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Vol 1, #13, June 9, 2009 |
Google breaking in to e-book market In a move that will allow users to purchase and read publications online, even without a dedicated reading device like Kindle, Google is set to take on the e-book market by the end of the year. Publishers like Cambridge University Press have partnered with Google to sell books that can be read on any web-enabled device, including smartphones or netbooks. This is vastly different from the strategy used by Amazon, which requires would-be readers to own a Kindle – which is not currently available in Canada. In another first, Google will allow publishers to set the price of their books, although readers will not be able to download the books, only read them online. Google expects to make the first book available on its site by the end of the year. Top of Page The Digital forum is what technology pundits call a “social network”, what marketers call “user generated media” and what Hugh Thompson publisher of Digital Home calls “a place to get straight answers to the technology questions Canadians are asking.” Digital media changing broadcasting landscape Demand to make entertainment and content-rich applications accessible on all types of portable devices is changing the game for broadcasters and legislators in Canada, say broadcasting industry leaders participating in the Canada 3.0 event on today in Stratford. “With the digital revolution, we have an enormous opportunity to create new profile for Canadian ideas and perspectives if we build a strong national digital strategy," said Lisa de Wilde, Chief Executive Officer of TVO. "That means accelerating innovation to connect Canadian technology with the creativity and talent in our arts, cultural, education and entertainment sectors." Access to content through the Internet, social media, and mobile applications presents new challenges for content producers and legislators for copyright, licensing and attributing revenue derived from programming. "Companies that provide content and programming to broadcasters are concerned with how that content will be managed and protected in an increasingly digital world," said Paul Salvini, Chief Technology Officer and VP Canadian Operations at Side Effects Software. Top of Page Track Bing search results with Webtrends Webtrends is the first web analytics company to announce full support of Bing. With Webtrends On Demand software, available immediately, Webtrends customers are able to track specifically which traffic comes to their site from Bing.com. All search engine reporting, including paid or organic search, keywords and phrases, will automatically include detailed analysis of Bing.com data and traffic. "Once Bing.com was announced at the 2009 All Things D conference, Webtrends engineering immediately began work to ensure our customers are able to track all search results from the new engine," said Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, vice president, marketing, Webtrends. "Our customers expect this kind of nimble, quick integration and we are proud to say that all analytics customers can analyze changes in search traffic to their site from Bing.com versus other search engines immediately." With insights into search engine adoption and usage of Microsoft's Bing, Webtrends customers across its eight vertical industries will be better positioned to analyze online advertising campaigns across all search results. Top of Page More intuitive search with Google Squared Some information is easy to find. If you want to learn the rules of golf, you can search Google for [golf rules] and we'll return a list of relevant web sites right at the top. But not all your information needs are that simple. Some questions can be more complex, requiring you to visit ten, perhaps twenty websites to research and collect what you need. Google Squared, a new feature just released in Google Labs, is an experimental search tool that collects facts from the web and presents them in an organized collection, similar to a spreadsheet. If you search for [roller coasters], Google Squared builds a square with rows for each of several specific roller coasters and columns for corresponding facts, such as image, height and maximum speed. While gathering facts from across the internet is relatively easy for humans to do, it's far more difficult for computers to do automatically. Google Squared is a first step towards solving that challenge. It essentially searches the web to find the types of facts you might be interested in, extracts them and presents them in a meaningful way. Bing Travel is now available to help consumers make smart travel decisions through a variety of innovative tools and features. Bing Travel is part of Bing, Microsoft’s new Decision Engine and consumer brand announced on May 28, designed to help people overcome search overload and make faster, more informed decisions when searching online. Bing Travel combines many of the airfare and hotel tools from Microsoft’s 2008 acquisition of Farecast with rich news and editorial content from MSN Travel. Bing Travel is available for travelers today at www.bing.com/travel Top of Page TeleScope unleashes the power of online video North Plains Systems, Inc. , a provider of digital asset management (DAM) and media asset management (MAM) software solutions, has unveiled the latest version of TeleScope Video Manager. The solution addresses the unrelenting demand for new content for both corporate marketing departments and broadcast, media, and entertainment (BM&E) companies. It provides needed support for video workflow and editing, secure digital video storage, simplified rights-managed access to the video archive, and seamless distribution capabilities across distributed organizations and third party agencies. TeleScope Video Manager offers a sophisticated but simple-to-use solution for cost-effectively creating, editing, and distributing short and long form video across multiple platforms like YouTube, Cable/TV, etc. With this latest version, they now have an enterprise-class media asset management (MAM) system for simple, secure access to their digital assets through a fully customizable, branded and user-friendly interface. The solution users them more control over the costs and processes normally associated with the creation, management, distribution and monetization of their organization’s digital assets. “The proliferation and adoption of video is everywhere, from digital distribution platforms to internet advertising and corporate training,” said Hassan Kotob, President and CEO, North Plains Systems, Inc. “In the past, the complexity and costs associated with video production required companies to employ external production and editing resources. Today, North Plains’ latest release of Video Manager enables organizations to become part of the creative process, thereby reducing the time and cost of production, all the while empowering corporations with more ownership, management, and involvement in the process.” New TeleScope Video Manager features include:
Poynt search app one of top BlackBerry downloads The app has received a user rating of four-and-a-half out of five and garnered rave reviews. “BlackBerry App World is a successful distribution channel for Poynt,” says Andrew Osis, CEO of Calgary-based Multiplied Media Corp. “We have been fortunate to rank among the top ten downloads.” Poynt is a free application and is available to BlackBerry smartphone users in Canada, the U.S. and Germany. Top of Page SaaS 44°, a software as a service provider, offering VoIP, email, unified communication, and collaboration services, offers organizations enterprise level business solutions at lower costs, and without the complications of managing the systems themselves. "Our initial target audience is the SMB, focusing on businesses with one to one hundred employees," says Mark Hummel, Chief Marketing Officer of SaaS 44°. "We believe that managing internal systems are becoming a larger problem for most small businesses. Server hardware management, application uptime, and security issues are taking up too much time for small business owners, and distract them from growing their businesses. Most lack the financial resources to hire staff to manage the computer infrastructure. This results in many small businesses using less than optimal business applications and resources." Tim Writer, CEO of SaaS 44° says, "We have chosen to offer the two core services that all small business require - email and collaboration, and telecommunication.” Email and collaboration, and VoIP, are the first services that customers can subscribe to. SaaS 44° has plans to offer ERP and CRM applications. SaaS 44°’s email service will offer the same functionality as Microsoft Exchange and additional features that most users are unaccustomed to today. Users will be able to access their email, calendar, documents, and contacts on their Internet browser. They can also continue to use their favourite email client, such as Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird. Full sync options for virtually any mobile device are also available. "We believe that once businesses see the cost per user, they will realize that SaaS is more cost effective than managing the systems and applications on their own," says Hummel. "Our solutions are simple and user friendly, and provide business with much more functionality to allow them to grow their businesses” Top of Page nextMEDIA names top digital brand nominees nextMEDIA opened a nationwide hunt to find Canada’s most innovative emerging digital media properties and the talented individuals behind them; in an effort to build a bridge between those properties and potential advertising partners. They showcased the entrees to a panel of judges, including Tribal DDB, Dashboard, MacLaren McCann, Henderson Bas, Proximity/BBDO Canada & Rogers Media. “After a nationwide hunt nextMEDIA and our advertising partners have managed to select five excellent finalists. The final decisions were based on key criteria such as uniqueness, targeted audience and a high potential for product integration,” comments Mark Greenspan, Achilles Media, VP of Digital Media. “As advertisers continue to play an increasingly important role in digital content production nextMEDIA will continue to offer opportunities to work with agencies." Boire Filler Group celebrates ten year anniversay What began as a two-man shop focused on data mining has grown into a group of 15 analysts and marketing specialists working closely with clients to help them make better and more profitable business decisions. Founded by Richard Boire and Larry Filler in June 1999, Boire Filler Group (BFG) has reached its milestone 10th anniversary in the Canadian marketing industry. Guided by Customer Relationship Management (CRM) principles and best practices, BFG has leveraged its core analytical skills to enable forward-thinking companies to thrive in competitive markets. As The Company’s roster of blue chip clients has grown, so to has its services: Predictive Analytics, Data Management, Business Intelligence Reporting, and Customer Value Management solutions are delivered to some Canada’s largest organizations across a variety of sectors that include financial services, telecommunications, retail, automotive, publishing, healthcare, high-tech, consumer packaged goods and not-for-profit. During its tenure, BFG has played an active role in the Canadian marketing community. The company is a long standing member of the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) with Richard Boire and Larry Filler having served as Executive Members of CMA Councils and Conference organizing committees. Currently, Richard is Chair of the Marketing Technology and Database Intelligence Committee of the CMA, while Larry is a Member of the Board of the Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing (AARM). Richard and Larry are frequent contributors to marketing-related publications like Direct Marketin and are sought-after speakers at industry conferences and seminars. Top of Page |
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