Rogers Innovation

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Rogers Innovation

Postby PMC » Thu Sep 26, 2013 6:02 pm

Check these pieces out for innovation.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/roger ... -1.1869067

I believe this will have large appeal...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers- ... -1.1869688

It is great to see the adaptation with the technology. Good stock investment etc.
PMC
 

Re: Rogers Innovation

Postby jon » Thu Sep 26, 2013 7:49 pm

I'd be interested in knowing how others felt the Media handled these two stories.

For my part, the second one, electronic Magazines buffet subscription, is what I kept seeing talked about. The first one, Internet into the car: first I heard about it was right here. I've cut and paste the article below.

Rogers, Sprint to offer wireless internet in vehicles
Rogers VP predicts 'strong growth opportunity' for company in auto sector
By Michael Gregory, CBC News
Posted: Sep 26, 2013 9:10 AM ET
Last Updated: Sep 26, 2013 3:16 PM ET

Rogers Communications and U.S. wireless carrier Sprint announced today they will soon be offering Canadians high-speed wireless internet access in new vehicles.

The cost of the project, pricing for the services and dates for the rollout weren't included in a joint statement issued by the companies, which operate two of North America's largest telecommunications networks.

A Rogers spokesperson confirmed to CBC News that the new service will be available within the next year.

The press release said the service will be available from auto manufacturers that deploy Sprint's Velocity system in Canada and it will leverage Rogers' wireless networks to connected vehicles on the road.

New vehicles will be manufactured with a machine-to-machine (M2M) SIM card for built-in wireless network connectivity.

“I think people are trying to figure out from an automotive context, or an in-car context, how you make these things relevant to what the person is doing in the car at that time,” said Rogers vice-president Mansell Nelson.

Vehicles with Sprint Velocity — which has already been deployed in the U.S. — will have access to news, sports scores, weather alerts, driving directions and vehicle diagnostics via an in-dash touch screen.

Sprint Velocity also provides in-car connectivity for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Rogers says Canadians "want to be connected from anywhere, at any time."

And with over 20 million vehicles on the road in Canada," Nelson said. "There is a strong growth opportunity for Rogers in the connected auto segment."

'Priced pretty competitively'

Nelson said the new services will be “priced pretty competitively” and suggested that vehicles may “become an extension" of a customer's "broadband sharing plan."

"I think you’re going to see a lot of integration with the car into the broader Rogers product offering,” he said.

The connected car market is expected to be a booming business, with research suggesting nearly 100 million connected cars will be on the road by 2016.

While hand-held devices are creating an ever-growing list of distractions for drivers, Sprint Velocity comes equipped with in-car safety features that both companies hope will alleviate the issue.

“I think we’re concerned about it, as we are with driver safety in general, and trying to work with the original equipment manufacturer on what measures they're taking to attempt to control this,” Mansell said.

Sprint Velocity's integration into the car will mean certain features, such as watching a movie, will be disabled while a driver is operating the vehicle, Mansell said.

“The challenge with the smartphone today is it’s not integrated with the car and you do whatever you want,” he said.

Other features include a cellphone disabler when the vehicle is travelling over eight kilometres per hour, and the ability to "hold a text message while driving."

Safety concerns

Canadian Automobile Association spokesperson Ian Jack said technological improvements in the vehicle were good as long as they don't take the driver's attention off the road.

"There are some positive safety implications for this but on the other hand most of the research out there suggests distracted driving is becoming one of the leading causes of crashes," he said.

Research at the University of Utah funded by CAA and its U.S. partner, the American Automobile Association, has suggested devices that engage a driver in a "two-way conversation," meaning talking on a cellphone or typing on a device, tend to be the most dangerous.

"Even voice-activated texting, where you speak and it converts it into a text message for you, is an area that we have concerns about," Jack said.

"It's not the fact that it's technology, or that it comes in bits and bites, it's what it does to you as the driver," he said.

CBC, With files from The Canadian Press
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Re: Rogers Innovation

Postby PMC » Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:51 am

The older crowd might laugh at this line from a Sting tune that comes to mind `packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes' :lol:

however driving your car in the future will be done by the car and not you ! :cheers:

The car of the future can use a type of radar that the digital cameras use to measure what's around the vehicle. Throw in the GPS, and your car will never get you lost. The inhouse computer calculates the distances and speed, and makes corrections, like an autopilot would do in an aircraft. ...tap in your touch screen destination and sit back and enjoy the ride, or use the touch screen to catch up on your magazine reading or watch that movie...

Google has been testing various things with vehicles and has had great successes...
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Re: Rogers Innovation

Postby crs » Fri Sep 27, 2013 10:11 am

UNTIL we have the self-driving cars, I think having wireless internet on board a vehicle is a bad plan. "Sorry I didn't see granny in the crosswalk, I was checking out the NASDAQ". But, of course, Rogers will be blameless in all this as the PROVIDER of the technology. They'll claim the death of granny was through "improper use" of the on-board wireless technology. IMHO drivers have enough distractions with their coffee, scarfing down a donut and channel punching that they don't need THIS a few feet away.

Toss this in the same heap as the Google Glass as the type of technology we can live WITHOUT. :violent1:
Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!
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Re: Rogers Innovation

Postby PMC » Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:45 pm

I agree that cell phone use while driving is a problem... lack of attention etc. The carriers are not responsible for the stupidity of humans.

The technology can be useful to others in the vehicle. There are DIY's that put screens on the back of a seat for rear passengers to watch. Some being built/created with the Raspberry Pi device.

There is/are many traveling sales people that would find the technology useful with the laptop they pack along. Car theft could be cut by tracking the vehicle live.

Technological innovation brings the tools, and the humans need to be educated on the proper use of the same, as part of the cost price.
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Re: Rogers Innovation

Postby hagopian » Thu Oct 03, 2013 5:17 pm

I still see tons of people texting and driving - do you?
Cell phones, galore.

I also find it bizarre watching people texting as they walk and are oblivious to oh, trucks, trains, low flying jets. Totally bonzo is watching 4 people at dinner - not talking to each other - they were all texting, about 70% of the time.

I dunno. I think our brain stems have become part of the...(big sound effect) M A T R I X. Ted Rogers would be so proud.
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Re: Rogers Innovation

Postby PMC » Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:22 pm

hagopian wrote:I dunno. I think our brain stems have become part of the...(big sound effect) M A T R I X. Ted Rogers would be so proud.


Be nice to Ted, he gave us FM ! How many poo poo'd the idea back then...
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