Posts Tagged ‘Research In Motion’

Share your know-how: Small business week contest

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SMB AdviceIf you’re a small business, you probably already know that October 16 – 22 is Small Business Week. For 30 years, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has been organizing this special initiative to support and celebrate the achievements of the small and mid-size businesses. Throughout the week—and increasingly throughout October—organizations across Canada host events and launch programs that bring small businesses together to learn, network and have some fun.

Here at RedBoard Biz, we try to do our part throughout the year to help small businesses with tips, trends, tools and technology to help you better manage and grow your business. We also understand that sometimes you would rather hear from others like you—hardworking entrepreneurs who face challenges daily and find innovative ways to solve them. That’s why we’ve teamed up with our partner Research in Motion to bring you our “Share Your Know How” contest.

For the next three weeks, we’ll post a question and invite you to share your insight in a comment (100 words maximum).  You’ll be automatically entered in a draw to win a new BlackBerry Curve 9360. In addition to iconic features such as the BlackBerry keyboard and optical trackpad, this device comes with the new BlackBerry 7 OS software, making it a powerful communication tool for business.

A contest winner will be announced each week both here on RedBoard Biz and via our Twitter account, @RogersBiz. 

Ready to share your know-how with your peers? Here’s this week’s question:  What is the best business advice you have ever received?

UPDATE (October 20, 2011, 2:00 pm): The Share-Your-Know-How contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for your great suggestions and feedback. We’ll be announcing the winner of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 both here on our blog and on our Twitter account, @RogersBiz. The post will remain open for comments, so please continue to send us your best business advice, however, any comments received after 2:00pm on October 21 will be ineligible for the draw for the BlackBerry. Also, remember there’s still an other chance to win. We’ll be holding another BlackBerry giveaway next week. Stay tuned!

UPDATE (October 27, 2011, 9:48 am): Congratulations to Darren, our first winner in the Share Your Know-How contest! Darren, we’ll be sending you your new BlackBerry this week. Thanks to everyone who participated and make sure you check out this week’s contest for another chance to win.

Geoffrey Booth is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

Contest closes at 2:00 p.m. ET on October 21, 2010. Open to residents of Canada who are 18 years or older, excluding residents of Quebec. To enter, tell us in 100 words or less, in the comments section of this blog post, about the best business advice you’ve ever received.  Prize: Participants are eligible to win one (1) BlackBerry Curve 9360 valued at approximately $349.00 each. One entry/person. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Mathematical skill-testing question to be correctly answered to win. No Purchase Necessary. Full rules here.

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Customer Experience, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Wireless
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We’re hitting the road with Rogers Technology Showcase

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Last week, we kicked off our national tour of the Rogers Technology Showcase in Ottawa and Toronto. Over two hundred partners,  IT professionals and members of the Rogers Data Alliance joined us to check out the latest in wireless business solutions.

We also showed off new devices, smart phones and tablets from Cisco, Research in Motion and Panasonic.

In Toronto, we had the chance to catch up with Mansell Nelson, vice president of M2M at Rogers to talk about what’s new at this year’s Technology Showcase. Take a look:

We’re heading west this week to start the next leg of our tour. If you are interested to learn more about how wireless and M2M solutions can help your business, please come out and join us. The show is free – to secure your spot, register in advance at www.rogerstechshowcase.com. Here is where we are heading:

Vancouver: Friday September 16th

Vancouver Convention Centre

Calgary: Tuesday September 20th

BMO Centre

Edmonton: Thursday September 22nd

Edmonton Expo Centre

Winnipeg: Wednesday October 5th,

Conventions Centre

Montreal: Thursday October 13th

Centre Mont-Royal

We’ll also be bringing the Technology Showcase to  Halifax on October 19th and in London on October 27th. Locations to be confirmed.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be featuring a series of video interviews with partners demonstrating their M2M solutions at this year’s show so if you can’t be there in person, this is the next best thing. Stay tuned.

Allison Fitton is a regular contributor to RedBoardBiz

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Corporate, Featured Video, Trends, Wireless
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See the latest wireless business solutions under one roof

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Rogers tech showcaseWireless technologies for business continue to evolve so rapidly that it can be daunting to keep up. From mobile workforce solutions that make employees more productive in the field to machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions that enable the flow of data from remote devices to backend systems, there are a dizzying number of options for businesses to consider.

To help you understand wireless technologies and how they could help you achieve your business goals, we created the Rogers Technology Showcase. Coming soon to a city near you, this annual event brings together the top hardware, software and services vendors. Now is your chance to come out and learn first-hand about a wide variety of innovative M2M technologies and play with our latest devices, smartphones and tablets. You can chat with the experts, watch demos of their products, and learn about solutions that are changing the ways that companies in many sectors do business.

Throughout the day, we’ll also offer special breakout sessions that focus on wireless technologies for particular industries. Visit our registration site soon for more information about these sessions.

Confirmed technology partners include Cisco and Research in Motion, among others. Other participating Rogers Data Alliance members include Microhard Systems, Novotech, Cybercat, and SafetyLine. Stay tuned for more updates about participating vendors.

Beginning in Ottawa on September 7, the Technology Showcase will travel to Toronto (Sept 8), Vancouver (Sept 16), Calgary (Sept 20), Edmonton (Sept 22), Winnipeg (Oct 5) and Montreal (Oct 13).

There is no cost to attend, but you do have to register in advance at www.rogerstechshowcase.com.

UPDATE (September 15, 2011, 4:06 pm): We are now bringing the Rogers Technology Showcase to two additional cities in October. We’ll be in Halifax on October 19th and in London on October 27th.

Geoffrey Booth is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz

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Trends, Wireless
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New BlackBerry smartphones coming to Rogers

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BlackBerry 7 lineup from RogersFor the small businesses out there who love their BlackBerry smartphones, we have some great news – this summer, three new BlackBerry devices will join the Rogers lineup. Last night, Research in Motion held an exclusive event called #BB7FanNight to announce the arrival of their new BlackBerry devices: the new Bold 9900, Torch 9860 and the Torch 9810. All three devices are capable of 14.4 Mbps 4G download speeds and yes, they will make your colleagues jealous.

The Torch 9860 will be Rogers first all-touch BlackBerry smartphone. It runs on BlackBerry 7 OS, has a 5.0MP camera with flash, 720p HD video recording capability and 4GB on-board flash memory. This smartphone will cost $199.99 with select three-year plans.

For those that can’t live without the full keyboard, you’ll want to check out both the Bold 9900 and the Torch 9810 that come with both touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard.  The Bold 9900 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone yet, at only 10.5mm. The Torch 9810 has a large 3.2” high resolution display.  Both smartphones run the latest BlackBerry 7 OS and come with 5.0 MP cameras with flash and 720p HD video recording capability. The Bold 9900 will be $249.99 and the Torch 9810 will be $199.99 with select three year plans.

What do you think of the latest BlackBerry devices?

Miranda MacDonald is a regular contributor to RedBoard

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Wireless
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PREVIEW: BlackBerry PlayBook for business customers

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A significant number of our business customers are BlackBerry users and we’ve heard from many who are excited that the Wi-Fi version of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will soon be available.

As part of our RedBoardBiz video series, we recently sat down with RIM’s Jeff Gadway to discuss some of the business benefits of the BlackBerry PlayBook and provide an overview of the device:

With its seamless integration with BlackBerry smartphones, the Wi-Fi version of the BlackBerry PlayBook is a flexible option for our BlackBerry customers who want a secure secondary device to help them be more productive.

Also today, RIM announced that the BlackBerry PlayBook with Wi-Fi will be available in three models (16, 32 and 64 GB) at a manufacturer’s suggested price starting at $499. We’re excited to confirm we will be making the PlayBook available to our business customers.

We wanted to provide this special glimpse into the BlackBerry PlayBook with you as soon as possible, but that also means we can’t share specific details on availability just yet. We’ll be sure to update you here on RedBoardBiz when more details become available.

For a more general overview of PlayBook, please see our post and video on RedBoard.

Can your business benefit from the PlayBook?

Duane MacDonald is a regular contributor to RedBoardBiz.

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Product news, Trends, Video, Wireless
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Rogers TabLife TO panel: How Tablets Are Transforming Business

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Think tablets are only for playing games and reading news?

Well, think again, says Gord Stein, VP of Rogers Business segment. Not only are business analytics, medical care, and many more applications becoming available on tablets, but we’re starting to see tablets enabling entirely new business applications.

Deloitte Consulting’s Duncan Stewart, who opened up last Friday’s Rogers TabLife TO conference, expects that in 2011, 25% of all tablets sold will be bought by enterprises or bought by employees and paid for by enterprise. And in some tablet research conducted by the Strategic Counsel for Rogers, 6 in 10 tablet owners use their tablets for occasional or regular work use.

The How Tablets Are Transforming Business panel, featuring Margaret Stuart of SAP, Dr. Wendy Graham and Gord Stein, discussed tablets in business in more depth. The full video can be found below, and here are some highlights:

  • Margaret Stuart demonstrates SAP’s sales software, discusses security concerns and the benefits of mobile business analytics on tablets.
  • Gord Stein discusses how tablet features like intense portability, “always on” and lack of peripheral storage make it a good fit for certain business applications and workflow.
  • Dr. Wendy Graham talks about how she’s using tablets in her practice and her mobile software that enables ongoing communications and information sharing between healthcare providers and patients.
  • Gord Stein touches on a few unique examples of tablet usage in business:
    • Hyatt Hotels use of tablets to provide richer guest experience including room service, concierge and check-in.
    • Restaurant developing tablets sommelier program to better educate patrons on wine that accompanies  dishes, leading to greater sales.
    • A door-to-door beauty company using tablets to better demonstrate their cosmetics and enter orders instantly; so far, they’ve reduced order errors and have sped up delivery time.

Rogers TabLife TO video: How Tablets are Transforming Business from Rogers Buzz on Vimeo.

Click the video to watch the full panel discussion. If you’d like to see other panels from Rogers TabLife TO, including a demo of the BlackBerry PlayBook by RIM’s David Neale, please click here.

Are you using tablets for business? What type of applications are you using them for? Are you looking to get more tablets in the next 12 months?

Rob Manne is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz.

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Featured Video, General, Internet, Media, Mobile, Trends, Wireless
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All aboard: Rogers Technology Showcase makes its way across Canada

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In a world with more than five billion connected devices, the next big wave of growth will largely be driven by wirelessly connected business devices, or machine-to-machine connectivity.

Rogers partners with many innovative technology companies to deliver wireless and mobile solutions for business. We’re currently making our way across Canada with some key Rogers partners to showcase solutions powered by the Rogers network and to help businesses of all sizes learn how to integrate wireless technologies in their operations.

The Rogers Technology Showcase offers a broad selection of advanced wireless and machine-to-machine business solutions, such as point-of-sale devices and fleet management solutions. It features large corporations like HP, Cisco and Research in Motion as well as small Canadian start-ups like DataTrail, Kryos, and Novotech.

Kicking off in London, Ont. a few weeks ago, the showcase is now on its way to Vancouver (Nov. 2), Winnipeg (Nov. 3), Montreal (Nov. 10), Calgary (Nov. 17) and Edmonton (Nov. 18).

You can learn more and register to attend at www.rogerstechshow.com.

Meanwhile, check out a video report on the event from Canadian Transportation & Logistics magazine by clicking here or the image below.

Rogers Technology Showcase

Are you planning on attending the Showcase? Do you currently use machine-to-machine technology in your business? Share your experiences by submitting a comment below.

Richard Bloom is a regular contributor to RedBoard Biz.

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Mobile, Trends, Video
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