March 2017

The T800 is Getac's entry into the compact 8-inch rugged tablet market. Its footprint is just a little larger than that of an iPad mini, making it easy to carry around and stow almost anywhere. RuggedPCReview takes an extended look at this highly configurable, state-of-the-art Windows 10-based capacitive multi-touch tablet that can handle 6-foot falls and plenty of punishment. [See review of the Getac T800 Gen 2 ultra-rugged tablet]

Panasonic’s new rugged 2-in-1 detachables reflect European market demand for hybrid mobile devices
Panasonic Europe notes that a new IDC whitepaper predicts that IT buyers will be equipping their mobile workforces with more detachable mobile devices in 2017. With an increased awareness of the need for data entry and content creation to improve productivity, the predicted screen size sweet spot for these devices will be displays of 12-13.3 inches. Which pretty much describes the recently introduced fully rugged 12-inch Panasonic Toughbook CF-33 and the semi rugged 12.5-inch Panasonic Toughpad FZ-Q2. Both are 2-in-1 detachables offering the best of both worlds with tablet and notebook functionality in a single business device. [See Panasonic media release] -- Posted Friday, March 24, 2017

GCSS-Army Deploying 9,783 Getac F110 G3 Rugged Tablets
The Global Combat Support System branch of the U.S. Army (GCSS-Army) has ordered 9,783 Getac F110 G3 rugged tablets with docking stations. After a thorough vetting process, GCSS-Army determined the Getac F110 G3 would be the best new rugged tablet to replace several aging and outdated Army management information systems across tactical logistics environments within the Army’s Active and Reserve components as well as the National Guard. The Getac F110 G3 tablets will ultimately be used to capture UID data using its built-in barcode reader to provide unprecedented asset visibility. [See Getac media release] -- Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Full review 6th gen GammaTech DURABOOK SA14
The GammaTech DURABOOK SA14 is a modern semi-rugged laptop solution for customers who need more durability and ruggedness than consumer notebooks generally provide, but still at an affordable price. Now powered by Intel 6th generation "Skylake" processors, the impressively well-built SA14 convinces with very good performance, great battery life, a large display that works very well outdoors, and plenty of onboard I/O, all at a very reasonable cost. [See full review of the semi rugged GammaTech DURABOOK SA14] -- Posted Friday, March 17, 2017

Global tablet shipments below 40 million in Q1/2017
According to DigiTimes, global tablet shipments in Q1/2017 will be less than 40 million units for the first time since Q2/2012. For all of 2016, tablet shipments were 183 million units. -- Posted Tuesday, March 14, 2017

RuggedPCReview blog: Are "mobile" sites really needed?
A few days ago I used one of the readily available website analysis tools to check RuggedPCReview.com. The resulting report gave me a stern "site not mobile-optimized" lecture. "Mobile-optimized," of course, refers to the fact that sites on the one-size-fits-all world wide web are being viewed on a very wide range of devices with a very wide range of screen sizes. And it is certainly true that viewing a webpage on a 27-inch display is a very different experience from viewing it on a 4.7-inch smartphone... [read blog article] -- Posted Friday, March 10, 2017

Getac expects revenues to grow strongly in second half of 2017
Digitimes reports that rugged PC manufacturer Getac Technology expects its revenues to decrease sequentially in the second quarter, and that shipping volume will grow strongly in the second half due to increased procurement orders. Getac currently is the second largest vendor in the rugged industrial PC market, holding a market share of 16-18%. Getac is looking to boost the market share to 30% in the next three years. -- Posted Wednesday, March 8, 2017

U.S. Navy awards Patriot Technologies. a large-scale rugged tablet contract for naval shipyards
Patriot Technologies announced a five-year blanket purchase agreement awarded by the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization-Scott Field Office for the US Navy to procure rugged tablet computer designed by DT Research, a designer and manufacturer of purpose-built computing solutions for vertical markets. The US Navy selected the DT311 rugged tablets to deploy to personnel working at various shipyards for technical maintenance management, warehouse inventory control, field testing and training, and other field data operations. See media release] -- Posted Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Getac introduces MX50 5.7-inch secure, rugged Android tactical tablet for armed forces
Getac introduced its first rugged tactical tablet, built from the ground up, for combat-ready military forces, including dismounted warfighters, elite enforcement agencies and Special Forces military units. The Android-based, Intel x5-Z8350 powered 5.7-inch tablet is heavily ruggedized and will meet the Common Criteria ISO/IEC 15408 computer security certification as well as the NSA’s Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) guidelines and Data-at-Rest (DAR) requirements. [See Getac media release and RuggedPCReview's description, analysis and specs of the Getac MX50] -- Posted Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Zebra study: 7 in 10 retailers will invest in IoT technologies to revolutionize customer experience
Zebra Technologies published the results of their 2017 Retail Vision Study. The study revealed that nearly 70% of retail decision makers surveyed are ready to make changes to adopt the Internet of Things (IoT), and 65% plan to invest in automation technologies for inventory management and planogram compliance by 2021. This includes investment in mobile devices, kiosks and tablets to increase payment options, mobile point-of-sale, micro-locationing, big data predictive and software analytics for loss prevention and price optimization, and more. [See Zebra media release and one-page summary infographic] -- Posted Monday, March 6, 2017

Disruptive innovation?
In a recent Xplore blog, Bob Ashenbrenner postulates that "if you want to get things done, don’t let innovation (or tech) become disruptive." As we are continuously bombarded with new technology and pressure to rethink and innovate, do we perhaps focus too much on change and reinventing, and not enough on reaping the benefits from tried-and-true methods and technology? Good questions, and certainly something to think about. [See If You Want to Get Things Done, Don’t Let Innovation (or Tech) Become Disruptive (Part 1)] -- Posted Friday, March 3, 2017