November 2018

After Xplore Technologies, one of the very pioneers of rugged tablets that had toughed it out for many often difficult years, was suddenly acquired by Zebra, there were a lot of questions and concerns. In a blog entry entitled "Integrity drives our business growth," Zebra explains its reasonings and plans. [See blog entry]

Added: Unitech TB85 8-inch enterprise Android tablet
Unitech recently released the Android 8-based, IP67-sealed, module-expandable TB85 tablet for all sorts of multifunctional business deployments. Larger than the largest smartphones but smaller than a standard tablet, the 8-inch capacitive multi-touch TB85 has programmable hardware buttons, a large and easily replaceable quick-charge battery, yet weighs just 1.4 pounds. Snap-on modules include 1D and 2D scanning and MSR. There is 802.11ac wiFi, BT 4.1, GPS and LTE WWAN. Starting price is US$1,200. [See description, analysis and specs of the Unitech TB85.] -- Posted Monday, November 26, 2018 by chb

How bright is your screen? (Lumens, Nits and Watts)
Handheld Group's Rugged Informer blog ran RuggedPCReview.com Editor-in-Chief Conrad Blickenstorfer's contributing article "How bright is your screen? (Lumens, Nits and Watts)." In it, Blickenstorfer explained the importance of screen brightness to productively using a rugged handheld, tablet or laptop outdoors. He explained technical terminology — watts, lumens, lux, etc. — and the concept of luminance, which is generally measured in "nits," and called for all rugged mobile computing specs to include luminance ratings. [See "How bright is your screen? (Lumens, Nits and Watts)"] -- Posted Wednesday, November 21, 2018 by chb

Zebra Technologies rugged tablets receive new network certifications
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the edge of the enterprise with solutions and partners that enable businesses to gain a performance edge, announced that the new Zebra L10 Windows tablet series is certified for AT&T and Verizon Wireless' cellular networks. In addition, the rugged Zebra XSLATE D10 Android tablet has received full certification with AT&T's Enhanced Push-To-Talk (EPTT) service for near real-time voice communications, highly secure messaging, and location features required for workers to stay productive in the field. [See Zebra media release] -- Posted Tuesday, November 20, 2018 by chb

Future technologies and the impact on mobile workforces and their devices
Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors will be the technology trends most impacting mobile workforces over the next 12 months, say mobile technology buyers in the latest research from Panasonic. When asked to rate the importance of technology trends for use by their mobile workforce, buyers rated Big Data (52%) the most important, closely followed by IoT (51%) and Sensor technologies (41%), including atmosphere, temperature and biological sensors. The main drivers for the technologies were improved business efficiency and productivity. [See Panasonic media release] -- Posted Tuesday, November 6, 2018 by chb

Tablet market sees modest decline in Q3 2018
According to IDC, the worldwide tablet market declined 8.6% during the third quarter of 2018 as global shipments fell to 36.4 million. Slate tablets accounted for the majority of the market with 31.6 million units, down 7.9% from the previous year. Detachable tablets also declined, down 13.1% from the previous year, to account for 4.8 million unit shipments. Apple continued to lead the tablet market with nearly double the shipments of its nearest competitor. Samsung came in second, with Amazon, Huawei and Lenovo next. [See IDC media release] -- Posted Friday, November 2, 2018 by chb

JLT Mobile Computers strengthens its 10-inch tablet offering with new integrated keyboard and high-performance versions
JLT Mobile Computers, a leading developer and manufacturer of reliable computers for demanding environments, announces an expansion of its tablet lineup with two new products that will help customers improve productivity. A new high-performance version of the rugged MT2010 tablet provides processing power for the most demanding software applications. The new MT2010K complements the MT2010 tablet form factor with an integrated keyboard for easy data input. [See JLT Mobile media release] -- Posted Friday, November 2, 2018 by chb