Telstra to offer Cisco Cius tablet

Telstra is offering the Cisco Cius, an Android based tablet with WiFi connectivity device designed for use with Cisco unified communications and videoconferencing systems, however without the 3G connectivity promised when the device was launched in the US last year.

Also, when announced Cisco said it would have 3G, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, and later 4G. To date, only WiFi and Bluetooth are available. According to the US spec sheet 3G/4G will be available "before long"..

The Cius only to its Enterprise

Telstra is offering the Cius only to its Enterprise and Government division clients. Telstra executive director, Philip Jones, said the CIUS tablet would enable businesses to remain better connected. "Telstra is now able to offer organisations a built-for-business tablet to keep workers connected so they can collaborate not just by email nevertheless also via IP telephony and even TelePresence away from their desk. CIUS is a built for business tablet giving organisations communication, collaboration and computing in an easy to use integrated device."

The Cius is designed to provide mobile access to the full range of Cisco's business communications and collaboration applications, including HD video. According to Cisco, the device is fully interoperable with Cisco's high end telepresence videoconferencing, offers HD video streaming, multi-party conferencing, email, messaging, browsing and the ability to produce, edit and share content stored locally or centrally in the cloud. It weighs 0.52kg. A detachable battery is claimed to offer eight hours usage.

The Cius as well comes with a docking station incorporating a telephone handset: when inserted into the dock the combined unit effectively becomes a touchscreen business telephone handset.

The Apple iPad

Like the Apple iPad, an on-board accelerometer orients applications for viewing in portrait or landscape modes as the user rotates the device to their preferred viewing orientation.

The Cius features a front-mounted 720p HD camera which refreshes at up to 30 frames per second; a rear-facing 5 megapixel camera; a seven inch high-resolution widescreen super VGA touch-screen display; single-button TelePresence interoperability and dual noise-cancelling microphones for audioconferencing.

The Cius is supported

The Cius is supported by Cisco Unified Communications Manager and, according to Cisco, is easily integrated into existing Cisco customer environments. Communications are secured with Cisco AnyConnect VPN Security, part of the Cisco Borderless Networks architecture.