Describing it as a "service provider solution," Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers was on hand at the Consumer Electronics Show this past week to introduce Videoscape, an ambitious new platform from Cisco and its partners which promises no less than a complete transformation of the TV experience.
Although many still view Cisco as a routers and switches "computer company" with little interest in the consumer market, anyone who's kept a close eye on the technology firm, its acquisitions of companies such as Flip (makers of those handy pocket camcorders), and some of its built-from-scratch product offerings such as the umi ("You, Me") telepresence video conferencing system - well, these people know different. With Videoscape, Mr. Chambers and Cisco are tying it all together - or at least they're trying to. And it all starts in your living room.
One thing that Mr. Chambers was very clear about is that Videoscape is a software and architecture offering that's less about one specific box, or one specific device, and more about tying together many different systems with one common goal: your content, wherever you go.
After showing us an entertaining (though not terribly informative) commercial for Cisco's new "Together" campaign and the Videoscape platform, Mr. Chambers and one of his fellow executives provided a brief demo which involved the viewing of live college basketball, a video conference betweeen Mr. Chambers and his basketball fanatic cousin in West Virgina, an impromptu Flip camcorder recording of Mr.Chambers on stage, and the viewing of a similar video posted by his cousin in WV.
This act of viewing both local content and content belonging to trusted in-network contacts, and then having the ability to quickly and easily move said content between devices and have it follow you from TV to smartphone to PC - all of that appears to represent the mission statement of the Videoscape platform. Obviously, this is a lofty goal and as Mr. Chambers often pointed out, it's not something Cisco is doing alone. But it was certainly an intriguing first look at a future we all suspect is coming. You can read more about Videoscape at the Cisco website.
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