Kitchener-Waterloo Technology News

PEER 1 Kitchener-Waterloo Startup Index - March 2010

Posted by Rob Lewis on Wed, March 10, 2010 6:05 AM · Filed under Kitchener-Waterloo , Start-up Index · No Comments
Rank   Company TTR
1(1) ProductWiki 12,788
2(-1) PostRank Inc. 15,966
3   Well.ca 98,547
4   Pokerspace 121,215
5   CastRoller 136,295
6(1) IGLOO Software 448,923
7(3) Moxy Media 486,339
8   J2Play 553,179
9(2) LoyaltyMatch 553,224
10(-1) Brainpark 613,614
11   Emforium  1,165,728
12(2) Something On 1,437,809
13(3) Giftah 1,482,619
14(-1) Primal Fusion 1,484,243
15(-9) Jack of All Links 1,564,984
16(-4) Semacode 1,585,121
17   Zoomii Inc. 1,666,076
18(-3) Metranome 1,674,257
19   LiveHive Systems 3,037,858
20   CREZ Basketball Systems 3,059,599
21(-3) FOSS Factory 3,065,532
22(7) Avvasi 3,325,817
23(-1) Allerta 3,363,228
24(1) Hottypo 3,624,962
25(3) MedShare 4,421,552
26   Advisor Mailout 4,614,070
27   Suited Media Inc. 5,491,590
28(2) Miovision Technologies Inc. 5,799,088
29(2) ParkVu 7,249,023
30(-7) Aeryon Labs 7,548,922
31(1) Frozen North Productions 8,587,390
32(-11) Smartpatterns 10,991,649
33(-9) Covarity 11,398,450
34(1) Astilbe Networks 12,471,456
35(-2) DossierView 14,897,100
 
Company:
PEER 1 Hosting
Website:
http://www.peer1.com
Location:
San Jose, California, United States

Since 1999, PEER 1 has grown into one of the world's top 5 hosting providers. We got here by delivering the kind of exceptional service that gets... [more]

 

FreshBooks among Google Apps Marketplace Launch

Posted by Rob Lewis on Tue, March 9, 2010 8:47 PM · Filed under Denver-Boulder, Portland, Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Kitchener-Waterloo, South-Florida, Atlantic-Canada , Web App, Google · 1 Comment

Tonight, Google has unveiled their Google Apps Marketplace - an app store for enterprise apps in the cloud.

The Google Apps Marketplace offers products and services designed for Google users, including installable apps that integrate directly with Google Apps. Installable apps are easy to use because they include single sign-on, Google's universal navigation, and some even include features that integrate with your domain's data.

Using a set of APIs, third-party apps can deeply integrate their products within Google Apps which are already being used by millions of individuals, startups, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies.

Toronto's FreshBooks announced this evening that their online invoicing service has been included in the Google Apps Marketplace.

"We believe that small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy," said Sunir Shah, Chief Handshaker and head of integrations for FreshBooks. "Tools like Google Apps have helped millions of small businesses chase their dreams by giving them an affordable, powerful leg up in a difficult economy. By extending into the Google Apps ecosystem, FreshBooks is proud to be able to give these businesses another vital key to their success: getting paid faster."

FreshBooks makes you look professional when it matters the most: when asking your clients for money. FreshBooks keeps your company's time and expenses organized; provides easy online payment options by Google Checkout™, credit card, or eCheck; and gives your clients detailed account statements. By making it easy for Google Apps customers to create and log into FreshBooks accounts from their Google Apps account, they'll have just one more leg up on the competition by impressing their clients and getting paid faster.

Take a minute to browse through the 3rd party applications that were included with the Google Apps Marketplace - you'll be impressed.

 
Company:
Google
Website:
http://www.google.com
Location:
Mountain View, California, United States

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. As a first step to fulfilling that mission,... [more]

 
 
Company:
FreshBooks
Website:
http://www.freshbooks.com
Location:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Our mission is to deliver fast and simple invoicing and time tracking services that help you manage your business. We call these Unaccounting™... [more]

 

The Amazing (Quantum) Race

Posted by Prashanth Gopalan on Tue, March 9, 2010 8:16 PM · Filed under Kitchener-Waterloo , Research · No Comments

They might be used to working at the level of the invisible and the intangible, but today they struck a deal that was both very real, very tangible and very ambitious.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo and the Singapore's Centre for Quantum Technologies signed a deal today to pool resources and collaborate in a race to build a quantum computer - a supercomputer capable of performing advanced calculations at the speed of light. 

Traditional computers use a series of 1's and 0's (called bits) in order to perform long, tedious calculations. But a quantum computer harnesses the unique properties of molecular building blocks so that these 1's and 0's can occur at the same time, opening the door for the infinitely large computing speeds.

With both institutions in command of significant resources, talent and quantum computing know-how, this agreement simply concretizes a de facto relationship that has been enjoyed by the two for years. Researchers have regularly been sharing discoveries, ideas and experimental data with one other even before this agreement was finalized on paper.

Chevy Volt now comes with mobile app powered by OnStar

Posted by Karim Kanji on Tue, March 9, 2010 7:51 PM · Filed under Denver-Boulder, Portland, Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Kitchener-Waterloo, South-Florida, Atlantic-Canada , Wireless, Mobile · No Comments

Back in January, at the Consumer Electronics Show, Chevrolet announced a joint venture program with OnStar which unveiled the auto industry’s first working smartphone application that will allow Chevrolet Volt owners 24/7 connection and control of vehicle functions and OnStar features remotely. The app allows drivers to communicate with their Volt from the following smartphones: Droid by Motorola, Apple iPhone and Blackberry Storm.

The application uses a real-time data connection to perform tasks from setting the charge time to unlocking the doors.

Here's what the application can do:

  • displays charge status
  • provides flexibility to schedule charge timing
  • displays percentage of battery charge level, electric and total ranges 
  • allows owner to manually set grid-friendly charge mode for off-peak times when electricity rates are lowest
  • sends text or email notifications for charge reminders, interruptions and full charge
  • displays kilometres per litre, electric only kilometres, and odometer readings
  • shows kilometres per gallon, EV kilometres and kilometres driven for last trip and lifetime
  • remotely start the vehicle to pre-condition the interior temperature

Walt Dorfstatter is the President of OnStar:

The Chevrolet Volt ushers in a new era of automotive technology and calls for a new level of connectivity and control.  Nearly 6 million vehicles on the road today use OnStar to stay connected, and our new smartphone app will make that even easier for Volt drivers.

For more information please visit http://media.gm.com/volt

US Startup Visa Bill - Great News For Canadian Entrepreneurs Looking To Head South

Posted by Varun Mathur on Tue, March 9, 2010 11:50 AM · Filed under Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Kitchener-Waterloo, Atlantic-Canada , Venture Capital, Start-up · No Comments

Remember John Kerry, the Democratic Presidential candidate in 2004 ? Well, couple of weeks ago he introduced a bill in the US Congress on a special visa for foreign start-up entrepreneurs. This bill is the result of extensive lobbying efforts by prominent Silicon Valley folks who figured that easing the process by which foreign entrepreneurs could start their companies in the US would be good for the economy. More innovation, more jobs, more wealth creation. StartupVisa.com has been the key focal point of this effort.

Uptil now, foreign entrepreneurs had to go through hoops to setup base in the US. There has been the EB5 visa category, and the much more complex O visa. I've met with Canadian entrepreneurs who've shifted / wanted to move to Silicon Valley but found this immigration thing overwhelming. When you are building new products, battling competitors, and generally just putting everything on the line - not having to deal with immigration is a nice thing to have. If passed into law, this bill would grant a special 2 yr 'Start-up Visa' to foreign entrepreneurs who have raised $250k of funding ($100k from a US investor). After 2 yrs, if the startup has hit one of the following goals, the entrepreneur would become a permanent US resident: created 5 full-time jobs in the US, or raised $1 million in additional funding or earned $1 million in revenue. See more coverage about this on BusinessWeek.

A Canadian entrepreneur's story was featured front and center on the StartupVisa.com movement's website. Eric Diep was a University of Waterloo student whose ideas were able to attract investor interest in the US but due to immigration reasons, it didn't pan out. He had to come back to Canada. Here is Eric's story:

If this bill passes, it would be a fantastic opportunity for Canadian entrepreneurs looking to build on their dreams in the US. The question is, what is being done to retain that talent over here? As recent Techvibes coverage points out, Canada is increasingly becoming start-up friendly, with the removal of the dreaded Section 116 tax provisions and new tech seed startup funds launching, such as Mantella Venture Partners in Toronto and various activity going on in Quebec. Even TechCrunch had a headline today saying 'Canada Now Somewhat Less Anti-Startup'.

 
Company:
Mantella Venture Partners
Website:
http://mantellavp.com/
Location:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Mantella Venture Partners is a $20M early stage fund with a hands-on approach to building technology companies in high growth markets. MVP invests... [more]

 
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