Archive


Category: Editor

  • Thoughts about ingress protection: eliminate potential points of failure

    The most commonly used measure for protection against the elements is the IP rating, or Ingress Protection rating. The IP rating consists of two numbers where the first indicates protection against solids and the second protection against liquids. Solid ratings go from 1 to 6, with 6 meaning the best protection. Liquid ratings go from 1 to 8, with 8 meaning the highest protection. Essentially, the purpose of these ratings are the determination of how well a device can keep out dust and water. As far as liquids go, the purpose of the rating is not to signify waterproofing for […]

  • Benchmarking popular mobile Intel processors

    Well, we finally managed to benchmark a mobile device with an Atom processor. Like everyone else, I was wondering where Atom performance fits in. The Thermal Design Power (TDP) of the 45nm Atom processors is so ridiculously low that it’s impossible to even make an educated guess. There are, of course, a number of different Atom processors out there, but one that appears to be popular in small mobile devices is the Atom N270. The N270 is a single-core processor that runs at 1.6GHz and has a TDP of 2.5 watts — significantly less than even an ultra-low voltage Intel […]

  • Ultra-rugged waterproof displays

    In RuggedPCReview we usually cover mobile computers, i.e. systems that combine processing, storage, data input and display all in one unit. That, however, doesn’t mean that all mobile systems are all-in-one type of devices. Tablets and slates, for example, are often used in conjunction with an external display and full-size keyboard when used in a stationary environment, and there really is no compelling need for vehicle and panel mount systems to be all-in-one. I was reminded of that when I came across some very interesting display products from a company called Digital Systems Engineering, located in Scottsdale, Arizona. They have […]

  • Why is no one using the Marvell speedy and powerful PXA320?

    When we reviewed the TDS/Trimble Nomad last year here at RuggedPCReview.com, I marveled over the machine and noted, “The 800 MHz Marvell PXA320 processor certainly had something to do with it. The difference between it and the 624MHz PXA270 is much larger than we expected.” In fact, the chip performed so well in the Nomad that I was certain other manufacturers would quickly follow suit and use the formidable PXA320 chip as well. Interestingly, that didn’t happen. If I remember correctly, the only other product I’ve come across that uses the PXA320 is the Aceeca Meazura MEZ2000, which I think […]

  • The digitizer mysery

    Imagine if someone had patented hard disks so iron-clad that no one else could make them. Or that an enterprising company had legally locked up LCDs such that it had a monopoly. If that were the case, we might still have giant, sluggish 20 megabyte (not gigabyte!) hard disks and computing as we know it would not be possible. And we’d all get eye strain from using smallish, barely readable antediluvian STN displays. That would be a bad situation. As is, fierce competition propels progress, and as a result we have the most wondrous products brought upon by innovation and […]

  • MIL-STD-810F 509.4 and thoughts on salt water exposure

    During a week of scuba diving off Roatan island in Honduras, I had first-hand experience of what salt water exposure can do to equipment. I took several underwater cameras with me for testing and used them on up to four daily dives to 85+ feet with each lasting an hour or more. I thoroughly rinsed off the equipment after each dive, but still found that salt accumulated under rubber coatings, inside screw holes, under screw heads and inside or under anything that allows water to go under or moisture to seep in. After I returned back home I soaked all […]

  • The Motion Computing F5

    We’ve had the Motion Computing F5 tablet here in the lab for a while. The F5 is a follow-up to Motion’s C5 medical market tablet, which was a rather unique design solution that received a lot of positive feedback. The folks at Motion are generally right on the mark, and have been ever since some former Dell people formed the company back in 2002 or so to take on Fujitsu with a Tablet PC slate. At the time no one gave them much of a chance to prevail in a market that Fujitsu practically owned with their Stylistic pen tablets, […]

  • Tablet PC: We could use a hammer….

    “We could use a hammer…” That’s the tag line of MobileDemand’s latest video in their Tablet PC Torture Chamber Series where a man uses a Tablet PC to hammer a bunch of large nails into a board. The video is the latest in a series of increasingly sophisticated and outrageous demonstrations of just how tough their Tablet PC is. Usually, rugged equipment is dropped or exposed to water to show that it can survive the kind of punishment encountered in the field. MobileDemand’s earlier videos pretty much followed that tradition. xTablets were dropped, exposed to showers, rolled down a hill […]

  • Electrovaya settles patent infringement suit

    An interesting situation: An intellectual property company named Typhoon Touch Technologies announced Electrovaya had settled a patent infringement lawsuit by Typhoon and Nova Mobility Systems “for an undisclosed sum representing a royalty payment of at least 20% on past and future sales of its Scribbler Tablet PCs in the United States. Additionally, Electrovaya formally recognized the validity of Typhoon’s patents at issue in the litigation and acknowledged infringement of one or more of the patent claims.” (see here) 20% on past and future sales of a tablet? Wow! And recognizing the validity of a patent? That’s even more amazing given […]

  • XP Embedded: When benchmarks lie

    Providing rugged mobile computers is a constant exercise in trade-offs and balancing. Screens get bigger and brighter, processors get fasters, disk larger, and customers want all that, without paying for it in the form of larger batteries and more weight. The problem, really, is that battery technology has not kept pace with the rest of the circuitry inside a computer, and so batteries struggle to provide enough juice to keep everything running for long. When you think about it, it’s pretty bizarre that the very machines that are supposed to go as fast as possible often annoy their users by […]

  • What happened to Symbol!?

    Symbol Technologies was always one of my favorite companies. I visited their headquarters in Holtsville, long Island several times over the years and always came away impressed with their sleek designs and willingness to try out new ideas. That feistiness carried over into some aggressive acquisitions (like the bitter fight with Telxon) and, after some financial incongruencies, the sale of Symbol itself. Now Symbol is part of Motorola, but it isn’t very clear what kind of part. A good year or so after the acquisition Symbol seems to have been halfway absorbed into Motorola, but if you go by the […]

  • A video says more than a thousand pictures

    While it’s still not entirely sure how the YouTube phenomenon is changing our view of the world, changed it has. Initially we thought YouTube and its many competitors were simply repositories for stuff people recorded off TV, but that has changed. These days, if anything happens anywhere, whether it’s important or not, it’ll be on YouTube in a moment. However, the YouTube phenomenon has also led to entirely more serious changes in how things are being portrayed to the world. Specifically, video is being used to show what products can do. But that’s not new, you might say. No, the […]

  • Shrinking military spending an opportunity for mobile vendors?

    What I am about to write is based on assumptions and conjecture. It has to do with military procurement. And more specifically, military procurement of rugged mobile technology. We’ve all heard about the proverbial $600 toilet seats and other supposed gross waste of resources. We also somehow assume that the military has ultra-advanced equipment and secret weapons that are more sophisticated than anything we can think of. In the same respect, having served in the military, I know that the armed services often use equipment that, by civilian and commercial standards, is completely and utterly obsolete. So what is true? […]

  • Keeping track of who makes (and sells) what

    Keeping RuggedPCReview.com updated is no easy task. In the olden days, when we started Pen Computing Magazine back in 1993, there were only a small handful of companies that offered ruggedized equipment. These days, a even giant companies like Dell are realizing that adding durable and ruggedized equipment makes a lot of sense. I mean, in a mobile world not everyone is well-served with a flimsy, plasticky notebook that can’t handle the potential abuse during a day on the job. Anyway, keeping track of things… Not only is it quite a job to stay on top of every tech upgrade […]

  • Where will Intel’s Atom chip fit in?

    On March 3rd, 2008, Intel introduced the low-power Atom processor designed specifically for mobile internet devices. While desktop chips draw as much as 35 watts of thermal design power (TDP) and even ultra-low power Core Duos draw almost 10 watts, the Atoms will draw from 0.6 to 2.5 watts. Intel stresses that the chip is not a shrunken version of a desktop chip, but designed from the ground up. In a series of YouTube-style videos various Intel spokespeople describe Atom’s use. It goes into really inexpensive ($250-400) notebooks. It is “Intel’s architecture for mobile devices.” It is for “devices that […]

  • What do we make of Geode, VIA and Intel A100 powered devices?

    As of late, I’ve seen an increasing number of small tablet-style devices that run Windows but do not use one of Intel’s heralded Core processors, or even one of their lower-powered predecessor chips. That inevitably brings up the central conundrum the industry has been dealing with for the past 15 years or so. After dabbling with Windows CE in its various versions, Microsoft has pretty much decided that “real” Windows is the way to go. Any device that is not solely dedicated to performing a single task, or running a single custom app, will likely do other things or have […]

  • Panasonic — Still top of the heap?

    We just finished taking another detailed look at an old acquaintance, a Toughbook from Panasonic. Now called the CF-30, it’s a descendant of the original Toughbook that goes back many years and essentially created a whole new market. The way that came about was that a number of Japanese companies that had once dominated the US laptop market found it increasingly difficult to be profitable. At some point the US launched protectionary measures against TFT LCD panels, making them more expensive. And the Taiwanese were beginning to move in. Panasonic’s approach was to seek new ways and they decided to […]

  • Thoughts about rugged handhelds — the Juniper Archer

    For the past few weeks we’ve had an Archer Field PC from Juniper Systems. “Field PC” is perhaps a bit of a misnomer as “PC” generally implies a Windows-based computer. The Archer is Windows-based alright, but it’s Windows Mobile, so it’s really a Pocket PC or whatever Microsoft is trying to call handhelds these days. We still generally call these machines Pocket PCs, or just PDA, the term Apple originally used when it came out with the Newton back in 1993. Creating a “rugged” PDA isn’t easy. And just like “rugged” notebooks or slate computers, the degree of ruggedness varies […]

  • Tests and reviews – how much punishment?

    I love rugged machinery, and so does everyone else here at RuggedPCReview.com. When a new machine comes in, everyone wants to see it, touch it, comment on in, and speculate how much abuse it can take. And this is where it gets interesting, the degree of abuse. Rugged machines are, by design, conceived and built to take a beating and survive. But the only way to know for sure if they indeed CAN take a beating is to administer one. And whether or not we should do that is a sensitive issue. A lot of this equipment is not inexpensive. […]

  • Underwater computing?

    Underwater computing? Now that’s a novel concept. For the past 15 years I’ve been dealing with rugged computing equipment, machines that can be dropped, survive in dusty environments, continue to operate whether it’s scorching hot or really cold. They can also handle rain, though these days the trend seems to be surviving an accidental coffee or soda spill onto the keyboard. Sort of like cupholders in cars have become a make-or-break feature, second only to how many DVD screens for entertainment they have. Anyway, it’s not unreasonable to expect computers come in contact with water. It covers 70% of the […]

  • Marvell, not Intel

    I spend a lot of time updating the vast database of rugged devices listed and reviewed here at RuggedPCReview.com. Specs change all the time but the rugged and mobile computing industry is usually very modest when it comes to press releases and announcements. It’s not like certain other fields where every new cellphone ringtone or executive promotion warrants a major PR campaign. So the way we go about it is making the rounds of all the companies, via their web sites, and check for updated specs. One thing I noticed is that even in updates, almost everyone continues to refer […]

  • The RuggedPCReview Blog launches

    Well, we finally added a blog section to RuggedPCReview.com. Yes, I know, everyone and their uncle has a blog these days, but I think it definitely makes sense to have one at a site like this where we are compiling information on just about every rugged mobile device out there. As is, our front page lists daily news and alerts readers to additions to the site, but often there is more than that. What’s in a review is not always the whole story — there’s more to tell. Impressions, circumstances, interactions with PR people, engineers, product managers, testing, all the […]

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