Surf the Web by Just Closing Your Eyes? - Cisco Contest Invites the Human Network to Help Shape the Future of the Connected Life

From streaming HDTV to a wrist watch, to a web search in your head -- the possibilities for tomorrow’s network-based, communication and entertainment experiences are limitless. To demonstrate the power of the Human Network, Cisco® is inviting the public to help shape the future of the Connected Life by sharing their ideas. The company is offering $10,000 for the most innovative, entertaining and compelling entry.

“We believe in continuous innovation and are always working to bring great ideas to reality,” said Jeff Spagnola, vice president of service provider marketing at Cisco. “We know that many of our customers, from the largest businesses to individual consumers, share our passion for innovation and we invite them to share their great ideas for experiences that they would like to enjoy in their Connected Life - enabled by Cisco and delivered by service providers around the world.”

Make Your Mark on the Future of the Connected Life
The Connected Life describes the unique, personalized experiences enabled by networked communications, whether at home, at work, or on the move. Cisco believes that the network is the platform for making daily life more entertaining, more productive and more convenient. This competition is designed to encourage everyone to participate in the creation of the Connected Life of tomorrow.

Cisco builds the technology and solutions that enable people to enjoy new and richer experiences that enhance all aspects of their evolving connected lives:


For the home, Cisco is working to bring more high-definition channels to the TV, connecting TV with the stereo and PC with services like email, gaming and web surfing, while turning the TV into a video phone.


At work, Cisco is unifying communications across any device, freeing workers from their desks with greater mobility, and delivering TelePresence, which reduces the need for travel by enabling network-based face-to-face communications.


On the move, Cisco is providing technology for streaming television on mobile devices, making payments for goods and services with a cell phone, and sharing business or entertainment content with friends and colleagues from anywhere at any time.

“While all these experiences are either available now or in the works, we are always interested in what you want to see in the future,” added Spagnola. “There is no better way to get that information than to use the Human Network to ask, ’What new experiences do you want in your Connected Life?’”

Cisco will work with leading service providers around the world to select the top ideas, awarding one Grand Prize winner $10,000 and ten runner-up winners $1,000 each.

How to Enter
Contest participation is easy - just submit an entry (in 1,000 words or less) describing a new experience or capability you would like networking and communications technologies to help you do, whether at home, at work, or on the move. You’re also invited to record a short video describing your idea, you can include a link to it with your entry.

Entrants can register and submit ideas at www.cisco.com/go/connectedlifecontest. Examples of Connected Life videos as well as complete official rules and prize information are also provided on the contest site.

About Cisco Systems
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.