Cisco to introduce home stereo, video gear at CES

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas, Cisco plans to introduce a line of products, including a digital stereo system, meant to move music wirelessly around a house, reports the Boston.com. The story reports:

"That is the first small move in a long-term strategy to take on Apple, Sony, and the other consumer electronics giants. Cisco is working on other gadgets that will let people watch Internet video on TV sets more easily. Its biggest bet is that people will want to use a version of its corporate videoconferencing system, Telepresence, to chat with friends via high-definition TV."

Cisco is a newcomer to consumer electronics but it has long held aspirations to become a household name. Whether Cisco has finally gotten a handle on the consumer market remains to be seen. According to the Boston.com story, Cisco thinks it will make its mark with home video conferencing. Let's just mention that Cisco's Telepresence systems for corporations are priced at $40,000 to up to $300,000. Given that home users can currently do videoconferencing with a $30 camera and numerous free online chat services, it is hard to see what Cisco sees in this market.

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• Cisco
• CES
• Cisco TelePresence
• consumer electronics
• Consumer Electronics Show
• digital stereo
• Video Conferencing