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Cisco's Tablet Act Like a Desktop
holy_calamity writes "Cisco's Cius tablet, due next month, is bulkier than the iPad 2 and has a smaller screen but it also
brings tricks other tablets don't have. It can be connected to a keyboard, monitor and mouse to act like a desktop. Using an app to connect to a virtual desktop replicates a full PC experience, Cisco claims. The Cius also encrypts all data and is easily controlled by IT managers, who can control access to apps and other features."
The iPad will happily use a bluetooth or usb keyboard and can mirror its display via VGA or HDMI, and in a few months, it can mirror its display wirelessly via an appleTV.
My $99 dealextreme android tablet was happy to respond when I connected usb keyboard and mouse to it.
It also has vnc and remote desktop apps to connect to othe devices.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
If IT locks out the app store, it won't be successful.
Like the iPad, it's too big to carry thoughtlessly like a phone. You have to have a reason to carry it. If Sally in accounting can't put Angry Birds on it, or the Kindle app, she won't want to carry it around. Those are the real reasons she carries her iPad everywhere, despite her claims of using it for calendar or email.
Good luck Cisco, but making it IT friendly is the opposite of making it user friendly.
John
So it's a lot like an iPad, but heavier, bulkier, and with a smaller screen, for more money. And your IT manager can stop you from putting apps on it. Sounds like a winner!
My Asus Transformer (Android) does basically the same thing. It has a keyboard/trackpad attachment, and I use the wireless network to connect to my Windows PC. I can do pretty much anything except gaming. (Video is a bit slow on framerate, too.) And of course, all the normal Android stuff is available, too.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
If IT locks out the app store, it won't be successful.
Define "success"? Users won't like it or companies won't buy it? There's a difference, and the latter wins. It's the same reason companies don't buy office workers Alienware PCs.
If IT blocks internal programs, VPN and corporate websites from Sally's iPad, how's she going to have a choice. In the corporate environment, everyone takes the company phone. Most company phones suck, but the minutes and data are paid for. So, which tablet device are you going to use for streaming? The new one that nobody offers unlimited plans for, or the company one that pays for whatever you use?
Like every other device that companies provide, you'll still take it because the company, not you, buys it. And companies buy Cisco. Companies trust Cisco. Cisco is not seen as a toy gadget company. And most IT will never condone devices without control. They may put up with it, but given the choice, they'll get something they can control.
IT frankly doesn't care what Sally likes better for Angry Birds, or Sally at all for that matter. She's the same idiot downloading WeatherBug on every PC she touches. And if IT says encrypted devices only, they/we will by Cthulu will have it! Until the fired boss from Sony or Groupon or the Social Security Administration replaces our boss, and tells us to unencrypt everything, because nobody would ever, EVER, leave an iPad or iPhone just laying in a bar.
I8-D
Anyone with half a brain who's into tablets knows this. Surprise! You've been subjected to a Slashvertisement for some new product which.. tada, brings nothing new to the playing field.
I mean the asus transformer makes the tablet into an expensive netbook with a keyboard and touchpad. Bluetooth keyboards and mice have been around forever. How many tablets do not have a mini-hdmi? All the big ones do.
Actually, this sounds like a good move on Cisco's part. Why?
1. Apple makes devices for the consumer market. They have never had good support for the enterprise, where an IT department needs to have the ability to lock down any and all devices on their network.
2. Cisco, however, has very strong ties to the enterprise market. This will give them a definite advantage in both marketing and knowing what features potential (corporate IT) clients will require.
3. Apple has proven that there is a (consumer) market sector for these types of devices. There is a chance that market will fall over to the corporate sector.
The fact is that some of the very features which would make this unattractive to the consumer market are requirements for the corporate/enterprise sector. Such as the ability to lock down the app-store, and place other restrictions and controls on the device's usage. The corporate sector is long accustomed to paying more for less, so the price isn't as big an issue as many here are making it.
At this point, I guess we will just have to see if a tablet is of any real use in the enterprise.
My suspicion is that, right now, that answer is mostly "no". Time will tell.
/dev/random
Got to see of these very recently. The execs at my company are always wanting the latest and greatest and we are a Cisco shop with a slew of 79XX IP phones.
We finally went with the Cisco/Tandberg TelePresence EX desktop units. 24 inch monitor that replaces the desktop monitor, integrated video conferencing, and a cool little "mini-me" control pad/handset peripheral.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps7060/ps11303/ps11308/ps11327/images/data_sheet_c78-627494-1.jpg
Hardly portable, and no computing power, but every one of the big office folks has an iPad2 with WebEx, Facetime, etc. on it, so they're happy.
We got Citrix to work very well for application needs that don't run native on iOS, have centralized management of the iDevices in house, so the Cisco tablet made no sense whatsoever.
Still, I imagine some shops will slurp some Cisco Kool-Aid and snap these puppies up. RTFA, Cisco IS hedging their bets with iOS and Android apps for collaboration.
I am my own gestalt.