June 2022

RuggON's SOL PA501 rugged Android tablet earns FirstNet® certification
RuggON Corporation, an international maker of ruggedized mobile solutions, announced today that its rugged, powerful 10" Android 11 tablet SOL PA501 has earned FirstNet certification. The designation assures the unit provides interoperability among different first responder organizations, ensuring real-time communications between all frontline agencies on the scene of an emergency. [See RuggON media release] -- Posted Thursday, June 30, 2022

DT Research: Benefits of long-range RFID and barcode scanners
DT Research points out that while asset tracking can be tedious, NOT having accurate records or wrong information for specific parts can be a costly mistake that can sideline business for months. That's where long-range RFID and barcode scanners help companies in the manufacturing, warehousing, and shipping and logistics space to record accurate data, track inventory, and document all items when they are shipped. [See Benefits of long-range RFID and barcode scanners] -- Posted Thursday, June 30, 2022

Zebra Technologies introduces new PartnerConnect Public Sector Specialization Program for channel partners
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced a new, vertical market specialization for government and education technology providers in North America. The Public Sector Specialization Program, developed as a strategic component of Zebra's PartnerConnect program, will support federal, state and local government, as well as K-12, colleges and universities. [See Zebra media release] -- Posted Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Durabook's 4-Week Delivery Guarantee
At a time of global component shortages, there is growing demand for rugged devices across a wide range of sectors ranging from defense, automotive, field service and transportation, to logistics, utilities, manufacturing and public safety. To address this issue, Durabook Americas just announced a 4-Week Delivery Guarantee for its Z14I fully rugged laptop computers. The Intel Tiger Lake-powered Z14I features a unique fanless design, MIL-STD-810H, optional C1D2 certification, and class-leading 6-foot drop rating. [See Durabook 4-Week-Delivery Guarantee] -- Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Winmate: Freeing public safety communications with Winmate RoIP equipment
In its June 23, 2022 newsletter, Winmate points out how Push-to-Talk radios are very helpful, but extending their radio signals beyond line-of-sight remains one of the issues. Winmate is now launching a new RoIP solution with the RG100 Radio Gateway and P400M9 Multi mode PoC Radio to bridge tactical networks while also providing radio network extensibility via IP interfaces. Designed with simplicity and reliability in mind, the solution can connect two or more voice networks and extend those networks back to dispatch, all in a single deployable chassis. [See Winmate newsletter on this solution] -- Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Robotic maintenance in the chemical industry
Conducting maintenance and inspection tasks in critical areas using an autonomous robot — this task is being carried out by Evonik, a global leader in the specialty chemicals industry, as part of an Innovation Project with three partners at one of its company-owned chemical plants. Evonik relies on Getac's F110 ATEX-certified tablet to control the robot and teach it automated inspection routes around the facility. The company chose the F110-EX due to its powerful performance and excellent reliability. [See Getac media release] -- Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Juniper blog: Best rugged tablet for the Oil and Gas industry
What rugged tablet is best for any given industry depends on a number of factors. In highlighting their Mesa rugged tablet platform's qualification, a recent entry in Juniper Systems' Get Rugged blog discusses certifications, specifications, and features that make a tablet suitable for users in oil and gas industry applications. The blog entry describes Hazloc certification, the Military Standard 810 with its dozens of tests, the Ingress Protection rating system, barcode and RFID options, as well as ruggedness issues of particular interest to the O&G industry, like extreme temperatures. [See Juniper blog entry] -- Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Zebra's first healthcare-grade tablets deliver better patient and provider experience
Zebra Technologies Corporation, an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced the ET4x-HC series, including the Android™-based ET40-HC and ET45-HC tablets, built to improve staff efficiency, care quality and the patient experience. The cost-effective, rugged ET4x-HC series has an advanced medical-grade housing that can handle constant disinfecting from some of the harshest disinfectants to prevent the spread of germs and help ensure the safety of healthcare professionals and their patients. [See Zebra media release] -- Posted Wednesday, June 22, 2022

DT Research: 4 ways rugged tablets help expand Marines' competitive space
The DT Research Rugged Tech Talk blog is among the best in informing customers and interested parties on rugged computing technology applications, new areas of deployment, and ways to work better, faster, and more efficiently with mobile tech. In a recent post, the blog highlights some of the ways rugged tech designers are creating systems to suit Marines' missions and human factor needs. [See DT Research Rugged Tech Talk] -- Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Durabook Americas expands service operation with new facility in Fremont, CA
Durabook, announced today it has expanded its renowned customer-service department with a new Service and Tech Support Center, located in Fremont, California. Innovative and effective customer support is a critical element of our business. Durabook is committed to providing an assured three-day turnaround time and advanced engineering support. A team of over 30 experienced, certified technicians and the stock availability of over 5,000 service parts enable us to provide comprehensive service and repair offerings to major markets across the North America and Latin American region. [See Durabook media release -- Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Motorola Solutions takes mission critical voice and data communications on the road
Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI) today launched the MXM7000, an innovative mission-critical in-vehicle solution that integrates TETRA and 4G LTE voice and data communications in a robust and secure platform to keep public safety and military organizations connected, safe and informed wherever they go. The solution's resilient TETRA communications provide high transmit power to keep teams connected even in low coverage areas. [See Motorola Solutions media release] -- Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Motorola Solutions takes public safety communication to new heights with all-in-one TETRA and LTE device
Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI) has unveiled its new MXP7000, an all-in-one mission-critical communications portable device that unifies TETRA and 4G LTE voice and data communications to enhance situational awareness, safety and productivity for the military and public safety. The rugged and secure MXP7000 gives first responders versatile access to the voice and data communication capabilities they rely on to support the range of situations they face every day, from managing administrative tasks to coordinating emergency response. [See Motorola Solutions media release] -- Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Initial assessment: Getac X600 and X600 Pro
Getac announced their new X600 and X600 Pro fully rugged mobile workstations because sometimes even the performance of today's premium rugged mobile laptops isn't quite enough. So the X600 models are built around Intel "H" level high performance laptop chips, have big 15.6-inch screens, and accommodate more I/O and more expansion. RuggedPCReview did a first assessment of these bigger-faster-better rugged laptops and also compared them to their X500 predecessors. [See Initial assessment of the Getac X600 and X600 Pro] -- Posted Monday, June 20, 2022

Winmate's 14-inch rugged Windows tablet
Most tablets are in the 10 to 12-inch range, but sometimes a bigger screen would be better. Touch applications in the field or on vehicle-mounts benefit from larger screen sizes, as do applications where users may wear gloves. That's where Winmate's Intel 11th generation "Tiger Lake"-based M140TG rugged Windows tablet comes in. Winmate itself calls it "huge," though it's actually barely larger and heavier than a 14-inch MacBook Pro. Due to supply issues, we haven't been able to have hands-on with the M140TG and run all our benchmarks on it, something we hope will soon change. [See Winmate M140TG page and specs] -- Posted Thursday, June 16, 2022

IMG announces new release of My-T-Soft
My-T-Soft® onscreen keyboards have been in use throughout the world in all major industries for well over two decades. has been the professional's choice. The new 1.90 Release 5 of My-T-Soft® provides enhanced Windows 11 support, new features for automatic licensing, and a tighter integration with your Build-A-Board.com account, where users can access their custom layouts as well as the complete online database of keyboard layouts. [See IMG My-T-Soft page] -- Posted Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Zebra Technologies introduces rugged tablets to help frontline work smarter and faster
Zebra Technologies Corporation an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today introduced the ET4x series, including the Android™-based ET40 and ET45 tablets, designed to help workers work smarter and faster. Businesses can choose the easy-to-carry 8-inch or 10-inch model for the best viewing of information-rich applications. [See Zebra media release] -- Posted Tuesday, June 14, 2022

MilDef awarded contract in USA worth more than 50 MSEK
MilDef reports that the order, awarded through a global US defense company, is the biggest deal to date in USA for tactical IT. The order value is more than 50 MSEK (~US$4.9 million) and deliveries will take place during the second half of 2022. MilDef will deliver 400 customized laptops for use within the US Army, through one of the largest defense companies. The contract is a result of the last year's strategic efforts that gives MilDef entry to multiple large Programs of Record within the US Army. [See MilDef media release] -- Posted Monday, June 13, 2022

Getac introduces new X600 fully rugged mobile workstation
Getac a leading producer of rugged technology today announced the launch of its X600 and X600 Pro, two powerful new 15.6" fully rugged mobile workstation variants designed to deliver comprehensive mobile C3 planning for professionals requiring optimal performance, security and data transmission capabilities and exceptional reliability across a wide range of operationally challenging environments. [See Getac media release -- Posted Monday, June 13, 2022

EMDOOR INFO announces EM-T695 rugged handheld
EMDOOR INFO announces the Emdoor EM-T695, the company's first rugged 5G PDA with Android 12 support. The EM-T695 is a compact and light-weight (9 ounce) rugged PDA designed for efficient field data collection and communication. Running Android 12 on a MediaTek 5G processor, the handheld delivers extraordinary CPU performance and real-time network connectivity. Specs include a 5mp front camera, a 13MP rear camera, a 17.1 watt-hour battery, fingerprint reader, and a brilliant 6-inch display. [See Emdoor media release -- Posted Thursday, June 9, 2022

Winmate: Mitigating hazard with intrinsically safe Windows tablets
Implementing mobility solutions in industries with hazardous working environments, such as oil and gas or chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, presents special challenges. That's because of the potential exposure to combustible materials where a single spark from an unprotected device may lead to disaster. This is where intrinsic safety comes in, and computing devices that are ATEX, IECEx Zone 2, and CID2 compliant. In its June 9, 2022 newsletter, Winmate discusses intrinsic safety and also their M101S-EX intrinsically safe 10-inch Windows tablet. [Read Mitigating hazard with intrinsically safe Windows tablets] -- Posted Thursday, June 9, 2022

Review: Emdoor EM-I12U rugged OEM tablet
The Emdoor EM-I12U is one of the few available lightweight 10-inch class fully rugged tablets that can deliver seriously high performance. Its Intel quad-core Core processors are not of the latest variety, but offer MUCH higher performance than any Atom/Celeron/Pentium based tablet. We also like the straightforward all-metal magnesium alloy construction, the ability to sustain high performance thanks to fan-based cooling, and the sharp IPS capacitive display. [See review of the Emdoor EM-I12U rugged OEM tablet] -- Posted Tuesday, June 7, 2022

OnLogic Karbon 800 rugged computer wins Vision Systems Design Innovators Award
Global industrial computer hardware manufacturer and solution provider, OnLogic has been recognized among the best in machine vision by the judges of the Vision Systems Design 2022 Innovators Awards program. The company's Karbon 800 Series of rugged computers earned a Silver Innovators Award, which was presented to the OnLogic team on the show floor of Automate 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. The OnLogic Karbon 800 Series is designed for Industry 4.0 and Industrial IoT applications that require powerful computing in harsh environments or remote locations. The computers are powered by Intel's latest 12th Generation of Core processors, formerly known as Alder Lake. [See OnLogic media release] -- Posted Tuesday, June 7, 2022

What happened in rugged computing 10 years ago: June 2012
In June 2012, Motorola Solutions announced the SB1 Smart Badge and the Android-based MC40. We called it "an indication of things to come." Qualcomm announced a Windows Metro app development contest. Black Diamond's Modular Tactical System was selected by the US Air Force. Advantech made its 18.5-inch infotainment terminal available with Android. Microsoft named Motion Country Partner of the Year. Xplore reported record 2012 revenues of US$27.5 million. Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8 which was incompatible with the prior Windows 7 Phone. Microsoft also unveiled the first Surface tablets. Motorola Solutions bought Psion for about US$200 million. Intermec restructured, eliminating 7% of its workforce. Rand McNally introduced ruggedized WiFi GPS for truck navigation. -- Posted Friday, June 3, 2022

Review: Emdoor EM-T40 rugged Android keypad handheld
Sometimes you can do the job better with a keypad handheld. With their EM-T40, Emdoor Information offers OEM customers an intriguing rugged keypad handheld that combines the advantages both of modern consumer smartphones and those of more traditional rugged industrial handhelds. The Android 11-based EM-T40 operates and works like a contemporary smartphone, but provides the ruggedness and data collection capabilities of an industrial-grade handheld computer. [See full review of the Emdoor EM-T40 rugged keypad handheld] -- Posted Thursday, June 2, 2022

Handheld Nautiz X2 and data security
Handheld Group reports that 100,000 document collection containers across Europe and Asia utilize the SECOLO Smart Lock SL1000 and the Nautiz X2 rugged handheld with RFID. The RFID tracking and marker technology ensure that containers in trucks or at shredders can be unlocked automatically using a contactless system. [Read the Personal Data Kept Safe with RFID case study] -- Posted Thursday, June 2, 2022

Q1 '22 saw a decline in GPU and PC shipments quarter-to-quarter
Jon Peddie Research reports that the global PC-based graphics processor units (GPU) market reached 96 million units in Q1'22 and PC GPUs shipments decreased 6.2% due to disturbances in China, Ukraine, and the pullback from the lockdown elsewhere. However, the fundamentals of the GPU and PC market are solid over the long term, JPR predicts GPUs will have a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% during 2022 — 2026 and reach an installed base of 3.3 million units at the end of the forecast period. Over the next five years, the penetration of discrete GPUs (dGPU) in the PC market will grow to reach a level of 46%. [See JPR media release] -- Posted Wednesday, June 1, 2022