Remember all those movies where a medallion or other memento in a pocket saves the hero from a deadly knife or bullet? Well, the folks at Juniper Systems report of a cowboy who got kicked by a horse, but avoided potentially serious injury because the horse connected exactly at the spot where he had his rugged Archer handheld computer in his pocket. The kick was hard enough to crack the usually invulnerable Archer's screen and damaged the keyboard, but was easily repaired. [See The Archer's Got Your Back (Literally)] -- Posted Thursday, September 5, 2013 by chb
Microsoft buys Nokia's phone business
Microsoft announced it will purchase Nokia's Devices & Services business, which includes their smartphone and mobile phone businesses, design team, manufacturing and assembly facilities, and teams handling operations, sales, marketing and support. That means that just like Google did with its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Microsoft takes over a once high-flying but now struggling cell phone pioneer, thus joining Apple as an all-in-one hardware/software vendor. It should be interesting to see what this will mean to vertical market/industrial handhelds, most of which still use Windows CE or variants of Windows Mobile. What's left for Nokia? The company says it will be "focused on enabling mobility through its leadership in networking, mapping & location, and advanced technologies." [See Steve Ballmer email to Microsoft employees on Nokia Devices & Services acquisition and Nokia announcement] -- Posted Tuesday, September 3, 2013 by chb