled talent pool through facilities such as the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus and DigiBC,” said Kevin Tuer, Managing Director of the CDMN. Helen McDonald, Assistant Deputy Minister, Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications, Industry Canada will also be speaking at the forum. Other speakers and stream leaders are drawn from private industry as well as academic and creative facilities. Top of Page Feature phones will now offer user experience comparable with smartphones, following a recent tie-up between Indiatimes Mail and iseemedia Inc., a leading provider of messaging and content handling technologies. The strategic partnership between both companies was announced today, and involves the integration of its ground-breaking iseemail software with IndiaTimes Mail. The integration allows Indiatimes Mail users to easily migrate their web email activities to their mobile phones through iseemedia's agreements with Tata Teleservices Ltd. and Reliance Communications, two leading wireless service operators in India. "This partnership with Indiatimes Mail is an important milestone for our Company in order to drive awareness and traction of our SMS services to our carrier partners in India," said Mr. Anthony DeCristofaro, President and CEO, iseemedia. "Our carrier partners can expect a higher adoption rate for iseemail through one of India's most popular web domains, as they aggressively market the iseemail service to its customer base." Indiatimes is one of the largest value-added services (VAS) providers to the telecom industry in India. It creates, aggregates and distributes information, utilities and entertainment to mobile users. Being operator-agnostic, its content is accessible to all the 175 million mobile users across the country. Speaking about the latest development, a senior Indiatimes official and company spokesperson of Times Internet Ltd, said: "We are happy to associate with iseemail. This partnership helps us meet a fundamental mobile consumer need to keep connected to mail via mobiles, and is a further step towards convergent service delivery vis-à-vis the accessing of emails on almost all types of mobile phones." In India, the telecom industry is growing by leaps and bounds with an ever-increasing subscriber base. "We're observing a discernible trend among social mobile users who are driving the convergence of web content portals with mobile wireless services," said Mr DeCristofaro. "Indiatimes Mail and iseemail together provide an ideal platform for better wireless email adoption and web content consumption," he added. iseemedia's multi-platform email solution, iseemail, enables every mobile handset in India to act as a smartphone and enable users to check, download and retrieve email messages using the SMS interface. iseemail supports all types of email messaging systems in India through standard POP3, IMAP4 and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocols. It also offers access to enterprise and consumer messaging from Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL and more. Top of Page Open Text changes the game with new strategy As part of a strategy to help customers better understand, control and monetize their content, Open Text Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC), the preeminent provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software, today announced plans to integrate and expand the content analytics capabilities of Nstein Technologies in the Open Text ECM Suite, making Open Text the first vendor to make content analytics pervasive across an entire ECM suite of products. The plans will bring new content analytics capabilities to Open Text's solutions, adding value for customers by helping them create powerful new ways to engage users, improve productivity and manage governance and e-discovery issues. With the skyrocketing volumes of content in organizations today, customers need more intelligent analytics to identify relevant content. Open Text is meeting the demand in a comprehensive way with its acquisition of Nstein, April 1. With Nstein's technology as part of the ECM Suite, customers gain a full-featured content analysis engine they can extend across their ECM environments, covering text-based content - regulated documents, email, social media, Web content, OCR-treated scanned images, and content in business systems, such as Microsoft, SAP and Oracle. As a result, customers can take advantage of increased content relevance in a variety of use cases for improved customer engagement in web and mobile applications, improved productivity of project teams, or more cost efficient legal review of content for e-discovery. Open Text's first integration of Nstein technology will focus on user experience in Web applications by integrating content analytics with Open Text's Vignette Content Management system, as well as its Media Management solution. Open Text will also integrate the technology with its Enterprise Library, the core repository layer for storing, securing and retaining content assets in the ECM Suite. The content analytics capabilities will enhance the existing information retrieval capabilities provided by the native search inherent to the ECM Suite. Like search, content analytics will become a shared service available to each Open Text ECM Suite application. These integrations will be completed over the next 12 months. Going forward, the product formerly known as Nstein Text Mining Engine will be marketed as Open Text Content Analytics. Nstein's technology helps organizations tap into, analyze, relate and make better use of the vast stores of content across their systems. Using patented technology, Nstein's software creates a "semantic fingerprint" for an organization's content to unlock its inherent value, making it more findable, visible, understandable, organized and analysis-ready. Nstein complements Open Text's heritage as a pioneer in search technology - Open Text was founded from a University of Waterloo research project that formed the basis for the Internet's first search engine technology. "Companies need better ways to analyze, personalize, and synthesize unstructured content and that's the technology and expertise Nstein and its people add to Open Text," said Eugene Roman, Chief Technology Officer of Open Text. "By integrating Nstein's technology into our ECM Suite, we'll deliver more powerful solutions that will help our customers gain more value from content, and even create new revenue streams both inside the corporation and throughout their networks of stakeholders." Nstein's solutions, which play a key role in market intelligence gathering, research and other areas, have been sold primarily in market segments such as the media and publishing industry, and government. But according to Roman, Open Text plans to open up new markets and applications for Nstein's technology because of the range of customers Open Text serves worldwide. At the same time, Nstein's publishing customers will add to Open Text's existing list of prominent media and entertainment customers. Open Text sees the opportunity to expand the use of Nstein's technology in many areas, user engagement being one general category where content analytics can be rapidly expanded in many directions. Open Text, as the market leader in Web content management (WCM), will add content analytics to its WCM solutions to help its customers create more engaging websites. Similarly, content analytics can play a key role in delivering the best and most compelling experience to mobile users. Open Text will extend content analytics in its recently released Open Text Everywhere mobile ECM offering. Content analytics is also important in social media environments to analyze the interactions between users and expose them to more relevant communications. Nstein's advanced text mining capabilities are uniquely suited to a social media world where deciphering emergent short-hand grammar and abbreviations is critical. Open Text envisions expanding the use of content analytics in its compliance and litigation readiness capabilities, supported by its Enterprise Library repository for archiving, retention management and storage optimization. Content analytics can, for example, help customers identify relevant content for archiving. In the area of record management, records managers can depend on content analytics to automatically suggest which content assets end users should file as official records and where, based on the classification technology. Finally, content analytics will greatly improve the efficiency of content collection and review for e-discovery and audit purposes, helping Open Text advance solutions that will control the expanding costs and risks in these areas. Going forward, Open Text will retain Nstein's Montreal headquarters as its global development centre for content analytics, linguistics and semantic technology. "It's fitting that Canada's largest software company now has an expanded presence in Quebec and has established Montreal as a key development centre," said Luc Filiatreault, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Nstein. "We're excited about the opportunity to continue to develop and find new applications for our technology, and we look forward to working with the larger Open Text team on creating innovative new solutions." Filiatreault also emphasized that, as part of Open Text, Nstein customers will benefit from access to an expanded ECM solutions portfolio and industry expertise, backed by the industry's global leader in ECM. Nstein customers will also benefit from Open Text's solutions and partnerships with SAP, Microsoft and Oracle. Open Text will continue to support Nstein's products, including previous versions of its content analytics, Web content management and digital asset management solutions. Open Text has a long history of successfully supporting acquired products and services, and is committed to the Nstein installed base. Top of Page Tech star launches groundbreaking new website Katrina Garnett, renowned Silicon Valley entrepreneur and start-up investor launches www.MyLittleSwans.com (MLS) today to save substantial time and eliminate layers of fees for discerning global travelers and families. Designed for all types of users, the site caters to those who like to do a lot of research and seek out a lot of advice, as well as to those who prefer a more turn-key experience - and because MLS eliminates third party costs, users not only save time, but can also save a substantial amount of money. Garnett founded My Little Swans in October 2007 and has invested more than $2,250,000 of her own personal capital in the creation of this business. While 2008 was focused on building the site and writing and uploading content, 2009 was focused on offering limited memberships to gain live user feedback. The site opens to the public April 7, 2010. With such strong roots in Silicon Valley, the software is of course a key component, making MLS not only extraordinarily efficient, but also able to support "the next big thing" - that is, whatever comes after Facebook and Twitter - via superlative content management systems. Once logged in, members enjoy special privileges and promotions within the community, and the MLS Geo Friends tool and dedicated social networking platform allow like-minded travelers and groups to share their experiences through e-dialogues and messaging, images and video. By May, the My Trips feature will allow members to publish their itineraries and travel details directly to their iPhone or iPad. MLS is a disruptive technology in that it literally saves money by cutting out the middleman for those who book with the select on-the-ground network of partners (approximately two per region). The site reflects over 15 years of Garnett family trips and includes 32 detailed itineraries along with thousands of stunning "real life" photos and maps. These are personal and vetted experiences, so members can fully trust the destination content and partner recommendations. Creating a unique family journey that's memorable for all the right reasons is a matter of insider knowledge, special access, the best local guides and a seamless itinerary. Without a trusted efficient online source, this can take hundreds of hours. MLS avoids the predictable while simultaneously humanizing the research experience. MLS will never book trips; it will, however, shed superlative light on where and how to go, when to go (and when not to) and who are the best local insiders to call, much like a trusted globe-trotting friend. Top of Page Ryerson University opens digital media zone Ryerson's new Digital Media Zone (DMZ), officially opened today, is providing Ryerson University students with the opportunity to develop their digitally based ideas into consumer products with help from mentors and industry. The facility is a fully wired, multidisciplinary environment with 24-hour access for participating students. The ultimate goal of this largely student-led initiative is to venture beyond R&D to marketable applications with students at the helm, running their own businesses. To celebrate the opening, the first product out of the Digital Media Zone, TeamSave.com, was launched today. "Ultimately this is about education, about young people learning how to be entrepreneurs," said Sheldon Levy, President, Ryerson University. "Students and young people are major contributors to the innovation agenda, and their ideas and energy are incredible. At a university, pure research is essential, but so is encouraging and showcasing emerging talent and connecting students and young alumni to private and public sector industry. Our goal is to keep talent and industry in Canada, rather than training our young people to work in Silicon Valley. The DMZ will be a driver in creating a digital industry hub right here in downtown Toronto." Set against the backdrop of Canada's largest digital showroom, Yonge Dundas Square, Ryerson students come to the DMZ to connect, collaborate and create. Although the flexible loft space, designed by Ryerson Interior Design students, provides the necessary physical and technological infrastructure, the real emphasis is on entrepreneurship and teaching young people how to get their ideas to market. "The Digital Media Zone is about creating a place where young people can have the opportunity to collaborate with other innovators, mentors and industry and gain the confidence and expertise they need to launch their own businesses," said Valerie Fox, Director of the Ryerson Digital Media Zone. "They already have the marketable ideas; we just give them the environment and tools to execute them successfully." Through Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Ryerson, DMZ participants get entrepreneurial counselling and also learn how and where to apply for funding, an essential step in getting their ideas out the door. The whole DMZ process is integrated with StartMeUp Ryerson, a SIFE program which supports and nurtures student-led startups. Ideas make their way into the DMZ by way of the StartMeUp idea consultation and pitch session. SIFE's administrative role is one element of the "for students, by students" strategy that sets the DMZ apart. The space is run by a steering committee which includes SIFE President and undergraduate student in the Ted Rogers School of Business Management, Rohan Sharma; postdoctoral student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hossein Rahnama; and recent graduate from the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management, Chris Nguyen. Both Hossein and Chris are also actively pursuing their own projects in the DMZ. Hossein's project, the Paris Metro Travel Assistant, is a mobile application designed to help passengers with disabilities navigate their way while in the Metro system. Commuters using the application will have a wealth of information at their fingertips as their mobile phones continually adapt to their changing environment and track their progress from station to station. The software will be rolling out in Paris in late May. Chris, already an entrepreneur (having conceived and realized a successful business, JobLoft.com, while still a student at Ryerson), launched the first project out of the DMZ this morning. TeamSave.com (Together Everyone Achieves More - TEAM) is an online social buying concept that offers volume sales discounts. Groups large enough to take advantage of these discounts are mobilized through the website using social media 'sharing' applications. Each deal is limited to a 24-hour time frame, creating an immediate sense of urgency which guarantees retailers a high volume of sales and a cost-effective stream of new customers. The service is now up and running, offering new deals every day. "The Digital Media Zone is about coming up with great ideas, but taking it a step further and executing those ideas to create amazing businesses," said Chris. "The projects created within the DMZ will really shape the Canadian technology landscape, but most importantly, the global business landscape." There are more than 25 active projects in Ryerson's Digital Media Zone. Examples of other projects currently under development include: - Interactive projected ads that respond to the sweep of your shoe or your hand, much like a touch screen but without actual contact (Student leader: Jonathan Ingham, Master's student in Media Production); - 3D/Virtual Reality experience, with a special Haptic Feedback Glove that allows you to "feel" the sensation of contact when you reach out and "touch" virtual objects (Student leader: Adrian Bulzacki, PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering); - Burstn, a real-time image sharing platform that uses the context of photos in ways that are the most meaningful to the sender and the receiver (Student leaders: Josh Davey, Ted Rogers School of Information and Technology Management, and Dave Senior, recent Ted Rogers School of Business Management grad in Entrepreneurship). "As an arts-based student, the Digital Media Zone is the only place I know where I can meet and share concepts with students from computer science or computer engineering," said Jonathan Ingham, president of his own interactive marketing company, Phosphorus Media Inc. "The DMZ is also really convenient since my work requires a considerable amount of equipment. I no longer have to fight for studio time and waste time setting up and tearing down. The convenience factor is good, but the connections the DMZ facilitates are indispensable." Top of Page Calder Bateman announces hiring of social media specialistCalder Bateman Communications is proud to welcome Adam Rozenhart as their Social Media Specialist. Adam will be working directly with the Media, Advertising, Creative and Public Relations departments to develop and implement social media initiatives for Calder Bateman’s diverse client base. “I am really excited to be a part of the Calder Bateman team. I believe social media can bring tremendous value to a broad cross section of Calder Bateman’s current and potential clients,” said Rozenhart. Adam brings a wealth of social media experience to Calder Bateman. He is a key player behind OilersNation, FlamesNation, CanucksArmy, The Unknown Studio, The League of Extraordinary Media and dub5.net software development. He also has a strong online presence tweeting to over 1,110 followers as @bingofuel. Whether he is tweeting, blogging, producing podcasts or hosting tweetups – Adam is immersed in Edmonton’s social media scene. In fact, according to local Twitter statistics, Adam is one of Edmonton’s most replied to tweeters. The born and raised Edmontonian and University of Alberta alumni is passionate about his city and sees tremendous potential in connecting the people of Edmonton to each other through social media. “I love the people here in Edmonton - and people make a city. The reason why I started businesses here is to attract people to Edmonton. I want to generate excitement and community in our great city,” said Rozenhart. Top of Page Clearwater Seafoods premiers new website Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership announced it has launched a more interactive and information-rich website. All restaurant chefs and retail businesses looking for wild, natural, sustainable, reliable, food-safe seafood are encouraged to check out the new Clearwater.ca website. "We think the new site more accurately reflects the exceptional value Clearwater offers to our customers around the world", says Rick Betz, Clearwater's Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. "The global seafood industry we operate in is extremely fragmented. There aren't many companies that are vertically integrated from 'ocean to plate' like Clearwater," adds Betz. "In most of our species we own the quota, own and operate the vessels and plants, manage our customer deliveries, and employ our own global sales force. For our largely B2B, or 'business to business' customer base, this is extremely important as it provides them security and confidence in everything from continuity of supply to traceability. It means one contact, one point of entry. It means accountability. And that's the security customers are looking for- a 'direct source to the resource'." The new website tells the story of how owners Risley and MacDonald started the company (from the back of a pick up truck) in 1976 and provides information on the companies strong record and position on sustainability and innovation. "There's a growing need to interact with customers and provide them with information", adds Betz, "it isn't enough to sell them a product. For true customer relevance and customer sustainability today, you have to provide 'solutions'. For us this means providing culinary and promotional support including menu solutions for how to add our products to their restaurants' menu." In addition to interactive areas like 'Ask the Chef' where Clearwater's culinary consultant, Chef Stefan Czapalay, will respond to individuals posting questions, there is a Vessel Tracking tool. This area shows, on a global map and in real time, Clearwater's fleet of 14 vessels along with sailing and landing dates. Vice President of Fleet Operations, Mike Pittman, explains the rationale behind the Vessel Tracking tool this way, "We think it provides value in a couple of ways. First, for the families and loved ones of our crew, it provides a sense of connection. Remember some of these vessels are at sea for several weeks at a time. "Secondly- it is a good reminder to our customers that we are vertically integrated. We own the vessels and we personally fish the product. We know what's available, how it's harvested and the care and consideration regarding sustainability of the resource and ecosystem because we're doing it all ourselves." "It's true." adds Betz, "In the past a lot of buyers have been less aware of who is harvesting the product or how many hands the products they purchase have gone through. Today their diners or shoppers are asking questions. They want to know about the source of their food and the care taken during its harvest." Web functionality and customers expectations have grown exponentially since Clearwater launched its first site over the past 10 years ago. "Access to information is key." explains Betz, "Customers have an increasing appetite and expectation to get information quickly and easily via the internet. We believe they research and select the company they are going to do business with first, before they look for and select the actual product. In short, they are interested in a relationship- not merely a transaction." Long time Clearwater customer and co-owner of The Palm Restaurants, Wally Ganzi, confirms this, saying " Clearwater's team approach and professional support has helped us grow our business. (They) are exceptional in helping us provide our customers with a premium seafood product that is of superior quality and taste." Top of Page The Masters delivers record numbers for TSN.ca Canadian golf fans had their eye on the Tiger yesterday as the First Round of THE MASTERS delivered big audience numbers for TSN and TSN.ca’s broadcasts. Preliminary overnight data from BBM Canada Research confirms TSN’s average audience for the networks First Round coverage was 742,000 setting a new benchmark as the most-watched First Round for THE MASTERS on TSN ever. Yesterday’s audience marked a 63% increase over last year’s First Round coverage on TSN. TSN.ca and TSN Mobile are also enjoying early success for live streaming coverage of Amen Corner (Holes 11, 12 and 13), Holes 15 and 16 as well as the final nine holes of Mike Weir’s group. TSN.ca’s live streaming coverage had more than 100,000 video views* yesterday – twice the number of streams compared to last year’s First Round coverage. TSN’s new app, TSN Mobile: Masters Live, available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, has become one of the most popular downloads in the iTunes ‘Free’ app section with nearly 25,000 downloads since it launched. Top of Page Kik offers unlimited free texting application Kik has unveiled a universal and unlimited free texting app for BlackBerry and iPhone users across North America. "I'm confident we've produced the best unlimited free texting service anywhere," said Ted Livingston, President and CEO, Kik. "Now users of both platforms can easily and reliably text each other for free." Here is what sets Kik Chat apart from the pack: INSTANT: Just start texting any mobile phone number in a phone's address book and Kik automatically gets it through. There is no need to request or follow friends, or to figure out who is and isn't on Kik. UNLIMITED FREE KIK-TO-KIK: Kik users get unlimited, free texting to all Kik users. TWO WAY KIK-TO-NON-KIK: Stay connected to non-Kik users with 50 free outgoing SMS messages a month (unlimited free incoming). Additional outgoing messages are less than a cent, or users can save the $0.009 by getting their friends to download Kik. REAL NUMBERS = REAL RELIABILITY: Thanks to special arrangements with US and Canadian carriers, Kik-to-Non-Kik messages are sent through real mobile phone numbers. That guarantees fast delivery of every Kik-to-Non-Kik text. Most other services still rely on email to SMS gateways, which means texts can take up to 8 hours to deliver. BLACKBERRY AND IPHONE PEACEMAKER: Kik took the time to develop an awesome app for both BlackBerry and iPhone. Now users can easily and reliably text all of their iPhone and BlackBerry friends for free. NO LONG DISTANCE SMS CHARGES: Friends who haven't yet joined Kik can reply without paying long distance SMS charges. How so? Kik automatically assigns users a local texting phone number in each country it supports (currently US and Canada). FUNCTIONAL STATUS: Have time to read a message, but not respond? Don't worry, that secret is safe with Kik. BlackBerry Messenger users know why users will love this feature. Kik works with all iPhones, including the 3G and 3GS, and the BlackBerry Bold 1, Bold 2, Tour, 8300, 8500, 8800 and 8900, with more to come, including Android devices. All users need is a mobile data plan in the United States or Canada. BlackBerry and iPhone users can get texting right now by going to www.kik.com/m on their mobile device. Top of Page |
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