corporate

I admit that I can't figure out the new Cisco Systems. It's making a big push into consumer electronics, as reported by CNET, adding things like home audio systems to its portfolio of products.

In tandem, it's building out a corporate collaboration story, complemented by things like telepresence solutions.

Does Cisco still provide networking equipment?

The answer, of course, is yes, but I wonder if the company risks diluting its brand as it makes forays into markets beyond networking. Perhaps that's the point.

Cisco has been exploring new markets in order to find new areas for … Read more

By finally deciding to talk about Steve Jobs' health, Apple may have opened a Pandora's Box.

After insisting for months that Jobs' health was a private matter, Apple changed its tack in the face of widespread speculation regarding its CEO's weight loss. On Monday, the company issued a statement that Jobs was suffering from a hormone imbalance that was "robbing" proteins from his body. That news cheered Apple investors, who dreaded far worse news regarding Jobs' health after a report last week that his health was "declining rapidly."

The disclosure was clearly painful for … Read more

Apple reporter Tom Krazit drops by the studio to talk about how Apple's iPhone, largely ignored by IT departments in its first generation, is now making its way into more and more companies' tech arsenal.

Also in this podcast: Sun Microsystems announces it's laying off up to 6,000 employees; Barack Obama says he'll post his weekly public addresses to YouTube; eBay shuts down inauguration ticket scams; and Netflix's CEO dreams of radical change in the realm of home TVs.

Today's stories:

Businesses warming up to the iPhone

Sun chops heads: Can it get any respect?… Read more

Technology might be the only medium where smaller is always better, but it's starting to get ridiculous. I'm worried that my next cell phone is going to be the size of a sunflower seed. There's got to be a point where we finally decide that things need to start getting bigger, and Mobigrip thinks that now is as good a time as any.

Mobigrips, also known as "device leashes," aren't exactly at the forefront of tech innovation; it's essentially a circular hunk of plastic with adhesive on the back and a lanyard attached … Read more

Under former Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik's guidance, Red Hat assembled an interesting array of professionals on its board of directors. Last week, current Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst demonstrated that this flair for assembling outside talent continues under his watch with the announcement of two new board members, Micheline Chau, President and COO of Lucasfilm Ltd., and Jeff Clarke, President and CEO of Travelport, Inc.

With Chau Red Hat gains insight into the churning entertainment industry, while Clarke gives Red Hat a glimpse into the travel industry, as well as traditional enterprise software, given his former role as … Read more

Google made two announcements Thursday that further advance the company's goal of becoming a power player in television advertising in addition to the Web.

First, the company announced that Harris, which manufactures communications equipment for business and government clients, will be integrating Google's advertising platform into the products it sells to media and communication companies. This means that Harris clients can use Google's service to manage ad inventory, which Mark Piesenan, director of strategic partnerships for Google TV ads, said will "offer media companies the opportunity to leverage (Google's) automated online marketplace, providing a new … Read more

Longtime tech mainstay IBM has announced the creation of a Cambridge, Mass.-based research center for the development of "social software," from consumer Web apps to enterprise communication tools. At its launch, researchers from Dow Jones and Thomson Reuters' health care division have agreed to be "corporate residents" in the facility.

The IBM Center for Social Software, according to a release, will take on the lofty task of "creat(ing) a new type of collaborative environment to tackle some of the toughest questions about social software, identify new business models, help discover next-generation Web 2.… Read more

There's no reason to panic at Google over the rumor that the perks-happy tech giant would be cutting back on free food for employees, we hear.

A source close to the company told CNET News that the rumors are really just spin over a small management decision. Google isn't depriving employees of dinner, the source explained. The issue was that several smaller eating establishments at the company's Silicon Valley campus had been seeing low attendance at dinner, and so their evening food service will be consolidated into a smaller number of cafeterias. The source said that steps … Read more

Blame the mounting economic pressures, or too many chubby engineers: Google has decided to stop offering free dinner, afternoon snacks, and its "tea trolley" to employees, according to an unconfirmed rumor floated on Valleywag.

A Google representative did not immediately return my request for comment, so this one is still hanging around in the gossip-sphere. But Valleywag reported that the changes are slated to be announced Monday, which would mean that either a confirmation or debunking should be available within hours.

Google has become renowned for its employee perks: massages, game rooms, gyms, laundry facilities, and free food … Read more