September 2015

Without drawing any attention to it, Apple has apparently made their new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus a little more rugged and considerably better sealed and protected. The folks at fixit.org opened up the iPhone 6s and found a newly widened lip around the perimeter upon which sits a gasket. It's not exactly an advanced tongue-and-groove pressure seal like we see on rugged devices, but far better than nothing at all. ifixit also found that every cable connector is now protected by its own silicone seal. A YouTube video by Zach Straley shows the 6s and 6s Plus sitting in shallow bowls of water for an hour, and still working just fine afterwards. [See fixit.org analysis and YouTube water test]

Las Vegas Metro PD takes delivery on Getac rugged tablets for use in cruisers and motor units
Getac announced that the Las Vegas (NV) Metro PD has ordered 898 Getac rugged tablets for its police force. The department ordered 778 Getac F110 rugged tablets to be installed in its cruisers. Another 120 Getac T800 rugged tablets will be deployed by the department’s Motor Division to support traffic control and citations. Las Vegas Metro PD selected the Getac F110 fully rugged tablet for its characteristics that include a sunlight-readable11.6-inch display, powerful processor, dual hot-swappable battery for extended field use, dedicated GPS and WWAN modules, and tri-pass-through antenna ports for simultaneous GPS, WWAN and WLAN connections via roof-mounted antennas. -- Posted Tuesday, September 29, 2015

JLT's new Rugged PCT capacitive touch technology
JLT Mobile Computer's Christian Funk explains how upgrading from resistive touch screen technology to capacitive can bring a whole host of benefits to industrial computers, but only if the screens can be ruggedized. He describes their solution, Rugged PCT, which combines extremely durable, reliable, rugged technology with water resistant properties, interference-proof design and compatibility with gloved use. [Read Ruggedizing Capacitive Touch for Industrial Computing]
-- Posted Wednesday, September 23, 2015

JLT Mobile Computers introduces Intel Bay Trail-powered rugged logistics panel computer with capacitive multi-touch
JLT Mobile Computers announced the 12-inch JLT1214P, a new logistics computer which features revolutionary Rugged Projective Capacitive Touch (PCT) display technology and, thanks to an Intel "Bay Trail" E3845 quad-core processor, additional computing power compared to previous product generations. [See description, analysis and specs of the JLT Mobile Computers JLT1214P -- Posted Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Handheld Group announces strategic enterprise mobility management alliance with SOTI
Handheld Group and SOTI, a major provider of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), announced a strategic alliance extending SOTI MobiControl’s deep management capabilities to Handheld’s rugged mobile devices. Certification of Handheld’s devices within the SOTI OEM partner program enables Handheld’s reselling partners to offer SOTI’s technology to quickly provision devices, content and applications without end user intervention or downtime. Handheld chose SOTI based on the company’s vertical expertise and device control. [See Handheld Group media release] -- Posted Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Top three ways to mount a tablet in a forklift
If you are currently exploring the option of deploying forklift-mounted tablets, you may be wondering how exactly you should mount the devices. What will it look like? What is the best placement so it's not in the way of the operator? A new blog post on MobileDemand's Ruggedized Computing Blog gives a high level overview of the top three ways enterprises are mounting their devices. [See Top three ways to mount a tablet in a forklift] -- Posted Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Zebra introduces ET50/55 enterprise tablets in two sizes and with Windows or Android
Zebra introduced their next-generation ET50 and ET55 enterprise tablet computers. With these two new products, available available with a 8.3-inch or 10.1-inch display size and with either Windows 8.1 or Android 5.1, Zebra seeks to combine the best of consumer-styling with the kind of enterprise-class features required to increase workforce productivity. [See description, analysis and specs of the Zebra ET50/55] -- Posted Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Camera module market to reach US$62 billion within 5 years
Grand View Research projects the market for camera modules to reach US$62 billion by 2022. Technological proliferation and the increasing demand for smartphones and tablet PC devices are expected to drive growth over the forecast period. Camera modules find extensive applications in medical and healthcare segments, smartphone & tablet PC devices, automotive industry, defense & aerospace, industrial & security applications, and consumer electronics. [See Grand View Research Media release] -- Posted Tuesday, September 22, 2015

What led to the Universal Stylus Initiative?
Capacitive multi-touch has taken the world by storm, but the technology is more suited for consumption than creation. For that, having an active pen is desirable for many reasons, but active pen technology is proprietary, adding to costs and limiting markets. The Universal Stylus Initiative seeks to change that. Here are our thoughts. [Read What led to the Universal Stylus Initiative] -- Posted Friday, September 18, 2015

Xplore launches powerful XSlate B10 rugged tablet
Xplore Technologies launched the XSlate B10 rugged tablet, an evolved and significantly more powerful version of its Bobcat tablet. The Intel "Broadwell" Core i5-based XSlate B10 weighs just 2.5 pounds, carries C1D2 and ATEX certification, has comprehensive onboard connectivity (including native serial and optional HDMI in), has glove and wet modes, a Wacom pen, and offers up to 20 hours of battery life. RuggedPCReview performed detailed testing of the new XSlate B10, including extreme temperature benchmarks. [See full review of the Xplore XSlate B10] -- Posted Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Review: MobileDemand xTablet T1600
Designed for on-the-go professionals, MobileDemand's xTablet T1600 is modern, sleek and elegant, but it's also rugged enough for serious outdoor work. RuggedPCReview performed a full test of the 11.6-inch xTablet T1600 with its frugal but powerful Intel "Haswell" Core i5-4200U processor and found it a state-of-the-art tablet that won't weigh you down, and won't break out there in the field, even under extreme conditions. [See full review of the MobileDemand xTablet T1600] -- Posted Friday, September 11, 2015

Janam adds extended-range scanning rugged handheld
Janam announced an additional version of the XG3. The XG3-ER version includes the Intermec EX25 near/far imager with auto-focus that offers a 6-inches to more than 50 feet barcode reading range that is 30% greater than competitive scanners. The XG3-ER provides accurate, motion-tolerant scanning when lighting conditions are dim or the barcodes are damaged, obscured or placed on high shelving. [See Janam media release] -- Posted Thursday, September 10, 2015

Apple introduces 12.9-inch super-high definition iPad Pro with active "Apple Pencil"
Apple introduced new iPhones (the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus), a new iPad mini (the mini 4), a new Apple TV, and, perhaps most importantly, a larger iPad geared towards business and enterprise use. Featuring a 12.9-inch display with 4:3 aspect ratio and "retina" level 2,732 x 2,048 pixel resolution (265 dpi), the new iPad Pro offers an optional active "Apple Pencil" whose dual tilt sensors allow shading and pressure effects like a conventional pencil. While the super-thin iPad Pro is fragile, its high resolution and active narrow-tip pen will undoubtedly have an impact on industrial and vertical market tablet devices. [See Apple iPad Pro] -- Posted Wednesday, September 9, 2015