Cisco has won much attention from consumer news sites since the New York Times reported Monday that the networking giant at CES next week is expected to unveil a digital stereo system that can move music wirelessly around a house, among other consumer offerings. But analysts and pundits say there are hurdles that Cisco must overcome in a market where Cisco is an unknown brand. Pundits also point to similar offerings from Sonos, Logitech and Apple.
Jonathan Greene writing in eHomeUpgrade says he’s puzzled as to “why Cisco is not simply focusing on enabling the connectivity and distribution piece on the network rather than going for the end-point.” He adds that he’d rather see “something neutral that provides access to content (and not just music btw) where I want it – whether that’s in my house or pushed out to my mobile device.” Greene also points out that Cisco will need to gain access from the very closed Apple iTunes ecosystem to make this a useful device. “So far, the standard fault of every media streamer is that it can’t play iTunes DRM … I don’t see how Cisco’s solution solves any of this,” Greene writes. Continue reading “Cisco to Introduce Digital Stereo System at CES”