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. […] →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 […] →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 […] →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 […] →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 […] →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 […] →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 […] →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. […] →Read more
On the surface, Linux should be a huge winner, and in many respects it is. Hey, what more can one want than a free operating system with mostly free software that runs on just about anything? I’ve been using Linux for many years for just that reason. Free. No hassles with activation, copy protection, and other pesky schemes meant […] →Read more
With Microsoft sitting on billions of dollars in cash and spending many millions on comedian Jerry Seinfeld and a silly Vista campaign, the one magazine that has covered Pocket PCs and Windows Mobile for many years has just died due to lack of support. I am talking about Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine, published by Thaddeus Computing Inc. Those […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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, […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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. […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
“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. […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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. […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more
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 […] →Read more