Rogers Declares Tablets "Dashboards of Tomorrow" at Rogers TabLife TO
Company announces data sharing plans, Rogers On Demand Online for
tablets and remote PVR at Rogers TabLife TO
TORONTO, Dec. 3 /CNW/ – Rogers Communications Inc. today unveiled the
company’s vision for tablet and mini tablet devices. Anchored by
growing customer demand to be connected on multiple devices any time,
any place, Rogers announced three new initiatives including new data
sharing plans, the upcoming launch of Rogers On Demand Online for
tablets and plans to introduce remote PVR capabilities on tablets and
smartphones for its Rogers Digital Cable customers.
“The tablet is the command centre – a mobile hub through which our
customers will be able to access everything in their world – from
reading email for work to looking at photos, programming their
televisions to turning on lights at home, checking on friends on
Facebook and even updating their personal finances,” says John Boynton,
EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Communications. “Our role is
to enable these experiences seamlessly and reliably across all
devices. Our announcement today reflects our commitment to ensuring we
continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”
Rogers also unveiled the results of a recent poll of tablet and
non-tablet owners, conducted by the Strategic Counsel. Close to 60 per
cent of those surveyed who currently do not own a tablet agree that
tablets will transform the way we live, work and play, and 42 per cent
say they plan to purchase a tablet within the next year. Of those
surveyed who have already purchased a tablet, the vast majority (69 per
cent) claim they take their tablet everywhere they go and 58 per cent
state their tablet is typically the first device they turn on in the
morning.
“What we are seeing is a shift from one device to many devices connected
together, anytime, anyplace,” Boynton continues. “The tablet is the
dashboard for the highways of tomorrow, where people can easily access
the same personalized experiences at work, in the home or on the go. We
will provide the best tablet selection, integrate Rogers content on
devices and build new pricing structures to make it easy for customers
to make tablets part of their work, home and personal lives.”
Boynton made the remarks in a keynote speech at Rogers TabLife TO, an
event Rogers organized to showcase the way tablets are changing the way
we live work and play. The event brought industry leaders,
manufacturers and experts to share experiences with tablets in
communications, healthcare, business, media and entertainment. More
information on Rogers TabLife TO conference can be found at www.tablife.ca.
A tablet-optimized version of Rogers On Demand Online will feature hours
of primetime TV, movies, sports, music and will adapt perfectly to a
variety of tablet screen sizes and operating systems. In 2011,
customers will be able to go online on any tablet free of charge¹ to
access Rogers On Demand as well as Rogers’ new Remote PVR service to
set and manage recordings from any tablet, and smartphone anywhere,
anytime.
Rogers also announced new data sharing plans that enable customers to
seamlessly and easily share data from one plan across multiple
devices. With these new plans, customers can take their existing plans
and apply a data sharing add-on for as low as an additional $15 per
month.²
Tablets are also transforming the way businesses access and share
information. In fact, survey data from Strategic Counsel shows that six
in 10 Canadian tablet owners are using their tablets for occasional or
regular work. According to forecasts from Deloitte, in 2011, 25% of all
tablets sold will be bought by enterprises or bought by employees and
paid for by enterprises.
“Tablets present new and unique possibilities that can deliver real
value for businesses,” Boynton adds. “We expect to see a fast
acceleration in the number of businesses looking to tablets as critical
mobile productivity drivers. We will work with our business customers
to provide them with the service, plans and reliability they expect
from us.”
Rogers On Demand Online and Remote PVR for tablets will be available in
early 2011. More information on Rogers data sharing plans can be found
at www.rogers.com/datasharing.
¹ standard data rates apply
² plus government regulatory recovery fee
The Strategic Counsel data is based on an online survey among current
tablet device users (n=150) and non-users (n=500). The margin of error
on a random probability sample of 650 would be +/- 3.8 percentage
points, 19 times out of 20 (95%)
Rogers Communications Inc.
Rogers Communications is a diversified Canadian communications and media
company. We are Canada’s largest provider of wireless voice and data
communications services and one of Canada’s leading providers of cable
television, high-speed Internet and telephony services. Through Rogers
Media we are engaged in radio and television broadcasting, televised
shopping, magazines and trade publications, and sports entertainment.
We are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and
RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). For further
information about the Rogers group of companies, please visit www.rogers.com
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