Hasta La Gadget!

Slowly but surely, payphones around New York City are losing their innocence. As planned, City24/7 has started to convert seldom-used booths into LCD-equipped information kiosks, with so-called SmartScreens broadcasting “neighborhood news, current events and entertainment listings, local deals and specials.” We’re told that multiple mobile apps are being made available via the 32-inch multitouch panels, though as of now, only ten installations have gone live. Over the next several months, the number of installations will increase to up to 250 participating phone booths throughout the five boroughs, and once it’s reached saturation in the Big Apple, City24/7 and Cisco are planning to expand into over a dozen other foreign and domestic cities. The SmartScreens are designed to use real-time, location-based services, tied in to the network throughout the city, and moreover, each booth is equipped with gratis WiFi, NFC and Bluetooth capabilities. In other words, they’re fit to live in.

Continue reading SmartScreens begin rollout to NYC payphones, City24/7 and Cisco eying expansion to additional cities

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Source: Smart City 24/7

Last week, an internal memo from Cisco was leaked to the press. It was in response to reports that Cisco had overcharged California State University $100 million to use its network. Well, the leak made people at Cisco angry, and that anger has materialized into a bizarre manhunt, executed by one vice president, in his leisure time. More »

ZTE‘s bad day keeps getting worse; hot on the heels of a US intelligence report accusing the Chinese firm of presenting a significant security risk comes word that Cisco has ditched the manufacturer over Iranian sales allegations. Cisco Systems Inc. had been investigating ZTE since earlier this year, after claims that the Chinese company had contravened international embargoes and sold Cisco-branded networking equipment to Iran, Reuters reports. As a result, Cisco has ditched its sales partnership with ZTE.

According to earlier leaks, the Cisco-branded hardware – initially produced under license by ZTE, as a way of reducing costs and becoming more competitive against Huawei in China and other markets in Asia, though from 2010 simply resold by ZTE – had been discovered on a July 2011 parts supply list in a deal between ZTE and an Iranian telecommunications company. ZTE had apparently agreed to supply five Cisco switches to a part of the consortium controlling the company.

An FBI investigation was triggered after ZTE’s own general counsel for its US subsidiary accused the parent company of attempting to cover up the Iranian deal, including destroying evidence. He was subsequently put on administrative leave.

“ZTE is highly concerned with the matter and is communicating with Cisco” spokesperson David Dai Shu said of the US company’s decision. “At the same time, ZTE is actively cooperating with the US government about the probe to Iran. We believe it will be properly addressed.”

Cisco, meanwhile, declined to comment specifically on the ZTE deal. However, CEO John Chambers did say that Cisco would not “tolerate any direct or indirect sales” of its hardware to Iran, “and when that occurs, we step up and deal with it very firmly. So I think you can assume that you will not see that happen again.”

ZTE and Huewei have found themselves at the center of a security scare in the US, with the House Intelligence Committee releasing a report today that recommends US businesses do not use hardware from either firm, out of concerns that the Chinese government could subsequently petition for access. Meanwhile, the Committee, a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats, has advised that regulators block any attempts by ZTE or Huawei at mergers and acquisitions in the US. Both companies deny the allegations.

Cisco ditches ZTE over Iranian switch sales cover-up is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Cisco is touted to be the largest manufacturer of computer-networking equipment, but that does not mean they are in an invincible situation financially, being subjected to the laws of global economics as well. In fact, we have word that Cisco intends to shave off around 1,300 jobs from their payroll – which is equal to 2% of the workforce. This bit of news comes about as Europe’s burgeoning debt crisis and sluggish corporate spending continue to be a looming threat to Cisco’s sales figures.

It is said that the cuts are an important part of a “continuous process of simplifying the company, as well as assessing the economic environment in certain parts of the world.” This might just signal the first of more cuts, as additional shaving of the financial bottom line might prove to be necessary should profitability does not see any improvement. What do you think of this particular situation? It just goes to show that no matter how large you are as a corporation or company, you will still need to tread cautiously when it comes to spending and managing your money.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Cisco to discontinue its Android-powered Cius tablet, Cisco unofficially pulls the plug on Umi,

Cisco has already tried to soothe angry customers by scrapping a key section in its new Linksys privacy agreement — a clause which allowed the company to monitor a person’s internet history via their router. However, realizing that probably wasn’t enough to quell the sense of intrusion, it’s now gone one step further. Writing on an official blog, Cisco VP Brett Wingo has declared that Linksys customers will no longer be pushed into signing up for Connect Cloud, the service which lay at the heart of the problem:

“In response to our customers’ concerns, we have simplified the process of opting-out of the Cisco Connect Cloud service and have changed the default setting back to traditional router set-up and management.”

In other words, you’ll no longer have to hook up to a convoluted cloud service just to access advanced settings on your router, and neither will you have to sign away an even greater chunk of your personal space — which is just how it should have been (and indeed how it was) in the first place.

Cisco climbs down another rung over unpopular Connect Cloud service originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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