As far as operating system platforms go, the rugged mobile computing industry is in a bit of a holding pattern these days. Thanks to the massive success of the iPhone and iPad there is a big opportunity for more durable handhelds and tablets that can handle a drop and a bit of rain, yet are as handy and easy to use as an iPhone or iPad-style media tablet.. On the tablet side, a lot of enterprises like the […] →Read more
In mid-September 2011, Microsoft showcased a preview of the next release of Windows at the BUILD developer conference. After reading up on it, I wrote the below in the days following the preview, but held off putting it in the RuggedPCReview blog until I had a bit more time to let it sink in and contemplate the likely impact on rugged mobile computing manufacturers and users. My thinking hasn’t changed, so below is pretty much what were my […] →Read more
Unlike Gary Trudeau whose “Doonesbury” strips can be personal and mean-spirited (remember his relentless unfair mocking of the Apple Newton?), Scott Adams’ “Dilbert” presents a lighthearted, humorous, yet keenly insightful commentary on the corporate and technical issues of the day. In a recent strip (August 3, 2011), Dilbert’s working on his computer when a young colleague approaches and asks, “Are you getting a lot done on the Grandpa Box?” “The what?” Dilbert asks. “The people in my generation […] →Read more
It’s fashionable these days to say that something’s “in the cloud.” The cloud is in. Everyone’s moving stuff to the cloud. Which is really annoying. “The Cloud,” of course, isn’t a cloud at all. In fact, it couldn’t be farther from a cloud. It’s the same old server farms somewhere in a warehouse. That’s all. So why the sudden fixation with “the cloud”? Probably because centralized storage and applications can be huge business and because it presents an […] →Read more
I don’t often do phone interviews with product managers or PR people when a new product is announced. That’s because, for the most part, whatever they can tell me I already know from the press materials. And what I really want to know they usually can’t tell me because PR folks, by and large, need to stick to a script and company line. Which means I might as well save the time of a PR call to examine […] →Read more
When we recently used our standard benchmark suite to test the performance of a new rugged computer, we thought it’d be just another entry into the RuggedPCReview.com benchmark performance database that we’ve been compiling over the past several years. We always run benchmarks on all Windows-based machines that come to our lab, and here’s why: 1. Benchmarks are a good way to see where a machine fits into the overall performance spectrum. The benchmark bottomline is usually a […] →Read more
In a recent blog entry I wrote about the generally low quality of cameras built into rugged mobile computers compared to the very rapidly advancing state-of-the-art in miniaturized imaging technology. It doesn’t seem to make sense that high quality, costly tools for important jobs should be saddled with imaging hardware that ranges from only marginally acceptable to quite useless. Still and video cameras are now in tens of millions of smartphones and many of them now can take […] →Read more
In a recent blog entry I wrote about the generally low quality of cameras built into rugged mobile computers compared to the very rapidly advancing state-of-the-art in miniaturized imaging technology. It doesn’t seem to make sense that high quality, costly tools for important jobs should be saddled with imaging hardware that ranges from only marginally acceptable to quite useless. Still and video cameras are now in tens of millions of smartphones and many of them now can take […] →Read more
Who could forget Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stomping around the stage and yelling “developers, developers, developers!” at conferences in the mid-2000s (see Balmer’s developers on YouTube)? Well, according to the Appcelerator/IDC Mobile Developer Report, April 2011, the developers have spoken and the news isn’t at all good for Microsoft, and not even that good for Android. What Appcelerator and IDC did was survey a total of 2,760 Appcelerator developers on their perceptions regarding mobile OS platforms, feature priorities […] →Read more
Who could forget Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stomping around the stage and yelling “developers, developers, developers!” at conferences in the mid-2000s (see Balmer’s developers on YouTube)? Well, according to the Appcelerator/IDC Mobile Developer Report, April 2011, the developers have spoken and the news isn’t at all good for Microsoft, and not even that good for Android. What Appcelerator and IDC did was survey a total of 2,760 Appcelerator developers on their perceptions regarding mobile OS platforms, feature priorities […] →Read more
So I’m getting to the next machine in the review queue, charge it, then start it up, just to get nagged by Windows to activate the OS. Would I like to do that online, right now? Huh? Huh? I didn’t think that was going to be possible since the machine didn’t know the password to my WiFi network yet. But Windows wanted to try anyway and so I let it. Of course, it didn’t get anywhere. So then […] →Read more
When I founded the original Digital Camera Magazine in 1997, almost no one thought that digital photography would ever seriously challenge film. At best, digital cameras were thought to become novelties or peripherals for computers. Yet, just a decade later, digital imaging had surpassed film and, in one of the quickest major technology upheavals, quickly made film irrelevant. As a result, digital cameras, which initially had carried a steep price premium, became more and more affordable. Today you […] →Read more
A big part of the work here at RuggedPCReview.com is getting and spreading the news on what’s going on in the rugged and mobile computing world. How do we do that? And how can manufacturers help get the news out? In the past, it was pretty simple. We went to trade shows to see what all was new, loaded up on glossy brochures, attended press conferences, and left behind a bushel of business cards so we’d be in […] →Read more
There was a time, around the year 2000, when Microsoft essentially decreed that Pocket PCs were to run Intel XScale processors. That was a big change, and a rude awakening for some of the Windows CE hardware vendors who had been promised that Windows CE was going to be a multi processor architecture platform. But Intel XScale it was, and the Intel PXA became the de-facto standard processor for virtually all vertical market handhelds for a decade. So […] →Read more
Well, the much anticipated Las Vegas CES is shedding no light on how the industry will react to Apple’s monster tablet home run. Yes, there were some tablets here and there, but really nothing that we didn’t know already, and certainly nothing earth-shattering. Microsoft, stunningly, showed nothing. Nada. No product, no strategy, no plan. The whole situation was remarkably similar to a time several years ago when erstwhile handheld champion Palm was in the ropes and Microsoft had […] →Read more
So on January 4, 2011, Motorola will complete its separation into two companies. The way it actually works is that what used to be Motorola will separate Motorola Mobility Holdings, or Motorola Mobility for short, from Motorola proper, and Motorola will then change its name to Motorola Solutions. So technically it looks more like Motorola jettisoned their phone business to concentrate on the much more stable and predictable vertical market offerings developed and sold via Motorola Solutions. From […] →Read more
This morning, one of my longterm PR contacts brought to my attention a feature entitled “10 tablets that never quite took off.” It was published by itWorldCanada, which is part of Computerworld. Now Computerworld is one of the world’s leading resources of excellent IT reporting, and has been for decades (I used to contribute it in a former life as a corporate CIO), but the “slideshow” was disappointing and missed the point by listing some older tablets and […] →Read more
This whole tablet thing is really interesting. Despite getting soundly trashed by a good number of industry experts when the iPad was first announced by Steve Jobs on January 27, 2010, Apple ended up selling about ten million of them in 2010, and the same experts now predict that a lot more will be sold in the coming years. Everyone is scrambling to also have a tablet. Tablets are hot, tablets will demolish the netbook market, tablets will […] →Read more
If you follow the mobile computing beat, you’ve probably come across the term “discrete graphics.” What that generally means is a computer’s graphics display capabilities that are a separate sub-system and not part of the motherboard or, more recently, processor. Why should you care? Because as with almost everything else in life, one-size-fits-all only applies to a certain extent. Most computers take the one-size-fits-all approach, offering a set of features and performance that is good enough for most […] →Read more
So Intel has added two more processors to its ever growing family of Atom processor products with all its many branches and suggested applications. The new chips are the single-core Atom D425 and the dual-core Atom D525 both of which run at 1.8GHz, representing a small step up from the existing 1.6GHz D410 and D510. Thermal Design Power remains at 10 and 13 watts, and the stated quantity prices of US$42 and US$63 is also the same as […] →Read more
Off the cuff, the way I see it is that Android has a better than even chance of becoming the OS of choice for tablets and other mobile devices. Android is really nothing more than another Linux distribution, but one backed and sort of run by Google. Microsoft, of course, will make the usual argument of leverage and security and integration into other Microsoft products, but the fact is that Linux itself can be at least as secure […] →Read more
Pretty soon everyone will be talking about 4G. Who has 4G and whose 4G is better or faster. Somehow, marketing from all wireless camps has latched onto the cool-sounding terms 3G and 4G, though they’re avoiding “3.5G” or “3.75G” you often find in tech specs. That’s probably because three and a half sounds like not quite four. Anyway, Sprint is now making noises about 4G and you can actually buy 4G smartphones using the Sprint network. Since Sprint […] →Read more
If you follow chipmaker Intel, you know that the company not only loves code names, but also special technologies that are then used to market certain chips or chip families. At some point it was “with MMX” that made Intel Pentium chips special in hilarious commercials showing Intel engineers in astronaut suits. “Hyper-threading” was big for a while, and for the latest families of Core processors, Intel stresses “Turbo Boost.” Another Intel technology that gets a little less […] →Read more
On May 4th, Intel introduced the next generation of its initial family of Z5xx Atom processor. Codenamed “Moorestown,” the Z6xx family, together with a new I/O controller and signal processing chip are meant to make Intel competitive in the booming smartphone and internet access device market. On paper at least, the new processor family looks very good and may yet help Intel establish itself in the device market (which, interestingly, they abandoned when they sold the XSCALE application […] →Read more
This has nothing to do with rugged computing, but everything with publishing and how information is presented and distributed. As a former print publisher, I spent some time comparing different approaches to magazine publishing on the iPad. Given the amount of hype about the iPad being the savior of publishing, I am surprised there is not an iMagazine app or some such. I mean, Apple could take the lead here yet again, creating the iTunes of the magazine […] →Read more
During the course of testing in the RuggedPCReview.com lab, we examine ruggedness specifications and claims. For the most part, while we report and comment on those specs, we do not put them to the test. That’s because ruggedness testing is pretty involved business, and checking how much punishment a device can take before it fails makes about as much sense as a car magazine running a test vehicle into a concrete wall to see if it is indeed […] →Read more
The dirty little secret of millions of Atom N270-based netbooks (and pretty much all other Atom-based systems) is that they really cannot run HD video. If you try it, you get choppy video that creeps along at frame rates of no more than 10 frames per second max even with just 720p video, let alone 1080p. This makes HD video on Atom-based systems impossible to watch. It’s a huge disappointment for anyone who thought a “netbook” would surely […] →Read more
On April 3rd, the Apple iPad tablet will be available in Apple stores. According to various reports, almost 300,000 iPads have been ordered before the device even became available. The hype is enormous, with experts falling all over themselves proclaiming why the iPad will succeed or fail. Fact is, at this point no one knows how the iPad will be received. Apple apparently felt comfortable enough with the tablet form factor to create the device and stake a […] →Read more
A few weeks ago I wrote an article on Windows Mobile and the vertical markets and concluded with the question, “So what will the small but significant number of vendors who make and sell Windows Mobile devices do as their chosen operating system platform looks increasingly dated and is becoming a target of customer dissatisfaction?” I got some good (and rather concerned) feedback on that column, and I think it’s an issue that is not going to go […] →Read more
I wrote this column for the blog at iPhoneLife Magazine, a terrific resource for iPhone owners (or anyone interested in the iPhone) that’s published by my old friend Hal Goldstein who used to be a friendly competitor when we published the print version of Pen Computing Magazine. The article really has nothing to do with rugged computing, but I think it’s relevant here anyway because a) the fate of the Apple iPad will have a big impact on […] →Read more
While Windows Mobile pretty much has ceased to be a factor in consumer markets, it remains very firmly entrenched in industrial and vertical markets where it may have a market share that’s probably larger than that of Windows in desktops and notebooks. The good news is that as long as Microsoft continues to dominate the desktop, the leverage of Windows programming tools and expertise will probably all but guarantee a continuing role for Windows CE and Windows Mobile. […] →Read more
Just when most manufacturers of rugged mobile computers have switched from earlier platforms either to Intel Atom or Core processors, Intel raises the ante again with new Atoms and the next generation of Core processors. In essence, the Core 2 Duo that has served the mobile community long and well is being replaced by a next generation of mobile chips with higher performance, newer technology, better integration, improved efficiency, and smaller package sizes. The new Intel Core i3, […] →Read more
The other day I had a very interesting hour-long conversation with Paul Moore, who is Senior Director of Mobile Product Development at Fujitsu. The call was arranged by Fujitsu’s ever helpful Wendy Grubow to give me a chance to talk with Paul about the Fujitsu Lifebook T4410 Tablet PC that’s currently in the RuggedPCReview.com lab for evaluation and testing. Fujitsu, of course, has been into tablets longer than most and probably has the most experience of any Tablet […] →Read more
A day before an Apple event where Steve Jobs will announce a new computing device, the hype about tablets is at an absolute fever pitch. Experts are popping out from the woodwork, showering us with their wisdom and predictions, most apparently believing that Microsoft invented and introduced the tablet in 2001, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. But, perhaps, if enough instant experts say it’s so, history has been rewritten. What will those instant experts do when […] →Read more
According to CNN, tablet-sized computers are now “a much-hyped category of electronics.” True. The Associated Press says, “Tablet-style computers that run Windows have been available for a decade.” Yes, and a lot longer than that. And a PC World editor states, “Tablet PC’s are not new. The slate form factor portable computer has been around for almost a decade, since Microsoft initially pushed the concept with its Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.” Nope. Microsoft did not initially push […] →Read more
Sometimes the most amazing news is not a product announcement. That’s what I thought when I saw Getac’s press release about offering 5-year “bumper-to-bumper” warranties for all their rugged notebook computers. That’s a long time. According to Getac, the new warranty covers all of their fully rugged computers (i.e. the A790, B300, E100, M230 and V100 models) delivered on or after January first of this year. And the warranty includes “damage that occurs due to accidental acts and […] →Read more
On December 21, 2009, Intel announced the next generation of Atom processors. The new generation of Atom processors includes the single core N450, the single core D410 and the dual-core D510. Up to this announcement, millions of netbooks (as well as related devices such as tablets and boards) used the Atom N270 processor with its two companion chips, the ICH7M I/O chip and the 945GSE graphics and memory controller. The combo of the latter two is known as […] →Read more
Well, this is going to be interesting. Despite the Intel Atom chips’ modest performance, consumers have bought millions and millions of those little netbooks. I am quite certain they bought them because of the low price that made netbooks an impulse buy as opposed to spending more for a “real” notebook computer. Whether or not customers are happy with their netbooks largely depends on how they use the computers. The small display with 1024 x 600 pixel resolution […] →Read more
Anyone who’s ever been to an Apple store for an appointment or service knows the weird procedure where someone greets you at the door, takes your info, and then wirelessly sends it to some other Apple people who then come greet you when it’s your time. Same for making payments away from the main desk and so on. It all works, but it’s a bit odd, and even weirder is that some of that mobile check-in and checkout […] →Read more
Well, the much advertised public release date of Windows 7 has come and gone. The equivalent of “War and Peace” has been written on how wonderful it is and on how Microsoft “got it right” this time. Maybe they have and maybe they haven’t. Here at RuggedPCReview.com, we’ve used Windows 7 on some of the rugged hardware we’ve had here for testing and evaluation recently and, frankly, it looked so much like Vista that we barely noticed anything […] →Read more
Multi-touch has been all the rage ever since Apple showed the world the effortless elegance and utility of the iPhone’s two-finger pinch and spread to zoom in and out. So what is multi-touch? Basically, it means the touch screen is able to accept simultaneous input from more than one position. While on the iPhone, multi-touch is currently limited to two fingers, there is theoretically no limit as to the number of simultaneous touches. What is multi-touch good for? […] →Read more
On October 6, 2009, Motion Computing announced that their C5 and F5 were the first Tablet PCs to use Corning’s Gorilla Glass. What is Gorilla Glass? In its press release, Motion states that it is “thin-sheet glass that was designed to protect against real-world events that cause display damage.” To learn more I scheduled a call with Corning’s Dr. Nagaraja Shashidhar. To prepare myself I checked Corning’s very informative page on Gorilla Glass. They have some videos there […] →Read more
The other day we tested a rugged handheld in the RuggedPCReview.com lab. The device so happened to have a SIM slot because it also worked as a phone and a WWLAN data communicator. I so happen to have an unused phone with a SIM in it, and so I decided to use that SIM for testing the rugged handheld. Why do I have an unused phone? Because it’s on one of the AT&T’s 2-year service contracts. It’s just […] →Read more
Years ago, when some exciting new piece of technology came along I simply could not resist buying it. When the first Newton came out I plunked down seven hundred bucks, just to see how it worked and because I simply had to have one. Likewise when Compaq released the Concerto Tablet PC in the mid-1990s. And when that same Compaq came out with its first iPAQs. I bought one. You can’t do that anymore these days. That’s because […] →Read more
While most of the press either uses official product photography supplied by PR agencies or press centers, or takes quickie snapshots with their smartphones, we here at RuggedPCReview.com do it the hard way. We do our own product photography and always make sure that the devices are shown in the environment they are most likely going to be used in. That isn’t always easy. I was reminded of that as we recently needed to do product photography on […] →Read more
Where do rugged computers come from? Not always where you think. In an increasingly global marketplace the old business model of companies designing, making, selling and servicing their products is increasingly going by the wayside. These days, it’s more likely that one company thinks of a product, hires another to design it, has it built by a third, a forth one is marketing and selling it, and a fifth one does the service. As a result, it’s becoming […] →Read more
With all the hoopla over the much anticipated release of the Palm Pre in early June of 2009, I thought about the ever-changing fortunes of the mobile platforms in our industry. Disregarding some smaller players and initiatives, here’s the big picture: In 1993, the Apple Newton made news when then Apple CEO John Sculley pushed it hard and predicted that such devices and their infrastructure would one day be a trillion dollar industry. Sculley was scorned for that […] →Read more
In the days of the 386, 486 and even early Pentium processors, it used to be fairly easy to follow Intel’s chips as they mainly differed in clock speed. These days, staying on top of Intel’s various offerings has become an almost full time job. That even goes for Intel’s low-end Atom chips that, together with resurrecting some older Intel technologies such as hyperthreading, seemed to simplify the matter of processor selection. It didn’t really turn out that […] →Read more
Frustrated with the small display and insufficient battery life of your mobile or handheld computer? Is it also too big and just not quick enough? And you can’t stand a fan coming on and the thing getting so hot you can barely touch it? Welcome to the world of mobile computing where optimizing mutually exclusive goals is the order of the day. As a result, manufacturers of mobile gear are fighting a never-ending struggle to find the best […] →Read more
These days, “netbooks” get a lot of press. You’ think a “netbook” were some sort of miraculous new device, a technological breakthrough that lets you do new and wondrous things. In fact, “netbooks” are nothing more than little notebooks. There is absolutely nothing new or exciting about them. And there is nothing that makes them earn the “netbook” name. Nor are they new. There have been numerous attempts at selling downsized miniature laptops over the years, going back […] →Read more