Cisco Hits the Brakes on Cius

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) has stopped development of the Cius tablet, opting instead to put its efforts into software for the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) enterprise trend.

Cisco explained this position Thursday at a briefing for technology editors, a day-long overview of the company's businesses that was held at Cisco headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.

"We won't be doing any new form factors for Cius. ... Our strategy for the future is all about software," and about making sure that applications such as WebEx and telepresence can run on multiple platforms, including tablets and smartphones, said Barry O'Sullivan, senior vice president of the collaboration and communications group.

(Side note: As part of a video demonstration, O'Sullivan spoke to reporters via telepresence from Galway, Ireland, where it was 10 p.m. It also happened to be his tenth anniversary at the company, and he spent it sitting around in a telepresence room waiting for his turn to present. Good times!)

In lieu of Cius, Cisco's focus will be on Jabber, the collaboration platform acquired in 2008. (See Cisco Gains Presence With Jabber Purchase.)

Jabber will be a way to take Cisco's applications -- telepresence, for example -- onto more popular devices. Cisco expects to launch Jabber clients for the iPad and on Windows and Mac computers this summer. Android support will come later, and support for Windows Phone -- well, they're thinking about it, O'Sullivan said.

The same sentiment got posted Thursday evening to Cisco's blog, courtesy of O.J. Winge, senior vice president of the telepresence group.

More on Cius:

• Why Cisco Makes Cius
• Cisco Shows Off Cius (video)
• Where Are the LTE Tablets?
• Ciuses For All!

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