طرح خدمة Toshiba Places

Neuss, Germany, 2nd September 2010 – Today at IFA 2010 in Berlin Toshiba announces another big step in making its Multi Screen vision a reality. So far, the emphasis has been on connecting devices locally – for example with the Toshiba Media Controller, which makes it easy to access and stream content from device to device within a home network. Now,’Toshiba Places’ extends the Multi Screen vision by allowing customers to easily purchase and share Web-based content – across their own devices and with friends and family wherever they are. Pioneered by Toshiba France in the last year, Toshiba Places is now ready to be rolled out gradually to a range of Toshiba devices in an increasing number of markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Evolutionary step of Multi Screen vision towards cloud based services
“With Toshiba Places our Multi Screen vision takes another evolutionary step forward by embracing web based services”, says Alan Thompson, President of Toshiba Europe GmbH. “This user-friendly portal reflects users’ rising interest in sharing content not only between locally connected devices but also with friends and family all over the world. In addition, Toshiba Places also signals our determination to create offerings that go way beyond hardware, embracing compelling services, software and content too.”

Dedicated graphical user interfaces adapted to the device’s characteristics
People are increasingly using different devices to access the internet. As well as PCs, tablets and smartphones, consumers are now interested in viewing internet content on their TV: close to 60% of surveyed consumers in France, Germany and UK said this would be important to them [1] . Toshiba Places is an online content and services portal that allows consumers to access web-based content and services from different kinds of devices. While the interface retains the same ‘look and feel’ across devices, it’s tailored to the individual characteristics of each kind of device. For example, the interface for TVs (currently accessible via a new Toshiba set-top box) makes it easy to access and use online content using a remote control. It also includes options to view a program guide, recently viewed programs and other TV related functions which are not appropriate for the PC version.

Share, store and access content easily on the device that most suits the moment
Once logged in to Toshiba Places, users can send their own content directly to the cloud, via popular Web-based services – for example, Flickr and DailyMotion in France – with the convenience of a single login. They can then access this content from their own different devices, such as a TV, laptop or tablet. They can also send a notification to people selected from a personal contacts list, who can then access the content. With Toshiba Places, customers can organise a truly private social network.

Toshiba Market Place: accessing new content and services
Within Toshiba Places, the Market Place area, or “Toshiba Market Place”, allows users to buy music, films and other services that are immediately delivered digitally. Depending on the device and the location of the customer, a choice of content and applications from Toshiba and third parties will be offered, including music, videos, eBooks, games, news, messaging, productivity software, online stores, warranty services and many more. In France Toshiba is partnering for example with VideoFutur (Video on demand), L’Equipe.fr (sports news), and PagesJaunes (business directory). The services offered through Toshiba Places will be expanded on a regular basis, with a mix of local and region-wide partners.