January 2013

Kyocera Torque to be Sprint's first ultra-rugged 4G LTE Android smartphone
Sprint and Kyocera announced the upcoming availability of the ultra-rugged 4G LTE Android Kyocera Torque smartphone. The Torque can handle extreme operating temperatures (-4 to 140F), carries IP67 sealing, has a 4-foot drop spec, and passes a number of additional MIL-STD-810G style tests. The MSM8960 Snapdragon-powered Torque has a 800 x 480 pixel 4-inch capacitive IPS screen, can use Sprint's Direct Connect push-to-talk service, and is also the first U.S. device to use Kyocera's proprietary Smart Sonic Receiver technology that replaces a traditional speaker with vibrations that transmit sounds directly to the eardrum. [See Sprint/Kyocera Torque] -- Posted Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Added: TabletKiosk Sahara Slate PC i500
We added a product page with description, analysis and specs for the Intel Core i7-powered TabletKiosk Sahara Slate PC i500. It's an enterprise-oriented Windows tablet light and handy enough to be carried around, but with a large (and excellent) 12.1-inch dual mode (procap multi-touch and Wacom pen) 1280 x 800 pixel screen. There's very good onboard connectivity and a wealth of options and peripherals modular through TabletKiosk's product line. [See TabletKiosk Sahara Slate PC i500] -- Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Review: TabletKiosk eo a7400 7-inch enterprise Windows tablet
TabletKiosk has been in the tablet computer business for a good many years, and it shows. The 7-inch, Intel Atom N2600-powered TabletKiosk eo a7400 combines new technology (such as projected capacitive multi-touch) with a rational, mature tablet design for enterprise users. Now in its 4th generation, the unassuming eo is surprisingly quick, practical, and a good answer for many enterprise applications that require Windows in a small and light tablet package. [See review of the TabletKiosk eo a7400] -- Posted Monday, January 21, 2013

Water- and shatterproof Sony Xperia Z Android smartphone
Not rugged, but waterproof to three feet, shatterproof glass, and very solid construction. That's the Sony Xperia Z Android smartphone shown at CES in Las Vegas. It has a 5-inch procap screen with stunning 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution (more than Apple's "retina" iPhone displays), a 1.5GHz Snapdragon quad-core chip, 16GB of Flash, and a 13-megapixel camera. -- Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Motorola Solutions showing Windows Embedded 8 Handheld prototypes at NRF
Motorola Solutions announced it is showcasing new Motorola enterprise mobile computing prototypes running Windows Embedded 8 Handheld at NRF, and that its HTML5 cross-platform development framework, RhoElements, will support Windows Embedded 8 Handheld. Motorola Solution also said that in addition to enterprise-rade security and manageability, the upcoming devices will have full Windows Phone 8 application compatibility. [See Motorola Solutions press release] -- Posted Monday, January 14, 2013

Microsoft delivers Windows Embedded 8 Handheld for Enterprise handheld devices, but not just yet
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." According to the release, Microsoft is working with Motorola Solutions "to design a line of retail devices from the circuit board up," with the promise of generating the next device for Home Depot which, after deploying 34,000 Windows Embedded Handheld devices in 2010 complained, "How can we get more?" Microsoft says that "because Windows Embedded 8 Handheld is built on Windows Phone 8, organizations can benefit from enterprise-class manageability, and both Microsoft and Windows Phone 8 management partners already offer solutions that support Windows Embedded 8 Handheld." The only problem is that Microsoft -- which said it is working also with Intermec, Honeywell, Ingenico and Bluebird -- won't even release the Windows Embedded 8 Handheld SDK until later this year. [See Microsoft release] -- Posted Monday, January 14, 2013

Full review: Winmate E430T rugged 4.3-inch procap Android PDA
The Android-based Winmate E430T rugged handheld PDA may well be the answer for a lot of individuals and businesses who want a device with modern smartphone technology and ease-of-use, but also one that won't easily break on the job. With a footprint of 3.2 x 5.2 inches and a 4.3-inch procap multi-touch screen, the E430T is about the size of a contemporary large-sceen phone. RuggedPCReview did a detailed evaluation and came away impressed. [See full review of the Winmate E430T] -- Posted Monday, January 14, 2013

Also new: Android 4.0 7-inch Panasonic Toughpad JT-B1
At CES< Panasonic also introduced the smaller 7-inch Toughpad JT-B1. The 1.2-pound, TI OMAP-4460 powered tablet runs Android 4.0 on a bright 500-nit procap 1024 x 600 pixel multi-touch screen with AG and AR treatments. The Toughpad can handle 5-foot drops, is IP65 sealed and starts at US$1,199. [See description, analysis and specs of the Panasonic Toughpad B1] -- Posted Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Panasonic introduces Windows 8 Toughpad FZ-G1
At CES in Las Vegas, Panasonic introduced the Toughpad FZ-G1, a Windows 8-based rugged tablet with a high resolution (1920 x 1200 pixel) 10.1-inch capacitive multi-touch screen that also comes with an active pen for jobs that require more precision than the touch of a finger. The FZ-G1 has a 3rd gen Intel Core i5 processor, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of solid state disk, can handle 4-foot drops, extreme temperatures, and it carries IP65 sealing. [See description, analysis and specs of the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1] -- Posted Tuesday, January 8, 2013

NVIDIA introduces what the company calls the "world's fastest mobile processor"
A couple of years ago, few could have predicted NVIDIA's success with their Tegra line of ARM processors. Yet, Tegra CPUs are now in many leading tablets, and now NVIDIA introduced the Tegra 4 with much increased performance and lower power consumption to power smartphones, tablets, PCs and other devices. The Tegra 4 has 72 custom GeForce GPU cores and the first quad-core application of ARM's most advanced CXPU core, the Cortex-A15, resulting in 4X processing power. [See Tegra 4 news release] -- Posted Monday, January 7, 2013