CNM Short Takes

VRX wins travel dealVRX Studios Inc, Vancouver, has signed a deal with Cendant Membership Services Inc to provide virtual tour software to Cendant’s network of travel sites. The Software creates maps and 360-degree virtual tours. No details of the contract have been released. Cendant’s travel sites include traveleradvantage.com and a niche site focused on military personnel. CANOE adds 3D contentQuebecor Inc subsidiary CANOE has given an exclusive three-year contract to VISITE 3D for virtual tour software used on the CANOE sites. The contract includes promotion of VISITE’s digital photography and a new portal for Visit3D.com. The contract’s value was not announced.Ottawa economic dev’t groups merge under OCRIThough widely-known for several weeks, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) and Ottawa Economic Development Corporation (OED) made their union official March 26. The merger will go into effect following the annual general meetings of the two organizations March 29 (OCRI) and April 9 (OED). OED is the older of the two organizations, having been founded in 1962 to promote economic development in the capital area. OCRI was founded in 1983 as a body for the promotion of high tech in the region. Bill Collins, OCRI president, will retain his position in the united body as president and CEO, while Mike Darch, acting president of OED will work with Collins to integrate OED’s operations into OCRI.FoMoCo signs Iceberg for online radio campaignFord Motor Company of Canada Ltd has commissioned a custom radio station for its Ford.ca website from Iceberg Media.com. The station, dubbed expectmoreradio.com, will feature music catering to the Ford Focus demographic.Telehealth to receive $8.5 million in Northern OntarioThe federal government is investing $8.5 million in Ontario’s NORTH Network to improve telehealth in northern Ontario’s rural and remote communities. The funding will increase the number of sites where it’s available.DiscoverWare in receivership, seeking buyer for assetsCalgary-based DiscoverWare Inc has gone into receivership as it seeks offers for the company or its assets. Trading of the company on the CDNX has ceased. The company was founded in 1993, as a developer and marketer of PC-based multimedia educational software and training systems for desktop and LAN-based learning and reference. (CNM, May 5/99)ArtQuest wins half-million dollar American dealMontreal-based ArtQuest International Alliance Inc has won a US$500,000-deal in firm orders for its products from DM Products and Technologies Company Inc. ArtQuest’s software allows secure digital transfers of printed documents for the graphics arts market.QSound and MUSICMATCH hook up to brand softwareQsound Labs Inc, Calgary, has branded a version of its audio software for MUSICMATCH. Now, MUSICMATCH users can use a variety of audio effects to customize music played with their MUSICMATCH Jukebox.OttawaDigitalMedia.com goes live with online marketplaceA new electronic marketplace for suppliers and buyers of digital media services has been launched by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI). The site, Ottawadigitalmedia.com, contains news and links to firms working in digital media, and received funding from Ontario’s Interactive Digital Media Small Business Growth Fund. Canadian NEW MEDIA is a content partner in the new site.Alias/Wavefront awards top prize to baby mobileAn interactive, intelligent baby mobile has won a design competition sponsored by Alias/Wavefront and IBM. The mobile adapts to an infant’s behaviour to change its appearance, sound and motion. It was created by Chicago industrial designer Aaron DeJule. The mobile uses organic electronic displays to monitor a child’s movements and respond with corresponding activity. It would display images on screen-like wings, changing from black and white still images to full-motion video as the infant develops.ICT start-up advisor gets $1.6M boost from QC governmentThe Quebec government has committed $1.6 million to a non-profit organization that offers support services to start-up businesses, particularly those working in multimedia. Included as part of last week’s provincial budget, the Centre d’entreprise et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM) will receive the new money over the next two years. Created in 1986 and located in Montreal’s Cité du multimédia business park, CEIM offers businesses coaching services, training for future entrepreneurs, fundraising assistance and consulting services. The government also allocated $3 million to Tourisme Québec to better promote the province through its Bonjour Québec.com web site.BiblioMondo wins Hague contract to network librariesMontreal-based BiblioMondo has been awarded a $2.1-million contract for the networking of 20 library nodes of The Hague Public Library using the company’s software. Investissement Desjardins, the Royal Bank of Canada and Technocap are financial partners in the project.Canada.com to provide health content with MedbroadcastMedbroadcast Corp has won a contract on undisclosed terms to be the primary consumer medical provider for CanWest Interactive’s Canada.com site. The company is already providing the same content to globalTV.com, an affiliated company through CanWest’s acquisition of the Hollinger chain of newspapers last year.Military memorials to be inventoried online by DNDA new website commemorating the war vets and their families, and which inventories all of the military memorials in Canada, has been launched by the Department of National Defence. The site was created as a millennium project by the DND’s Directorate of History and Heritage in collaboration with the Organization of Military Museums of Canada Inc and is the first of its kind. DND officials say the U.K. and U.S. have already expressed interest in a similar intiative. The site can be found at www.dnd.ca/memorial.YTV says page impressions, unique visitors well upCorus Entertainment’s YTV.com says it is receiving 2.1 million page impressions each week and over 100,000 unique users every day, more than double the number since re-launching last September. The company is also trumpeting an average visit to the site of 13 minutes, more than double the industry average of five minutes.Chilly Beach in TV production with Salter Street FilmsChilly Beach, an animated web series owned by Infopreneur Inc (CNM, May 18/00) is in production as a 22 half-hour episode TV production to be aired on Teletoon. Salter Street Films has partnered in the venture, and is seeking broadcast pre-sales internationally.GlobalMedia.com closes office on Vancouver’s Robson StreetSaying 13,000 square feet of office space is too much for a staff of eight, GlobalMedia.com Inc has closed its facilities at 400 Robson Street in Vancouver, and will move to smaller shared facilities.Canadian music labels choose Liquid Audio platformSeveral of Canada’s record labels, including EMI Music Canada, the Donald K Donald Group of Labels, Justin Time Records and Netwerk Productions have announced they will use Liquid Audio Inc’s platform to offer music online. Another customer, MuchMusic.com will also begin using the technology to offer secure digital downloads.JPEG imaging used to stream video content to usersMontreal-based BEE Multimedia has launched a new web-streaming technology which uses JPEG-compliant imaging technology to send video content to users. Unlike other streaming technologies, the software doesn’t require buffering or additional plug-ins. VoicePrint now onlineVoicePrint, a daily news reading service tailored for the blind, is now online through a partnership between the National Broadcast Reading Service and Avalanche Networks

CNM Short Takes

Broadcast | April 5, 2001

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