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$3.38 Billion Bell-Astral Deal Includes Astral Advertising For Cross-Media Sync Mix

The Bell-Astral $3.38 billion dollar proposed merger dominated headlines last week and I was even asked to appear on CBC Radio. However, it's an extremely complicated deal- so complicated that the producers at CBC decided to speak with lawyers instead on whether or not the deal should be approved by the CRTC!

Regardless, the proposed merger also includes Astral Advertising which brings into question whether Bell Media would now be able to compete with part of Google's strategy in mobile advertising known as synchronized cross-media advertising.

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Bell Acquires Astral Media for $3.38 Billion: Premium Content Monopoly

According to several media sources including the Toronto Star, Bell Canada Enterprises has acquired Astral Media for $3.38 billion. The deal is pending CRTC approval, but has some observers worried about the potential monopoly that Bell will control when the deal is completed in six months. 

Astral owns The Movie Network, has the rights for HBO in Canada, and the deal will allow Bell ownership of a couple dozen Canadian specialty channels. This comes at a time when Bell recently announced their entry into Mobile TV.

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Calgary Has Tons of Entrepreneurs and Startups. But Where's the Money?

Calgary is famous—and infamous—for its oil. But few outsiders realize that technology and entrepreneurship are also prominent elements in the city of 1.2 million.

In fact, Calgary boasts the largest concentration of entrepreneurs per capita in Canada, according to the Canadian government. And Calgary also boasts the largest number of tech startups per capita.

Cybera even went so far as to call Calgary "Canada's startup capital." Of course, they're from Alberta, so there is bias. But still.

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Kevin O'Leary: Cementing a Legacy with the Cold Hard Truth

There's no question that Canadian entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary is an asshole. But he's earned the right to be one. 

Kevin O'Leary was a benefactor of the $3.8 billion exit for The Learning Company (also known as SoftKey) in 1999. While in retrospect the acquisition was called one of the worst business deals of all time—Mattel lost hundreds of millions—O'Leary had cashed out just before the dot-com bubble imploded.

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Toronto Non-Profit and Millipore Collaborate to Design Stem Cell Bioreactor

Photo: The GuardianStem cells are all the rage these days, and it’s not just a medical fad. With the ability to differentiate themselves into just about any other type of cell in the human body, they can be used to combat cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and many conditions.

The problem with stem cell research, however, is that stem cells are notoriously difficult to harvest.  While there are many locations in the body that they can be harvested from, it is quantity that matters, and quantity is hard to get. It is no surprise then that stem cell bioreactors, machines capable of producing large batches of stem cells, could have a huge impact in the way we fight disease.

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Alarm Bells Sounding Over Rumoured SR&ED Changes

It's widely assumed that Prime Minister Harper and his Conservative government will announce changes to the long-standing Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program (SR&ED) as part of their March 29 budget.

Harper has received recommendations from an expert panel’s report—known as the Jenkins Report after its chair Tom Jenkins—which made six broad recommendations to streamline a bewildering array of programs and produce more marketable business products from R&D funds.

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Edmonton's TestFlight acquired by Burstly

Edmonton-born TestFlight announced today that they have been acquired by Burstly. They are jointly launching TestFlight Live today.

TestFlight is one of the most popular service for beta-testing iOS apps. Burstly is a startup focused on helping mobile developers monetize through advertising.

TestFlight Live is a real-time dashboard that highlights actions and revenue for iOS apps. The TestFlight Live feature set is broken down into four segments: engagement, audience, revenue, and stability. The goal of the product is to provide a real-time display of the important factors happening in your app right now. It is available via Safari on desktop, iPad, and iPhone.

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University of Guelph's BetterPlanet Project Aims for Sustainable Commerce, Just Like China

Are you a bigger believer in climate change today than you were six months ago, perhaps after the strange, unseasonal fall and winter in Canada?

At the very least, several major media outlets—including the Toronto Sun—have reported that there's something happening to the world's oceans where they are acidifying at levels unseen in perhaps 200-250 million years. Australian Joe Romm titled one article, "Ocean acidifying so fast it threatens humanity's ability to feed itself."

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INcubes Demo Day: Five Innovative Internet Entrepreneurs Seek Funding

Three months ago, INcubes opened their doors to seven new companies for incubation in Toronto. INcubes evaluated the market potential of these startup ideas, and then off the startups went into a three-month qualifying curriculum program. 

In the third month - after business plan refinement, expert advice, market research and development facilitation, resource procurement, third party qualification, and product plan refinement - five of the seven selected startups created an investor package presentation and practiced their pitch before going live Tuesday at the Royal Ontario Museum before an audience of interested parties. 

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