CES: Cisco moves further into consumers' homes

“It is the management, integration and administration power of people who run the Website to come on and use it. This is a tool to enable them to get their content and get their communities linked in quickly,” Clark said, adding that it is a hosted solution and Cisco has no plans to evolve it into a portal.

On the wireless front, Cisco also introduced a Web conferencing and collaboration application for the iPhone called WebEx Meeting Center. The app lets users join and collaborate over WiFi or the 3G cellular network. The app is free but requires a WebEx subscription for conferences to be set up.

Going forward, making its presence known in the home will be a first priority in Cisco’s branding, home networking products and in how it enables a connected experience for the end consumer.

“The connected home can be scary from a technical perspective and challenging from a business model perspective,” Clark said. “What Cisco is doing with its acquisitions of Linksys, Scientific Atlanta and with the power of Cisco proper, all those groups will be Cisco. You see those names, but they have migrated over to Cisco.”