August 2014

Millions are using Microsoft One Note, but Android users didn't get handwriting on it, which makes the app less useful for many. That's now changed as Microsoft introduced One Note for Android with handwriting/inking support to provide a fuller tablet experience. With current advances in truly useful capacitive pens for tablets, annotation capability will become increasingly more important. [See One Note for Android]

Motion secures CID2 certification for F5 rugged tablet and EasyConnect UHF RFID reader
Motion Computing announced has secured Class I, Division 2 (CID2) certification for the F5te Rugged Tablet and EasyConnect UHF RFID Long-Range Reader. With CID2 certification, the Motion F5te Rugged Tablets & EasyConnect RFID Long-Range Readers can be used in new environments, in new ways, such as streamlining inspections at oil and gas companies and improving plant safety and integrity across process manufacturing. [See Motion press release and CID2 explanation] -- Posted Wednesday, August 20, 2014 by chb

Tablet leaders facing increased competition, less demand
According to NPD DisplaySearch, the tablet PC leaders (Apple and Samsung) have been dealing with an increase in large-screen smartphone sales, a slowdown in the consumer replacement cycle, as well as greater competition from white-box brands and other low-cost tablet PCs. Total tablet PC display shipments declined 10% between the first half of 2013 and 2014, while combined tablet PC display shipments to Apple (31million) and Samsung (14.7 million) fell 34%. -- Posted Thursday, August 14, 2014 by chb

Added: RuggON rugged tablet and vehicle-mount lineup
Added RuggON's lineup of rugged tablet and vehicle mount computers to RuggedPCReview.com. This includes the 7-inch Android-based PA-301, the 7-inch Windows-based PM-311, the semi-rugged 10.1-inch PM-501, the 10.4-inch PM-511, the 10-4-inch Bay Trail-powered PM-522, and the vehicle mount VM-521. -- Posted Monday, August 11, 2014 by chb

ARBOR suggests 5.5-inch Android-powered rugged Gladius 5 for IoT applications
ARBOR Technology suggests powering mobile POS as well as warehousing, transportation and medical applications with their new ARBOR Gladius 5 rugged IoT handheld. Equipped with an MT 6589 Quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU and running Android 4.2, the IP65-sealed Gladius 5 has a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720 procap multi-touch screen with Gorilla Glass, RFID/NFC, 5 sensors, 1D/2D barcode scanning and WLAN/WWAN/BT wireless. [See ARBOR Gladius 5 release] -- Posted Friday, August 8, 2014 by chb

Microsoft loss from Surface tablets estimated at US$1.7 billion
InfoWorld reports that Microsoft has lost US$1.7 billion on its Surface tablets since their launch in 2012. While that's just a drop in the bucket of Microsoft's overall financials, CEO Nadella's statement that "we are not in the hardware for hardware sake, and the first-party device portfolio will be aligned to our strategic direction as the productivity and platform company," probably means that much will rely on Surface Pro 3 sales performance. [Read InfoWorld article "Surface damage mounts at Microsoft as red ink reaches $1.7 billion"] -- Posted Tuesday, August 5, 2014 by chb