Royal Hawaiian Center Launches TWC WiFi Service

Thanks to a recent deployment of Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s TWC WiFi service – the largest of its kind in Waikiki – Royal Hawaiian Center guests are now able to shop, dine, and relax with the added convenience of free WiFi access.

“Previously, free WiFi was available only in the Center’s Pā`ina Lāna`i Food Court”, according to Royal Hawaiian Center general manager Marleen `Ākau, “but now our mainland and international visitors as well as our local resident customers can surf the Internet at lightning-fast speeds on the upper levels within all three blocks of Royal Hawaiian Center, along Kalākaua Avenue”.

To celebrate, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, in association with Royal Hawaiian Center, held a WiFi launch event last week which included a dine around with local celebrities, members of the media, and Time Warner Cable executives. Below are some scenes from the night.

Reigning Miss Hawaii Crystal Lee, and OC16 TV Show Host Jenn Boneza (Photo Credit: Kiman Wong)

Mobile Product Management Senior Director Vijay Venkateswaran and Wireless Director Kiman Wong (Photo Credit: Kiman Wong)

Elvis with Senior Marketing Manager Shelley Thomas (Photo Credit: Anne Butac)

Cheesecake selection from Cheesecake Factory (Photo Credit: Stephen Claro)

Vijay Venkateswaran with Royal Hawaiian Center’s Marketing Director Sam Shenkus (Photo Credit: Kiman Wong)

One of the six groups enjoying the dine around: Social Media

Hawaii Officially Launches TWC WiFi

At an event at the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center last week, Oceanic Time Warner Cable officially announced that the company has begun deployment of TWC WiFi™, a statewide WiFi Hotspot network for its customers. Access to the TWC WiFi network is free to Oceanic Time Warner Cable customers with Standard Internet or above and to Oceanic Time Warner Cable Business Class Internet customers.

“Increasingly, our Hawaii customers want to take their high-speed Internet with them out of the home and on-the-go,” said Oceanic President Bob Barlow. “The TWC WiFi network we’re building for Hawaii will allow our customers to greatly maximize their TWC Internet subscription – at no additional charge.”

Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s President Bob Barlow

On Oahu, customers can access over 400 TWC WiFi Hotspots with hundreds more coming in 2013 as Oceanic Time Warner Cable builds out the network. TWC WiFi will be introduced at popular locations where residents eat, live and play. Recent additions are Sunset Beach, Kailua District Park and the Stan Sheriff Center. Below are some scenes from the night.

VIP access passes [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Garrison Yuen, Todd Silva and Travis Santos from our sales team are ready to address any TWC WiFi related questions [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Senior Director of Mobile Product Management Vijay Venkateswaran, University of Hawaii Associate Athletics Director John McNamara & VP of Wireless Engineering & Technology Ahmed Bencheikh [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Senior Manager of Mobile Product Management Dave Hawkins, John McNamara, Ahmed Bencheikh & Project Manager Les Young [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Ahmed Bencheikh, Bob Barlow & Vijay Venkateswaran hanging loose [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Director of Outside Plant Engineering & Construction Mitch Miyoshi & Ruckus Wireless’ Edwin Menor [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

University of Hawaii Associate Athletics Director Marilyn Moniz-Kaho’ohanohano, Wireless Coordinator Gwen Kojima & VP of Marketing & Sales Clara Long [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Project Manager Courtney Hubbard & boyfriend Clint [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Executive Administrative Assistant Leatrice Galicinao, Business Class Support Manager Shannon Morgan-Peirce & Director of Sales (GM) Maryann Sacharski [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Web Content Developer Cy Shinkawa, CyberCom, Inc.’s Peter Kay & Senior Marketing Manager Shelley Thomas [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Former Olympian and Beach Volleyball star Kevin Wong & Executive Producer of Live Sports Candace Fujishima [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Lt. Governor of the State of Hawaii Shan Tsutsui addresses the crowd. Read about the launch event on his blog here.

University of Hawaii Athletics Director Ben Jay

The crowd

John McNamara, Ahmed Bencheikh, Shan Tsutsui, Ben Jay, Interim University of Hawaii President David Lassner & Bob Barlow [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Clearly M’s Rob Bertholf and Ann Boots & Director of Marketing Matt Mishina [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Business Class Marketing Manager Yvonne Yanagihara, Director of Wireless Kiman Wong & Marketing Specialist Maribel Quemado [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

VP of Business Services Cyrus Driver & Vijay Venkateswaran [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

AT Marketing’s Toby Tamaye, Shelley Thomas, Wireless Manager Edward Sugimoto & Maribel Quemado

Oceanic Time Warner Cable Internet customers also have access to the nation’s largest free WiFi Hotspot network, with over 150,000 hotspots, through the Cable WiFi network name. The network enables Oceanic Time Warner Cable Internet customers to access the hotspots operated by TWC and other cable companies in major cities across the country including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Orlando, Tampa, Kansas City, Austin, Charlotte and more.

To connect to TWC WiFi, users should look for the TWCWiFi network name in their connection manager, open their browser and login. To easily locate and access TWC WiFi Hotspots, customers are encouraged to download the free TWC WiFi Finder app available in Google Play and the Apple App Store or visit coverage.twcwifi.com to view the hotspot coverage map. For more information about Time Warner Cable WiFi, visit www.twc.com/wifi.

Building Homes in Hawaii with Habitat for Humanity

Recently, dozens of employees from the Hawaii division volunteered their time to help Habitat for Humanity build homes for two families in need.

Set out in Kapolei on the southwest side of Oahu, employees from Care, Marketing, Installation, Construction, Converter Repair, Engineering, NetOps, Business Class, Finance, Direct Sales, HR, IT, Video Production & Wireless teamed up to nail hurricane support frames, reinforce stairs, and perform other homebuilding tasks throughout the day. Here are some sights from the day.

Working on the side of the house

Working on the stairs

Hammer time!

Group shot (Installation)

Group shot (Engineering, Marketing, Finance)

Group shot (Care, Tech/Field, IT)

Group shot (Admin, Field, NetOps)

Group shot (HR, NetOps, Care, Field, Direct Sales)

Group shot

Group shot

In addition to physical support that day, Oceanic Time Warner Cable also pitched in monetarily, generously donating $1,500 to the Habitat for Humanity Leeward Oahu cause. Here’s Marketing Director Matt Mishina and Marketing VP Clara Long with the check presentation.

Marketing Director Matt Mishina and Marketing VP Clara Long

2013 Pro Bowl Weekend with Victor Cruz

You’ve probably already heard about Time Warner Cable’s #ProBowlCatch campaign which encouraged fans to vote for Victor Cruz to get onto the 2013 Pro Bowl roster. The campaign was a huge, viral sensation garnering over 1.33 million views through three videos.

Earlier this week, prior to the game, Hawaii’s Oceanic Team had the honor of catching up with Victor in an exclusive interview as he relaxed at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort with his family on Friday.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s Production staff filming Coach Darren Hernandez’s interview with Victor Cruz

Victor Cruz sporting his Time Warner Cable branded “Enjoy Football Better” hat

Victor Cruz video interview

The following day, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, along with the NFL Network, sponsored the Pro Bowl VIP Party at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse at the Royal Hawaiian Center, which was all part of the Pro Bowl All-Star Block Party held in Waikiki that evening. Here are some scenes from the night.

Miss Hawaii USA 2013 Brianna Acosta poses with the Pro Bowl trophy

Oceanic Time Warner Cable employees in front of the media backdrop outside Wolfgang’s Steakhouse

Local Sales Manager Kendall Char happy to pose with Atlanta Falcons’ Cheerleader Sabrina Clark and Philadelphia Eagles’ Cheerleader Casey Baldwin

Our Direct Sales boys with New England Patriots’ cheerleader Patricia Fox

Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson seems delighted to pose with our ladies of Customer Care

On Sunday it was game time, where Victor showed off his hands, catching 10 receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown en route to a lopsided 62-35 NFC win over his AFC rivals. What a fun Pro Bowl weekend here in Hawaii. Victor Cruz and Time Warner Cable… helping all of us Enjoy Football Better.

(Photo Credit: Kiman Wong)

Hawaii Student Matthew Shimura Takes Top Honors in National Competition

Oceanic Time Warner Cable is proud to announce that the grand prize winning entry for C-SPAN’s national 2012 StudentCam competition is a student from Hawaii!

Matthew Shimura – StudentCam 2012 Grand Prize Winner [Photo courtesy: Kiman Wong]

The national competition, sponsored by Time Warner Cable and C-SPAN, challenged middle and high school students to bring the U.S. Constitution to life in the form of a video documentary. Students were asked to examine any section of the Preamble, Articles or Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and discuss its relevance in their lives, with the opportunity to win part of more than $50,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. More than 1,203 films were received in this year’s competition from more than 2,000 students from 43 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Of the 148 student finalists from across the United States who won prizes, Matthew Shimura, a ninth grader from Punahou School here in Honolulu, won the grand prize with his documentary video entry titled: “The Constitution and the Camps: Due Process and the Japanese-American Internment.”

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.swf?pid=304715-27
The Constitution and the Camps: Due Process and the Japanese-American Internment

Through his remarkable exploration of American policy towards Japanese-Americans during World War II, Shimura took viewers on a journey that presents the history of Japanese internment camps in the United States. He focused on his uncle John, a former prisoner at the infamous Manzanar camp in California, as an example of someone who was able to overcome harsh realities and achieve the American Dream.

Matthew Shimura and family [Photo courtesy: Kiman Wong]

As the grand prize winner, Shimura won a trip to Washington D.C., a $5,000 scholarship award, as well as $1,000 in funding for his school to spend on digital video equipment supplies.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable recently honored Shimura and his family at an awards reception held at Punahou School, his Alma Matter.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable President Bob Barlow presents Matthew Shimura with his $5,000 check [Photo courtesy: Kiman Wong]

In attendance were Matthew and his immediate family members, influential Punahou faculty and staff, key Oceanic Time Warner Cable employees, and Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle.

Matthew with his moms Tony Shimura and Dr. Sharon Webb, Mayor Peter Carlisle, and Punahou School Academy Dean William Ouellette [Photo courtesy: Kiman Wong]

Oceanic sends a big congratulations to Matthew Shimura and a job well done to all students who participated in the 2012 StudentCAM competition!

To view all photos from that day, please visit our Facebook page.

Honoring our Armed Forces During “Military Appreciation Night”

Oceanic Time Warner Cable was honored to once again sponsor “Military Appreciation Night” at the University of Hawaii football game last Saturday, November 5th at Aloha Stadium. The Warriors took on the Aggies of Utah State in what turned out to be a highly competitive battle (Final Score: 31-35), but more importantly, it was a night to honor our armed forces who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedom.

Five of the nine Wounded Warriors Honorees [Photo Courtesy: Kiman Wong]

Dignitaries Peter Carlisle (City & County of Honolulu Mayor), Darryll Wong (Major General), Kevin G. O’Connell (Brigadier General), Melvin Ing (Navy League President), Jim Donavan (UH Athletic Director), K. Mark Takai (State Representative), and our very own Bob Barlow (Oceanic Time Warner Cable President) were on-hand to honor two very deserving groups this year: eight, key spouses for the Outstanding Military Spouse Awards Program, and nine representatives who have been wounded in combat, referred to as the Wounded Warriors.

2011 Key Spouse Award Recipients

The 2011 Key Spouse Award Recipients are:

• Nancy Cutlip (United States Pacific Command)
• Chanelle Cadiz (Hawaii Army National Guard)
• Kymberly Kim (Hawaii Air National Guard)
• Emilia Sanchez-Polite (United States Air Force)
• Alishia Perez (United States Marine Corps)
• Malia Clemons (United States Navy)
• Margaret “Maggie” Graves (United States Coast Guard)
• Kimberly Seech (United States Army)

Mayor Peter Carlisle with the 2011 Wounded Warriors

The Wounded Warriors for 2011 are:

• Army Specialist Josh Johnson
• Army Sergeant Ryan R. Soto
• Marine Corps Corporal Jorge Cruz
• Army Private First Class Aaron Cool
• Marine Corps Sergeant Andrew Ustaszewski
• Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Daniel Mayberry
• Marine Corps Lance Corporal Mason Hoy
• Marine Corps Lance Corporal Joshua Kelly
• Air Force Staff Sergeant Darryl J. Dutton

Following the awards ceremony, there was a “chicken skin” moment (as we like to say here in Hawaii) when Staff Sergeant Samuel Hesch performed a goosebump inducing rendition of “God Bless America”. Below is the video.

Staff Sergeant Samuel Hesch performs “God Bless America”

Although our Hawaii Warriors failed to close out the game against the Aggies of Utah State, the Wounded Warriors and the key spouses were the ones everyone was truly cheering for. Mahalo for all that you do to serve our country. Your `ohana at Oceanic Time Warner Cable salutes you.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable President Bob Barlow with Marketing team members Maribel Quemado and Shelley Thomas [Photo Courtesy: Kiman Wong]

How Remote DVR Saved My Life

OK, so the story I’m about to share is not as dramatic as my title suggests, but let’s be honest… for many of us TV fanatics, forgetting to set our DVR to record our favorite show(s) often does seem like life or death.

Let’s take a few steps back and talk about what Remote DVR is. In fact, maybe I should moonwalk a little further and talk about what DVR itself is because, believe it or not, I still get asked this question on the regular.

DVR, which stands for Digital Video Recorder, is the greatest thing since sliced bread. And I’m not just saying that because I work for the company. 😉 It’s basically a smarter, “nu skool”-ier version of the beloved VHS recorder. Instead of using tapes like the VHS, it uses an internal hard drive (like a computer). And instead of relying on you and your fading memory (let’s face it, we’re getting old) to check the guide in the daily paper and set your recordings manually, the DVR automatically syncs to the on-screen guide through which you can set all of your recordings. You can even set it to record a whole series of shows, adjust start and end times, and much more!

Remote DVR, which was recently launched here in the Hawaii market, takes this convenience to the next level. Thanks to the power of the Interwebs, you can now log in to http://dvr.timewarnercable.com (using TimeWarnerCable.com’s MyServices portal) from any Internet connected device, and manage your DVR recordings even when you aren’t home.

For Apple iPad users, you can leverage the power of our uber popular TWCable TV iPad App to similarly manage your DVR recordings. As a new father, I’ve found this service particularly useful & convenient because once baby goes to bed, the wife mandates that the TV be off. Not a problem. If I forgot to set a recording, I’ll just whip out my trusty iPad…

TWCable TV App on the iPad

fire up the TWCable TV app…

TWCable TV app launching

go into the DVR screen, and record away.

On this particular occasion, I forgot to set all of my UFC 137 related recordings. As a HUGE UFC and MMA fan in general, this event is of particular interest to me – as well as the rest of the state – because our local boy BJ Penn is headlining the card. (Read an interview I did with BJ Penn back in 2009.)

Since the “no TV when baby is sleeping” rule was in full effect, I simply did a search for “UFC” in the TWCable TV app and found all shows in the next 7 days with “UFC” in the title.

Searching for “UFC” in the TWCable TV app

From there, I simply selected the shows I wanted to record and, bingo-bango, they were all automagically set to record without even having to turn on my TV. Sweet right? Here’s what one sequence looked like when I scheduled a show (UFC 137 Prelims) to record on Spike HD.

Selecting UFC 137 Prelims in the search results brought up this options window

Selecting the HD version brought up this window that displayed additional show info and the Record button.

Pressing the Record button brought up the options screen where you could adjust the Save Time (“Until space needed” or “Do not delete”) and the Start and End times.

Pressing the Confirm Changes button set my recording

Not exactly life saving, but definitely time saving. Now, with all this extra time, I can concentrate on preparing for my UFC 137 BBQ/Party! 8) Goooooo BJ!

UFC 137 Poster (Poster Art Courtesy: UFC)

For Oceanic Time Warner Cable customers here in Hawaii, you can follow along through our UFC Video Content page. For more information on how to order, click here.

VH07V!

Sierra Wireless IG2 Unboxing Video: You, Party of Eight

Sharing your connection with 5 of your friends is so 2010.

Recently, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, along with the rest of the Time Warner Cable regions, released the Sierra Wireless IG2, the 2nd coming of the wildly popular personal mobile hotspot device called the IntelliGo.

Where USB-type devices wirelessly connect individuals to the Internet while on the go, these hotspot type devices utilize WiFi technology so you can share your connection with now up to 8 friends.

Here’s a cool unboxing video of our newest device:

Sierra Wireless IG2 Unboxing

So what are you waiting for? Sharing is caring. Gather your 8 closest friends and party like it’s 1999 2011! They’ll be glad you did.

How Hawaii Gets Extreme

Ask anyone about surfing here in Hawaii and you’ll probably get some sort of answer containing “waves”, “breaks” and “boards”, with a “brah” and a shaka sign sprinkled in between.

But when you talk about surfing on the Internet, we Hawaiians – the geeky ones in particular – tend to get even more excited, especially when it comes to our speeds.

So when Oceanic Time Warner Cable launched a new tier of broadband Internet called Road Runner Extreme, you can bet our customers were “stoked”! With download speeds of up to 30 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps, Road Runner Extreme takes Internet surfing to another level.

Here’s how one local techie uses Extreme in his day to day:

How customer Brian Dote uses Road Runner Extreme

And we’re not done there! Hawaii has recently introduced another level called “Wideband” where you can expect up to 50 Mbps down and up to 5 Mbps up to start, with the potential to hit up to 150 Mbps and beyond!

Here’s Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s President Bob Barlow to tell us a little more.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable President Bob Barlow talks about Road Runner Extreme and Wideband

So as you can see, we Hawaiians love our surfing, even if it doesn’t involve waves, breaks, or boards.

Surf’s up brah!

Oceanic Time Warner Cable hosts iHeartRadio VIP Party

On Thursday, September 1st, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, in partnership with Clear Channel Radio Hawaii, hosted a VIP party for 30 lucky qualifiers, to give away a once in a lifetime trip to attend one of the biggest music events in radio history: the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.

Held at the Road Runner Music Hall, these 30 hopefuls (and their guests) waited with bated breath to find out if they would be 1 of the 3 lucky winners to attend the sold out concert event featuring some of the biggest names in music: Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, and even local, Hawaii boy Bruno Mars, amongst many others.

Here are some scenes from that night.

Emcee Kutmaster Spaz shows off our IntelliGo hotspot before getting things started

KSSK personality Sweetie Pacarro doing giveaways with our guests

Star 101.9 personalities Hudson & Scotty B doing giveaways

The Kevin Jones Effect entertaining the crowd

And then it was time to announce the winners!

Our first winner cheers her head off

Our second winner is in shock

Our third winner can’t contain his excitement

Kutmaster Spaz with our three happy winners

These three winners and their guests will fly away for an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas, including airfare, hotel accommodations, and VIP access to the concert event happening on September 23rd & 24th. Congratulations!