MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwire) -- 11/28/12 --

Editors' note: A photo and a video are associated with this press release

Portable North Pole is back for its fifth year, offering a FREE, fun and fully personalized experience for Santa fans young and old, all across the globe.

With Portable North Pole, kids and adults alike can experience the magic of Santa and his village at the touch of a button via their personal computers or mobile devices. To celebrate Christmas, and birthdays, users can send their loved ones personalized video messages from Santa himself, featuring personal photos and other customized details.

This year, Portable North Pole has pledged to donate five percent of all personalized product sales to participating Children's Hospital foundations in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada and France, as part of the PNP Children's Hospital program.

The never-before-seen 2012 videos include brand new scenes from Santa's village, funny new elf clips and more. The basic PNP video is completely free to stream for an unlimited number of times during the holidays. And for a small fee, users can create an extended five-minute premium version, which includes exclusive clips of Santa riding on his sleigh, a personalized Christmas Carol sung by the elves and more.

"The Portable North Pole console has streamed over 60 million fully-personalized videos since it was launched in 2008," said Alexandre Berard, president of UGroupMedia and designer of Portable North Pole. "Users just have to answer a few questions, provide photos, and Santa Claus will prepare a unique free video message for each of their loved ones."

New for 2012, Portable North Pole is offering an extra special treat for kids: a personalized phone call from Santa himself! Another new and unique gift option is an augmented reality interactive letter, sealed with a little sprinkling of magic by the elves to prove that it was sent directly from Santa's post office! The full-color letter includes a premium video and a facial scan feature, which Santa uses to check if the child is on his nice list.

Also new for 2012, Portable North Pole is excited to introduce its updated iPNP mobile and tablet app, which includes the premium video, interactive advent calendar and phone calls from Santa. In December 2011, the Portable North Pole app was among the top 10 paid downloads on the Apple Store in the UK.

Santa's e-shop on the Portable North Pole website is also stocked with a range of new personalized gifts, from letters, coloring books and place mats, to books, puzzles and official "Santa's Nice List" certificates.

About Portable North Pole and UGroupMedia

UGroupMedia (UGM) is a Montreal-based company specializing in the development and deployment of innovative solutions for customized transmedia experiences. Through its patent-pending platform named "U", UGroupMedia made its mark in the field of multi-platform innovation with the launch of its first production, the Portable North Pole (PNP) console with a growing Facebook community of over 300,000 enthusiastic fans.

The photo associated with this press release is available at the following address: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20121126-pnp-eng.jpg

The video associated with this press release is available at the following address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c5QuXBI9Ug