According to a blog post by Cisco’s TelePresence Technology Group OJ Winge (via NetworkWorld), Cisco announced it is shutting down its Android-based Cius business tablet project. The roughly $1,000 tablet solution started shipping less than a year ago and clearly is not doing too well. The reason for killing off the 7-inch Cius tab? Winge noted 95 percent of organizations Cisco surveyed now allow employees to bring their own device, which he said underscores “a major shift in the way people are working, in the office, at home and on-the-go.”

There is no denying that iOS devices and cheaper Android solutions are taking the place of Cius. Recent studies show Apple with 97 percent of tablets in the enterprise, while 94 percent of the Fortune 500 is currently testing or deploying the iPad. The result is no further investment in the Cius tablet line and only limited support for what is currently available. The company will instead “double down” on Jabber and WebEx:

Over the last year, Cisco has demonstrated a commitment to delivering innovative software like Cisco Jabber and Cisco WebEx across a wide spectrum of operating systems, tablets and Smart Phones. We’re seeing tremendous interest in these software offerings. Customers see the value in how these offerings enable employees to work on their terms in the Post-PC era, while still having access to collaboration experiences… Based on these market transitions, Cisco will no longer invest in the Cisco Cius tablet form factor, and no further enhancements will be made to the current Cius endpoint beyond what’s available today. However, as we evaluate the market further, we will continue to offer Cius in a limited fashion to customers with specific needs or use cases.

Virgin Mobile’s LG Optimus V, which usually retails for $150 and at some retailers such as Amazon for around $100, is currently being offered for just $28 through LetsTalk (at bottom). That is under $30—with no contract—to get a device that competes with most of the $150 Android competitors on the market. It is unclear whether this is for the retailer’s Memorial Day weekend sale currently taking place, but it is a great deal for a more than decent smartphone either way. You will of course have to grab at least a month of Virgin prepaid service starting at $35, which means you still walk away at $63— less than half the original suggested retail price.

There are tons of cheap Android devices on the market, but the Optimus V packs a 3.2megapixel camera, 2GB onboard memory, a 600 MHz TI OMAP 3610 processor, and 3.2-inch touchscreen. Even if does not replace your main device, this is a great deal for a backup phone, car GPS, media player, etc., at just $30. The deal is currently backordered, but the price will be honored when more stock becomes available.

Note: You will have to buy the first month of service with this phone, pushing the cost to $63 with one-month of service. Still, not bad!

Related articles

• Google Wallet arrives on Virgin Mobile Optimus Elite with $25 freebie to start (9to5google.com)
• Virgin Mobile announces LG Optimus Elite, its first device with NFC and Google Wallet (9to5google.com)

The Verge’s Vlad Savov just completed an extensive breakdown of the Samsung Galaxy S III that unveiled in London earlier this month. The review is fully-equipped with video, imagery, and hordes of information. One such video is above, while a snippet of its wrap-up and a grading chart are below:

Links to 9to5Google’s coverage of the S III launch event are after the break.

Related articles

• Galaxy S III debuts Siri-like function ‘S-Voice’ (9to5Google)
• Samsung Galaxy S III review round-up (9to5Google)
• Live from Samsung’s Galaxy S III event (Gallery) (9to5Google)
• Galaxy S III TV commercial (Video) (9to5Google)
• Samsung Galaxy S III specs (9to5Google)

(Via The Verge)

We have already seen the first photos taken with Google’s Project Glass, but the first video taken just uploaded today for all to see in 720p.

The HP team responsible for Enyo — webOS’s HTML5-based application framework that debuted on the TouchPad — will be leaving the company and starting at Google shortly, The Verge has learned. What this means for the future of Open webOS is unclear; Enyo and the developers supporting it are central to HP’s open source strategy for the operating system going forward, and it’s hard to say whether this move will have any effect on the planned late 2012 release for version 1.0.

It is pretty clear that webOS is over. With similar roots in Linux, the team could probably do some good with Google’s Android and Chrome products.

The Verge found some incriminating evidence in today’s Google Plus update APK. It is not hard to imagine how this is all going to play out.

RT @google: Sergey Brin, Turkish President Abdullah Gül & his wife in a self-driving car at the Googleplex http://t.co/c0zV8KHP

—
Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) May 24, 2012

Google posted a new page on its Transparency Report that details content the company has been forced to remove from its search engine (via The Verge). The information is interesting, because it gives us a look at how often Google is asked to remove something for all to see. During this past month, the team in Mountain View, Calif., was forced to remove 1,246,713 links from its pages, and non other than Microsoft is leading the requests. The Redmond, Wash.-based Company requested that Google remove 543,378 links this month, followed by a British recording company and NBC Universal. As you can see in the graph below, the number of takedown requests served has increased dramatically over the last nine months—ever since Google started keeping track in July of last year. So why is Google publishing the data now? The company said, “As policymakers and Internet users around the world consider the pros and cons of different proposals to address the problem of online copyright infringement, we hope this data will contribute to the discussion.” The takedown requests by the record labels are not surprising, but Microsoft leading the pack certainly is.

Related articles

• Bing launches final redesign, says users prefer site over Google (9to5google.com)

Original EVO 4G, left, new, less 4G EVO ONE, right

When the original HTC EVO launched on Sprint two years ago, it was a game-changer of a phone. It was the first Android device with a 4.3-inch display, 1GHz Processor, 4G WiMAX, and a host of other new technologies including something important that is often jokingly overlooked: a kickstand.

Consider this: Nokia’s current flagship Windows Phone 7 device carries the same 4.3-inch 800-by-480-pixel resolution and single core processor with 512MB of RAM. This is two years later, mind you. And, there are still lots of other phones that lag behind the original EVO. In fact, in one important way, today’s review-ee, the HTC EVO One, also lacks the original EVO’s ability to do 4G data. (Oh, and what perfect two-year contract renewal timing otherwise!)

Sprint finds itself in the middle of a debilitating transition from WiMAX to LTE on its mobile network. I will not go into the details, because it is water under the bridge, but the long story short is that Sprint is migrating to LTE from its previous 4G technology called “WiMAX.” Sprint has a host of phones running WiMAX now and needs to keep the lights on those devices until 2015 (including offloading some bandwidth to its pre-paid customers). At the same time, it has to eek out some spectrum for a new type of 4G service and still keep those 3Gers happy.

The One Family: Evo One(Sprint), One X (AT&T) and One S (T-Mobile)

Unfortunately, Sprint is only now ramping up its LTE offering as AT&T and Verizon already have many major cities covered. When the EVO One is released today (after a longer than expected layover in customs thanks to Apple), it will not be able to use LTE 4G anywhere. Worse yet, it does not have WiMAX radios, so it is basically on the same level as the iPhone for Sprint customers network-wise.

The original EVO launched at the same time that Sprint’s 4G was rolling out, so you might be saying, “Big deal? The EVO had to wait for 4G and was a success.”

Things have changed immensely over the last two years. If you are buying a superphone in the U.S. now, you expect a super network. The EVO ONE will have to wait a long time to even access a two-year-old-type of 4G speed. Sprint is rolling out its LTE in Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, and San Antonio with some mystery markets, but it should have only 10 markets covered by July. That means only a small percentage of the U.S. is going to be able to really use this phone.

(As an aside, this is Sprint not learning from its WiMAX rollout. Sprint was ahead in its 4G tech by a year, but it chose to roll it out in markets like Baltimore and Portland. By the time it got around to major tech/news hubs like New York and San Francisco, Verizon had already announced LTE rollouts and swallowed Sprint’s tech lead.)

If I am a Sprint user (and I am), there is no way I am going to trade a WiMAX smartphone for a non-working LTE one until more of the network is rolled out. WiMAX works great in New York and San Francisco. In fact, I still use my original EVO as a hotspot, because the network is often better than the other carriers’ 4G in the area. There are no current plans for Sprint LTE in my area (New York City).

If HTC/Sprint could have built a phone with dual WiMAX/LTE radios, I would be all over this phone in a heartbeat. However, as it stands, and until Sprint’s LTE gets more mature, it is hard to recommend.

How is the phone itself?

The EVO One is very similar to AT&T’s ONE X—same screen and guts. Truth be told, I like the feel of the One X better than the three-tone (FUGLY matte plastic, red stripe/shiny plastic) back of the EVO One. However, the kickstand more than makes up for the appearance. The EVO One also features a camera shutter button that many people will find super handy.

From here, you can pretty much head over to the HTC ONE X review.

Android 4.0 flies, the 4.7-inch 720P screen is amazing, the 2000mAh battery lasts all day (on 3G anyway), and then some. Sprint’s apps are annoying, but you can disable them. I was not able to check the HD call quality, because there was not any LTE or anyone else with the same features, but it looks to be a nice aspect when released.

I am not sure if it’s their market position as underdogs, but both T-Mobile and Sprint seem to treat their customers better than AT&T and Verizon. While T-Mobile offers perks like Wi-Fi calling, Sprint does not block Google Wallet and integrates Google Voice, which are both fantastic services. Sprint cautioned that Google Wallet is still in Beta on the phone, so I did not use it much. I think this will be big for Google platform people going forward.

Wrap up:

The HTC EVO ONE is an amazing phone overall. If your market is on Sprint’s secret LTE rollout plan, and you will not often find yourself leaving the area, by all means jump on this phone. If you are in a situation like me, where WiMAX is up and running, and LTE is who knows how far off, then I would recommend holding off or keeping your old EVO. Alternatively, if you can handle the terms, you can also jump carriers. Sprint should have a hybrid WiMAX LTE device, or it should bundle these phones with a WiMAX hotspot, if they expect those who bought the original EVO two years ago to upgrade.

Here is an idea: Let your customers keep their faster original EVO 4G to use as a hotspot!

Google TV just launched iHeartRadio on its Smart TV platform in an effort to bring live radio to the big screen.

iHeartRadio is a four-year-old website and mobile radio network that aggregates local radio brands, personalities, and on-demand content. The new Google TV app offers 800 live stations and the ability to create a custom station based on an artist or track. It also sports high-resolution imagery, quick jump options, and seamless navigation for finding local broadcasts by genre or location. Moreover, the app “dims the lights,” so users can listen to music without a blaring screen in the room.

A screenshot of the app is above, while a reel of the service is below. 

“The result is a deeper emotional connection to the product and to the music itself,” explained web developer Ken Colton and iHeartRadio designer Harper Lieblich on the official Google TV blog.

The popular app is strikingly similar to Pandora Internet Radio, a 12-year-old website and app that also employs an automated music recommendation service with customization options. Users can find iHeartRadio in the Spotlight app of Google TV.