January
Razer’s Switchblade wins the 2011 CNET CES People’s Choice Award

On Sep 2009, the IDM Programme Office funded Razer to establish a substantive IDM R&D Lab. With an investment of US$20million, this Razer IDM lab was set up for the purposes of R&D in interactive gaming technology and platforms, as well as in the creation of interactive gaming interfaces and devices to fuel Singapore’s growth as a global gaming hub. Razer continues to make news by winning the 2011 CNET CES People’s Choice Award for it Switchblade product at CES 2011. This is one of the top awards at CES. Read more

February
MoVend to Provide Global Payment Platform For Mobile In-App Transactions

Stream Media Private Limited, a Singapore-based start-up and one funded by IDMPO, announces that it has received S$1 million in Series A funding, led by Stream Global Pte Ltd and SingTel Innov8 Pte Ltd. Stream Media will focus on content acquisition and is working with game studios globally to make use of its payment system MoVend Read more.

Launch of BeingThere Lab

As part of the i.ROCK Programme, the IDM Programme Office (IDMPO) has concluded negotiations with the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for the establishment of the BeingThere International Research Centre (IRC) in Singapore (IRC@SG).

BeingThere will bring together some of the best minds in US and Europe in partnership with NTU to push the boundaries of 3D display and digital communications, and this new establishment joins a growing list of world-class institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Keio University, Tsinghua University and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft which have established IDM R&D centres in Singapore. Read more.

Kai Square’s Wins Global 100 Red Herring Award

Since winning the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation Award in 2009 and the Emerging Enterprise of the Year award in 2010, trailblazing technopreneurs at Kai Square have not rested on their laurels. This IDMPO-funded  start-up won the prestigious Top 100 Global Red Herring (the ‘Oscars” of the start-up industry)  Award in January this year. This is not the first time that an IDMPO-funded start-up has won the presigious award. In 2009, 2C2P also won this award. Read more.

GAMBIT wins the Kongregate Award at Indie Game Challenge!

GAMBIT games continue to shine at the annual Indie Games Challenge. In the 2011 version of the awards that were just handed out, GAMBIT’s Symon game won the  Kongregate Award for Best Browser Game at the Indie Game Challenge, part of the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. Read more.

March
Launch of Living Analytics Research Centre (LARC)

With a firm belief in Singapore’s potential to be a leader in interactive digital media (IDM), National Research Foundation (NRF) Chairman Dr. Tony Tan unveils a new S$100-million funding programme to cultivate growth in the burgeoning sector by providing research funding to universities, polytechnics, and businesses. Called the IDM Futures Funding Initiative, it will be managed by the IDM Programme Office (IDMPO) hosted in MDA.

April
MDA-SingTel Collaboration MOU

MDA, SingTel Innov8 and NUS Enterprise joined forces to establish a strategic incubation programme, to boost the IDM space in Singapore. This programme, known as Blk71, is designed to allow start-ups to gain one-stop access to the resources they need to effectively develop and market their solutions to customers.

As part of Blk71, MDA and SingTel Innov8, the corporate venture arm of the SingTel Group,  signed a MOU to provide funding and create a dynamic environment for start-ups. MDA and SingTel Innov8 will co-sponsor activities such as industry speaking engagements, workshops and networking events. To support these initiatives, MDA and SingTel Innov8 will commit an initial sum of up to S$2 million each over three years.

 Learn more:  http://www.mda.gov.sg/NewsAndEvents/PressRelease/2011/Pages/20110404.aspx

June
Magma Studios launches ACM Terracotta Warriors iPhone App

Magma Studios was approached by the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) to help build an interactive iPhone app for their prestigious Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor and His Legacy exhibition. This development was a completely new initiative for Magma to expand their expertise from browser based Unity3D MMO game development to include Unity3D on Mobile. Their goal is to have a truly cross platform development offering using Unity3D and our own production tools. The new Augmented Reality (AR) approach was driven by our objective to bring the exhibit alive.

Magma Studios harnesses the incredible power of games to captivate the demanding “digital native” generation. Using an approach that integrates research, storytelling, and game design, our passionate team delivers world-class quality at a reasonable cost.

Learn more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxZyg7Tr0xk&hd=1

August
Time Voyager secures US$3.3million Investment

Time Voyager, a Singapore-based games development company, has secured a US$3.3 million investment co-led by East Gate Partners and Gobi Partners.  The games company is in the midst of developing their first flagship game, a 3D MMORPG that is currently in closed beta and slated for commercial launch by Q2, 2012 in China. The game has been in the works for 3 years and will be published by Kingsoft, a top ten online game publisher in China that is listed in the Hong Kong stock market.

Time Voyager is an online game development company started in March 2008 by Mr Chris Loo, a Singaporean and was first funded by IDMPO, in May 2008, under the i.JAM scheme. The aim of the project was to open up a new dimension in digital interactivity of the game market, by providing online gamers the opportunity to create and contribute their gaming ideas to an operating MMOPRG. The founding team hails from Singapore, Taiwan and China, and have an average of 8-15 years of experience developing online games, animation, software and game operations.

Learn more:
http://sgentrepreneurs.com/news-stop/2011/08/01/singapore-games-developer-gets-us3-3-million-funding/

Razer introduces the Razer Blade at PAX Prime 2011

At the PAX Prime 2011 gamer festival in Seattle, Razer introduces the Razer Blade – a full aluminum chassis gaming laptop featuring true portability, incredible performance, and its revolutionary Razer Switchblade user interface – Razer’s multi-award winning, highly intuitive interface technology. With the introduction of the Razer Blade, Razer is reinvigorating technological and design innovation for the entire PC industry, and encouraging gamers and developers to return to the PC as the primary gaming platform of choice.

Mobile systems developed for gaming today compromise on portability and form factor for game performance. While such machines run games well, they are over 2 inches thick and can weigh more than 10lbs. The Razer Blade measures 0.88 inches thin, less than half that of current mobile gaming systems, and weighs only 6.97lbs, achieving a balance between portability and performance – making it the world’s first true gaming laptop.

Learn more:
http://www.razerzone.com/blade
http://www.razerzone.com/blade/keynote
http://www.pcworld.com/article/238891/pax_prime_meet_the_razer_blade_razers_new_monster_gaming_laptop.html