My iPad Pro came in and I want to share my first impressions, and also my thoughts on where all this is leading. Anyone who first sees the iPad Pro will immediately notice its size. The iPad Pro is big. 12 x 8.7 inches versus 9.4 x 6.6 inches for the iPad Air 2. So the iPad Pro’s footprint […] →Read more
A short while ago I received a press release from the Universal Stylus Initiative. I filed that away in my mind, but got back to it because the concept certainly sounds interesting. Having used, described, tested and compared numerous pen and touch technologies over the past two decades in my work first at Pen Computing Magazine and then at […] →Read more
This morning I received an email from German touchscreen device developer and manufacturer faytech. The company prides itself in its ability to design and engineer high-quality products in Germany, then have them manufactured cost-efficiently in Asia, while providing local service. This email, though, wasn’t about their latest touchscreen products. It was about the processors they use in their touchscreen […] →Read more
Today I listened to the full Investor Call broadcast Xplore held on April 16 about its acquisition of Motion Computing, and a lot of things are clearer now (listen to it here). Motion didn’t exactly choose to be acquired, and this was not one of these situations where a big company comes along and makes a financial offer just […] →Read more
On April 16, 2015, Xplore Technologies and Motion Computing announced that Xplore was acquiring Motion. This was not a total surprise as both companies are in the rugged tablet computer market, both are pioneers in tablets, and both are located within ten miles from each other in Austin, Texas. And yet, the announcement came as a surprise to me. […] →Read more
On February 5th I had a chance to speak with Peter Poulin, who was appointed Motion Computing’s CEO on December 11, 2014. An industry veteran with more than 25 years of sales, marketing and general management experience in the public and private sectors, the company’s press release said Poulin’s goal will be to capitalize on the company’s deep mobility […] →Read more
Anyone who’s ever watched the “Storage Wars” reality TV series on the A&E Network knows that with storage, you never know what you’re going to get. That’s true for stuff people stow away in storage units, and it’s also increasingly true with the kind of storage in our electronic devices. There was a time when RAM was RAM and […] →Read more
This morning I saw in the news that at the IFA Berlin show, ecom instruments launched what the press release called the “world’s first Zone 1/Div. 1 tablet computer”. New tablets are launched all the time, but I quickly realized that this was relevant for two reasons: First, the Zone 1/Div. 1 designation means it’s a tablet for use […] →Read more
On September 29, 2014, GoPro announced the GoPro Hero 4 and also a new basic GoPro camera. This is relevant for anyone dealing with ruggedized computing gear and using technology in the field for a number of reasons. But first, what exactly is GoPro and why do their products matter? GoPro makes tiny little action cameras that, somehow, captured […] →Read more
It’s a mad, mad, mad world as far as the screen size of mobile devices goes. Witness… For smartphones, 4.7 inches or so now seems the least customers will accept, and 5.5 inches or larger is better. When Apple introduced its iPhone 6 (4.7 inch) and iPhone 6+ (5.5 inch), the demand was such that both Apple’s and AT&T’s […] →Read more
A few days ago, the Office 365 and OneNote blogs at Microsoft announced OneNote for Android or the addition of handwriting and inking support for OneNote for Android, it wasn’t quite clear (see here). While Microsoft OneNote isn’t nearly as popular as Word and Excel, it’s available as part of Microsoft Office, and supposedly over a billion people use […] →Read more
Though Android dominates the smartphone market and has a very strong position in tablets, until now Google’s OS platform was not available for desktops and conventional notebooks (the Chromebook with its limited offline functionality doesn’t really count). That has now changed with the new HP SlateBook, a full-function, quad-core Tegra 4-powered notebook with a 14-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel […] →Read more
RuggedPCReview.com just finished reviewing the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1, and we ended up calling it a “milestone product” because of its novel and unique passive capacitive stylus that can greatly increase productivity because it allows for far greater precision when using the Windows desktop than touch alone or earlier capacitive pens. This article describes the past and current situation of […] →Read more
RuggedPCReview.com just finished reviewing the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1, and we ended up calling it a “milestone product” because of its novel and unique passive capacitive stylus that can greatly increase productivity because it allows for far greater precision when using the Windows desktop than touch alone or earlier capacitive pens. This article describes the past and current situation of […] →Read more
As editors of RuggedPCReview.com, we’re probably better equipped than most to report anytime, anywhere, and under any conditions. After all, we not only have access to the latest and greatest mobile computing and communications gear, but much of that gear is designed to go just about anywhere. The reality is a bit different, as we learned the hard way […] →Read more
So we get this box from Xplore Technologies, and it’s pretty heavy. And it’s a bit grimy. We figured we better open it outside. This is what happened: Yes, Xplore sent us the brand-spaking new iX104 XC6 to make a point. Sod: It can handle grime and dirt. Sunglasses: You can use it in bright sunshine. Measuring tape: You […] →Read more
There are things in life where the outrage and pain just never seems to go away. For me that includes the infamous game 6 in the 2002 basketball playoffs where the NBA stole the championship from my Sacramento Kings, the forced demise of the Newton, a relationship issue or two, and then there is the way General Dynamics took […] →Read more
I love cars and often use automotive analogies to describe situations. One came to mind recently as we evaluated a particularly interesting new rugged mobile computer. So here goes: With gas mileage becoming ever more important in cars and trucks, the automotive industry has been pulling all stops to come up with more fuel efficient vehicles. One way to […] →Read more
On February 24, 2014, Samsung showed their new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5. It’s relevant because it’ll sell by the many millions, and it’ll be the primary opponent to Apple’s current 5s and whatever Apple comes up with next. But the Galaxy S5 is also relevant because the technology it includes and provides will become the new norm. It’ll […] →Read more
Just a brief entry here…. Up to Android “Jelly Bean,” i.e. versions 4.1.x through versions 4.3.x, one of the cool things about Android was the (relative) ease with which one could do screen grabs. Those, of course, are essential to product reviewers. And so it was good to know that all one had to do was connect the Android […] →Read more
All of a sudden, everyone is talking about 4k video. Also known as Ultra-HD video, four times the resolution of the 1920 x 1080 pixel 1080p standard, 4k was everywhere at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Now, obviously, 4k video isn’t the most important thing on rugged mobile computer manufacturers’ minds, but 4k video is nonetheless a […] →Read more
There was a time in the very distant computing past where, when buying a computer, the sole decision you needed to make was whether to use the Intel 386/33 or save a few bucks and get the slightly slower 386/25. Today, if you use Intel’s handy ARK app that lists every product available from Intel, there’s a staggering 1,874 […] →Read more
One big problem with being a public company is that every three months it’s imperative not to disappoint analysts and investors. Dell won’t have to worry about that anymore because it returned to being a private company. That means Dell can now take the longer look, pursue the bigger picture, and no longer suffer from the infliction of short […] →Read more
The resolution of computer displays is an interesting thing. There are now handhelds with the same number of pixels as large flatscreen TVs, Apple claims its “retina” displays are so sharp that the human eye can no longer see individual pixels, and the very term “high definition” is in the process of being redefined. Let’s see what happened with […] →Read more
One of the big differentiating factors in ruggedized mobile computers is how well the display is suited for work outdoors in bright daylight and in direct sunlight. This can make the difference between a device being useful and productivity-enhancing, or frustrating and nearly useless. Why is this such a big issue? Aren’t today’s displays so good that the only […] →Read more
Today I am going to rant a bit about two trends that simply make no sense to me. The first is “skeuromorphism.” It’s the new fashion word-du-jour, what with Apple and Microsoft demonising it as if it were some sort of evil plague. As is, Wiki defines skeuromorph as “a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues from structures […] →Read more
On October 18, 2013, RuggedPCReview.com launched a rugged Android device comparison table. The table allows interested parties to view full specifications of all rugged handhelds and rugged tablets we’re aware of. Given the absolutely massive number of Android devices activated worldwide — about a billion — it’s amazing how few rugged Android devices are available. As we recently reported, […] →Read more
This has been quite the day for Android in the rugged handheld space. Intermec, now part of Honeywell Scanning & Mobility, announced the CN51 rugged mobile computer. It is an updated version of Intermec’s successful CN50, but has a larger, higher resolution screen (4.0-inch, 800 x 480) that now uses resistive multi-touch, updated WiFi, WAN, Bluetooth, camera, and scanners, […] →Read more
Tablet computers have been around for a quarter of a century, but it wasn’t until the iPad’s introduction that the tablet form factor took off. That’s in part because the technology wasn’t quite ready for tablets, and, in a much larger part, because Windows just didn’t work well with tablets. Tablet historians will remember that both the first generation […] →Read more
When it comes to rugged computing gear, most people interested in this industry know the big players that dominate the market and get all the media coverage. But that’s not everything there is. Unbeknownst to many outside of the circle of customers and prospects, a surprising number of smaller companies are designing and manufacturing rugged computing systems of one […] →Read more
The Christmas tree began its count-down. Yellow, yellow, yellow, GREEN! For an anxious moment, the racing slicks of my supercharged Acura fought for traction, then bit. 8,000, 8,500, 8,800 rpm, shift. Shift. Shift. Shift, and the 1/4-mile at Sacramento Raceway was over. The car slowed and I reached over to stop data logging on the laptop securely sitting on […] →Read more
I’ve been working on setting up our new rugged notebook comparison tool over the past few days. So far, the tool, where users can compare the full specs of up to three rugged notebooks side-by-side and also quickly link to our analysis of the machines, has far fewer entries than our comparison tools for rugged handhelds and rugged tablets. […] →Read more
Good phone conversation today with the PR folks from Motorola Solutions. The occasion was the introduction of two interesting new products, the Omni XT15f industrial handheld, and the Psion VH10f vehicle-mount computer. The key here is the “f” in both of the names. It stands for “freezer” and that’s what the two new devices are all about. Big deal? […] →Read more
I had a chance yesterday to meet over dinner with Sofia Löfblad, Marketing Director at Handheld Group AB, and Amy Urban who is the Director of Marketing at Handheld US. I hadn’t seen them since I presented at the Handheld Business Partner Conference in Stockholm three years ago, and it was a pleasure catching up in person. The Handheld […] →Read more
Last week, as I came to a stop at a red light, a police car stopped in the lane next to me. What immediately caught my eye was an expertly mounted rugged notebook computer, angled towards the driver. It was a GD-Itronix rugged notebook, probably a GD6000 or GD8200, with an elegant matte-silver powder-coated insert on top of the […] →Read more
This morning, March 27, 2013, Xplore Technologies introduced a new version of their ultra-rugged tablet computer, the iX104C5-M2. In essence, this is a specialized model for military and government personnel that require additional hardware security on top of the various security hardware, software and firmware measures already inherent in modern computing technology. What the new M2 model adds is […] →Read more
The other day I was engaged in a conversation at a party. Turns out my conservation partner was the fire chief of an affluent community of about 120,000. We talked about our respective jobs and soon found we had something incommon: rugged computing equipment. They use Panasonic Toughbooks, but the fire chief said something that has been on my […] →Read more
In my last blog article I wrote about the needless demise of netbooks, and how that demise was due more to the fact that people loved the rock-bottom price of netbooks but then found them too small and lacking in performance, so they asked for more size and performance. The industry complied with larger, more powerful netbooks, but that […] →Read more
Three or so years ago, netbooks sold by the millions. Today, they’re gone, replaced by tablets and larger, more powerful notebooks. What happened? I mean, it’s not as if tens of millions of people wanted a netbook a few years ago, and today no one wants one. What’s not to like about a small and handy notebook computer that […] →Read more
Well, on the Microsoft side of things, a couple of areas are becoming a bit clearer. Not much, but a bit. At the National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention & Expo in New York, Microsoft issued a press release entitled “Microsoft Delivers Windows Embedded 8 Handheld for Enterprise Handheld Devices.” That title is a bit misleading as those handhelds, […] →Read more
Eagle-eyed RuggedPCReview readers may have noticed something missing from the front page of our site: the General Dynamics Itronix logo in the site sponsor column. Yes, for the first time since the launch of RuggedPCReview, Itronix is not among our sponsors anymore. That’s sad as Itronix was our first sponsor, and prior to that we had covered all those […] →Read more
On November 29, 2012, Microsoft revealed, on its Official Microsoft Blog (see here), pricing for its Surface with Windows 8 Pro tablets. The 64GB version will cost US$899 and the 128GB version runs US$999. That includes a pen but neither the touch or the type cover. They cost extra. So what do we make of that? Based on my […] →Read more
I had planned a quick follow-up on my first impressions of the Microsoft Surface RT tablet and Windows RT in general. But now it’s almost a month later, so why the hesitation? It’s not because of Microsoft’s hardware. I am as impressed with the Surface RT tablet as I was when I first took it out of its box. […] →Read more
Though as of this writing, October 27, 2012, Windows 8 and RT were just officially unveiled a couple of days ago, reams have already been written on Windows 8 and to a much lesser extent, Windows RT. We got our Surface RT tablet on October 26 with the intent on reporting on the Surface hardware and RT software in […] →Read more
Now this should be interesting. On October 16, 2012, Microsoft announced more detail on its upcoming Windows Surface tablets. And though labeled as a “pre-order” with limited amounts, customers could actually order the Windows Surface RT tablet of their choice from the Surface page on Microsoft’s online store. For delivery on or before October 26th, i.e. within ten days. […] →Read more
Well, it’s done. Psion is now part of Motorola Solutions. On October 12th, 2012, Ron Caines and Frederic Bismuth of Psion and Mark Moon of Motorola Solutions sent out the following note to their customers: Dear Psion Customer: We are writing to let you know that today Motorola Solutions completed the acquisition of Psion PLC. Motorola Solutions is a […] →Read more
In the olden days, getting news meant going to trade shows or being sent press releases, via the US Postal service. Not anymore. At any given day, I wade through several hundred press releases from numerous sources. That’s time consuming. I can’t blame marketing and PR folks for trying to get the word out because it’s all about getting […] →Read more
“The Windows Marketplace for Mobile for windows mobile 6.x devices is closing” — that was the title of a March 8, 2012 entry at answers.microsoft.com. In it, it said among other things, “Beginning May 9, 2012, the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service will no longer be available. Starting on this date, you will no longer be able to browse, […] →Read more
As I am writing this, the London Olympic games are coming to an end. What two weeks of intense competition proved again is that winning means meticulous preparation, at times a bit of luck, and always the ability to perform under pressure. The latter made me think because rugged computers are all about the ability of a piece of […] →Read more
Ever since Microsoft provided a glimpse at a couple of “Surface” tablet hardware prototypes, some in the media are describing Microsoft’s apparent entry into the hardware market as a result of Microsoft hardware partner failure. As if, somehow, the combined might of the world’s computer manufacturers failed to come up with tablet hardware good enough to do Windows justice. […] →Read more