Cisco Live is going on at Las vegas and I just watched the keynote by John Chambers, their CEO. The turn around by Cisco is impressive and they are really onto something with their video strategy. Today Cisco announced their new tablet strategy bringing telepresence to the reach of Joes and Janes like myself and you. They announced a new Android based device called Cisco Cius which taps into their collaboration architecture (remember, they were talking only collaboration for the past year) with virtual desktop integration to deliver collaboration and communication to everyone from small businesses to enterprises so that their increasingly mobile workforce is empowered. It essentially means that users will have anytime anywhere access to state of the art collaboration and communication tools. Just imagine the impact of such a device on your business or government. If you thought iPad was a killer gadget that revolutionized the world, wait till you have this one on your hands.
Cisco Cius is an ultra lightweight (1.15 lbs) Android based tablet offering HD video streaming and real-time video, multi-party conferencing, email, messaging, browsing, and the ability to produce, edit and share content stored locally or centrally in the cloud. Some of the product features include
  • A front-mounted 720p HD camera which refreshes at up to 30 frames per second; a seven inch, high-resolution widescreen super VGA touch-target display for real-time and streamed video, and single-button TelePresence interoperability that can be utilized either when the tablet is docked, or being used remotely via Wi-Fi.
  • A 5-megapixel rear facing camera that can transmit streaming VGA quality video and capture still images, and dual noise-cancelling microphones for audio conferencing.
  • An on-board accelerometer readily orients applications for viewing in portrait or landscape modes as the user rotates the device to their preferred viewing orientation.
  • Supports 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi for enterprise campus mobility and 3G cellular services when off-campus. 4G services will be available at a later date. Bluetooth and Micro-USB means users can work untethered and share data with a PC.
  • Completely integrated with Cisco collaboration applications including Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share, Cisco WebEx Connect, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, Cisco Presence, and interoperability with Cisco TelePresence.
  • Integration with Virtual Desktop so that any application can be streamed to the users’ tablet for on the move productivity.
  • An open platform on top of open source Android mobile operating system means that a vibrant third party ecosystem can grow around the tablet.
I think this is going to reshape business and governments all over the world. The reason I am very excited about this product is the Cisco’s embrace of Open Source Android operating system to deliver an enterprise grade, but still very cool, product like this. Unless Apple opens up big time on iOS and associated products, we can safely say that Cisco just kicked Apple out of the enterprise picture. FYI, this device will be available to public in the first quarter of 2011.
You can watch the live stream of Cisco Live below
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Krishnan Subramanian

Krish dons several avatars including entrepreneur in exile, analyst cum researcher, technology evangelist, blogger, ex-physicist, social/political commentator, etc.. My main focus is research and analysis on various high impact topics in the fields of Open Source, Cloud Computing and the interface between them. I also evangelize Open Source and Cloud Computing in various media outlets, blogs and other public forums. I offer strategic advise to both Cloud Computing and Open Source providers and, also, help other companies take advantage of Open Source and Cloud Computing. In my opinion, Open Source commoditized software and Cloud Computing commoditized computing resources. A combination of these two developments offers a strong competitive advantage to companies of all sizes and shapes. Due to various factors, including fear, the adoption of both Open Source and Cloud Computing are relatively slow in the business sector. So, I take it upon myself to clear any confusion in this regard and educate, enrich and advise users/customers to take advantage of the benefits offered by these technologies. I am also a managing partner in two consulting companies based in India. I blog about Open Source topics at http://open.krishworld.com and Cloud Computing related topics at http://www.cloudave.com.

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