On 13 October 2009, Cisco and Starent Networks announced a definitive agreement for Cisco to acquire Starent Networks. Starent Networks is a leading supplier of IP-based mobile infrastructure solutions targeting mobile and converged carriers. The Mobile Internet is at an inflection point as IP-enabled Smartphones and other connected mobile devices gain rapid acceptance. Service Providers have been actively investing in this market as global mobile data traffic is expected to more than double every year through 2013, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay $35 per share in cash in exchange for each [...]

On 1st October 2009, Cisco announced a definitive agreement for Cisco to launch a recommended voluntary cash offer to acquire TANDBERG (OSLO: TAA.OL).  TANDBERG, based in Oslo, Norway, and New York, is a global leader in video communications, including a broad range of world-class video endpoint and network infrastructure solutions with intercompany and multi-vendor interoperability. With this proposed acquisition, Cisco will expand its collaboration portfolio to offer more solutions to a greater number of customers, further accelerating market adoption globally.

Cisco announced its intent to acquire privately held Tidal Software, Inc.  Based in Palo Alto, Calif., and Houston, Tidal Software is the creator of intelligent application management and automation solutions that will advance Cisco’s data center strategy by enhancing product and service delivery offerings.  

On 19 March 2009, Cisco announced its intent to acquire privately held Pure Digital Technologies Inc. San Francisco-based Pure Digital, creator of the best-selling Flip VideoTM brand, is a pioneer in developing consumer-friendly video solutions with mass-market appeal. “The acquisition of Pure Digital is key to Cisco’s strategy to expand our momentum in the media-enabled home and to capture the consumer market transition to visual networking,” said Ned Hooper, senior vice president of Cisco’s Corporate Development and Consumer Groups. “Pure Digital has revolutionized the way people capture and share video with Flip Video. This acquisition will take Cisco’s consumer business to [...]

Cisco has unveiled plans to bring its WebEx online meeting service to a new crop of smartphones. The announcement, at Mobile World Congress, means users will be able to join Cisco WebEx Meeting Center web and audio conferences on smartphones including the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, and BlackBerry Storm from RIM, the Nokia E71, Nokia E75, Nokia N97, and other Nokia Eseries and Nseries, and the Samsung Blackjack II. They will be able to participate in audio and web conferencing via 3G or Wi-Fi, attend scheduled meetings and view presentations, applications and desktops with live annotations. In addition, Cisco [...]

Cisco Systems is developing a cable modem that will use Broadcom’s recently announced DOCSIS 3.0 silicon to bond together eight downstream channels – letting cable providers, theoretically, pump Internet content down to subscribers at more than 300 Mbps. According to Bekele, the idea with the eight-downstream-channel devices is to let cable operators future-proof their installed base of DOCSIS modems. So while a cable operator wouldn’t necessarily introduce a 300-Mbps Internet tier initially, that latent capacity would be available down the line.

During the CES show, Cisco did just that with its new Linksys by Cisco Wireless Home Audio system, a multi-room audio solution that will be positioned as a direct – and less expensive – competitor to the Sonos multi-room wireless system. The Wireless Home Audio system utilizes Wireless-N technology to deliver a rich audio experience to any room in the home. Users can create a party atmosphere with immaculate synchronization when listening to the same song throughout the entire home, or send different music to customized “zones”.

On September 2008, Cisco has agreed to purchase open-source instant messaging firm Jabber (http://www.ciscozine.com/2008/09/20/cisco-to-acquire-jabber/). Two days ago (November 3, 2008 ) Cisco announced that it has completed its purchase of Jabber Inc. “The acquisition will enable Cisco to embed presence and messaging services “in the network” and provide rich aggregation capabilities to users through both on-premise and on-demand solutions, across multiple platforms including Cisco WebEx® Connect and Cisco® Unified Communications.

In the era of electronic exchanges, tiny spikes and bottlenecks in network traffic can create delays which compromise the split-second accuracy needed for effective trading. Tracking down these problems has been beyond the reach of any technology-until now, thanks to Cisco Systems, Inc. While traditional network monitoring systems can only analyze traffic behavior over a minimum of five minutes or so on average, the Cisco Bandwidth Quality Manager (BQM), part of the Cisco Network Application Performance Analysis (NAPA) Solution, can get down to millisecond level.

Cisco has agreed to purchase open-source instant messaging firm Jabber. The company plans to use the Jabber messaging software within its WebEx Connect and Unified Communications packages. “Enterprise organizations want an extensible presence and messaging platform that can integrate with business process applications and easily adapt to their changing needs,” said Doug Dennerline, Cisco senior vice president, Collaboration Software Group. “With the acquisition of Jabber, we will be able to extend the reach of our current instant messaging service and expand the capabilities of our collaboration platform. Our intention is to be the interoperability benchmark in the collaboration space.”