You don’t need to look very far these days to find news of another tech company venturing into the tablet market. Since the launch of Apple’s iPad, manufacturers have been scrambling to push devices out to capture a share of the emerging tablet market.
One company you wouldn’t expect to be releasing a tablet is Cisco, the electronics and communications giant. According to the NY Times, Cisco will launch its own tablet – the Cisco Cius (as in See Us) – a 7-inch Android powered tablet with a focus on providing businesses with “essential business applications and technologies.”
According to the Cius’ product page, the tablet will ship with the following features:
- 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, 3G/4G data and Bluetooth 3.0
- HD video (720p) with Cisco TelePresence solution interoperability
- Virtual desktop client
- Android operating system
- Collaboration applications including Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share, WebEx, Presence, and IM
- 7” diagonal, high-resolution color screen
- HD Soundstation that supports Bluetooth and USB peripherals, 10/100/1000 wired connectivity and a handset option
- Detachable and serviceable 8-hour battery
- Highly secure remote connections
- HD audio
The tablet will be powered by Intel’s Atom mobile processor and will allow users to connect the tablet to an external keyboard or monitor.
Barry O’Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Cisco’s Voice Technology Group admits that Cisco hasn’t considered the consumer with the design of the Cius saying “We haven’t thought about a big consumer play at all here,” categorically stating “This is a mobile video device for corporate users.”
You can read a lot more about Cisco’s new tablet device here.
The Cius could be looked upon favorably by the IT departments of big corporations for the sheer number of business oriented features it possesses, the open nature of its operating system and the fact it’s manufactured by a company with huge corporate support.
Cisco provides a couple of videos in its site but doesn’t allow them to be embedded externally. We managed to grab another copy from YouTube, embedded below for your viewing pleasure:
Doesn’t quite have the good looks and the style of the iPad but this is shooting for an entirely different market. What do you think? Hit us up in the comments.
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