February 2015

noax industrial PCs are now easier to use thanks to NSetup
noax Technologies announced its NSetup tool that allows administrators to configure noax industrial PCs to meet the needs of their company. Setup parameters include UPS, power functions, PCIe configuration, touch and backlight, deactivation of front USB port, and function key programming. If a company operates several noax industrial PCs with the identical configuration, only one IPC has to be configured. The setup file can be used to transfer this configuration easily to the other devices. -- Posted Friday, February 27, 2015

MCL-Technologies certifies Datalogic as device manufacturer
MCL-Technologies, a provider of high productivity software solutions that boost the development, deployment and management of enterprise mobile applications and devices has certified Datalogic as a device manufacturer. Datalogic’s Memor X3, Skorpio X3 and Lynx mobile devices are now certified to run MCL v4 and the MCL Mobility Platform, after undergoing a thorough testing process. This certification enables channel partners to develop solutions for Datalogic mobile devices using MCL’s rapid application development environment. -- Posted Thursday, February 26, 2015

Xplore to present at the 27th Annual Roth Conference
Xplore Technologies announced its Chairman and CEO Philip S. Sassower will present at the 27th Annual ROTH Growth Stock Conference, March 8-11, 2015 at The Ritz Carlton, in Dana Point, California. Mr. Sassower will be accompanied by Mark Holleran, president and COO, and Michael J. Rapisand, CFO. -- Posted Thursday, February 26, 2015

Panasonic showcases countertop POS cradle for its rugged Toughpad FZ-G1
At EUROCIS 2015 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Panasonic showcased its POS systems, including a new countertop POS cradle for its 10-inch Toughpad FZ-G1 rugged tablet (see our review of the Toughpad FZ-G1). The cradle can be color and logo customized for retailers, enables the tablet to be directly integrated existing POS systems via powered USB and serial ports. The cradle also has LAN, VGA and HDMI connectivity and a security lock feature. [See Panasonic news release] -- Posted Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Janam and T-Mobile distributor One Shop Wireless offer complete mobility solution in a box
Janam Technologies announced a partnership with T-Mobile distributor One Shop Wireless to provide a complete mobility solution in a box. The "Simply Connected" solution consists of a WWAN-enabled Janam XT1 mini-tablet (see our review of the Janam XT1) with a T-Mobile SIM card already installed. [See Janam media release] -- Posted Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Illustrated report: Getac V110 used at Cirque du Soleil Kurios
It's always nice to see rugged mobile technology in action. A particularly impressive application is the use of a Getac V110 convertible notebook computer at the Cirque du Soleil Kurios touring production. The V110 runs the show's automation software, all of their inspection systems, operational and safety documentation, virtual sign-off processing, document management for all the schematics of all systems and every single connection and datapoint in the system. [See RuggedPCReview's detailed illustrated coverage of Getac V110 at Cirque du Soleil Kurios] -- Posted Friday, February 20, 2015

AAEON discusses the modern casino game machine
In its latest application story, AAEON Technology discusses casino gaming machines and how they have changed from almost entirely mechanical devices to complex electronic terminals. AAEON then presents hardware solutions in the form of industrial-grade ATX CPU boards that help casino operators upgrade existing hardware without incurring additional costs. [See AEON Technology Casino Game Machine] -- Posted Friday, February 20, 2015

Full review: Handheld Group Nautiz X8 rugged mobile computer
RuggedPCReview completed a full examination of the Handheld Group's Nautiz X8 rugged mobile computer, which features a large, bright 4.7-inch capacitive multi-touch display, IP67 sealing, a very wide operating temperature range, 12 hour battery life, and an extension cap expansion system. The Nautiz X8 is available both in Windows Embedded Handheld and Android 4.2.2 versions. It addresses evolving customer demands and new market trends but retains the company's strong product DNA, commitment to full ruggedness, and dedication to legacy and enterprise support. [See full review of the Handheld Group Nautiz X8] -- Posted Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Microsoft announces first Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones
On their blog, Microsoft announced that the first build of Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones is available now for Windows Insiders. Microsoft says the preview is still very much under development and those installing it will see some rough edges. Fo now, the build is limited to a number of Lumina phones (630, 635, 636, 638, 730 and 830). [See Microsoft blog] -- Posted Friday, February 13, 2015

ADLINK's February newsletter
ADLINK's February 2015 newsletter showcases their new ultra-compact fanless quad-core embedded platform for IoT, their workstation-grade PICMG 1.3 SHB with multiple native PCIe Gen3 slots, their new IMB-M42H ATX industrial motherboard for combined motion and vision applications, as well as a variety of application success stories. [See ADLINK February newsletter] -- Posted Friday, February 13, 2015

Xplore reports record revenue and net income for fiscal 2015 Q3
For Q4 of 2014 (which is actually Q3 of its fiscal year 2015), Xplore Technologies reported record revenue of US$16.44 million, compared to US$13.98 million for the same quarter a year ago. For the nine months ended December 31, 2014, revenue was US$32.23 million, compared to the nine months ended December 31, 2013 revenue of $27.24 million, an increase of 18%. Xplore reported net income for the quarter of $2,401,000 compared to net income of $890,000 for the three months ended December 31, 2013, and a net income for the nine months ended December 31, 2014 of $683,000 compared to net loss of $360,000 for the nine months ended December 31, 2013. The company's new broader tablet product line featuring the ultra-rugged iX104C6 and fully-rugged RangerX Pro and Bobcat resulted in an increase in units sales of approximately 23 percent and 37 percent for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2014, respectively, compared to the same periods in the previous year. [See Xplore financials] -- Posted Friday, February 13, 2015

Panasonic releases Toughbook 54, a lighter, thinner and state-of-the-art semi-rugged laptop computer
Panasonic introduced the Toughbook 54, a semi-rugged notebook that emphasizes light weight and a slim profile while providing high performance with a 5th generation Intel Core i5 processors as well as very good battery life (up to 18 hours with two batteries,). The new Toughbook is designed to a highly portable tool for mobile professionals who need durability, power and feature sets beyond what a standard consumer laptop can offer. [See description, analysis and specs of the Panasonic Toughbook 54] -- Posted Friday, February 13, 2015

Winmate scores major Latin American contract for rugged 7-inch Android tablet
Winmate announced that the company has secured a $7 million contract from a major telecommunications company in Latin America to deploy its M700DM4 rugged mobile tablet with 4G/LTE in the public safety sector. This will set a new precedence for public safety in the region, as the M700DM4 will become the first mobile tablet with 4G/LTE to be used in the country’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. The contract includes a multi-year provision of the 7-inch, rugged Android tablet. [See Winmate press release] -- Posted Friday, February 13, 2015

AAEON scores six wins at the 23rd Taiwan Excellence Awards
AAEON Electronics, a designer of industrial and embedded computing platforms, announced that six of its products, ranging from rugged mobile tablets to rackmount network appliances, were recognized and awarded at this year's Taiwan Excellence Awards. This award is contested by more than 1,155 participating products from 215 companies. [See AAEON media release] -- Posted Thursday, February 12, 2015

iKey introduces snap-in-place rugged keyboard for Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1
iKey, a manufacturer of rugged keyboards and computer accessories, introduced its newest addition to the Jumpseat line, the FZ-M1 Jumpseat keyboard. Custom designed to snap onto the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1, a rugged, 7-inch Windows tablet built for enterprise users, the Jumpseat serves as a fully rugged on-the-go keyboard, provides screen protection, and USB 3.0 connectivity and additional functionality to enhance productivity in the field. There are three different versions of the Jumpseat. The first is a basic model, second includes backlighting, and the third includes backlighting and a fingerprint reader for additional security. [See iKey keyboard for Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1] -- Posted Wednesday, February 11, 2015

AMREL announces new rugged night vision computing solutions
AMREL reports it now offers a full line of turn-key night vision solutions, fully compliant with MIL-STD 3009 and CECOM (CSLP) standards. The widespread use of night vision goggles has necessitated the adoption of light restricting filters for mobile computers. AMREL’s Night Vision Computing Solutions virtually eliminate all infrared emissions completely, which is important, since night vision goggles usually work in that part of the spectrum. AMREL Night Vision Computing Solutions are available for their ROCKY RS11 13.3-inch laptop, ROCKY DK10 12.1inch tablet, as well as their ROCKY DB6 handheld. [See AMREL media release and Night Vision page]. -- Posted Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Interview with Peter M. Poulin, CEO of Motion Computing
On February 5th RuggedPCReview had a chance to speak with Peter Poulin, who was appointed Motion Computing's CEO on December 11, 2014. An industry veteran with more than 25 years of sales, marketing and general management experience in the public and private sectors, the company's press release said Poulin's goal will be to capitalize on the company’s deep mobility expertise and aggressive investments in the design and development of ruggedized tablet platforms and integrated mobility solutions to expand its reach within target vertical markets. [read interview] -- Posted Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Five years faytech Tech
faytech Tech. Co. — which specializes in the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of rugged industrial touchscreen monitors and touchscreen PCs — reported that over the past five years, the company morphed from just being a German importer of touchscreen monitors to an ISO 9001:2008 certified China-based manufacturer of touch devices with over 70 employees, offering Germany based engineering, service and sales support. -- Posted Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Corning plans to add sapphire-like scratch resistance to Gorilla Glass concept
At the annual investor meeting of Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning, Corning Glass Technologies president James P. Clappin noted that the cover glass market is expected to grow, in part due to more and growing smartphones, and increasing business in emerging markets. Clappin also said “we have developed a new product that will provide sapphire-like scratch resistance while maintaining the legendary toughness and break resistance of Gorilla Glass.” The new glass is supposed to become available later in 2015.[ See Corning press release] -- Posted Monday, February 9, 2015

Datalogic signs multi-year agreement with NCR on its Jade X7 retail scanning technology
NCR stands for National Cash Register, and though retail checkout technologies have changed dramatically, NCR remains the global leader in consumer transaction technologies. Datalogic now announced that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with NCR to supply NCR with its Jade X7 automated scanner as a component of NCR's ScanPortal checkout system. The Jade 7 uses advanced imaging systems that read the barcode and identify of items at much higher speed than traditional checkout systems. [See Datalogic press release] -- Posted Thursday, February 5, 2015

Handheld announces major upgrade to Algiz 10X rugged tablet
Handheld Group announced a major upgrade to its Windows 8.1 Pro-based Algiz 10X rugged tablet computer. Processing power now comes from a 1.83 GHz Intel quad-core N2930 CPU with 2.16 GHz boost, more than doubling performance of the prior Atom N2800-based model. Wireless communication support has been upgraded to include dual-band 802.11ac WiFi and LTE WWAN. [See Handheld press release] -- Posted Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Motion releases Broadwell-based C5m and F5m rugged tablets
Motion Computing unveiled the next generation of its popular F5 and C5 rugged tablets. Both get a substantial performance increase with a switch to Intel "Broadwell" 5th generation Core processors (i3, i5, and i7 versions available), ultra-fast Gobi 4G XLTE WWAN, 802.11ac WiFi, m.2 instead of mSATA solid state disks, twice the base and maximum RAM, a higher resolution user-facing camera, and optional self-encrypting drives. The big news is the two generation processor leap, from Ivy Bridge to Broadwell, bringing higher processor performance, much more powerful graphics, and a 40% increase in battery life. [See Motion press release] and Motion CEO Poulin's blog] -- Posted Tuesday, February 3, 2015

iPhone 6 Plus isn't so big after all
Blast-from-the-past department: while Apple's iPhone 6 Plus is considered huge, it is actually dwarfed by Apple's Newton MessagePad 2000, which was introduced in 1997. Equipped with two full-size PC Cards and four AA batteries, the MP2000, which was considered small and handy at the time, weighs 1.48 pounds, almost four times as much as the sleek iPhone 6 Plus. Also of note: last used in 1998, the MP2000 came right up upon inserting four new AAs, all data intact. Will the 6 Plus do that in the year 2032? -- Posted Tuesday, February 3, 2015

HarvestMaster opens new office in Wels, Austria
HarvestMaster, which is a brand of Juniper Systems, announced the opening of a new office location in Wels, Austria. The new office will provide sales, marketing, and service support to HarvestMaster’s European partners and customers. In total, this makes HarvestMaster’s third location, with offices also located in Logan, Utah and Kansas City, Missouri. The new office will HarvestMaster better serve its European partners and customers with faster response times, more immediate communication, and ultimately, more excellent service to its international customers. [See press release and HarvestMaster European location] -- Posted Monday, February 2, 2015

ARBOR releases ARTS-1450 intelligent in-vehicle PC for surveillance and fleet management
ARBOR Technology announced its new fanless ARTS-1450, a compact Intel quad-core E3845-powered in-vehicle computer for in-vehicle surveillance and fleet management applications in police cars, buses, ambulances and trucks. The ARTS-1450 offers dual SIMs and dual WWAN modules to allow seamless switching between different carriers. There are 3 mini-PCIe sockets for extra expansions, optional embedded CAN BUS2.0B, 4-channel CCTV, as well as an ultra-wide operating temperature range and MIL-STD-810G compliance for drop and vibration. [See ARBOR press release] -- Posted Monday, February 2, 2015

Handheld Group strengthens product management
The Handheld Group announced it has strengthened its product management department with two new appointments: Johan He'd (left) is the company’s new Director Product Management and joins Handheld’s management team, while Johan Sätterman (right) is appointed Handheld’s new Product Manager. The new appointments are part of Handheld’s increased focus on product development and product management. [See Handheld press release] -- Posted Monday, February 2, 2015

Print-style PDFs of Motion CL920 and Motion R12 rugged tablet reviews now available
In addition to publishing our detailed reviews online, we also generate "print-style" PDFs of select full reviews in PDF format. These can be used by sponsors, resellers, etc., as promotional materials, handouts, at trade shows, for client presentations, etc. We just completed PDF versions of our recent reviews of the Motion CL920 and Motion R12 tablets. [See Motion CL920 PDF and Motion R12 PDF] -- Posted Monday, February 2, 2015