May 2014

Hundreds of millions of tablets and smartphones have spoiled users who now want sleek state-of-the-art consumer technology out there in the field as well. That's what Two Technologies offers with their Samsung Galaxy Note II-based N4 handheld. We examined the N4 in detail and found it to be much more than just a tablet in a case. [See full review of the Two Technologies N4]

Datalogic secures logistics and tracking for automotive safety systems leader, Autoliv, with the installation of over 600 mobile computers
Datalogic announced it has deployed more than 600 Datalogic mobile computers for automotive safety systems manufacturer, Autoliv, across their European plants. As Autoliv aims to reduce traffic accidents and injuries with their products and systems, the company needed to optimize efficiency in production line and warehouse operations with state-of-the-art technology, fast operation, ease of use and robustness. In order to achieve this, Autoliv chose to deploy Datalogic Falcon X3, Skorpio X3 and Memor mobile computers to work with the new SAP system. [See press release and video that explains the projects] -- Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Metaio demonstrates thermal touch interface
Metaio, which is into augmented reality software and solutions, released a video illustrating potential applications of their "Thermal Touch" interface technology along with current examples of the working prototype. The technology works by registering the heat signature left by a person's finger when touching a surface, then supplementing it with augmented reality constructs to create user interaction with digital content in all-new tactile way. [See Metaio Thermal Touch video and read Metaio blog on thermal touch] -- Posted Sunday, May 25, 2014

Digitimes on Innel China subsidies and Taiwan struggles with automation
Digitimes reports that Intel offered incentives to select China-based white-box vendors such as Ramos to adopt Intel platforms for tablets, and has extended the offers to additional China-based white-box vendors in an attempt to reach total shipments of 40 million Intel platform-based tablets in 2014, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers. Digitimes also reports that Taiwan electronics companies operating in China struggle automating their factories to reduce the impact of ongoing wage hikes. The problem is that standard automation equipment cannot easily be modified for specialized electronics manufacturing processes. -- Posted Friday, May 23, 2014

Microsoft introduces 12-inch Haswell-powered Surface Pro 3
Microsoft introduced the Surface Pro 3. The Intel Haswell Core i3/i5/i7 powered new tablet is just 0.36 inches thick, weighs 1.76 pounds, and has a 2,160 x 1,440 pixel 12-inch display, and dual cameras (5mp and 1080p HD). It comes with either 4 or 8GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of SSD storage. There's USB 3.0, a microSD card reader, mini DisplayPort, and a cover that's also a keyboard. The Surface Pro 3, which starts at US$799 (but goes as high as US$1,949 for a loaded model) has a pen which, interestingly, is from N-Trig and not Wacom (N-trig also replaces Atmel for the Surface 3's touch capabilities). [See Microsoft press release, and the transcript of press event introduction and -- Posted Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Otterbox goes after counterfeit cases
OtterBox, which makes rugged cases for smartphones and tablets, reports that the company continues its fight against intellectual property theft. In the last six months, with the assistance of law enforcement and government agencies, OtterBox has raided 162 retail stores worldwide and seized approximately 30,000 counterfeit cases. [See Otterbox press release] -- Posted Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Digitimes on Q2/2014 tablet shipments
Digitimes predicts that in the second quarter of 2014, 61.4 million tablets will be shipped globally, increasing 4.9% on quarter and 30.9% on year. The shipments will consist of 13.5 million iPads, 24.6 million non-Apple tablets and 23.3 million white-box units, Digitimes Research indicated. Apple will be the largest vendor accounting for 22% of sQ2shipments, followed by Samsung with 20%, Asustek 6.3%, Lenovo 6.1% and Acer 1.7%. Android models will account for 58.9% of branded tablet shipments, iOS 35.4% and Windows 5.7%. -- Posted Saturday, May 17, 2014

MobileDemand xTablet T1400 product page available now
Full description, analysis and specs of the MobileDemand xTablet T1400 now available on RuggedPCReview. [See MobileDemand xTablet T1400 product page] -- Posted Monday, May 12, 2014

MobileDemand announces new thin and rugged Windows tablet
MobileDemand announced it is launching a series of tablet innovations for the mobile workforce. The new xTablet T1400 rugged tablet is a thin and light device capable of running standard enterprise Windows (8.1 and 7) applications while withstanding harsh operating environments, at a new price point. The fanless T1400 is based on a "Bay Trail" 1.86GHz quad-core Intel N2920 processor, features a superb 10.1-inch 700-nits IPS projected capacitive touch screen with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, has dual cameras (5mp and 2mp), 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, a full complement of sensors, and optional 1D/2D barcode reader, HF-RFID and 4G LTE. The T1400 weighs 2.4 pounds, has IP65 sealing and can handle 4-foot drops. [See MobileDemand press release and T1400 product sheet] -- Posted Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Almost 200 TB storage on a tape cartridge?
With data storage requirements skyrocketing, commonly available storage media seems to run out of steam. DVDs are slow and only hold a few gigs, Blue-ray writing is poorly supported, SSDs are limited in capacity, and conventional hard disks are often not rugged enough. In what seems like a blast from the past, Sony announced a new magnetic tape technology with the potential of recording over 185 terabyte onto a single LTO-standard tape cartridge (which up to now maxed out at 2.5TB). While tape-based storage may or may not have a practical future, it shows that there's still a lot of headroom in higher storage densities. [See Sony press release] -- Posted Monday, May 5, 2014