Based on the Android operating system, Cisco Cius is an open platform for communication and collaboration whose form factor and applications are designed to more securely connect employees on-the-go with the right people in real-time, and to provide those workers with the ability to access and share the content they need from any place on the network.

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If Facebook can become the default communication platform for a smartphone, Analysys Mason says, it could increase its daily engagement with users six times over.

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Which platform does she prefer for marketing communication?

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In May, sensing the breakdown in communication, Mr Reitzle suggested creating a platform for national discussion on the sorts of important topics that are otherwise left to television talk-shows.

ECONOMIST: German business and politics

The San Francisco-based communication platform launched Twitter 101 Friday, a how-to for businesses to use the service effectively.

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Trower, who's working on Microsoft's own software platform for robotic systems, says this kind of PC bot would serve as a multiapplication communication and work device, but it would have microphones and touch-screens for interacting with humans and the same adaptable and moving form factor as a small robot.

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With the likes of Google, Nuance and Vlingo now offering mobile speech-recognition services for phones, and the development of entertainment systems and vehicle communication, such as Ford's Sync platform, Parakeet may be flying into a growing market.

ECONOMIST: Better speech-recognition technology