Cisco buys mo’ mobile location expertise with ThinkSmart purchase
#SuryaRay #Surya Cisco is buying ThinkSmart Technologies, for its smarts in network and Wi-Fi location analytics. The goal is to give cell-phone-toting consumers inside stores and other venues get better services based on their location and preferences, according to a post on a Cisco blog. ThinkSmart’s location analytics collect data on a person’s travels within a store, arena, etc. “including time of day, traffic patterns and dwell times.” That data trove can help the business staff up based traffic patterns, in theory cutting wait times at registers and speeding up customer flow. Cisco’s latest acquisition is based in Cork, Ireland, growing out of the Incubation Centre of University College Cork. ThinkSmart becomes part of Cisco’s Wireless Networking Group and the technology will be integrated into the Cisco Mobility Services Engine, according to Cisco. The acquisition closed in the first quarter of Cisco’s fiscal year 2013. ThinkSmart will be part of Cisco’s Wireless Access Group. As GigaOM reported early this year jumped back on the acquisition trail after a major reorganization. This is the company’s sixth acquisition this year, after Virtuata, Truviso, ClearAccess, NDS Group and LightWire. _Feature photo courtesy of Shutterstock user Andresr_ http://dlvr.it/2D8fpg @suryaray