LOS ANGELES – You’ll find a handful of Canadian companies in the running for this year’s MAX Awards here at
Adobe’s annual developer conference. Ottawa-based
QNX Software Systems , Ottawa’s
Fuel Industries Inc. , and The Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (
METRAC ) in Toronto are up for awards. UPDATE Oct. 7: QNX and METRAC won their categories.
Each year, the Adobe MAX Awards recognize the best uses of Adobe software for creating applications.
The QNX CAR application is on the short list in the mobile category. Using Flash technology, QNX designed a dashboard that can reconfigure itself for each driver, and act as a locator directing the driver to the nearest gas station when the system recognizes that the vehicle is low on fuel, for instance.
Using Flash not only provides an engaging user experience, the company says – it also reduces the development time for automakers and automotive suppliers looking to provide customizable in-vehicle systems. And it opens a new market for Flash developers creating apps, games and content, QNX says.
QNX actually launched the CAR platform in February, and the company has already attracted more than 50 technology partners and automotive customers, including Adobe (of course),
Apple Inc. ,
Cisco Systems Inc. , automakers
Daimler, General Motors and Volkswagen, and
Microsoft Corp. and Panasonic.
An Ottawa-based animation company specialising in advertisements, Fuel Industries is up for a MAX Award in the social computing category for Spark City, a virtual mall catering to girls. A part of the larger Web site
AllGirlArcade.com , Spark City lets girls interconnect via avatars as they make their way through the parks, spas, pet shops and other areas in the virtual platform. The firm says the site is designed to encourage interactivity and socializing. The more users play the game, the more “gems” they collect, which they can use to buy virtual furniture, clothes and gifts for their online friends.
