December 2006

Motion signs up with ASUS
Motion Computing announced a manufacturing agreement with ASUSTeK, Inc., a leading provider of computers, communications and consumer electronics based in Taipei, Taiwan. ASUS will become an original design manufacturer of Motion tablet PCs and peripherals. New Motion products built by ASUS will be released beginning in 2007. This new agreement augments Motion’s existing relationship with Compal Electronics based in Taiwan and China. Compal will continue as a strategic partner for Motion, including manufacturing of Motion’s current award-winning product family as well as developing new Motion designs. Our take: Hmmm. Interesting, but a somewhat odd announcement. -- Posted Thursday, December 21, 2006 by chb

NEC readies new Tablet PC convertible, maybe
NEC certainly has a long history in pen, rugged and mobile systems, going all the way back to the beginning of pen computing where the NEC Versa pen convertible once played a not inconsiderable role. NEC also was among the first to embrace WindowsCE and was an innovator in that arena for several years. When Microsoft reinvented the Tablet PCs, NEC showed the impressive, ultra-thin Versa LitePad slate. And NEC Japan tantalized us with a few other rather impressive vertical market offerings along the way. Sadly, with the exception of the laudable Windows CE project, most of NEC's efforts quickly fizzled or never really made it over here at all. That may now change with the introduction of the latest NEC vertical machine, the ShieldPRO FC-N21S. Yes, it looks a lot like the Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 that's been around for four years or so, and at first look, the specs aren't that impressive. Core Solo chip, 10.6 x 10.1 x 1.9 inch body to accommodate a 12.1-inch screen, 5.5 pounds, IP54 rating. We'll see, but it's good to know NEC hasn't given up. -- Posted Wednesday, December 6, 2006 by chb