Chronically under-performing Cisco is finally getting into the iPad tablet market. Cisco (CSCO) will be releasing Cius in July. Technology Review reports that Cisco’s Cius, is bulkier than the iPad, and has a smaller screen (7-inches wide, compared to the iPad’s 9.7). But it packs a number of tricks designed to woo business users.
Tested.com says the Cius can connect to a Cisco phone network to port calls from a desk number to the tablet in order to make a user’s desk number mobile. This will enable a person to make and receive voice and video calls anywhere. The tablet features HD quality cameras front and back and can be used with a Bluetooth headset for more private calling.
The tablet can also be used as a desktop videoconferencing device when docked on a special desktop phone, and can smoothly switch between a WiFi a cellular network connection. The Cius can be docked to serve as a videoconferencing device. The dock supports a keyboard and mouse, so the Cius really can serve as a little computer, “It can replace my desktop operating system,” says Tom Puorro, senior director for Cisco’s collaboration technologies told Technology Review.
Tested.com says the tablet runs Google‘s (GOOG) Android 2.2 Froyo on an Intel (INTC) Z650 1.6GHz Atom chip and weighs 1.5 pounds despite its small 7” screen. Tested.com speculates that Cisco has heavily modified the open-source Android to support business-centric features like multi-person videoconferencing and virtual desktop software.
Engadget has a video demo of the product here.
The fully skinned Android tablet seems like a relic of 2010 thanks to the arrival of Honeycomb, a version of Android actually built for tablets–which the Cius isn’t running. Tested.com says Cisco plans to upgrade the tablet to Android Ice Cream Sandwich eventually, but for now, it’s slumming around with version 2.2 (Froyo). Cisco probably spent too much time developing its custom skin and software to upgrade to Android version 2.3 (Gingerbread) or version 3.0 (Honeycomb).
Cisco has also created its own app store, AppHQ, that has only apps deemed stable and secure by Cisco and segregated it from the Android app market. This gives the IT department greater control over what a Cius user can do. IT managers can shut down access to the Android app market to protect a company from malicious apps according to Technology Review. Companies can even create their own app store within AppHQ and limit employees to certain applications, or apps built in-house.
Cisco has demonstrated a Cius virtual desktop that runs in the cloud and makes use of a dedicated chip in the tablet that encrypts all its data says Technology Review
A Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet will be available worldwide from July 31 at an estimated price of $750. Cisco will sell it along with related services and infrastructure, so the cost to businesses will vary, and could be as low as $650. AT&T and Verizon will each offer versions for their 3G and 4G networks this fall.
rb-
I wrote about the Cius here and don’t think it is an Apple Killer. Cisco will give its big partners a deal, but Cius also depends on an existing Cisco telephony infrastructure. I don’t see the Cius fitting in the Cisco product line-up since they jettisoned the Flip and are reportedly shopping Linksys and WebEx. The built-in virtual desktop looks pretty cool, though.
What do you think?
Can the Cisco Cius knock off the Apple iPad?
Does the Cius make sense in the non-consumer Cisco?
Related articles
- Cisco takes the tablet to work (news.cnet.com)
- Cisco Prices Its Tablet, Talks Apps (allthingsd.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
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