Cisco joined the gang this week with the launch of their tablet – the Cius. In essence it is an Android tablet but the marketing hype positions it as a business oriented tablet focused on high performance unified communication.

Their key focus areas are:

• Anytime anywhere mobility – Wifi, 3G and talk of 4G as well
• HD Video – 720p at 30 frames per second
• Virtualisation – Desktop integration
• Collaboration – Presence, IM, Webex
• Android OS – emphasis on open platform
• The ubiquitious ‘user driven’ – in effect cloud based contacts and other information

I think it’s a great move – an enterprise tablet integrated with Cisco tools riding on the Cisco distribution network should soon penetrate the corporate landscape.

My doubts were more related to – why do it themselves rather than as a partnership?

If not for the open platform, a Blackberry – Cisco tablet would have perfectly fit the bill. It’s a more business oriented platform with the integrated security element. Besides, the Blackberry server is already integrated with the Cisco unified communications manager. Can’t help but wonder what card RIM is going to play in positioning itself against Cisco. Price seems the obvious choice. Their app world may have been another competitive advantage but there they are facing the brunt of Apple and Android. Frankly RIM might as well start tempting app developers with 80-90% revenue share. After all, even 10% of a growing app revenue pool may be better than 30% of the current pool.