Are Cisco, Verizon Positioning CIUS Tablet for Retail Sales?
Back in July 2010, we wrote about the Cisco CIUS tablet, which runs a custom version of Google Android OS designed to integrate with Cisco’s UC environment. We asked if it wasn’t DOA already with all the iPad adoption in the enterprise space. Now, Cisco is teaming up with Verizon for a January 2011 announcement that’s shrouded in some mystery. Here’s what we know, and here’s some speculation…
Jan. 9, 2011, is the date, and our e-mail tipster tells us that it’s a Verizon/Cisco press briefing for what the two companies are calling “the Retail Store of the Future.” Ravi Bagal, managing director/VP at Verizon and Lindsay Parker, who is the director of global retail industry solutions at Cisco, will be presenting their vision of what the 2011 retail landscape will look like.
The icing on the cake is that both Verizon and Cisco will provide demonstrations and the event is set to include one of the “first live demos of the Cisco CIUS.” The CIUS up to now has been positioned for the enterprise market, but perhaps there’s a retail point-of-sale (POS) strategy for CIUS? Or maybe Verizon will offer CIUS to consumers?
We may see a CIUS that gets branded for both work and play, positioning it alongside the Blackberry Playbook, instead of the purpose-built UC tablet device it was originally conceived as. We could also potentially see a CIUS outfitted with a Verizon network plan, much like the iPad has been outfitted with an AT&T network plan.
If CIUS eventually targets consumers, it wouldn’t be the first time Cisco’s has extended enterprise technology into the consumer field. Let’s not forget the Cisco UMI, which is the company’s effort to move telepresence into the home. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for Cisco’s CIUS plan come January 2011, for sure.
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