Cisco’s Cius, which is aimed at enterprise customers will start shipping next month, the 7 inch touchscreen device will be running on Android 2.2 on Intel’s latest Atom chip code-named Moorestown.
The tablet will be available worldwide through Cisco’s distribution channels and will not be available through retail channels at least for now.
The tablet will be priced at $ 700 (Rs 31,250) and $1000 (Rs 44,600) when combined with the media station into which the tablet slots, creating a virtual desktop with phone, screen, ethernet ports, USB ports for keypad, headsets and other devices.
Cisco is bundling in communications and collaboration tools so users can use video, voice or instant Messaging to interact and communicate with colleagues.
Cisco has said is a statement that the tablet would later be updated to include the latest Honeycomb operating system and would have Wi-Fi and 3G capabilities, with 4G support in the future.
The device will run Cisco’s Tele Presence videoconferencing system, WebEx tools and other Cisco applications including Cisco Quad and Cisco Show.
Cisco will compete with enterprise tablet makers such as Hewlett-Packard and BlackBerry PlayBook (which is as much targeted to the normal consumer as to the enterprise, but lacks a native email client).
Avaya, a player tele presence space, has also announced Flare, an Android tablet focused on communication and collaboration tools. Some tablets, notably Apple’s iPad, are also gaining traction in enterprises.
Cisco has also introduced AppHQ, a very unique new App platform, which is aimed at giving more control to the IT managers, it allows them to control what can be downloaded, they can also remotely wipe out certain apps already downloaded. It also has a mixture of Android apps and Cisco-validated business applications, which users can download.
Although the device is targeted at the business community, there is enough room for private use, provided your IT department permits it.