Top 20 Frequently Asked Questions – Cisco Cius – August 2010 version 1.

1) What is Cisco Cius?

Cisco Cius is an innovative, secure mobile collaboration business tablet, design
ed for knowledge workers to the executive. With Cisco Cius, now casual-to-highly
mobile employees have access to the very same desktop collaboration and communi
cations experience wherever they are.
With Cisco Cius, employees benefit from on-and-off campus mobility, complete acc
ess to the suite of Cisco Collaboration applications, including Unified Communic
ations and interoperability with the Cisco TelePresence solution for video confe
rencing.
In addition, Virtual Desktop Integration enables business applications to be hos
ted in the Data Center and delivered securely, reliably and on-demand, via the n
etwork to employees. Cisco Cius combines this Virtual Desktop Integration capabi
lity, with resident computing power that can support local processing of Android
-based applications, thus enabling IT organizations to further consolidate devic
es at the desktop based on their IT objectives and their user preferences.
Finally, as an open source platform, Cisco Cius shall support the Android operat
ing system. This enables employees to take advantage of business applications av
ailable from the Android Marketplace, while accounting for appropriate IT contro
ls.
2) When will Cisco Cius be available?
Limited availability of Cisco Cius is expected to be CY Q4 2010 with general ava
ilability in calendar year Q1 2011.
3) What is the pricing for Cisco Cius?
Pricing is still be finalized at this time. With typical discounts applied, expe
ctation would be that the Cius tablet would be available at under $1000 ($USD st
reet price). Note that discounts may vary by Cisco reseller and thus, prices not
ed should be considered a guideline.
4) Does Cisco Cius require Cisco media servers to support its features and if so
, what Cisco media servers are supported?
Yes. At time of Cisco Cius’ First Customer Shipment (FCS), Cisco Cius will registe
r to Unified Communications Manager and Unified Communications Manager Business
Edition and will require system release 8.5 available this fall, along with any
appropriate media servers, to support the Unified Communications Manager and Uni
fied Communications Manager Business Edition deployment.
5) Why is Cisco Cius twice the price of an Apple iPad? Why should I purchase Cis
co Cius versus just purchasing iPad’s instead?
Cisco Cius is not a consumer device so it’s not an equivalent comparison. Cisco Ci
us is the first-of-its- kind mobile collaboration device. With Cius, casual and
highly mobile employees benefit from a communications, collaboration and computi
ng solution. Examples where Cius provides additional benefits over an iPad inclu
de:
• Cisco Unified Communications –employees get the same desktop business communicatio
ns features with Cius, whether at their desk or mobile. Cius will leverage the b
est elements in user experience from both the IP Phone 9900 Series’ design and tha
t of Cisco’s Client Services Framework (i.e. Cisco Unified Personal Communicator).
In addition, Cisco will use its networking technology to provide the quality of
service businesses expect.
• Cisco Collaboration – Interoperability with Cisco’s TelePresence solution is unique
to Cisco Cius such that employees can participate in larger video conferences wi
th a superior HD video experience. In addition, employees will benefit from Cisc
o Quad for virtual teaming, Cisco Show and Share for secure video sharing, Cisco
WebEx for conferencing and real-time file exchange, Cisco Unified Presence and
so many more. These are capabilities that consumer tablets do not offer.
• Virtual Desktop Integration – With Cisco Cius, support for a virtual desktop clien
t will be provided day one. This provides an opportunity to consolidate devices
at the desktop, while delivering full mobile access to employees, including Clou
d Computing, where business applications are migrated to the Data Center. Combin
ed with the local computing and storage capabilities of Cisco Cius, IT organizat
ions now have the option to replace an employee’s PC, based on their strategic obj
ectives and user preferences, to save additional money, in addition to centraliz
ing administration.
• Security – At Cisco, we know security and with Cisco Cius, you benefit from full e
ncrypted communications end-to-end voice and data networking. Protecting your mo
st valuable asset – your intellectual property. Cisco Cius comes standard with Cis
co AnyConnect VPN client for a secure connection wherever you are, media and sig
naling encryption, secure boot up to ensure only Cisco authorized software is in
stalled and remote wipe applications in the event Cius is stolen or lost. Cisco
Cius delivers enterprise class security, unlike consumer-based tablets today.
• IT Management – Cisco Cius is designed to support IT organizations need for a cent
rally provisioned and administered device. It will be administered, provisioned
and managed from Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
For customers with existing investment in Apple iPad tablets today, note that Ci
sco offers Collaboration solutions which are supported on iPad to maximize the c
hoice of the customer. One such example is Cisco WebEx for iPad. Cisco will cont
inue to look for ways to interop with iPad and other mobile devices, independent
of Cisco Cius introduction.
6) With the introduction of Cisco Cius, is Cisco entering the mobile phone marke
t?
No. Cisco Cius will support 3G/4G data services only as the form factor is optim
ized to deliver a superior experience with business productivity, collaboration
and web 2.0 applications that can take advantage of its larger display. We will
not support cellular voice on GSM, CDMA networks.
Cius users, however, by using the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client, can take advantag
e of secure VoIP from the corporate network, running over the service provider’s 3
G/4G data network.
7) Is Cisco Cius a Smartphone/Mobile Phone replacement?
No. Cisco Cius will support 3G/4G data services only. The larger display will pr
ovide a better browsing, collaboration and computing experience than typical sma
rtphone devices. It is not intended as a smartphone/mobile phone replacement.
Cius users, however, by using the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client, can take advantag
e of secure VoIP from the corporate network, running over the service provider’s 3
G/4G data network.
8) Who are the service providers that will support Cisco Cius 3G/4G data service
s?
We are in discussions with multiple service providers across the globe but are u
nable to make any public announcements around these discussions at this time.
Upon declaration of First Customer Shipment (FCS), we will offer a configuration
with native 3G support on multiple service providers data service networks. 4G
native services are currently on our roadmap for CY 2H 2011.
9) Will Cisco Cius support video over 3G / 4G?
Yes, but video will be best-effort on these networks.
10) Does announcement of the Cisco Cius signal that Cisco Unified IP Phones 9900
Series is going End-of-Sale?
No. The Cisco Unified IP Phones 9900 Series offers employees, who spend the vast
majority of their time at their desks, access to high-quality (VGA) video. The
IP Phones 9900 Series is a cost-effective, scalable portfolio which provides hig
h-performance video communications.
Cisco Cius is designed for employees who can benefit from both desk and mobile c
ommunications. This can range from the casually or occasionally mobile to the ac
tively mobile employee. In addition, while delivering full mobile access includi
ng Cloud Computing, Cisco Cius delivers applications-as-a- service on demand.
Cisco Cius shall be priced as a premier offer in the Cisco portfolio, given the
breadth and depth of its features and capabilities.
As Cisco has noted previously in its communications, there is no one solution th
at fits every need. We’re empowering customers with an expanded portfolio to pick
the endpoint(s) that best suit their needs. Introduction of Cisco Cius is in sup
port of this strategy to provide additional endpoint options.
11) Do we intend to keep pace with the Android release cycle?
We will release on Android Froyo 2.2. We are committed to keeping up with the An
droid releases to enable new features and functionality. We intend to line up An
droid ongoing releases with our broader Cisco system releases to ensure system t
est, interoperability and compatibility with other Cisco products. This is yet a
nother reason why Cisco Cius is a solution designed for business.
12) Is a Cisco Software Developer Kit (SDK) required to create applications for
Cisco Cius?
Developers can use the Android SDK to create applications that will run on Cisco
Cius. The Cisco SDK v1 will be published the end of September 2010 to allow cus
tomization of Android applications to be optimized for presentation on the displ
ay of Cisco Cius.
A second SDK (v2) will be published the end of November 2010 and include Cisco A
PI’s for call and media control to further integrate Android business applications
with the Cisco Cius user experience and collaboration applications.
13) Is Cisco going to contribute to the Android OpenSource community?
We will be participating members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) and intend t
o contribute to the community. Agreements to join the OHA are in process now.
14) Are there security concerns with Android 3rd party applications?
For IT organizations concerned about applications their users may download that
could possibly compromise security, Cisco Cius will provide the option to restri
ct user access to the Android
Marketplace. In this scenario, IT Administrators could download acceptable appli
cations and provision them through Cisco Unified Communications Manager by estab
lishing a device profile for Cisco Cius.
15) With Cisco Cius, is Cisco partnering with Google?
Android is an open source operating system now owned by the Open Handset Allianc
e. Android is projected by various industry experts to become the market leader
for Mobile device operating systems.
By moving to an open platform such as Android OS, Cisco Cius can take advantage
of the latest processing technology, ensuring optimal performance, with very lit
tle impact on the operating system and your users.
16) What Cisco applications will be available on Cisco Cius when it is released?
Cisco Collaboration applications, including Cisco Unified Communications, that a
re targeted for support at time of FCS including: • Cisco WebEx • Instant Messaging
• Cisco Unified Presence • Cisco WebEx Mail • Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client • Cisco Quad • C
isco Show and Share • Cisco Unity Connection
Additional applications: • Virtual Desktop Client • Android Web Browser (WebKit) • Cis
co AnyConnect VPN Client • Access to third-party applications from Android Marketp
lace
17) Will Cisco Cius allow me to replace any of the multiple devices I use today?
The device(s) replaced depend on user preference, their use case scenarios and t
heir specific role in the organization. In addition, IT may find device consolid
ation opportunities based on their virtual desktop integration/cloud computing s
trategies and TCO reduction goals.
18) Is Cisco Cius intended as a PC alternative?
It could be. For customers who adopt cloud computing, Cisco Cius supports a Virt
ual Desktop Client. This enables migration of business applications to the Data
Center in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Similar to a PC, applications ac
cess is secure and available to employees anywhere, anytime. This Cloud Computin
g approach allows IT administration costs to be reduced. Cisco Cius allows IT or
ganizations to migrate away from PC’s at their own pace.
Note also that Cisco Cius has resident processing capability along with local st
orage support. As the support for Android-based applications grows, the ability
to leverage the computer power of Cius, independent of Virtual Desktop Integrati
on and Cloud Computing, shall also continue to expand.
19) Can I replace the battery of a Cisco Cius tablet?
Yes. Cisco Cius offers a battery that is both detachable and serviceable. As to
anticipated battery life without need for a charge, we will make available actua
l performance numbers upon validation through customer trials.
20) Who are you partnering with to deliver Cisco Cius?
We are partnering with a number of vendors to deliver Cisco Cius including the O
pen Handset Alliance (OHA) which oversees management of the Android OS.