June 2011

Algiz 7 tablet from Handheld now certified by Verizon Wireless
Handheld US, a North American supplier of rugged PDAs and devices, announced that its Algiz 7 rugged tablet computer is now certified for connectivity on the Verizon Wireless network. The Algiz 7 (see our review) is an ultra-rugged, 7-inch widescreen tablet that runs Windows 7 and offers users wireless communication across the globe via optional Gobi 2000 technology that supports both GSM and CDMA high-speed data networks, giving users their choice of wireless frequency anywhere in the world. [See press release] -- Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2011 by chb

CENS.com: Inventec receives orders for tablets from HP
According to an article in the Taiwan Economic News, Inventec Corp. has received a large order for tablets from HP. HP supposedly has ordered 400,000 to 450,000 TouchPad tablets per month. [See CENS.com article] -- Posted Friday, June 24, 2011 by chb

Motion C5v tablets used in New Zealand health organization
Motion Computing reports that the Tairawhiti District Health Board in New Zealand upgraded its mobile technology solutions to the Motion C5v Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA). “We left the decision up to our clinicians who, immediately after testing a demo tablet, requested we implement the tablet PCs as soon as possible,” said Max Ponomarev, the Board's team leader for IT Infrastructure. “I can’t remember them ever being this enthusiastic about a new technology.” [See Motion press release] -- Posted Friday, June 24, 2011 by chb

HP announces webOS Pivot
HP announced HP webOS Pivot, providing users an entertaining and informative editorial resource for discovering webOS 3.0 applications for the HP TouchPad, which launches July 1. Designed to complement the HP webOS App Catalog, Pivot will showcase a broad range of applications – and the developers who create them – by providing customers the freedom to explore based on their interests and lifestyles. -- Posted Friday, June 24, 2011 by chb

Added: LXE Marathon tablet
Introduced late last year, the LXE Marathon field computer picks up the "open book" design that combines a display and a keyboard in a very compact tablet. The Marathon weighs just over two pounds, has a 7-inch 800 x 480 pixel outdoor-viewable touchscreen, runs Windows 7 on an Intel Atom Z530 processor, and includes a camera, a fingerprint reader that doubles as a mouse, and also offers a wealth of bolt-on accessories such as a mag stripe reader, 2D imager and extended battery for up to 6 and 9-hour operation. The device, which measures about 8 x 7.6 inches, includes 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth, and is sealed to IP 65 spec. [See description and specs of the LXE Marathon] -- Posted Thursday, June 23, 2011 by chb

PeopleNet chooses MobileDemand rugged Tablet PC for its portable onboard computing system
MobileDemand, the nation's leading provider of Rugged Tablet PCs to the transportation industry announced that PeopleNet has chosen the MobileDemand xTablet T7000 for the PeopleNet TABLET integrated onboard computing and mobile communications system for next generation fleet management. PeopleNet, a provider of innovative and integrated onboard fleet management systems, holds an exclusive agreement with MobileDemand and has begun taking delivery of thousands of MobileDemand xTablet T7000 Rugged Tablet PCs to offer its own customer base a way to improve driver efficiency and speed the accounting cycle. [See MobileDemand press release] -- Posted Wednesday, June 22, 2011 by chb

Panasonic Toughbook 19 gets performance, display, and storage updates
Panasonic has given its venerable Toughbook 19 rugged convertible notebook computer another substantial update. There's a major performance boost via a switch to a 2.5GHz standard voltage Intel Core i5-2520M processor, amazingly still without the need of a fan. The display is now a slightly smaller 10.1-inch transflective design with a special reflective layer that provides great sunlight viewability without a superbright backlight. The 19 can now have up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a high-speed 320GB disk or up to 256GB of SSD, as well as upgraded wireless, including 4G LTE. [See description and specs of the Panasonic CF-19 Mark 5] -- Posted Friday, June 17, 2011 by chb

American Airlines to use Samsung Galaxy Tab in planes
American Airline announced it has ordered 6,000 Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 media tablets and will use them to replace the their current seat-back entertainment devices on many transcontinental and international flights. -- Posted Thursday, June 16, 2011 by chb

Toshiba taking pre-oders for Android-based 10.1-inch Thrive tablet
Toshiba started taking pre-orders for its 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 pixel Android 3.1-based media tablet initially just called the "Toshiba Tablet," but now named the Toshiba Thrive. Pricing is set at US$429/479/579 for 8/16/32GB units. The 10.7 x 6.9 x 0.6 inch unit weighs 1.7 pounds, has a 2mp webcam and 5mp rear camera, offers USB and HDMI, and adds to the number of Android-based brand name contenders in the media tablet market. [See the Toshiba Thrive page and our updated media tablet table] -- Posted Monday, June 13, 2011 by chb

Ricoh introduces the eWriter solution
Ricoh introduced its new eWrite Solution: a business-class tablet and back-end services designed to improve business efficiencies by moving paper processes online. The company also announced that the device and services will be offered through its new business unit, Ricoh eWriter Solutions (EWS). The eWriter Solution is comprised of the Ricoh eQuill, a one-pound 9.7-inch tablet with stylus, camera, and 20 hour battery life that functions as a digital clipboard, and the eWriter Workflow Services. -- Posted Friday, June 3, 2011 by chb

Toshiba unveils WT310 media tablet in Japan
Toshiba Japan announced the WT310, an Intel Atom Z670 powered and Windows 7-based media tablet with a large 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 pixel display. Measuring 11.7 x 7.7 x 0.63 inches and weighing just 2 pounds, the WT310 has a 64GB SSD, 2GB of DDR2-800 RAM, USB, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, and is clearly geared towards the enterprise and business markets that rely on Windows. (See Toshiba Japan WT310 product page] -- Posted Thursday, June 2, 2011 by chb