That means wide adoption of the Cius in any industry may hinge on a price drop.
Do you think the Cius has a shot at success, given the crowded tablet market?
Of course, subbing a Cius for a PC will require a full set of useful business applications.
Partly as explanation for the higher price, Cisco is characterizing the Cius as more than a tablet.
When paired with a (separately sold) media station, for instance, the Cius acts as an office phone.
Cisco Cius offers IT professionals new options when it comes to equipping mobile workers with computing devices.
The Cius is expected to come to market at the end of the first quarter of 2011.
Cisco also thinks the Cius is suited to managing electronic patient records and use as a rural medicine tool.
The public launch of the Cius has been a year in the making.
Slattery says Cisco received more than 500 test requests following its Cius announcement.
Despite the buzz surrounding the Cius and tablets in general, Cisco expects IP phones to remain a core offering.
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The company also says the year-long development process enabled it to line up application developers and thoroughly test the Cius.
Best of all, Cisco Cius offers IT functions a way to dramatically lower the cost-per-user of provisioning those new experiences.
Delivering on that will be key for the video-centric Cius, though there are no other proof points from other devices.
FORBES: Cisco Cius: Enterprise Brawn Offset by Sluggish Specs, High(ish) Price
Pairing a Cius with a docking station, Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and applications is equivalent to a virtual desktop, he contends.
Networking giant Cisco just announced the Cius, an iPad-like device for business users that will run Android and allow HD videoconferencing.
The Cius can also operate as a mini TelePresence unit, supporting video calls between individuals or small groups, even on-the-go (over Wi-Fi).
Cisco is hoping the Cius appeals to a broad range of industries.
Cisco Cius thereby supports data center consolidation and reduced software licensing costs.
However, enterprise app stores are by no means exclusive to the Cius.
FORBES: Cisco Cius: Enterprise Brawn Offset by Sluggish Specs, High(ish) Price
In March, Cisco launched its first videophones and in June, it introduced a tablet capable of supporting video calls called the Cius.
FORBES: Cisco Ships 30 Millionth IP Phone, Looks To Videophones
Through virtual desktop integration, Cisco Cius offers flexible computing options with cloud-based services, providing dramatically lower capital costs and cost-per-user for desktop maintenance.
Potential Cius customers have been lining up despite the iPad juggernaut and the unveiling of business-focused tablets from Avaya and Research In Motion.
And when connected to an external keyboard, mouse and monitor, which can be done through the media station, the Cius operates like a small computer.
Cisco Cius is an ultra-portable device weighing just 1.15lbs (0.52kg) that extends the productivity benefits of Cisco collaboration applications to a highly secure mobile platform.
Mobile Devices: Use your iPhone, iPad or Cisco Cius Android device to start video conference calls, post your status, or stay informed through activity streams.
Instead, the Cius entered beta testing in January 2011, was released to a select group of customers in late March and will be publicly available in July.
The Cius tablet that Cisco announced earlier today may seem like just a business-flavored Android runner up to the iPad, aiming to fill a niche between your company-issued laptop and your smartphone.
The Cius can act as a subhost in collaboration or even take over the role as a subhost subsuming workflow driven work items and tasks providing improved thoroughput and absolute system availability and performance.
Users will be able to make and receive calls from their Bluetooth-enabled mobile, Cisco Unified IP Phone, Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone or Cisco Cius and can switch among the endpoints as they change location.
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