May 2008

Full review: Advantech MARS 3100R rugged Tablet PC
We reviewed the Advantech MARS-3100R, a rugged industrial tablet computer from an experienced Taiwanese embedded and industrial systems company with a worldwide presence. It's small and handy, and weighs just five pounds. A 1.2GHz Intel Core Duo U2500 processor provides a good balance between performance and battery life. The aluminum-alloy body is very solid, sealed to IP54 specs, and can take a beating. Combined with full 1024 x 768 pixel XGA resolution on a 10.4-inch display with dual panel input, the MARS-3100R excels in applications that require as much screen real estate as possible in a very compact, rugged computer. [Read full review of the Advantech MARS 3100R rugged Tablet PC] -- Posted Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Handheld US introduces slender, versatile rugged PDA
Handheld U.S., a North American subsidiary of Europe's HHCS, announced the M3 Mobile handheld computer that combines extreme ruggedness, versatility and a slim profile to make a compelling package for a variety of applications and markets. The M3 Mobile runs the Window Mobile Phone Edition, but can also accommodate a laser scanner or imager, and GPS. It has an integrated 2 megapixel camera with LED illuminator and a Mini-SD slot for memory expansion. It can survive drops from 5 feet and carries IP64 sealing. [Read description and specs of the M3 Mobile by Handheld U.S.] -- Posted Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Trimble releases major tech upgrade to GeoExplorer series
Trimble introduced a major tech upgrade to its GeoExplorer series of ruggedized GPS handhelds. Now called the GeoExplorer 2008 Series, the line consists of the GeoXM, GeoXT, and GeoXH models, all designed for use in geographic information systems applications. They are technologically identical except for varying degrees of GPS accuracy and performance. The new models, now based on Windows Mobile 6 Classic, are faster, have twice the memory and Flash, have full VGA (480 x 640 pixel) resolution, have faster WiFi, offer better water sealing, and have an even wider operating temperature range. [See description and specs of the Trimble GeoExplorer 2008 Series] -- Posted Friday, May 16, 2008

Eye-Fi expands lineup of WiFi SD cards
Last year, introduced SD cards with wireless communications capabilities. Just stick the card into the camera or PDA and it will upload pictures to your computer or a photosharing site of your choice. We've been using the Eye-Fi card ever since it came out. Now Eye-Fi split its lineup into three: The US$129 Eye-Fi Explore card locates nearby WiFi networks and adds location tags to pictures using Skyhook's global WiFi Positioning System. The original US$99 Eye-Fi Share includes unlimited, secure Web-sharing service that allows users to automatically upload photos directly to their preferred photo sharing, social networking or blogging site. The new US$79 Eye-Fi Home is limited to uploading photos to your computer through your own home WiFi network. All cards include 2GB storage and are PC and Mac compatible. -- Posted Monday, May 12, 2008

MobileDemand demonstrates Tablet PC ruggedness on videos
MobileDemand has created short videos that show in dramatic fashion how rugged their xTablet Rugged Tablet PC really is and how much abuse it can take. If you want to see a Tablet PC being dropped, splashed, rained on, and even used as a hammer to pound nails into a board, view their latest video or see screen snaps and description of the torture tests. -- Posted Friday, May 9, 2008

Review: Otterbox Defender case for the iPhone
If you have an iphone and don't want it scratch, but also don't want to have to open a case every time you use it, try the US$49.95 Otterbox Defender case for the iPhone. It offer's full protection, including the screen, and you never have to take it out of its case or open the case. [See full review and demonstration video of the Otterbox iPhone Defender] -- Posted Thursday, May 8, 2008

iPhone reinvigorated touch panel market, report says
A new report available from DisplaySearch says the touch panel market is on track to grow to $3.3 billion and 660 million units by 2015, thanks in part due to a market reinvigorated by last year's launch of the iPhone. "The iPhone demonstrated how multi-touch technology is enabling a new generation of user interfaces,” explains Chris Crotty, Director of Small and Medium Displays Research at DisplaySearch. Crotty adds, "High volume mobile phone shipments will drive down the cost of touch technology and thereby enable it to spread more rapidly into other devices such as portable media players, digital cameras and others.” -- Posted Thursday, May 8, 2008

HTC Touch Diamond
HTC is first to bring a 3/3.5G touch device to market. The Touch Diamond is a very small and light smartphone with an ultra-high resolution screen, an elegant 3-D user interface sitting on top of Windows Mobile 6.1, a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, and 4GB of storage for music, pictures and video. Our sister siteHHCMag.com examined HTC's latest and compared its specs side-by-side with the iPhone. [Read description of the HTC Touch Diamond] -- Posted Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Datalogic Pegaso now with Windows Mobile 6 and E-GPRS
Datalogic announced that its Pegaso compact industrial PDA is now available with Windows Mobile 6 and optional E-GPRS (GSM/GPRS/EDGE). The IP64-rated device has a full VGA 480 x 640 3.7-inch display, a center-mounted Class II laser scanner and an optional magnetic stripe reader. The upgrade enhances the Pegaso in applications where users need to access their enterprise network when outside the four wallls, such as mobile POS, route sales, direct store delivery, and parcel delivery. Datalogic Pegaso]
-- Posted Monday, May 5, 2008

How to create a lean, mean Windows Mobile machine
Time for Spring cleaning on that Windows Mobile device of yours, Dt. Tim says! See How to create a lean, mean, and clean Windows Mobile machine! -- Posted Thursday, May 1, 2008

SDG System sells Linux-based TDS Nomad
SDG Systems, LLC is now selling a Linux-based version of the rugged TDS Nomad handheld computer. SDG Systems uses the 2.6.x Linux kernel, the Qtopia PDA Edition 2.2 interface, and system utilities based on the Angstrom Linux distribution (yes, Java support). The Nomad includes Bluetooth, 802.11, GPS, Camera, Barcode scanning and USB host and client ports. It has a full VGA (480 x 640) display and uses an 806 MHz Marvell PXA 320 processor. The USB host port supports mass storage, keyboard, mouse, Ethernet and RS-232 serial adapters. The Linux Nomad comes with 128 MB RAM and 512MB or 1GB of Flash and sells for US$1,649 to $2,299. -- Posted Thursday, May 1, 2008