Like pretty much every other company on the face of the earth, Cisco is working on a tablet. But the Cisco Cius tablet isn’t aimed at the general public. Instead Cisco is targeting business customers.
We already knew that Cisco was planning to release the tablet in 2011, that it would weigh 1.15 pounds, features WiFi, 3G, 4G, Ethernet, and Bluetooth capabilities as well as web conferencing software. Now the folks at CrunchGear have managed to get their hands on a FAQ Cisco has sent to software developers that spells out a few more things about the tablet — or at least about Cisco’s plans for the tablet.
For instance, the tablet will reportedly cost under $1000, which is still “twice the price of an Apple iPad,” because it’s a “first of its kind mobile collaboration device” not a consumer tablet. In fact, it sounds like the tablet won’t be much use unless your company is also using Cisco’s media servers and communications software. The tablet will also apparently have a user replaceable battery.
Cisco is also touting the secure mobile collaboration features of the Cius tablet, Virtual Desktop Integration, and Cisco TelePresence features.
At launch the tablet will run Google Android 2.2, but Cisco says it will update its products to future versions of Android as they become available. Since Cisco will be releasing Android versions of its apps including WebEx Mail, a VPN client, Virtual Desktop client and other apps, I kind of wonder whether Cisco might consider making some of these apps available for purchase from the Android Market for use on other devices… but I wouldn’t hold my brath waiting for that to happen.
The Cius is expected to be widely available in the first quarter of 2011.
Avaya has a similair Tablet based on android.. looks waay better
I hope Cisco won’t be to terribly mad if this thing does not sell.