Switched On: Cisco’s hard-luck hardware

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

DNP Switched On Ciscos hardluck hardware

When you think about companies that dominate specific technology markets, alongside names such as Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Intel. SAP and Oracle, you would no doubt include Cisco Systems. Founded in 1984, the networking giant, which has grown largely via acquisition over the years, earned $43 billion of revenue in 2011. That placed it at #64 on the 2011 Fortune 500. Cisco has a current market value of about $113 billion.

Linksys, acquired in 2003, has remained among the top-selling home networking brands, and Cisco recently moved to bolster its TV service provider business -- formerly known as Scientific Atlanta -- with the acquisition of NDS. But for all the success that Cisco has had building connections among network endpoints, the company has had a tough road when it's come to selling end-user devices directly to end-users over the last few years.

Continue reading Switched On: Cisco's hard-luck hardware

Switched On: Cisco's hard-luck hardware originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco drops Cius tablets after the BYOD crush, plans upgrade to Android 4.0 out of kindness

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Cisco had grand plans for a Cius tablet on every fast-paced executive's desk, but those dreams appear to have been dashed not long after getting off the ground. Senior VP OJ Winge says the company will "no longer invest" in the design, leaving the already rather creaky Android 2.2-based, 7-inch tablet to an eternal slumber outside of occasional specialized orders. It's not hard to see what hastened the Cius to its early demise, as Winge pins it on companies and customers encouraging a BYOD (bring your own device) strategy that likely brought more than a few iPads and beefier Android tablets into the space Cisco wanted to occupy. Before existing Cius owners start videoconferencing with themselves out of sheer despondence, though, there's a silver lining: the company now expects to take the Cius' firmware all the way from Android 2.2 to 4.0 in one fell swoop near the end of the summer. You may not be living Cisco's 2010-era vision, but at least you'll have Chrome for Android.

Cisco drops Cius tablets after the BYOD crush, plans upgrade to Android 4.0 out of kindness originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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