LAS VEGAS - January 7, 2009 - At the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Cisco® today announced the availability of the Cisco Eos ^TM hosted white-label software platform that allows Media & Entertainment companies to create, manage and grow online communities around their content. Cisco Eos is a powerful, integrated platform that integrates social networking, content management and site administration features into a single operating environment, allowing content owners to deliver immersive consumer experiences, while increasing revenue opportunities and reducing operational costs. Warner Music Group is the first entertainment company to use the Cisco Eos platform for artist sites from Laura Izibor (www.lauraizibor.com) and Sean Paul (www.allseanpaul.com).

Facts:

• Creating "communities of content" - Consumers are increasingly using social networks to interact with communities of people with similar interests. With Cisco Eos, Media & Entertainment companies can more effectively create their own "communities of content" where online audiences and fans can interact with and around the content they love.
• Integrated software platform - The Cisco Eos platform combines the interactivity of social networking, with analytics, and media and site management tools, which allow media companies to more effectively derive value from their online content and audiences.
• Direct engagement with online audiences - Thirty-six percent of consumers report that they first seek their entertainment content and news directly from the branded site of their favorite show, movie, musical act, etc . Rather than losing that audience to other online properties, media companies have the opportunity to engage and retain audiences by delivering an interactive and dynamic entertainment experience around their content.
• Hosted model delivers efficiencies - Delivering the Cisco Eos platform as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) allows media companies to focus their limited resources on building compelling consumer experiences, rather than on the cost and complexity of building and maintaining their own Web platform.
• Future integration for Eos - Cisco Eos uses a standards-based architecture that will allow it to be integrated in the future with other Cisco products and technologies, extending the online entertainment experience to multiple screens, including television and mobile devices.
• Cisco Eos at CES - Cisco will discuss Eos and other new consumer products and initiatives during a press conference on Wednesday, January 7 from 1:00-1:45 p.m. PST at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 7, 2009. Press, analysts and bloggers at CES are invited to attend the press conference located at Venetian Hotel, Venetian Titian Room #2206. Contacts not at the show can attend via a live webcast by visiting Cisco's CES 2009 Web site.

^{1 Cisco Executive Thought Leadership Research, Feb. 2008}

Supporting Quotes:

• "Cisco believes that the network is the platform for a new generation of compelling consumer experiences that are more social, personal and visual," said Dan Scheinman, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Media Solutions Group. "Cisco Eos leverages the power of the human network and enables Media & Entertainment companies to complement other online channels with an interactive, community-driven experience in their own branding. Media companies have the opportunity to deepen the relationship online audiences have with the entertainment content they love."
• "Tapping into the Eos platform is part of our larger plan to leverage the innovation of key strategic partners to enable vibrant, direct and ongoing connections between fans and their favorite artists that encourage discovery and acquisition," said Michael Nash, Executive Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business Development, Warner Music Group. "The industry has seen a dramatic shift in the way consumers engage in the entertainment experience and we are exploring ways to partner with Cisco to leverage their technology platforms to create new opportunities to monetize that engagement."
• "The Cisco Eos platform is a strategic new addition to Cisco's portfolio as it allows them to extend upon their capabilities in the areas of distribution and connecting consumers, by now providing the discovery element at the software layer," said Danielle Levitas, vice president, consumer and broadband markets, IDC. "For media companies and content owners and providers, the platform represents a purpose-built solution that will allow them to easily integrate multiple software categories onto a common platform that will allow them to scale the amount of content they can provide to consumers, and significantly increase the overall online consumer experience."

Supporting Resources:

• Eos platform page on Cisco.com
• Eos video demonstration
• Click here for information on all Cisco announcments at CES.
• Podcast with Ned Hooper, senior vice president, Corporate Development and Consumer Group at Cisco, discussing Cisco's Consumer strategy.
• Read Cisco's news feature on the media-enabled home
• Read more information about Cisco Eos on CMSG's home page
• Read the product data sheet for Cisco Eos
• Follow Cisco's CES news and activities on Cisco's Platform Blog, DigItAll Consumer blog, DigMediaRev Blog and Cisco Consumer Web site, and follow Cisco's service provider news and activities on SP360.
• Follow DigitalCribs on Twitter for CES updates and commentary from Cisco.
• View photos from CES on the Cisco DigItAll Consumer Flickr account.
• Become a fan of Cisco "Digital Cribs" on Facebook and invite your friends to join the conversation.
• Catch video excerpts from Las Vegas on the CiscoDigitalCribs YouTube channel.
• Subscribe to the DigItAll Consumer blog to join Cisco consumer conversations and to view Cisco bloggers lifecasting at CES.
• For aggregated Cisco consumer social media updates, subscribe to the DigitalCribs FriendFeed.
• Subscribe to Cisco's RSS Feed.

Embedded Videos and Images:

• "Cisco Eos" with Dan Scheinman, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Media Solutions Group

Photos:

• Dan Scheinman, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Media Solutions Group



• With Cisco Eos, Media & Entertainment companies can more effectively create their own "communities of content" where online audiences and fans can interact with and around the entertainment content they love.



• The Cisco Eos software platform



• Warner Music Group is the first entertainment company to use the Cisco Eos platform for artist sites from Laura Izibor (www.lauraizibor.com) and Sean Paul (www.allseanpaul.com).

Technorati Tags:

Cisco, Consumer Electronics Show, CES, Cisco Consumer, Cisco, Cisco Eos, Eos, Software Platform, Cisco Media Solutions Group, CMSG, Visual Networking, Video, Media & Entertainment, Connected Life, Dan Scheinman, social networking, social media, visual, social, personal, Human Network, home network, consumer technology,

About Cisco's Consumer Business

Cisco's consumer business includes home networking products, set-top boxes, media solutions and content delivery systems. Through collaboration with technology partners, service providers, content providers, retailers and consumer electronic device manufacturers, Cisco is expanding the Human Network to create an intelligent, end-to-end media-optimized network that extends from the content source to the consumer.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Cisco, the Cisco logo and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.