An unlikely source comes to market with their own take on the tablet/slate device. With an interesting focus and the muscle to market, will Cisco's open sourced based tablets rival the iPad?
With the news that Apple sold over 3 million iPads in the first 90 days of its availability, you had to figure there were other players eying this lucrative market. Maybe Microsoft, HP, IBM or Dell? But how many of you would have guessed that Cisco would be one of the first to come to market with not one, but two tablets of their own? Oh, and that they would be open sourced based? Well that is exactly what has happened.
First Cisco announced the Cius. A “mobile collaboration tablet designed for business”. The sharp looking device is based on the Google Android OS. Here are some of the relevant details on Cius:
Applications Capabilities:
- 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, 3G/4G data and Bluetooth 3.0 help employees stay connected on and off-campus
- HD video (720p) with Cisco TelePresence solution interoperability for lifelike video communication with the simplicity of a phone call
- Virtual desktop client enables highly secure access to cloud-based business applications
- Android operating system, with access Android marketplace applications
- Collaboration applications including Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share, WebEx, Presence, and IM
Tablet Highlights:
- 7” diagonal, high-resolution color screen with contact-based touch targets delivers an elegant, intuitive experience
- HD Soundstation supports Bluetooth and USB peripherals, 10/100/1000 wired connectivity and a handset option
- Detachable and serviceable 8-hour battery for a full day of work
- Highly secure remote connections with Cisco AnyConnect Security VPN Client
- HD audio with wideband support (tablet, HD Soundstation)
Sounds pretty cool! You can see the Cius in action on the YouTube video below:
The Cius will have a price below 1,000 dollars. While a bit more expensive than an iPad, it is squarely aimed at the enterprise market as an enterprise device. Unlike the somewhat “toy like” aurora of the iPad.
When you think about it, this makes a lot of sense for Cisco. With their acquisitions of Webex and Tanberg video conferencing. They own some of the key technology making these tablets go. Also, the tablets are conducive to using the cloud and the network, both areas big Cisco cash cows.
As can be seen in the video, the Cius will plug into a phone dock and looks like a great tool for video conferencing as well.
The second tablet from Cisco is a little bit different. It is called the Home Energy Management (HEM) solution. It is aimed at another big growth market for Cisco, the home/consumer market.
It is an Ubuntu Linux based system and will allow consumers to be more efficient in their energy use. It is designed to be used by a consumer whose power utility is also using the system. Cisco is going to offer a cloud based service for the utility it looks like.
Here is a YouTube on the HEM:
To me this is right out of Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat and Crowded world. It is a great idea whose time can’t come quick enough for us here in America and throughout the world.
So it looks like the inevitable march away from desktop computing and even laptops continues on. Will Cisco, using open sourced based operating systems be a player in this brave, green, new world? Who knows? But I am pretty sure open source will have its place at the table.
I am interested in the enterprise folks out there if you would give Cius a whirl in your own shops. What do you say?
