Tech Roundup: Cisco Promotes Two Presidents, SanDisk in iPhone 5

Milpitas Unified School District students jumpstarted the year with a new learning tool: the Chromebook. At $500 per copy, the District was able to foot the bill for 1,000 of the computers to be used in the kindergarten through twelfth grade level. Most schools will use them in the classroom, taking advantage of their educational software applications. The Digital Business Academy at Milpitas High School is even replacing traditional textbooks by assigning students their own Chromebook to use throughout the year. 

The new iPhone 5 is using SanDisk flash memory cards for the first time, an analysis of the phone revealed this week. The lowest priced model, with 16 gigabytes of flash memory, costs $207 to build and sells for $649, sans a wireless contract. SanDisk’s NAND flash memory comprises the second most expensive component of the phone. The most? The four-inch display that was sourced from Japan Display and LG Display. 

This week, Cisco acquired virtual networking company vCider, which specializes in offering products that allow organizations to create virtual private networks and create a link between data centers. It set its eyes on a similar company, Nicira, in July, but lost out to VMWare, which purchased the technology start-up for $1.05 billion. 

Cisco promoted not just one, but two, presidents this week. Rob Lloyd, 56, formerly the vice president in charge of worldwide sales, was bumped up to the president of product development and sales. Gary Moore, 53, formerly the executive vice president, was elevated to president and chief operating officer. They join a race to succeed Cisco’s longtime CEO John Chambers, 63, who has held the position since 1995 and said he plans to retire in two to four years.  

This week Dialogic® PowerMedia™ Extended Media Server (PowerMedia XMS) was named a finalist for Leading Lights Best New Product. It enables smartphones and tablets to be used for calling and conferencing applications, such as streaming video content. The award is determined by a panel of judges from Light Reading, which claims to be the world’s largest online news service devoted to the telecommunications industry.