Gadgetopia: Connected Rogers Magazine Live @ CES

By: Rogers_Richard

January 6th, 2011 a 12:39pm

Sure it may be cold and dark outside here in Canada, but the sun is shining on Las Vegas as gadget lovers around the world gather starting today for the world’s largest consumer technology trade show: CES 2011.

This year our Connected Rogers Magazine team will be on the show’s floor hunting for the latest gadgets, accessories and tech trends for the year ahead. The magazine’s coverage will include regular blog posts with pics and videos of all the action. You can find it on their website here. They’re also sending regular tweets via their @connectedmag Twitter account.

Just how big is CES? According to reports, 140,000 people will attend the show that comprises roughly 1.8-million square feet of exhibit space. There will be 2,900 companies showcasing the latest gear, software and technology.

In addition to Rogers products and services, Connected Rogers Magazine also covers non-Rogers technology, lifestyle and entertainment. And while we may not carry everything you read about from the show, attending events like CES provides us with a first glimpse at what’s hot among consumers – and what’s next.

What are you looking forward to hearing about from CES 2011? Have you ever been to the event?

Richard Bloom is a regular contributor to RedBoard.

Rating: 2.3/5 (12 votes cast)

Gadgetopia: Connected Rogers Magazine Live @ CES, 2.3 out of 5 based on 12 ratings

Categories:

Cable TV, Customer experience, trends, Wireless

Tags:

accessories, CES 2011, conference, Connected Rogers Magazine, consumer, convention, electronics, entertainment, gadgets, Las Vegas, lifestyle, show, smartphone, tablet, technology, tradeshow

8 Comments

mjschmidt says: January 7th, 2011 a 9:45am

So the Connected folks are getting a first hand look at all the cool stuff your competitors will be carrying?

Day 1 of CES
Bell announces they will carry Motorola Atrix.
HTC web site lets slip that Telus will have the HTC Desire HD.
Rogers… does nothing but have a look around?
- Rogers_Richard says: January 7th, 2011 a 10:33am
  
  Hi Michael.
  
  Thanks for your comment. Stay tuned…
  
  Richard.
  - mjschmidt says: January 7th, 2011 a 1:01pm
    
    Richard, that usually means Rogers will announce something a month from now, and then _maybe_ deliver it a month after that! ;-)
    
    As a Rogers customer for over 15 years, it’s getting frustrating seeing Rogers play catchup. :-(
- Victor says: January 8th, 2011 a 11:04am
  
  It is upsetting. Rogers used to have all the latest hardware. Now Bell and Telus are getting all the latest hardware at launch while Rogers takes months to launch one phone and gets left behind.
  
  Now this isn’t enough to make me deal with Bellus, Rogers tends to treat me well and I have a pretty good plan. But it does mean that my next phone I’m buying from another carrier and getting it unlocked. Costs a little more but gives me more leverage when I want to deal with changing my plan.
  - Rogers_Richard says: January 10th, 2011 a 11:11am
    
    Hi Victor
    
    Firstly, thanks for your business. We are continually working with our manufactures to bring devices to launch as quickly as possible. While we didn’t announce anything specific during CES, we see 2011 being a big year for Rogers customers and expect to have some exciting news soon.
    
    Cheers,
    Richard.
random72 says: January 8th, 2011 a 2:17pm

Too true, mj. Rogers seems content to sit on the sidelines while others lead and make headlines.

CES will be long over by the time Rogers has anything new to offer, which will inevitably include a lengthy delay between announcement and availability.

The company’s presence at CES is puzzling, although, a chance to go to hang out in Vegas for a week would be hard to turn down.
- Rogers_Richard says: January 10th, 2011 a 11:15am
  
  Hi Random72
  
  As noted above, we are working with all of our manufacturers to bring devices to launch as quickly as possible. And while didn’t make a product announcement last week at CES, we often do carry products that are hot at the show. In fact, while BlackBerry PlayBook may have made waves at CES last week, a month ago we were one of the first carriers to say we’d be carrying the device. (Check out the announcement from our CMO John Boynton here on RedBoard on Dec. 3).
  
  In terms of our presence at CES, we think it’s important to be at the show in order to learn what’s hot, what’s next and to meet with the largest names in technology to see how their products and services would fit with our customers.
  
  Cheers,
  Richard.
random72 says: January 10th, 2011 a 4:30pm

Ok, Richard- we’ll have to wait and see I guess. Just remember, that in the marketplace in this day in age, it’s all about what’s new and what’s hot- not belatedly introducing products that debuted in other markets 6-8 months ago.

Rogers, rightly or wrongly. seems content to wait until everyone’s moved on before making a lot of these products available to its customers – that’s the perception.

Blaming the manufacturers for these delays when your competitors are beating you to the punch sounds kinda lame.

As for the Playbook, Rogers won’t have an exclusive on it and I haven’t seen anything that would indicate Canada won’t have to -once again- stand in line while RIM rolls this product out in the US first.

One report out of CES said the PB would be rolled out at the end of March. Does that include Canada? Who knows? We’re not allowed to know anything about its launch here. That information is being treated like a state secret, as per usual.

We’ll probably find out a day or two before (just like the Torch), after the date has been leaked all over the Internet.