cisco

Buzz Out Loud 1508: Google + is now 10 million strong (Podcast)

Google + is making some changes, but hopefully it's only going to keep the G+ train going: estimates have it at 10 million users and on track for 20 million by this weekend. Yeah, no, really. Plus, Netflix makes a change that makes us sing and pushes you toward either DVDs or streaming, but probably not both. Plus, happy anniversary, Neptune!

Report: Cisco to ax as many as 10,000 jobs

Network-gear maker and onetime Wall Street darling Cisco Systems may cut as many as 10,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its workforce, as it struggles to get back on track amid competition from Hewlett-Packard and others, according to a report today.

As many as 7,000 jobs could be cut by the end of next month, and another 3,000 positions will be eliminated by way of early-retirement packages, according to a Bloomberg story, which cites a pair of anonymous sources.

During its third-quarter earnings report in May, Cisco said it would be cutting staff to address its … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1503: FTC needs to put that probe somewhere else (Podcast)

Today on Buzz Out Loud, we preview tomorrow's "awesome" Facebook announcement -- and we hope it's not just Skype integration. Microsoft is getting in bed with Baidu in China, but Cisco is getting in a much dirtier bed with China's government, helping build a massive surveillance system that we're sure will just be used to hand out traffic tickets. Plus, is #antisec officially in a world of hurt? We'll see.

Cisco takes the tablet to work

Tablet PCs aren't just for playing super-sized versions of Angry Birds or streaming Netflix movies. They're increasingly being used in the work place.

The popularity of the Apple iPad is spilling over into the workplace, where everyone from executives to nurses to sales associates to people who stock the shelves at your favorite retailer are using tablets. It should come as little surprise given the small form factor and touch screens that make these devices so appealing.

Cisco Systems, the world's biggest maker of infrastructure equipment that helps businesses connect to the Internet, wants a piece of … Read more

Cisco RV110W review: Affordable small-business VPN option

Generally, getting a VPN for your business that allows remote users to access the local network via the Internet as though they were physically at the office means you'd need a real server or a relatively expensive VPN router. It doesn't have to be that way anymore with the RV110W Wireless-N VPN Firewall that Cisco announced today.

This is a router designed specifically for small businesses of five employees or fewer. Its built-in PPTP VPN server is limited to supporting up to five concurrent remote users. The good news is that the router is very easy to use … Read more

Cisco: Internet traffic to quadruple by 2015

The amount of Internet traffic crisscrossing the world will quadruple by 2015 as the number of networked devices surpasses 15 billion, according to a report out today from Cisco.

Releasing its fifth annual Visual Networking Index Forecast today, the networking giant forecast that global Internet traffic will reach 966 exabytes a year in just four years. One exabyte equals 1 million terabytes, 1 billion gigabytes, or about 250 million DVDs.

Per month, global IP traffic will hit 80.5 exabytes by 2015, up from about 20.2 exabytes per month in 2010. And per second, traffic will hit 245 terabytes, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1475: I want my chicken and my Gaga (Podcast)

On today's show, Apple stands up for its developers, but not for the people who might be infected with malware. Nice, Apple. Real nice. Also, Microsoft introduces Mango and Ballmer accidentally introduces Windows 8, and the Falun Gong sues Cisco. Yeah, really. And for a good reason, too.

Lawsuit accuses Cisco of aiding Chinese repression

Cisco Systems designed a surveillance system to help the Chinese government track and ultimately suppress members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, according to a lawsuit the group filed against the network equipment maker.

The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in Federal District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, alleges Cisco supplied and helped maintain a surveillance system known as the "Golden Shield" that allowed the Chinese government to track and censor the group's Internet activities. As a result of Cisco's technology, Falun Gong members suffered false imprisonment, torture, and wrongful death, … Read more

EMC: The platform company

It's Monday morning at EMC World 2011 and EMC Chairman Joe Tucci opens the show with 10,000-plus in the audience. On stage with Tucci are big black boxes. What's wrong with this picture? EMC is no longer a company that can be primarily characterized as a maker of big black boxes. Tucci has engineered a transformation of EMC from an enterprise IT storage box vendor to a provider of computing platforms. Let me count them:

Nos. 1, 2, and 3: Foremost among EMC's platforms is VMware. EMC owns approximately 85 percent of it, but unlike his … Read more

Cisco third quarter better than expected

Cisco Systems delivered better-than-expected third quarter earnings today, and CEO John Chambers said the company has "a clear game plan" to "transition to the next phase."

As noted previously, it was a busy quarter for Cisco, which exited its Flip camera business and reorganized to improve focus. Cisco reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.8 billion, or 33 cents a share, on revenue of $10.9 billion. Non-GAAP earnings were 42 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 37 cents a share on revenue of $10.85 billion.

However, Cisco didn't deliver its … Read more