Montreal Tech Watch

DemocampMontreal2 was planned thursday evening. I’ll cut directly to the presentations:

• first Alec Saunders presented Iotum, a Blackberry notification service. A small app will alert you when your contacts are avalaible. Users get an invitation by email from their friends, setup rules with each connection, sync it with their calendar, and voilà, your symbiotic relationship with your Blackberry will be even closer. They are based in Ottawa, which is a good idea as government officials are known to be heavy users of Blackberrys. Now, if you ask me, I don’t like it. I like to use technology, but when it suits me and I feel like doing so. I don’t like technology when I am in the obligation to enter data whenever I do or have done something. Picture this: 9.30.am. writing a Word document. must update Iotum. 10.10am still haven’t finished writing. must update Iotum. 11.00am writing urgent emails. must update Iotum. 11.30am. colleague enters office. was supposed to be free on calendar. must update Iotum. 2pm. forgot to update Iotum. Boss frustrated. and so on… Twitter was fine, but this feels more like voluntary Big Brother. But then again, I am in no position to give an opinion. never owned a blackberry. Feel free to test Iotum if you have one.
• Hugh McGuire was next, and he talked first about LibriVox, the open source audiobook project. Collectik, the service he was presenting that evening, creates and manages your podcast playlist. You get afterwards a feed with the podcast episodes you want to listen to. The keyword here is remix. You can then get a radio-like experience, with continuous audio. They already have more than 1100 registered users. Great idea, and props to Hugh for the service. In fact, Collectik was, with Open Source Cinema, one the most immediately usable service. Hugh added he wanted a cleaner interface later for the next updates.
• Martin Dufort and Alain Lavoie were presenting next, in english. They are launching Kakiloc, a mobile social network for friends, allowing them to know the whereabouts of their contacts. If you get near of your friends, you will get a SMS notification. It was also the first public demo of the IM feature. Now, I want to try the service and how it works in Montreal. I just hoped they would focus more on marketing and product design. Getting it to work with a web interface, SMS, J2MI, Jabber, IM are all good, but in the end, you actually have to make a great useful product.
• Brett Gaylor presented the Open Source Cinema project. The goal is to invite users to shoot and produce themselves sections of the film, like wikipedia but for movies. This left me wondering of the endless opportunities of the idea. It’s a social and tech experiment, a great example of how we can use technology to foster creativity and collaboration. Have a look at the videos and “mashups” already avalaible
• Anand Agarawala, a Toronto entrepreneur presented next BumpTop. He wants to recreate our computer desktops: you can move, toss and pile up your documents as if you really had a real desktop in front of you. The audience was amazed by the new user interface, as if it was a Steve Jobs presentation. I am waiting to test this, to decide if it’s a toy or if it really brings better productivity and better organization of your files. I have open questions also about the business model. For now, I think it would be a great addition to iPhoto, just like CoverFlow was for iTunes.

If I sum up, it was a great democamp - where mobile services and mashups (remixes) where the stars. Folks, I just had a peek at the future here.

There was also lots to talk about after the demos - inspirations, connections, new heads in the community.

wow.

what a great evening. thanks to Austin Hill, Fred Ngo and all the volunteers.

You can find by the way another report on the kakiloc blog.

Inukshuk has extented its wireless coverage in Canada; this is immediately avalaible to Rogers Portable Internet and Sympatico Unplugged subscribers.

For those late in the party, Inukshuk is a joint venture between Rogers and Bell. The inukshuk wireless network is one the largest of its kind in the world, covering 40% of Canada’s population, mostly in densely populated urban areas. The new extended service cover now most of the St-Laurent area in Québec, from Gatineau to Quebec city.

Inukshuk uses pre-WiMAX technology. Subscribers order a modem from Rogers or Bell, which is in a fact an omni-directionnal antenna. Then, they plug in to their laptop with an ethernet cable, to get connected to the Internet. As you see, this is neither wifi 802.11 technology, nor ADSL, nor cable, or Aircard technology. The “modem” connects to Inukshuk towers, and you get up to 3mbps Internet through a secure 2500Mhz, OFDM connection. In areas uncovered by Inukshuk, you can access standard dial-up service through regular cellular networks. Nice innovative technology, if you ask me.

The service is marketed as a portable, simple and personal internet. You could for example get the internet anywhere in town. You carry the modem (which is the size of a small book), set up some where, and connect it to your laptop. The service is also better than standard wifi technology because it is used at a licensed 2.5Ghz frequency instead of the overcrowded 2.4Ghz range.

Don’t rush though to Rogers or Bell shops. This is a typical example of an early-adopter technology. You either use it if it is paid by the company or if you are one of those guys who have the latest HDTVs, gadgets and laptops at home. The service is capped at 30G per month at Bell, the modem costs around 100$, the service will cost your latest born kid about 60$ per month, and you have to sign a long-term contract. Also, if you want to work in a coffee shop for example, you will need to find a power outlet for the modem.

If you really want this service, go to Rogers, which offers higher usage caps and a 12 month commitment instead of 24 at Bell. Or justy wait for standard WiMAX technology to be rolled out.

Dailywom is a new Montreal audio and video podcast about world of mouth marketing. It was initiated by Pascal Beauchenes, a Montreal marketing specialist.

World of Mouth marketing (WOM) or viral marketing has become the favorite and cliché marketing tool for bootstrapping entrepreneurs, and big companies alike. The prospect of having everyone talking about your product/service thanks to a virtual no-cost youtube video is the ultimate dream come true to any marketer. Some companies try to entertain their audience, with micro-sites with contests or flash games in it, other companies film videos with an ‘home-made’ look to it.

I have subscribed to their videos, but I am still skeptical about this initiative. When you try too hard for world of mouth, the result can be pathetic. The best viral marketing I have seen were spontaneous and unplanned “buzz” about your products. If you don’t know what I am talking about, have a look at Apple; the company is a textbook lesson in viral marketing.

Radio IP Software is a Montreal company specializing in wireless. They have developed new protocols and technologies that provide connection anywhere, any time, which can switch seamlessly between different networks, be it private RF networks, cellular networks or wireless hotspots. Their products and services are targeted at public service organizations, like firefighters, police corps, governmental fleets, emergency medical services, and companies like Hydro-Québec.

Yesterday, they have struck a deal with EMS Statcom and MVS to provide satellite data communication to its supported networks. Users will use MVS’s satellite network and EMS’s data transceivers. This means users will be able to get permanent and real-time connection in remote areas where terrestrial networks might not be installed, or in urban areas where natural disasters have occured.

I like Radio IP’s consistent focus, although I question the engineering of proprietary IP protocols. I have a feeling they did it solely for business reasons (hint: it’s patented); but I know that TCP/IP and UDP are more than capable of handling secure and mobile connections. They are open, standard and proven technologies. Being open and public means that everyone could use the technology, improve it, and find new creative ways to use it. The Internet works that way, as it was supposed to be an academic tool in the first place. In this case, I don’t see today the use for 24/7 connectivity, anywhere in Quebec, but I am sure others will.

I now invite Radio IP Software to leave their niche, comfy, patented place and allow access to their technology to the general public.

The Montreal media company Consultations Amabilis has just launched Kakinews, a french news aggregator website aimed at women. You can also call it a digg clone, with a different template and a different audience. For those not acquainted with digg, users can register and submit a webpage. Highly voted news land on the homepage. The model is very popular, as it gets easy traffic for bloggers and publishers, free content and advertising money for the website owners, and an easy way to know todays’s hot news for users. The model is also very scalable, as webmasters can in theory launch the website and go out have fun.

The question is, can they pull it off? One immediate reaction is to say no, because there is no innovation. The technology used is not new, the template is so generic I know the exact adress where they downloaded their icons; overall, it seems of one of those ideas you get during late afternoon coffee breaks. The beta in the logo just makes me laugh.

However, I also know that there is a dire need for content geared at women in Quebec. One of the most visited websites visited in Québec is aufeminin.com, according to our statistics, even if it is published in France. And because there is no articles or news aimed at our dear Québecoises, aufeminin is loosing steam slowly.

Amibilia, on the other hand, has slowly put their foot on this market. They have blogs, a large user base at their forums, and are heavily involved in the advertising industry. And I am quite sure they can leverage their readership and transform kakinews into a reference portal in Quebec. Even if those don’t follow, there are lots of blogger girls out there who will subscribe and push their content on kakinews.

Overall, I would say then congrats to Marie-Christine Copti

DemoCampMontreal2 is coming tomorrow thursday, at Société des Arts Technologiques, 1195 bvd St-Laurent, at 6pm. The demo schedule is as follows:

1. HughMcGuire will be presenting Collectik
2. Martin Dufort - Kakiloc
3. iotum will demo Talk Now on a BlackBerry
4. Brett Gaylor - Open Source Cinema
5. BumpTop

I hope #3 is more than a sales pitch. Apart from that, I am looking forward for Open Source Cinema and BumpTop, as I had a preview earlier of collectik and kakiloc. Austin Hill will be our MC for the evening.

I went to the first edition one month ago and wrote a report. There was a bunch of 60 people, a healthy mix of entrepreneurs, tech people, bloggers, and also some investors. You can choose to listen to the demos, but the bar is also open so there are lots of opportunities to talk and get to know what’s up in Montreal. If you have to go to a tech event this week, you shouldn’t meet democamp.

Note 1: I wrote this last week, but instead of hitting the ‘Save as Draft’ Button, I clicked on ‘Publish’. The event is planned tomorrow night.

Note 2: Stirling said it is hard to plan in advance about upcoming tech events. Thanks Stirling for the comment. So, from now on, I will publish every sunday/saturday a summary of the tech events happenning in Montreal for the week. A more detailed description will then come 24 hours before the event.

Les Anges financiers de Montréal is a contest where young entrepreneurs from 18 to 40 will get to present their project to experienced business people. It is a joint initiative of Economic Development of Canada, Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montreal and Fondation du Maire de Montréal pour la jeunesse. The contest has run for 7 years and has had a very good success among entrepreneurs.

It should also be seen as a golden opportunity to network and meet entrepreneurs and angel investors. 5 grants will be given:

• 10000$ in startup category, by Samson Bélair/Deloitte et Touche
• 10000$ for Growing Business, by Economic Development Canada
• 10000$ for Jury’s award, by Sun Life Financial
• 10000$ for innovation, by Smart&Biggar
• and 5000$ given by National bank

The gala evening will be held tomorrow at Montreal Science Centre, at 6.00pm.

Last year, the winners were Synetik Design, Ariane Controls, and La Fourmi Bionique, 3 innovative and niche companies who managed to give a winning formula. I am going to the event. Think of it, just listening to the new ideas and their pitch is solely worth the trip.

Bluestreak has been flooding the Internet since last month with their “press releases”. I discarded those as quickly as they came; but I made a recap today and I just strikes me that they have nearly won the game.

Bluestreak, a company located in old Montreal, has a new partenrship since yesterday with ACCESS. To understand the impact of this partnership, you have to know that ACCESS Linux Platform or ALP is the new name for Palm OS. Last week, Bluestreak also announced a partnership with Symbian; and last month, MachBlue was made avalaible for java phones. This means MachBlue is avalaible on most cell phones, except on Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones.

Bluestreak enables flash version 7 (as in Adobe Flash) on cell phones and TV boxes. Usually, applications are programmed with Java on cell phones, development takes then a lot of ressources and time. With machblue enabled, carriers and content providers can create services and applications with standard Flash programming. (by the way, if you know flash, bluestreak is recruiting as fast as they can read CVs). Main features of the bluestreak technology are:

• flash 7.0 features +
• video on demand
• digital video recorder
• broadcasting
• dynamic loading

It doesn’t take long to imagine the whole new array of applications made possible with it. Videotron uses it on their boxes to offer games, chat, email and most importantly the video on demand feature. Orange, in Europe, uses it to offer TV and chat to their UMTS subscribers. Time Warner has entered the game, and BlueStreak is pushing hard to enter the Chineese market.

Now, I am researching if they received new fundings (to get their so-called “partners” to sign), a brand-new CEO or if they signed in a genius salesman/business developer. Keep tuned in for more info!

RDS.ca has launched yesterday Zone Video, a video section with lots of content. Hockey is the super star sport of course here, but there are also some baseball, football, ski and tennis videos.

The interface is flash-only, with a TV-like experience. RDS is obviously trying to prevent viewers to go to youtubeLand and stick to rds.ca. However, if you go the new section, you will ask for more interactivity and more openess. You need to register and answer to a marketing poll to get to the video section. You can’t comment the videos, you can’t bookmark or send a video to a friend, you can’t see what are today’s videos or what’s popular.

RDS is asking a lot here. Of course, their users are already addicted and they will welcome eagerly the video. Did I say RDS.ca has a 96% user engagement rate, with 55% of viewers rated as regulars, and 42% rated as addicts?

Quick reminder:

IPv4 is the current network layer protocol currently used for the Internet. IP adresses are stored on a 32 bits packet, with an adress like 127.0.01, and are used to transport traffic back and forth on the Internet. Now, the industry was alarmed regularly that the Internet was running out of avalaible IP addresses. This started as far as the early 90’s and saw the birth of IPv6, a new protocol with 128 bits packets, thus supporting 2¹²⁸ addresses, a staggering increase from the only 4.3 billions addresses avalaible for IPv4.

Back to Montreal Tech Watch news:

Hexago, a Montreal company, has launched last week go6.net, a portal dedicated to IPv6. It is presented as a community and knowledge center. They have published a reference wiki, an open discussion forum, and many other ressources to support and push adoption of IPv6.

For those who don’t know, Hexago is the only company in the world to make IPv6 gateways, which allows IPv4 traffic access IPv6 networks by tunneling. It manages of course reverse tunneling. Because of governement regulations, they have had customers in the defense industry, universities, ISPs and other R&D centers. Hexago is also a member of the IETF IPv6 working groups. This means implementation of IPv6 is impossible without Hexago.

However, I know that ISPs and other telecom operators are using CIDR and NAT to prevent implementing IPv6 boxes and specific hardware. In other words, they re-use and re-assign IP adresses to their customers in order to prevent adress exhaustion. One major argument in favor of IPv6 was that if everyone has a mobile phone and a couple of other internet connected devices, we would run out of addresses in 2009. But mobile phone operators do not give a fixed IP adress to their customers. And ISPs neither.

Is there a future for IPv6 outside of R&D centers? For me, engineers will always find new ways to better use IPv4. Just look at what’s possible with standard copper cables, we have gone from 28kpbs to ADSL 6mbps connections, with new algorithms and frequency filters. And I feel bad for Hexago for saying so, because they are a local company that is really innovative, and a leader, in their own way.