Wireless

Clearwire named networking equipment maker Cisco Systems as a key supplier to help it build its nationwide 4G wireless network, the companies announced Wednesday.

As part of the new strategic partnership, Cisco will provide IP routers and other equipment to build Clearwire's network, which uses a technology called WiMax. Cisco will also develop some consumer devices that can be used on the network. Cisco wouldn't provide specifics about the new products, but a Cisco representative said that these devices will be sold under the Linksys brand and are expected to be introduced later this year.

Cisco, which is the world's largest supplier of Internet infrastructure equipment, has also been developing WiMax radio gear for a while. The company bought WiMax equipment maker Navini in 2007. But the company has mainly focused its WiMax radio products on fixed WiMax offerings that deliver broadband service to businesses and homes in areas where traditional land-based broadband infrastructure is unavailable.

Suraj Shetty, vice president of worldwide service provider marketing for Cisco, said that Cisco will still focus its WiMax business on building radio equipment for fixed broadband in the developing world. And he added that the deal with Clearwire is only to supply Internet infrastructure and consumer devices for Clearwire.

The companies did not disclose financial terms of the agreement.

Clearwire is building a nationwide wireless broadband network using WiMax. Late last year, it merged its wireless assets with spectrum from Sprint Nextel. And it has received billions of dollars in investment from Google, Intel, Comcast, and Time Warner.

The company has said that by the end of 2010 it expects to have service in over 80 markets with access to more than 120 million customers.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the two largest cell phone operators in the country, have already said they plan to use a competing technology known as LTE to build their 4G networks. Verizon will begin testing its this year and expects to begin commercial deployments of the service early in 2010.

NEW YORK--At first glance Cisco Systems' latest announcement that it's entering the server market seems like another boring corporate IT announcement, but take a closer look. The company's long-term vision of a "virtualized" data center could eventually revolutionize how consumers will one day access new services via the Net.

First, let's look at what Cisco actually announced. On Monday, the company unveiled a new data center architecture it's calling Unified Computing. This new architecture includes new hardware from Cisco, namely blade servers, an interconnection "fabric," a chassis for the blade servers, Fabric extenders and network adapters. It also includes coordinated support and software integration from several partners, including chipmaker Intel, software maker Microsoft, storage gear maker EMC, and virtualization partner VMware among several others.

On its own, this announcement is a big deal for Cisco. The company, which has spent the last 20 years building infrastructure equipment, is now competing in the computer server market against some of its current partners like Hewlett-Packard and IBM. But as the company's executives pointed out during a press and analyst event to unveil the new strategy, Cisco never announces just a product.

"We don't announce point products," CEO John Chambers said during a telepresence session to announce the new strategy. "What we are talking about today is the next market evolution and an architecture that will allow us to go after a new market."

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that the company's new data center server strategy announced Monday is fueled by a grand vision to not only help its corporate customers improve efficiency and reduce costs, but also transform how average consumers can access loads of cool new applications on cheap devices.

In almost every respect, Cisco sees the future as one in which every device is connected to the Internet, where even the simplest and least expensive devices can access information via an IP network. This vision of the future requires not only fast connections so that individuals can access content quickly, but also intelligent and efficient data centers where information and applications can be housed and processed.

"Virtualization to us means any device connecting to any content from anywhere," Chambers said. "Eventually, we see the data center carrying all the way to the home. Consumers won't know if it's a set-top box or an iPhone processing the data. They just want the application. We are outlining a vision of the future here. That's why I get so excited about it."

Cisco has long been at the forefront of building faster and higher capacity networks. As the world's largest maker of gear that shuttles traffic throughout the Internet, the company essentially built the information superhighway.

Virtualized data center
But a highway isn't worth much without something to transport. So Cisco is now looking at helping content producers house and provide access to content and applications via an IP network. At the heart of Cisco's vision is the virtualized data center where a super-efficient collection of technologies will not only store content, like movies, music, and pictures, but will also process complex applications, like social-networking interactions, allowing simple devices easy access to both the content and the applications.

In essence, Cisco's new strategy could allow it to pave the way for consumer electronics makers to make cheaper, simpler devices that connect wirelessly to a network-based data center. So instead of device makers loading products with high-performance processors and gigabytes worth of memory, they will be able to provide simple, inexpensive devices that access rich content and complex applications from the network. All the heavy lifting, so to speak, will be done in the network instead of on the device.

Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala said that Cisco's vision of the data center could eventually shape a new era in consumer electronics products.

"You'll be able to use a less complex device to access more complex information and services," he said. "So it's the difference between buying a $300 Netbook and a $3,000 laptop. You won't need all the memory and processing power in a regular laptop. And at that price I can buy one for each of my kids. Ultimately, it means more content on more devices for more people."

This is good news for consumers, who could eventually see more devices connected to the Internet at a lower cost. Even products like Apple's iPhone could be seen as overkill in a virtualized environment. Today, applications are downloaded onto the iPhone, which means the device must have robust processors and sufficient memory to store data and process the data. It also needs more expensive battery technology to ensure the device can handle all the processing. But in a virtualized world, those applications could be accessed through the network and data, like video, music, and pictures, could also be accessed via the network.

Of course the problem with doing this today is that the network is not fast enough. There isn't enough capacity on AT&T's 3G wireless network to handle this amount of activity. But as carriers roll out 4G wireless broadband networks, this idea of virtualization could become a reality. It's already starting to become a reality on the wired network. Many people today already enjoy media that is streamed from services like Hulu.com to their PCs at home.

Cisco believes that it can greatly reduce the cost of delivering these kinds of services to consumers. In fact, the company says it can reduce current data center costs by about 20 percent and reduce complexity in the data center by about 30 percent.

"Almost every customer we talk to is looking to save money and increase business agility," said Rob Lloyd, senior vice president of Cisco Worldwide Operations. "And almost all of them have been looking at virtualization. There has already been a lot of progress, but we think we've solved some of the big questions."

Data center virtualization is by no means a new concept. Cisco's competitors HP and IBM have already been selling solutions to help companies do this. And many others are also getting into the market.

But Cisco believes its solution, which includes new hardware, like blade servers, can be packaged together with hardware and software from partners to provide companies of all sizes a one-stop shop for all their virtualization needs.

"It's like offering to sell someone a kit to build a car or actually selling them a car," David Lawler, Cisco's VP of platform product marketing, said in a phone interview after the event. "Anyone could build a car from a kit. But we sell the car right off the lot."

While Cisco says that it will help its customers become more efficient and consumers may eventually benefit from access to new applications on cheaper devices, Cisco also benefits from the strategy. For one, Cisco will benefit from selling its data center products to companies and service providers, which offer these virtualized services. But it also benefits because putting more content in the "cloud" will also increase traffic on the network, which means that Cisco will sell more of its IP routers and switches.

The company has taken a similar approach in other markets. For example, in the voice over IP market, Cisco built its own telephone products that turned voice communication into an IP service. Now, Cisco is the No. 1 maker of corporate VoIP equipment. And when companies add voice to their network, they generally need to upgrade their corporate IP network, which generates even more business for the company.

The same is also true of the telepresence products and services. Cisco put together the telepresence solution to help its customers improve collaboration, but putting video on an IP network also generates more video traffic on the network, which ultimately translates into more business for the company's core products.

"Cisco has done this already," said Kerravala. "They have done this in VoIP and telepresence, and they've proven that they can push the market in their direction. But a lot of their success in terms of delivering true network-based services will happen in concert with other things, like the digitization of content and the build-out of new wireless networks."

BARCELONA--Smarrtphone users will soon be able to participate in Web conferences using the hosted WebEx tool right from their phones.

Cisco Systems, which owns the WebEx Web conferencing service, announced Tuesday at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 here that it is making a version of its WebEx client software available to several smartphones including Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, and BlackBerry Storm. It will also be available for the Nokia E71, Nokia E75, Nokia N97, and other Nokia E series and N series devices, as well as for the Samsung Blackjack II.

The new functionality allows smartphone users to participate in Web and audio conference calls right from their mobile devices.

The company already offers the capability on the Apple iPhone 3G. And the application, which is free for all WebEx users, has been downloaded more than 50,000 times, making it one of Apple's top 10 business apps on its App Store.

"Cell phone users will no longer be second class citizens," said Doug Dennerline, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's collaboration software group. "The great thing is that people won't ever have to miss out on a meeting if they're late to a meeting for some reason or stuck in the airport. They don't have to fire up their laptop. They can participate right from their phone."

Research In Motion will be adding a quick access "button" on BlackBerry devices starting in April, so all users have to do is click on the icon to join a meeting, Dennerline said.

LAS VEGAS--Cisco Systems plans to focus on the consumer market a lot more in the next three to five years, the company's CEO John Chambers said Wednesday during the company's press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show.

John Chambers, Cisco Systems CEO

(Credit: Cisco Systems)

This increased focus will likely mean a "steady stream of product announcements, partnership announcements and acquisitions" from the company as it grows this market, Chambers said.

Cisco initially got into the home networking business in 2003 with its acquisition of Linksys and it increased its presence a couple of years later with the acquisition of set-top box maker Scientific Atlanta. With these products as the corner stone of its consumer business, Cisco claims it has sold some 160 million home routers and set top boxes.

But Chambers said the company plans to make a much more aggressive push moving forward, especially over the next 12 months.

"We are really committed to this market and we're putting the whole company behind it," he said. "We will be very aggressive."

Chambers said he hopes to grow Cisco's consumer business to between $5 billion and $10 billion over the next few years.

Cisco has been talking about increasing its presence in the home for more than a year. And Wednesday it announced new home networking products and a bold new service designed for big media companies to help bring more rich content to consumers.

The first set of products come from the Cisco's Linksys home-networking business unit. And they're designed to let consumers share music throughout their home. The Wireless Home Audio system sends music over a standard Wi-Fi network to speakers in multiple rooms. The bundle of products, which starts at about $999 for two rooms, even allows music from Apple iPods and iTunes to be accessed through a single controller and played throughout the home.

Cisco also introduced a new Media Hub, a storage device that allows people to access content remotely over the Internet. The product, which comes in different storage capacities up to 500 gigabytes, starts at $299. In addition to providing remote access, the Media Hub provides back-up of digital files, such as photos and music.

And in an effort to help big media and entertainment companies provide richer interactive content to consumers, Cisco announced its new Eos hosted software platform. Cisco will offer the Eos technology as part of a service, which media and entertainment companies will use to create, manage, and grow online communities. The idea is to streamline the process for building new Web sites, while also allowing media companies to add interactivity and social-networking components.

Chambers said that more is to come over the next several months. But he emphasized that Cisco's focus on consumer electronics is not just about individual products, but about building a platform and an architecture that can be sustained in the future.

For all its fervor, Cisco's consumer ambitions may not be so easy to achieve. The consumer electronics market is full of competitors. For example, the home audio system that Cisco announced Wednesday is very similar to what's already offered from Sonos. And there are plenty of companies already offering media hubs. What's more Cisco's pricing is not much different from its competitors.

Additionally, Cisco is still struggling to provide a consistent brand to the market. Today's new products for the home are branded Linksys by Cisco. But the company is in the process of migrating its branding solely toward Cisco.

"Cisco is the main brand," said Ned Hooper, senior vice president of corporate development for Cisco's Consumer Business Group. "But we also have existing brands that have generated significant value. So Linksys will be a family brand."

A picture of the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx set to open in April 2009.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon CNET News/CBS Interactive)

NEW YORK--Cisco Systems is teaming up with the New York Yankees to offer baseball fans an interactive experience at the ballpark and eventually bring that experience to their living rooms.

At a press conference in Manhattan on Tuesday, Cisco CEO John Chambers unveiled details of a new network the company is building for the Bronx Bombers to help them integrate voice, video, and data into their new stadium, which is set to open in April 2009.

The new network, which is costing the New York Yankees about $15 million to $16 million to build, will bring high-definition video throughout the stadium as well as a level of interactivity that has never been seen previously.

Chambers emphasized the important role that video will play in making the stadium a cutting edge facility.

Cisco CEO John Chambers discusses technology innovations for the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon CNET News/CBS Interactive)

" Video is the key word here," he said. "This is where high tech is going. If you flash forward into the future it is going to change the fan experience entirely."

As part of its network, which will also include typical IP infrastructure equipment, Cisco also plans to mount 1,100 high-definition IP monitors throughout the stadium in luxury suites, restaurants, bars, and even the bathrooms so that fans won't miss a minute of the action. The monitors, which will all be managed from a central location, will be able to provide various views and angles of the game.

And when the game ends, the monitors will help direct Yankee fans to the nearest exits and provide information about traffic and subways. In the event of an emergency, the monitors will be used to provide evacuation instructions.

Initially, most of the cool technology will be available only in the luxury suites. In these suites fans will be able to change the view of the game on their high-definition IPTV, call-up instant replays, and order food and beverages right from a Cisco IP phone in the suite.

But Chambers said it wouldn't be long before these other features are added throughout the ballpark and available to fans either on individual terminals at their seats or via their cell phones. The Yankees are already working on a widget that can be downloaded onto cell phones to provide some enhanced content.

He said fans will eventually be able to order concessions from their seats as well as Yankee merchandise. They might also play Yankee trivia games or get other tidbits of information about the team pushed to their phones. Fans will also be able to get information about tickets to future games or ways to swap tickets with friends. The technology will also allow fans to chat with others both inside and outside the stadium.

Hal Steinbrenner, Yankees executive vice president, treasurer, and general partner, said he is excited and impressed with the technology made available through Cisco. But he admitted he doesn't really understand it.

"Some of this is technology that I didn't know even existed," he said. "But we want to give our fans this ultimate experience."

Chambers said that the experience won't stop at the stadium. He said he believes that within the next two years many of the interactive features and functionality could be made available to fans at home.

"It's too early to say when we'll see this technology used at home," he said. "But if past experience is any indication, it will happen faster than we think. So within the next two years is reasonable."

For its part, Cisco is already planning to introduce new interactive video products into the home. Chambers told reporters during the question-and-answer period after the press conference that Cisco will announce a scaled down version of its telepresence video conferencing solution within the next 12 to 15 months. He said he believes that the cost of providing the service will be well within a consumer electronics budget. And with new high speed broadband offerings like Verizon's Fios service, he said that consumers have plenty of access to high capacity broadband connections for such services.

The Yankees also plan to use Cisco's corporate telepresence solution in the new stadium. And the organization plans to partner with a local school or library to bring players and other Yankee personnel to children in the community.

Chambers said the company is working with other Major League Baseball teams and that some of the new technology found in the new Yankee Stadium will likely be used in other stadiums, including the new Cisco Field, a stadium project in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Fremont that is expected to become the future home of the Oakland Athletics. Cisco, which is based in San Jose, Calif., announced in 2006 that it had sold a 143-acre parcel of land to the A's for the purpose of creating a state-of-the-art baseball park that would include housing, restaurants, and shops.

Video is the new killer application of the Internet, and Cisco Systems says it has a router that can help phone companies and cable operators deal with the onslaught of traffic.

On Monday, the company announced its latest edge router, called the ASR 9000, which provides six times the capacity of its older generation routers. The router, which can shuttle about 6.4 terabytes per second worth of traffic across the network, can move the equivalent of 250,000 digital songs or 200 feature length movies a second, the company said.

Routers are devices that shuttle packets across the Internet. Four years ago, Cisco introduced its CSR-1 router, which is designed to handle heavy loads of traffic in the backbone or long haul part of the network. And now Cisco has introduced the ASR 9000, which will connect the long-distance data network to local networks servicing cities and towns.

"The backbone of the network is well taken care of today," said Suraj Shetty, vice president of service provider marketing for Cisco. "And cable operators and phone companies have done a lot to improve the access part of their networks. We are providing a solution for the edge which connects them. And with the ASR they can future-proof their networks."

Shetty said that over the next few years, service providers will have to upgrade their networks to keep up with a flood of video traffic. From YouTube to Hulu.com, people are watching more videos from the Internet than ever before. And the trend is expected to continue. Today about 25 percent of the traffic traveling over the Internet is video. But by 2012 it's expected that 50 percent of the Internet traffic will be video, Shetty said.

What does this actually mean for consumers? A faster edge network means faster access to content. So when a subscriber at home orders a video on demand, he won't have to wait the two to three minutes that he waits today for the system to retrieve his video.

"With our solution, you won' t see the buffering you usually see when you order a video on demand or when you click to watch a streaming video," Shetty said.

Cisco's new edge router will also help wireless operators transition from their old cellular networks to one based on IP. Previously, the only data carried on a cellular network were short SMS messages or MMS messages. But today, wireless operators are handling e-mail, Web surfing traffic, and streaming audio and video.

But as the world economy slows down, will phone companies and cable operators around the world be able to afford these upgrades? Shetty said that they have little choice if they want to remain competitive.

"The competitive pressure is so strong today," he said. "And carriers need to ensure that their subscribers get the best experience. It takes $600 to $800 to acquire a new customer. And the network becomes a competitive advantage."

Cisco Systems is apparently teaming up with the New York Yankees to offer fans high-tech features in the new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium.

Cisco CEO John Chambers and Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner are expected to dig into specific details of the partnership during a news conference at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday in New York, according to a Yankees media advisory.

The event will unveil "new fan-facing technologies" for the site, according to the advisory.

It could be a precursor of what Cisco has in mind for Cisco Field, a stadium project in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Fremont that is expected to become the future home of the Oakland Athletics. San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco announced in 2006 that it had sold a 143-acre parcel of land to the A's for the purpose of creating a state-of-the-art baseball park that would include housing, restaurants, and shops.

Some of the technologies planned for Cisco Field include wireless access to allow fans at the park to use handheld devices to watch replays, keep score, and purchase tickets and concessions.

While construction details for Cisco Field have yet to be finalized, the new Yankee Stadium is expected to be completed in time for the 2009 season.