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All posts tagged "cisco"


Friday, July 6, 2012

Cisco Gives You Your Router Back

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 01:30 PM

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012...router-setting/

"We told you earlier today about how Cisco is pushing a cloud-based WiFi router management service onto customers of certain Linksys devices—and that to use the service customers must agree to a list of anti-porn and anti-piracy clauses. The trouble is that for customers with automatic firmware updates turned on, the traditional (and very useful) router management tools available in a Web browser at the address 192.168.1.1 became completely unavailable. Instead, you had to sign up for Cisco’s cloud service, roll back your firmware, or just forget about using advanced router management features."

Cisco has since reversed their position on forcing you to use their cloud connected service, but the issue remains that a company could do this. While I wonder how many people this actually affected, the idea that a company could fundamentally change something you own is disconcerting and in particular, their service agreement which outlined what you could or could not do with the new service they have imposed on you. This issue does go beyond your own router, but to many services. Lots of people use web services such as Gmail, or Facebook or Twitter. Every one of those companies has the ability to change their service and limit what you can do.

The biggest lesson learned is to make sure you have control over your own data. In particular, if you use any of the above services, make sure you have a copy of it (there are many ways) for yourself so that if a company blocks you out, the affect on you is minimized. As for Cisco's kerfuffle, that is just one reason why I use an alternate firmware, dd-wrt, to handle my internet connection.


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Want to Run an App? There's a Router for that!

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 01:30 PM

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105...enabled-router/

"The Linksys EA4500, EA3500, and EA2700 -- the "A" designation being short for "app-enabled" -- look like models in the earlier E Series but have more-powerful hardware and support Cisco Connect Cloud, the next generation of Cisco Connect software. The EA4500, for example, looks exactly the same as the original Linksys E4200, but the differences inside are significant."

While I love the idea of apps for a home router, I do not know if it will find much success. Apps for home server type machines have been tried before. Windows Home Server offers apps. Various other NAS devices also offer the ability for apps. None of them have found any significant success. I think the primary reason for this is that while there are benefits to hosting your own apps, most people have taken to the cloud as their main computing resource. With people being so mobile these days, why have something at your home base that you have to maintain when the cloud can do it? I certainly see value, and do run a lot of server like apps out of my home, but I do not think it will appeal to most people.


Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Amazing Flip Feature We'll Never See

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 04:00 PM

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011...th-of-the-flip/

"But there's a second part of the tragedy, too, something that nobody knows. That new Flip that the product manager showed me was astonishing. It was called FlipLive, and it added one powerful new feature to the standard Flip: live broadcasting to the Internet. That is, when you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot, the entire world can see what you're filming. You can post a link to Twitter or Facebook, or send an e-mail link to friends. Anyone who clicks the link can see what you're seeing, in real time-thousands of people at once."

Oh Flip, we hardly knew ye. The feature that David Pogue describes above would have been insanely cool to have on a pocket camera - and now we'll never see it...at least until someone else (Sony, Kodak, etc.) develops the same feature into their cameras.


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Cisco Kills the Flip Camera

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 12:53 PM

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news...es-the-flip.ars

"Don't look now, but the Flip camera is officially dead. Cisco announced Tuesday morning that it is killing off the line of pocketable video cameras in order to refocus the company around home networking and video. The news was a surprise to even Flip critics, leaving everyone wondering why Cisco bothered to buy Pure Digital (the Flip's former parent company) for $590 million just two years ago."

This is a shame, but it wasn't hard to see it coming - it never made a lick of sense to me for Cisco to purchase Pure Digital, the creators of this product. Cisco had no heart for this type of consumer business. Flip cameras essentially defined this part of the technology space starting a few years ago: they were small, easy to use, had great battery life, sufficient storage, and were perfect for simple videos. The coming of smartphones with HD video capture capabilities put a crimp in the sales of these devices, though I still feel there's a lot they can offer. I have two such devices in my possession right now - a Flip Mino HD and a Sony Bloggie - and both last a long time on a charge, are simple to use, and can be left within easy reach for capturing special moments. My cell phone on the other hand is often in my home office, or jacket, and not typically within reach. For most people though, capturing a video with their phone - then immediately uploading it - is the winning combination and why these devices weren't going to be in every home.


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Cisco Releases New Linksys E-Series - Very Simple Design

Posted by Danny Simmons in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 06:00 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/05/...routers-and-sw/

"If you dig the stylish look on the Linksys E4200 802.11n router but prefer something more wallet-friendly, then Cisco's latest range of home routers and switches will likely suit your taste. Gone are the curved grooves and blinking LEDs on the top, but these routers -- ranging from $59.99 to $159.99 -- still go about their usual wireless business at up to 300Mbps, with additional simultaneous dual-band support on the pricier E2500 and E3200. Like their predecessors, you'll also find a refreshed, feature-packed Cisco Connect software suite in the box, which promises to make installation and management a whole lot easier."

No more blinking lights? Just a nice sleek simple look? I guess I could get used to that. And the price isn't too shabby either. I think they're onto something here. These actually tempt me to replace my perfectly good router at home for no good reason. Now that's marketing! Follow the link for more detailed specs.


Thursday, February 12, 2009

Linksys Wants You to Love The Media Hub

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 03:30 PM

http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en...products/NMH410

"You love your media, so treat it well. The Media Hub makes it easy to organize, access, and share your digital video, photos, and music -- around your home and around the world. With massive capacity, intelligent aggregation, and media optimized file-serving capabilities, it’s an ideal way to manage your material, enjoy your entertainment and share your memories. Show your media how much you love it – give it a Hub."

I can't say I understand or am thrilled by Linksys' attempt to make me love my media, but the Media Hub does look like a decent upgrade from the standard UPnP capable NAS. The Media Hub comes with a lot of services that one would expect from current generation NAS like devices of something with Windows Home Server such as file aggregation, the ability to share your media with friends on the net, automated backups, but what makes the Media Hub stand out from more other devices is the pretty LCD screen that helps you interact with your precious media files via a five way navigation pad. While this certainly is a nice idea on paper, I can't help but wonder if they've done any practical tests. Any computing appliance I have, from a router, to NAS to a wireless webcam is configured and managed through a web interface. I don't think it's necessary to physically be there to change a setting, and the premium that a physical "control panel" usually commands is not worth it to me. Did I mention that it currently retails at Amazon for $429.99 for 1TB? Are you feeling the love?


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