When people build startups, we measure their measure success not only by how big is their exit, but also by how many lives their products touch and how long their brands lasts in the minds of consumers. Cisco’s decision today to shutter its Flip Video business two years after paying $590 million for it raises a series of questions which startup founder/investor Chris Dixon and I address in the… → Read More
At the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing today, Power Assure — a green IT business from Santa Clara, Calif. — revealed that its energy management software is now compatible with Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) Blade servers.
According to Jed Scaramella, a research manager for servers at IDC, here’s how fast blade servers, in general, are gaining traction in the market:
In 2010, the… → Read More
Wow. Cisco has just issued a release stating that in a strategic plan to “align its operations,” the company will exit parts of its consumer businesses and realign the remaining consumer business to support four of its five key company priorities: core routing, switching and services; collaboration; architectures; and video. One of the casualties of this realignment: Cisco’s video camera Flip… → Read More
Wow. Cisco has just issued a release stating that in a strategic plan to “align its operations,” the company will exit parts of its consumer businesses and realign the remaining consumer business to support four of its five key company priorities: core routing, switching and services; collaboration; architectures; and video. One of the casualties of this realignment: Cisco’s video camera Flip… → Read More
In the world of high tech, routers and switches are the oft-ignored, older, awkward step-sisters of CE design. It is thus no longer. Cisco has just released a plethora of routers and switches, ranging from $60 to $160 on the wireless side and $29 to $74 on the switch side, that look like little alien racecars. The new models in the E-Series come with the standard junk – 10/100 Mbps wired… → Read More
Cisco this morning announced its intent to acquire newScale, a global provider of self-service and lifecycle management software for enterprise IT and private/hybrid cloud computing.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but newScale is a company that’s raised tens of millions of dollars in funding from a wide range of investors, according to CrunchBase.
Based in San Mateo, California, newScale… → Read More
ūmi, the high-powered and ridiculously expensive video chatting service from Cisco, is getting a bit of a price drop. We were initially impressed with the quality at the announcement, but the $600 price tag was too high, to say nothing of the ridiculous $25/month plan that used a connection you were already paying for.
Well, either Cisco wildly overestimated the price people would pay for this… → Read More
Every year, Fortune magazine (where I started out as a reporter) comes out with its list of the Most Admired Companies in the world. In truth, it doesn’t really change much from year to year. Apple, once again for the fourth year in a row, is No. 1, as it should be. The company single-handedly created an entirely new class of touch computing with the iPad last year, and is on it’s way to… → Read More
Cisco this morning announced that it has completed its acquisition of privately-held Pari Networks, a provider of network configuration and change management solutions, in an effort to complement its own ‘smart service’ capabilities. Pari Networks, notably, was founded by a group of former Cisco executives.
Cisco originally announced its intent to buy Pari Networks on January 26, 2011. Financial… → Read More
We’ve heard for a while now that Cisco plans to put out a Flip camera with wi-fi built in, but so far the rumors haven’t produced an actual product. Until now. → Read More
Cisco this morning said it intends to purchase LineSider Technologies, a privately-held network management software based out of Danvers, Massachusetts. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and Cisco said it aims to complete the acquisition in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2011.
LineSider markets software that enables companies to build network services and securely… → Read More
I know we’re not technically in a recession and Americans love their electronics— especially those that start with the letter “i”— but as a whole, electronic retailers need a reality check, or a swift kick to the gut.
On Wednesday, CrunchGear’s Devin Coldewey and I dropped by two product announcements, one for Cisco’s purportedly consumer-friendly ūmi and Logitech’s Google TV accessory… → Read More
After a 15-minute private demo of Cisco’s Umi, the company’s latest video calling system, I was fairly impressed with the unit’s sharp 1080p HD resolution and the natural feel of the audio (which is apparently designed to elevate human voices and suppress background noise). Then again, that level of quality is no real surprise given Cisco’s history in telepresence technology and their popularity… → Read More
The rumors were true: Cisco has announced a new video calling system called ūmi (pronounced yoo-mee), which allows for easy 1080p video calling between your TV and any other ūmi system or Google Video Chat. Sounds great, although the $599 price, plus $24.99 per month for access to the service, may severely limit the uptake of this otherwise impressive piece of kit. → Read More
Well, that was quick. With the news this morning that Tony Bates, a senior VP at Cisco who runs its Enterprise Group is exiting the company to become CEO of Skype, Cisco is announcing that CTO Padmasree Warrior is taking on Bates’ old role (and will also remain as CTO).
Warrior will officially become SVP/GM of Cisco’s Enterprise, Commercial and Small Business Development Group. As Cisco’s… → Read More
Skype is taking another step towards becoming a public company today with the appointment of a new CEO. Update: I have confirmed that Skype’s new CEO is going to be Tony Bates, a senior VP at Cisco, who runs its Enterprise and Service Provider groups, which together account for about $30 billion worth of Cisco’s business. Bates will be moving to Skype HQ in Luxembourg and will begin his duties… → Read More
WAZZZUP! We are totally raging this weekend. We are going to Sharkey’s first and then Paul is having a hot tub party with you know who. Yeah! Her and like fifty of her friends! Broseph! I know! Aw man, I went totally speed skating yesterday. Yeah, dude, I wear a unitard and get up to like 40 miles an hour. Naw, I’m in training for the championships in Hawaii. Naw. That’s just… → Read More
Cisco this morning announced its intent to acquire privately-held Arch Rock, which specializes in IP-based wireless sensor network technology with a focus on energy and environmental monitoring and Smart Grid applications.
Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. → Read More
Cisco has made an offer to acquire Skype before they complete their IPO process, says one of our more reliable sources. We have not been able to confirm this rumor one way or another via other sources, which isn’t surprising. A company in lock down during the IPO process is usually even more tight lipped than normal.
But if true this would be one very big acquisition. Skype insiders are hoping… → Read More
Cisco this morning announced its intent to purchase privately-held and venture-backed ExtendMedia, a provider of software-based Content Management Systems that helps media companies and network operators manage digital video content.
Financial terms of the transaction remain undisclosed, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of Cisco’s fiscal year 2011. → Read More
Networking equipment maker Cisco intends to build a sustainable city in Portugal. The company will work with Living PlanIT, a startup focused on developing large-scale sustainable technologies.
What will this city look like? For one thing, it’ll be wired with tens of millions of sensors providing real-time data to help manage common urban issues like traffic and crime. The 11-square-mile city… → Read More
Cisco is launching a new Hosted Collaboration platform today, which allows partners to provide a wide range of Cisco collaboration applications, such as WebEx, an enterprise focused messaging platform, a contact center and more, to their customers via the cloud.
The Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution gives customers the ability to deploy multiple collaboration applications on one server in a… → Read More
Cisco is in the business of sending bits from one place to the next. Therefore, anything that will allow them to play to their strengths, namely data access, is important. That’s why they bought Flip and that’s why they just announced this odd business tablet.
It’s basically an HD tablet running Android with full video conferencing and email and media access. Obviously there’s no price and… → Read More
This is nothing that a fat cheque won’t solve, but Apple has changed the name of iPhone OS to iOS. IOS is a named owned by Cisco Systems. You’ll recall that the name iPhone was also owned by Cisco. Is Apple so wealthy that it can go around taking trademarked name, paying the owners for the rights, or is the person in charge of coming up with names just a silly goose? Probably the… → Read More
Cisco is to buy privately held CoreOptics, a designer of digital signal processing solutions for high-speed optical networking applications.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $99 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of CoreOptics.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second… → Read More
Cisco today announced two new lines of wireless routers: the Valet series and the Linksys E-series. Both share the same design, with the only obvious differentiator being the color. The white Valet routers target the general consumer, while the black E-series is designed for “tech enthusiasts” like yours truly. → Read More
The European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have just approved Cisco’s $3.4 billion acquisition of video conferencing company Tandberg. According to the release, the transaction remains subject to review in Brazil; however, the antitrust approvals from the European Commission and Justice Department represent the final regulatory approvals required before the transaction can close. → Read More
When I came to the U.S. in 1980, I was young and naïve. I used to think that corruption and ethical lapses were just a third-world ill. Eventually, I became a tech CEO and learned the harsh realities of American business. Yes, standards are much higher, and breaches are punished, but the temptations are just the same here as they are in any other country. Ethical lapses (which are a form of… → Read More
Sonos, the Santa Barbara, California based startup that develops of wireless multi-room music systems, is taking a new round of financing from London-based Index Ventures, we’ve heard from multiple sources. Partner Mike Volpi, a forcer Cisco exec who found himself in the middle of a huge drama last year around eBay’s Skype spinoff, will join the board of directors of Sonos.
Volpi will bring real… → Read More
Keeping tabs on the performance of an SMB’s network is a necessary, and often laborious, task. System admins need to be able to know if and where problems are occurring on their network. Network monitoring tools are useful because they can alert a user when a pipe is clogged; however, receiving an alert will not help a system admin identify the source of the clog. Packet analyzers solve this… → Read More
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