August 2018

Durabook Americas created the DURABOOK U11 to meet the growing demand for fully-rugged tablets in military, public safety and other demanding environments. RuggedPCReview examined the attractively styled fanless 3-pound tablet with its large 11.6-inch FHD IPS screen, choice of high-efficiency Intel Kaby Lake Y-Series processors, security-centric design, great expansion potential, and impressive ruggedness. [See full review of the Durabook Americas DURABOOK U11]

Xplore rugged tablets enable MH Equipment's migration to fully paperless sales, service operations
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 MH Equipment has successfully transitioned to a fully paperless operation using a rugged tablet-based mobility solution from Xplore Technologies, which was recently acquired by Zebra, and TPI, a Platinum Xplore Partner. [See Zebra media release] -- Posted Wednesday, August 29, 2018 by chb

RuggedPCReview.com to add display luminance testing
The rapidly growing use of mobile computers in the field makes outdoor and sunlight viewability ever more important. A good outdoor viewable display must have many qualities. Among the most important is luminance, the intensity of light emitted from a surface per unit area. It's commonly measured in "nits," which is display-industry slang for "candela per meter squared." RuggedPCReview has procured display luminance metering test equipment, and we will add luminance testing to all of our product reviews. -- Posted Thursday, August 23, 2018 by chb

Military-grade rugged case for Microsoft Surface Go introduced by MobileDemand
MobileDemand, an authorized reseller for Microsoft Surface devices and the first company to offer a rugged case to pass all requirements for the Microsoft Surface Pro in the Designed for Surface program, is introducing its military-grade rugged xCase for the 2-in-1 Microsoft Surface Go. Along with the rugged case for Surface Go, MobileDemand will offer a Surface Go bundle that includes the Surface Go, a MobileDemand proven rugged military-tested Surface case, and a chemically strengthened screen protector. [See MobileDemand media release] -- Posted Wednesday, August 15, 2018 by chb

Added: Panasonic Toughbook FZ-M1
Panasonic's compact and handy 7-inch Toughpad FZ-M1 has been around for a while. It's a tried-and-true design. Between that and Panasonic's frequent updates to the M1, the tablet remains fresh and relevant. The latest upgrades enhanced tech, changed the name to Toughbook, and made the M1 available in several application-specific models, including versions with depth and thermal cameras. [See description, analysis and specs of the Panasonic Toughbook FZ-M1] -- Posted Tuesday, August 7, 2018 by chb

Global tablet shipments to hit 40 million units in 3Q18
According to DigiTimes, global tablet shipments are expected to hit the level of 40 million units in the third quarter of 2018, up from 37.08 million units in the second quarter. Global tablet shipments for the whole 2018 are forecast to reach 150 million units, down 4-5% on year. In terms of second-quarter shipment performances by brand vendors, both Samsung and Lenovo saw slight decreases in tablet shipments, Apple and Huawei enjoyed significant shipment increases, while Amazon registered a flat performance. -- Posted Friday, August 3, 2018 by chb

Enhanced Panasonic FZ-G1 and FZ-M1 tablets deliver customized choices for evolving needs of mobile workers in demanding and extreme environments
Panasonic, an industry leading manufacturer of mobile computing solutions that are purpose-built for the way people work, announce the launch of the latest version of its acclaimed FZ-G1 and FZ-M1 tablets. These fully-rugged tablets are both leaders in their categories: the FZ-G1 remains one of the world's bestselling 10.1" tablet and the FZ-M1 is one of the lightest and thinnest in its class at just 1.27 pounds. [See Panasonic media release] -- Posted Thursday, August 2, 2018 by chb

Full review: MobileDemand's high-performance xTablet T1270
There are jobs that need all the performance you can get. On a screen large enough to do serious work. That's what MobileDemand's 12.2-inch xTablet T1270 is all about. The xTablet T1270 is definitely high performance, especially when ordered with one of the two high-end Intel "Kaby Lake" Core processors. Combine that with speedy PCIe-based NVMe solid state disks (very highly recommended) and dual channel RAM, and the xTablet T1270 is a beast. [See full review of the MobileDemand xTablet T1270] -- Posted Wednesday, August 1, 2018 by chb