The Latest Tablet PC Comparisons, Reviews, Software & Accessories and Announcements
Our Tablet PC Quick Compare include photos and allows you to quickly and easily compare the differences between individual Tablet PC'S Updated June 26, 2008
MobileMe is set to ship to market by mid-July, and Apple has already begun taking pre-orders. But a neat little application, Evernote, already does some of that for producing, organizing and syncing notes, Web pages, audio and graphics for availability on just about anything with a Web connection. It works as both a desktop application and a Web-based application, and the company that created it, also called Evernote, of Sunnyvale, Calif., has customized a portal for the iPhone.
Evernote allows the user to tag notes for better organization. After several hundred or thousand notes that are saved, it will let you do simple searches by tag to find the precise notes for which you're searching. Notes can be emailed or printed; individual notes can be dragged-and-dropped between "notebooks" to move them around. The application supports a number of file formats, including text, html, jpeg, gif, png, wav, mp3 and an ink format. (The ink function actually worked very well when notes were taken on a Fujitsu Lifebook T2010 tablet PC.)
A desktop PIM and calendar that you can change to suit your mood.
Verdict: A great way to get better organised.
This is a software publisher's description
This fully customizable calendar with notes, tasks, alarms and contacts provides integration and interactivity with the desktop background. You can organise your data in layers and share them with other people on a local area network.
The program can integrate with Outlook to show its appointments and tasks on the desktop. There are options for changing calendar icons, fonts and colours, marking weekdays of choice and marking dates with notes and/or alarms. You can have a text only version of the calendar and choose between displaying one, two or three months on the desktop.
Google Calendars are supported through direct connection with their iCal addresses. Special desktop pictures option will let you add some of your pictures to existing desktop background. For importing and exporting calendar data the program supports iCal and comma separated values CSV formats. Tablet PC users should not worry as the program detects desktop orientation changes automatically. Finally, Active Desktop Calendar comes with world clock screen saver that shows your computer's system time, plus five major time zones around the world.
Insightful comments from Active Ink Software, one of the early and leading ISVs in the Tablet PC space, on Tablet PCs, sales, developers, and Microsoft:
Any venture capitalists out there paying attention?
As a tablet PC software developer, I feel your pain. We created an electronic form data entry application for the tablet PC five years ago and continue to have a loyal customer base but our expectations regarding tablet PC sales have never been realized.
From a developer's perspective, it's hard to get excited about developing for this platform when there is very little marketing being done to promote this technology. We love the tablet PC and will continue to enhance our application, but wish some of the bigger players would put a little marketing behind it.
I like the idea of a venture capitalist funding some of the tablet PC developers. Maybe that will jump-start the market.
I've only been using it for a few hours but I'll offer up my initial impressions of the BlueAnt Z9i Bluetooth headset. It's very small and so light that I don't realize it's on after just a minute of putting it in my ear. It comes with two earpieces for a proper fit and a loop over the ear for security. It also comes with a second clear plastic ear loop for those who don't want others to know they have an ear loop on. There is a tiny A/C adapter for dedicated charging and it also comes with a short USB cable for charging the Z9i on a PC so you can leave the adapter at home. That's pretty much all there is to tell. The audio quality so far has been good and the dedicated volume buttons easy to use while wearing the Z9i. The ant logo flashes blue when it's on and connected to a phone. It also shines red when charging until fully charged when the LED goes out.
At the same time--and many who doubt the PC's staying power miss this point--the PC itself will be getting more powerful, more reliable and simpler to use. Even though the underlying hardware, networks and software will become more complex, that complexity will be hidden from users. There will be a simpler user interface that adapts to your needs, with voice recognition and natural-language processing. There will be "instant-on," so you won't have to wait for your PC to come to life. When the PC is at the center of a home network (probably connected to a broader network that will constantly monitor performance, update software and download device drivers and the like), it will be incredibly easy to administer, automatic in operation and maintenance-free. And the PC will morph into many new forms, such as book-size "tablet PCs." But they'll still be PCs underneath, with all the benefits of the universal PC model.
Gerry Purdy, CEO of the research firm Mobile Insights and a prognosticator on all things wireless, agrees with that vision; he thinks that in the next century we actually will see more, not fewer, mobile devices. Purdy adds two ingredients to the mix: a pen-based electronic tablet that will replace the yellow legal pad for note-taking, and a large handheld computer that will run the Microsoft CE operating system and serve as our primary computing companion. Code-named Jupiter by Microsoft, the units will have a keyboard and a larger screen than PalmPilots (on which inputting information can be difficult) and will cost half as much as the smallest laptops. Synchronizing information between all the various gadgets, Purdy says, will keep us from going insane, and ""we'll wonder how we ever got along without them.''
You heard right, we just got our HP tx2500 Tablet PC in house today. It was dropped off by FedEx this morning and brought smiles to our faces. The new AMD Puma processor and ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics are the main updates to the tx2500, so we went ahead and ran some benchmarks to give you a feel for the performance this 12.1" tablet puts out.
Overall the tx2500 surfs the Web with no problems, has a solid design and has a nice touchscreen display, but the colors are a little washed out. I still love watching movies and listening to music with this tablet though, especially when you think about all you get for the price. Stay tuned for our full review later this week, which will include more photos, benchmarks and tests.
Motion Computing®, a leader in mobile computing and wireless communications, today announced the C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA) and F5 semi-rugged tablet PC feature upgrades and new custom peripherals created for the unique design of the devices. The C5 now features integrated mobile broadband and solid state drive (SSD) options to extend its usability to the point of care, regardless of patient location. Additionally, the C5 and F5 now feature improved capacity with standard 80 GB hard disk drives (HDD) at no additional cost.
“Motion understands mobile workforces and we are focused on improving productivity across a broad range of environments, from the patient bedside to the construction site,” said Mike Stinson, VP of Marketing at Motion. “Customer feedback is a critical part of improving our tablet PCs, and based on recent input we’re confident that these upgrades will enable our target customers to be more productive, no matter where work takes them.”
With the C5’s optional integrated mobile broadband, mobile clinicians can improve productivity by accessing important patient information, including digital images and patient history details. For many mobile point of care applications, such as those in home healthcare, ongoing connectivity will enable better collaboration with other treating clinicians and reduce travel time by allowing the immediate transfer of documentation after every patient visit, which can reduce processing delays and improve billing cycle times. Additionally, the optional SSD will help further protect the C5 from the occasional bumps and drops experienced by highly mobile professionals.
OQO is known as the king of ultra-portability with their Model 02 Tablet PC. It is pocketable, wearable, inkable, thumbable, dockable, and ultra-small.
What can OQO do to improve their products? What are they doing right and where are they falling below expectations? Are there clear open opportunities that OQO should take advantage of? How is their customer service and product quality standing up? If you are not a OQO customer, what could they do to make you a customer?
Feel the ultimate power and flexibility. The new enhanced version of Fujitsu Stylistic ST5112 fulfills all your business needs at the tip of a light pen. It’s a very ergonomically designed and lightweight tablet PC in a slate form factor.
The Stylistic supports a docking station and one wireless keyboard (sold separately), which make this state of the art computing device a completely portable one. This tablet is power packed with a range of fascinating features. At its core is the embedded Intel Core Duo U7600 CPU designed specifically for smaller computers with its low power consumption. Although its clock speed isn’t quite as fast as other similar processors, like the Intel Core 2 Duo T8300, the U7600 still offers powerful performance. The latest Intel 945GM Express Chipset and a DDR2 memory module also accompany this processor
Microsoft is a huge company with the most advanced tablet technology on the market. Why don't they spend advertising dollars to make the tablet a household word?
I have often wished that Microsoft would get out there and really promote the TabletPC. It has never happened. The best the tablet seems to get is cameo appearances in MS advertising.
Have you ever wondered why that is?
My theory - and let me stress those two words, my theory, I have no inside knowledge on Microsoft's strategy with respect to marketing the tabletPC - is that they don't really have a lot to gain by doing so. Remember that unlike Apple, Microsoft don't sell PCs. They are a software company. They want to sell you a Windows license.
I strongly suspect that tablet functionality is not going to convert die hard Mac users in their droves. Furthermore I suspect that historically the vast majority of tablet purchases have been by people buying a tablet instead of a Windows laptop, so really to market the TabletPC heavily would not be creating new sales for Microsoft, it would be robbing Peter to pay Paul. In the XP days it would of shifted sales from one SKU (Windows XP Pro) to another (Windows XP Pro Tablet Edition). In the Vista product suite, at best is could up sell someone from Home Basic to one of the other SKUs.
That said - there is a community that does have something to gain from marketing tablet functionality as a point of difference. The OEMs. There is a price premium on Tablet PCs, but it is not from the OS license, so it is going into the OEM's pocket. They should be marketing tablet heavily.
Chase Hunter, an optometrist, knew he wanted to go into the medical field but he was unsure which discipline to pursue.
In 2000, his then future wife underwent Lasik eye surgery. He said it made such a difference for her eye sight that he knew he wanted to be an optometrist.
"No one hates going to the eye doctor," Hunter said. "That's the only doctor you can say that about for the vast majority of people."
Hunter recently opened his own practice, Within Sight, 775 W. Covell Road. He specifically chose the location at the intersection of Covell Road and Kelly Avenue because there is not another optometrist in the area.
Also, many medical professionals are converting to Electronic Medical Records. Instead of carrying a patient's chart, Hunter has all the information recorded in a PC tablet that he carries.
Things are moving rapidly here in the final sprint to finish up our renovations and re-open the Wayside Theatre. But as we deal with electricians, sound techs, rehearsals, and the like, we’ve also got the ongoing work of keeping the theatre running to keep us on our toes. Today was one of those days where a couple of solutions I use in my daily work flow came in very handy and sort of saved the day, if not just some precious time.
I was not at the office when this came in, instead I was at the rehearsal hall. So, when I got the call from the office I had an employee scan the title pages of our programs as pdf files into a Windows Live Mesh folder on my desktop. Once that was done I grabbed the pdf files off of the corresponding folder on my Tablet PC and using the stylus, highlighted and marked up the acknowledgment text on each page using BlueBeam PDF Revu. I then sent the files off to the agency via email.
I got a quick reply of thanks, letting me know the funds were now in the mail.
Now, of course, there are other online file syncing solutions that would have given me access to the files, but right now the one I’m using is Windows Live Mesh. It did the job.
John McCain has taken some hits for saying that he is “computer illiterate”, but in this CNN report slamming him for that (and politicians in general), there are a couple of shots of him trying out a TabletKiosk eo UMPC. Check it out.
This year's Wimbledon tennis tournament features an installation courtesy of fledgling London design group Kin Design.
Kin has created an interactive installation for the IBM hospitality suite. It allows visitors to use a wireless Think Pad Tablet PC to control a large plasma screen, which is capable of displaying eight different information streams including websites, commentator information and live cameras on court.
Kin creative director Kevin Palmer says, 'Today, people look for unique experiences. The idea is for visitors to come away with a broad knowledge of IBM's presence, and to look behind the scenes at the sheer volume of data collected and distributed, both internally and externally.
I got the opportunity to play with the new HP Touchsmart IQ504 when I was in Berlin and took some videos of people interacting with the system. It was definitely the hit of the show. Everyone wanted to touch it, and once they touched, they stayed and played.
With the Touchsmart, HP has taken simplicity to a new level. When I think about why I love my iPhone, one major reason is that it does exactly what I expect it to do and does it well. The Touchsmart subscribes to that same philosophy.
Would I buy one? Seriously considering it. At $1250 on special from HP, it's a great deal. It could replace many of the systems I have scattered around my living room and kitchen. (Yes, I do have many systems scattered around.) It has a simplified browser that is ideal for touch as well as all of the other applications that I typically use when I'm not on my "main" Tablet PC. I was far more impressed with it than I anticipated based on seeing pictures and reading specs. It's another case where you just have to touch it and find out for yourself. It uses many gestures familiar to iPhone users and it does support at least 2 finger multi-touch as you'll see with the photo editing.
Motion Computing, headquartered in Austin, Texas, produces slate tablet PCs for mobile professionals in industries including healthcare, government, and field force automation. Motion is a mobile computing and wireless communications leader, combining world-class innovation and industry experience so individuals can use computing technology in new ways and places. The company's enhanced line of tablet PCs and accessories are designed to increase productivity for on-the-go users while providing computing security, power and versatility.
Operations Data:
Established in 2001, Motion is a company driven to innovateand applies that culture to the markets it serves which include: Healthcare, Enterprise Mobility (includes Field Sales & Service, Retail, and Hospitality), Education, Manufacturing, and Government.
Motion has three award-winning tablet PC form factors and offers related peripherals, software, and other services to provide complete, wireless computing solutions for mobile professionals.
Motion was the first tablet PC developer to incorporate an integrated RFID reader.
Motion's tablet PCs are recognized as tools that are designed for the way people work and are focused on integrating world-class technology that is application and mobility driven. Motion's customers experience tangible, measurable advances in productivity, without compromising their work styles to accommodate a machine
Yesterday morning, several Google alerts popped up in my inbox describing how Typhoon Touch Technologies added ten additional companies as defendants in their patent infringement lawsuit including Apple, Dell, Fujitsu and Panasonic. (Sand Dune Ventures, the parent company of TabletKiosk, was previously named in the lawsuit) These alerts were triggered by a press release issued by Typhoon Touch Technologies at 9:52 PM Monday, June 23.
Regarding claims of a potential settlement by TabletKiosk
“I was shocked to see that they made this claim in their release. We did not and have no intention of entering into settlement talks with Typhoon. Yes, our attorney contacted their lawyers to explain our defense; however, Typhoon immediately rejected our claim, and we never discussed settlement.
“I find it interesting that the two companies that “settled” with Typhoon, Motion Computing and Electrovaya, do not currently offer mobile touch screen solutions. How do you settle on something that you do not sell?”
Manufacturer of award-winning Toughbook® notebook computers introduces the first rugged UMPC equipped with the Intel® Atom™ processor; Reinvention of handheld computing pushes the benefits of enterprise mobile and wireless technology to new frontiers
In response to the increasing demand for full-function handheld PCs for the mobile field worker, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company, manufacturer of durable, reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers, today announced the availability of the Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1, the first ultra mobile PC (UMPC) to integrate the new low power Intel® Atom™ processor in a rugged handheld computer for use in the field. With the introduction of the extremely portable Toughbook CF-U1, remote workers are able to connect to critical information and applications in real time, thus improving organizational efficiency, increasing information accuracy, and enabling field-based decision-making. The CF-U1 reinvents handheld computing by integrating robust features previously only available on a full size Toughbook PC in a rugged UMPC form factor that can be used anywhere.
PhatWare Corporation, a leading provider of software products and professional services for mobile and desktop computers, announces today the beta availability of PenOffice 3.0, a suite of handwriting recognition and collaboration software for Microsoft Windows-based computers and Tablet PCs.
PenOffice has found wide acceptance worldwide among OEMs and end users due to its highly accurate handwriting recognition, easy-to-use user interface, and extended set of pen-based collaboration features. The new version of the application recognizes handwriting in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Spanish, and is designed for use with Windows-based desktop, portable, tablet, and ultra-mobile PCs. PenOffice also incorporates features that allow users to add handwritten notes to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, embed control gestures into writing, create handwritten notes, utilize fill-screen drawings, and much more.
While previous versions of PenOffice were available in two editions, English and Multilingual, Version 3.0 includes recognition engines for all supported languages, providing beta testers with access to the complete feature-set.
PenOffice 3.0 supports Windows XP or later and can work with any pointing input device devices, such as graphic tablet, interactive while board, touch screen monitor, Tablet PC, online digital pen, and even standard computer mouse. To participate in the PenOffice 3.0 Beta Program, visit www.phatware.com/pobeta and follow the instructions on the website. The final release of PenOffice 3.0 is expected at the end of Q3 2008.
It's just a short time before he will leave full-time duties at Microsoft (MSFT), and Bill Gates is reflecting on a longtime passion: the human-type interfaces he believes will usher computing well beyond the keyboard and mouse — everything from Tablet PCs with handwriting recognition to Surface tabletop computers that recognize objects and human touch.
Using a pen. They haven't exactly been runaway best sellers, but Gates remains extremely bullish long-term on Tablet PCs, which let you use a stylus, or pen, to control icons or write directly on the screen in digital ink.
Gates says Tablet PCs from Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Toshiba and others sell in the millions today, not tens of millions. Early versions tended to be cumbersome and clumsy. Still, Tablet PCs have been adopted in insurance and medicine, and there's a real opportunity, Gates insists, in education.
"My daughter is at a school where everybody has Tablet PCs, and they use OneNote and don't have textbooks. It's been a phenomenal success." Gates said he had nothing to do with the Tablet PCs being in her classroom.
Microsoft's OneNote software lets you search and organize free-form notes, whether captured by pen, keyboard or audio recorder. Not surprisingly, Gates writes on a Tablet PC more than most. He'll typically leave notes in their handwritten form to share with colleagues or refer to later. But he sometimes converts written scrawl into typed text.
The recognition part has improved, a lot, Gates says. I've been "living this ink thing for a long time and always feel like we're on the verge," he says.
Inside the company, researchers are working to further improve the Tablet PC experience. One example, still in the prototype stage but available as a download, is called InkSeine. Traditional pull-down menus and other trappings of the mouse/keyboard environment have been ditched in favor of an interface designed with the pen in mind. It takes advantage of "gestures" (e.g., you can scroll by drawing a little spiral). "We want ink to be more of a first-class citizen," says Raman Kumar Sarin, a senior developer at Microsoft Research.
I get more gadgets and stuff than I can shake a stick at, and frankly, I'm getting run out of my office with it all. So, I'm going to pass them on to you - the GBM reader. I love all of this stuff, but I figured it would be best to spread the love around.
How can you win? Well, on any given day we'll be giving away one of the above prizes. It might be the Red Zune one day, the TC1100 two days later, or a TabletKiosk stand and a gift card all on the same day - you won't know what is being given away until the deed is done! The key to winning is to 1) be active on the GBM site with some good comments on our posts, or 2) be actively discussing topics / helping users in our forums, or 3) be active by spreading the GBM link love around by posting about GBM on your site, your blog, in a video, in a podcast, in other forums you participate in, Twitter links, etc - point to the work we are doing and let others know. We'll be watching and will pick someone from amongst the people active for that particular day. We'll do this until all of the above prizes are given away. This is open to U.S. and International readers.
Gaming on a Tablet PC isn’t as far fetched as most people think, you just have to be creative with the way you do it. Most Tablet PC’s only offer integrated graphics, with only one or two models that offer a low-end dedicated card as an option.
This means that new and modern games are out of the question, but it’s not like you are limited to just playing solitaire in a classroom. This Tablet PC gaming guide will go over a few older fun games that work very well on most tablets, as well as some tips on making more advanced games work too.
If ever you have the chance to try using a slate for a while I would recommend you take it. Having a slate forces you to explore and find where it does and does not work. Try it in the situation where you think it will work and then stretch yourself a bit.
My first ever tablet was a pure slate and I am convinced that I am a better tablet user for the experience. Even though I would prefer a slate my work provided machine is a Lenovo X60 convertible, because I work for one of those companies that does not offer enough choices :) However I use it a lot in slate mode. Every day on the train to and from work, every meeting, document reviewing, research and more.
TabletPCBuzz is all about providing the best and most valuable information to you. Unbiased, first person reviews of hardware and software are tremendously important to our tablet pc community and we appreciate all of you who work hard to answer questions and provide guidance.
This contest starts immediately and will conclude on July 15th, so don't wait to get started.
This brand new Lenovo 22" flat screen monitor (model D221) retails for over $300.
We could use a hammer..." That's the tag line of MobileDemand's latest video in their Tablet PC Torture Chamber Series where a man uses a Tablet PC to hammer a bunch of large nails into a board. The video is the latest in a series of increasingly sophisticated and outrageous demonstrations of just how tough their Tablet PC is.
Using the xTablet Tablet PC computer as a hammer really means to illustrate a point: shock and vibration do happen in the field. If you use a machine in a truck or as a data capture device you do not intend to damage it, but sooner or later it will fall. And constant vibration is affecting the computer.
To see the "We could use a hammer..." video, click this Blip.tv link.
In adjoining Disneyland, the Innoventions Dream Home also opened Tuesday in the Tomorrowland area. It's a mix of technology, fantasy and marketing between Disney and partners Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard., home automator Life/Ware and builder Taylor Morrison.
The 5,000-square-foot house, whose total cost was around $15 million, is an updated version of a Disney staple of the 1950s and 1960s, the Monsanto House of the Future.
That house featured cutting-edge technologies such as a microwave oven and a giant (but nonoperational) television that hung on the wall.
Disney's new house of the future also features technologies that are heading toward mainstream, such as touch-screen PCs and Microsoft's "Surface" table computer. Each company paid Disney — $1 million and up — to participate in the home for five years.
While mixing and mingling with the Elias family actors, guests can play with the Microsoft Surface computers throughout the house. They can see how the touch-screen HP computers work in the kitchen and home office. And they can try out the home automation products from Life/Ware that automatically dim lights, set customized music and temperatures and illuminate the outside of the house for parties and holidays.
xTablet Rugged Tablet PC provides Retailers with significant Industry Advantage
Affiliated Foods Midwest, a member-owned grocery cooperative headquartered in Norfolk, Neb., recently partnered with rugged Tablet PC manufacturer MobileDemand to help simplify its order entry process and streamline operations - a move that helped significantly decrease the cost of goods sold for participating retailers.
With the industry's highest processor performance, MobileDemand's xTablet gave AFM the ability to develop an enhanced functionality software application for the Tablet PC, thus enabling back-office server functionality and decision making at the point of order entry on the retail floor. With the database stored on the Tablet PC, the application allows department managers to make critical ordering decisions instantly as they are reviewing the store shelves, completely eliminating the need for a second process for managers to download data from a handheld unit to the back-office server and then review allowances and other key data on the ordering server.
"As a full screen computer, the MobileDemand xTablet Tablet PC can run any off-the-shelf software written for the standard full Windows environment," said Matt Miller, president of MobileDemand. "This significantly reduces the time and costs for software development and system integration, which meant it was relatively simple for AFM to develop and port their back-end server application for use on the xTablet Tablet PC."
Every once in a while I get the opportunity to review a system that is outside of my usual realm of products. Such was the case with the DT ResearchWebDT 310.
Designed for vertical markets, the WebDT 310 is a 10" slate style Tablet PC - durable, but not ruggedized. It features an AMD Geode™ LX 800 processor and runs your choice of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, WinCE, or Windows XP Embedded. With its focus on vertical markets, the WebDT 310 also has optional magnetic stripe reader, 2MP camera, and barcode reader. You can view the full specs here. The WebDT 310 just won the prestigious "Best Choice of Computex" award for it's flexibility and reliable design.
The WebDT 310 also has a smaller brother, the WebDT 360, which has similar options, but uses an 8.4" screen for even better portability.
Panasonic will later this week add a rugged mini tablet PC to its Toughbook line of products.
The machine is based on Intel's Centrino Atom platform and prototype versions have a touch-sensitive 5.6-inch screen under which is a compact QWERTY keyboard that's been split in half with a number pad filling up the center. The letter keys were divided to make them all within reach of the user's thumbs so its possible to hold the machine and type.
The awards keeping piling in for OQO and their little pocket wonder of a computer, this time adding "The Stevie" award for 2008 Best Product to their list of accolades:
OQO Inc., mobile computing innovator and creator of the world’s smallest fully-functional Windows Vista® PC, today announced that the OQO model 02 has been recognized with a Stevie Award in the Best New Computer Hardware category at The 2008 American Business Awards last week. Hailed as "the business world's own Oscars" (New York Post, April 27, 2005), The American Business Awards is the only national, independent business awards program honoring organizations of all types -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.
One of my "ah-ha" moments came during this presentation of an app written by Bogdan Popp, a Test Lead on the Surface team, during his "free time".
This app spreads all of your photos over a geographical map according to their gps positioning that was stored when the picture was taken, and also allows you to filter by location, date, etc and lets you use touch to set the GPS position for photo that was previously unset.
Seeing this experience on the Surface really brings the Surface platform alive in a whole new way. I sooo badly want this for my tablet pc.
Ahtec have begun selling their Tiny TN120 Tablet PC in Europe, a 12.1-inch convertible powered by a 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 processor. ToDo UMPC have been giving the notebook a good going-over, and put together a video demo which you can see after the cut. As tested, the TN120 had 2GB of DDR2 667MHz RAM, a 160GB 5,400rpm hard-drive and onboard DVD-RW drive.
Dual-drive System Automatically and Continuously Duplicates Users’ Data
WD today introduced its new My Book® Mirror Edition™ dual-drive storage systems, which can automatically store valuable personal content not once, but twice, to maximize data safety. This RAID-based continuous data protection feature, called mirroring, makes WD’s My Book Mirror Edition storage systems the safest place for storing irreplaceable data.
Personal collections of digital content, such as photos, music, and videos, continue to grow on desktop and notebook computers around the world. Consumers are increasingly aware that taking precautions to protect their data is vital and are looking for a simple solution.
When users store their personal content on a My Book Mirror Edition system, their valuable data is automatically mirrored for extra protection – making it easy and economical to benefit from the data redundancy typically found in corporate data centers. This mirroring technology makes the new dual-drive systems an ideal storage solution for photographers, home users and small offices and anyone looking for extra assurance that their data is safe.
Consumers can also use the My Book Mirror Edition storage system and the included backup software to automatically and continuously back up their personal computers. The mirroring feature provides users the added assurance of a redundant backup of their data.
Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of branded products and consumer electronics groups for WD, said, “Personal and business content are extremely valuable – both emotionally and financially. Our new My Book Mirror system helps users sleep easy, knowing that their data is safe.”
Pricing and Availability
My Book Mirror Edition dual-drive storage systems are available now at select retailers and WD’s online store (www.shopwd.com)
Microsoft has gone Vegas, baby. The company’s tabletop Surface computers have been installed inside the iBar lounge at Harrah’s Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
The table touch screens have been customized by Microsoft
MICROSOFT CORP
MSFT to let you order drinks, watch videos, play games. But here’s the interesting part. Cameras have been installed at the tables along with special software called “Flirt” that lets you flirt with people at other tables.
Flirt even reportedly suggests pick up lines, like: "You're so HOT ... got sunscreen?" Or, "Apart from being sexy, what do you do for a living?" Ok, this proves the software was written by code crunchers more comfortable communicating in C++, Visual Basic or LISP than in the language of LOVE.
This is the first time Surface has been installed in an entertainment setting, and it might actually be a venue where the product takes hold. I have no intention of ever having a tabletop computer in my home or office, but it might be fun to play games on one in a bar. Plus, Vegas gives Microsoft the sexy cachet it’s never had. Although the Rio isn’t exactly the Wynn.
Looks as though the Flybook V5 will be making its way to the U.S. after gaining popularity in the European market. The V5 sports a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 processor, 4GB of memory, 80GB hard drive and runs Windows Vista Business as the OS.
The V5 has an 8.9-inch touchscreen that is responsive enough to use your fingers for navigating. It also will include HSDPA wireless connectivity, a 1.3-Megapixel web cam and be available in a variety of colors.
European users had noted that the Tablet PC suffered from a dim LCD, but supposedly this issue has been addressed for the North American release, with some claiming the screen can be read in sunlight now. Hopefully the price will be adjusted too.
The Flybook V5 will be available for $2,900. That is an awful steep price for a tiny tablet.
Portégé R500-S5007V Measures 0.77-inches Thin and Weighs 2.4 Pounds
Making it One of the Thinnest and Lightest Laptops
Toshiba’s Digital Products Division, today announced the addition of a 128GB solid state drive (SSD)(1) into the innovative Portégé laptop series. Toshiba’s 2.4 pound(2) Portégé R500-S5007V is the world’s lightest laptop with a 128GB SSD and DVD SuperMulti drive and one of the world’s thinnest with a SSD and DVD SuperMulti drive.
Retail and direct OEM sales of Windows XP will be drying up by the end of this month, so it should not be too surprising that vendors are pushing out their XP inventory this month. Dell has added three final systems to its XP lineup, which customers will be able to order until June 18.
According to Microsoft’s life-cycle policy, Windows XP Home Edition, Professional, Tablet PC Edition, Professional x64 Edition and Media Center Edition will no longer be available to the direct OEM and retail channel after June 30, 2008. System builder licenses will be offered until January 31, 2009. Mainstream support for Windows XP willr emain available until April 14, 2009.
ConnectingForCare.com is part of Intel’s commitment to finding new and innovative ways to apply technology to support today’s caregiving population and improve health outcomes. Since 1999, Intel has focused on research-driven solutions for improving the care of aging and chronically ill individuals in home and clinical settings. This research continues to drive a variety of product offerings, aimed to assist those with various conditions as well as members of the care team. For example, the Intel Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) platform, a reference design for an easy to use tablet PC that incorporates a barcode scanner, digital camera and wireless connectivity, was designed to enable nurses to access patient records at the point of care. The MCA platform helps nurses spend more time with patients, remain connected while on the move and manage the administration of medications
The R1F Series offers a wide aspect visual enjoyment while remaining compact for high mobility. The 180-degrees convertible LCD screen allows easy presentation and data sharing during meetings or at gatherings.
In addition to the R1 tablet PC model, ASUS also offers the Mobile TV, Webcam and Slim and Light notebook series to fulfill all needs of the users. The mobile TV notebook series delivers theater quality high-definition video and audio enjoyment while the webcam notebook series with built-in high-resolution 240∘rotational camera ensures total image capturing with wire-free convenience! For business professionals the compact yet functional slim and light notebook series empowers on the go mobility without adding extra pounds. Data privacy is also protected with exclusive security features as well as built–in fingerprint modules.
We told you recently about the availability of the Origami Experience 2.0 and how you can now download it for your Vista-equipped UMPC. The OE2 provides a user interface for the UMPC that has been enhanced for touch operation and it offers a ton of features that can only be appreciated through a video overview. That is what jkkmobile has produced and it looks at the entire OE2 interface and shows off all the functionality of the program. I am impressed with how fast not only OE2 is but also Vista running on jkkmobile's UMPC as it only has a 900 MHz Celeron with 1 GB of memory installed. Maybe jkkmobile can share how it's been tweaked to run so well? The web browser enhancements for the UMPC are also very nice indeed. Have a look at his video and see what you think.
New software for Vista-using UMPC owners could make their portables into something more like what they expected to begin with. However, there may be some hardware out there that won't be so welcoming.
For reasons that may have less to do with Windows than with the limitations of the hardware, the first incarnation of the Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) specification went down with a "thud heard 'round the world." In a serious attempt to revive interest in a computing niche that still begs to be interesting, and so far just isn't, Microsoft is steadily reassembling its software portfolio for UMPC, with a new campaign that this time answers more questions, rather than asking, "What is it?" and leaving the answer hanging over a cliff.
One of the key features of the new Origami Experience 2.0 (downloadable here) for UMPC owners with Vista) is a more sensible approach to presenting Internet Explorer 7 to a user with a smaller screen: It folds the key features of the Web browser into a toolbar that hugs the upper edge, and that auto-hides either when not in use, or when a Web page is fully opened.
GETAC Inc., a leading innovator and manufacturer of Rugged computers that meet the demands of field-based applications, will demonstrate the Ultra-Rugged GETAC A790, the high-performance GETAC M230, and a pair of newcomers – the “bright-as-you-need-it” GETAC B300 notebook PC and ultra-lightweight GETAC E100 tablet PC – during the Joint Warfighting Conference 2008, co-sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute, June 17-19 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center (Booth #319).
GETAC E100. Weighing in at only 3 pounds – making it the lightest Rugged tablet PC on the market – the versatile, easy-to-maneuver E100 is designed with field mobility applications in mind. That said, the E100 is every bit as tough as the heavyweights, meeting MIL-STD-810F and IP54 standards for durability and protection against dirt, dust, water, motion, vibration, temperature and other factors. The E100 offers an 8.4-inch TFT SVGA transmissive display with integrated touch screen panel or an optional Ultra-Bright sunlight-readable display and 800 Nit backlit LCD screen that delivers astonishing readability that is comparable to larger-screen models. GETAC also offers an array of expandable “mission boxes” designed for customized market applications that add RFID, barcode and magnetic strip readers or digital cameras to the E100.
GETAC V100. This recently introduced Fully Rugged convertible PC features an LCD screen that instantly transforms from a notebook into a tablet PC and is fully compliant with MIL-STD-810F and IP54 standards. The highly portable 4.9-pound V100 features ultra-quiet fanless design and includes a wide range of standard features, including a 10.4- inch screen, power-saving 1.2 GHz Intel® Core™ 2 Duo U7600 Platform Technology, 1 GB expandable to 2 GB of DRAM, 120 GB shock-mounted removable hard drive, Integrated Bluetooth, reversible water-resistant camera, and a full menu of wireless networking capabilities
ARM is going head-to-head with Intel in the ultra-mobile PC space, dubbed MIDs or mobile internet devices. Qualcomm, Texas Instruments (TI) and Nvidia are bringing out chip-sets using ARM which will run both Smartphones and MIDs.
"The MIDS market is a natural extension of the smartphone market, and already there's more Internet connectivity with smartphones than with laptops", Ian Drew, vice president of marketing at ARM, told Electronics Weekly.
In Part 2 of my Axiotron ModBook InkShow series, I take a look at how the ModBook performs as a Windows Vista based Tablet PC under Bootcamp and under VMWare's Fusion.
In short, Vista Bootcamp provided a near seamless slate tablet pc experience, with the added benefit of having 512 levels of pressure sensitivity and a built-in cd drive. Although a heavy slate Tablet PC, the ModBook performed wonderfully, and is a compelling solution for those needing to keyboard in OS X and ink in Vista using one machine. VMWare's Fusion was a different story, though. There was digitizer support via VMWare, so all inking was accomplished using the standard mouse driver. In addition, there was no TIP support. This VMWare installation was using the Bootcamp partition tested above. For my usage scenarios, I would be more interested in a VMWare solution that worked seamlessly rather than Bootcamp, so this was a disappointment for me.
So today becomes the sixth full day in row where I've lived in nothing but a browser on my UMPC. I had planned to talk today about Snipshot, a Firefox extension (and IE add-on) that allows for very basic image manipulation. My needs for image editing are pretty meager, so this tool was working well for me. You simply right click any image on a web page and choose to Edit in Snipshot. That opens the image in a browser tab where you can resize, crop, enhance and adjust qualities as shown in the above menu. Once you have the image to your liking, you can save it locally, e-mail it, or store it on a server. It was working fine this past week, but just a few minutes ago it got supplemented. I now have a nicely featured, web-based equivilent of the Snipping Tool app I love to use on my Tablet PCs thanks to Amit at Digital Inspiration. He featured the DashBlog extension and in 60-seconds of usage, I knew that I had to add this to my browser.
The Quadpad 1 by Quaduro Systems is widely used as a control panel in homes, offices and hotels as a control panel solution for Automation and AV integration. With its sleek, future proof design and reliable architecture the Windows Based 8.4” touch screen Tablet PC has distributors and systems integrators employing the panel world-wide.
Based in London, UK with registered VAR’s across the world, QUADURO SYSTEMS is a reliable and trusted brand of Tablet and Ultra Mobile PC. The devices are supplied to the leading Automotive, Aviation, Automation, Education and pro-AV integrating organization.
The Quadpad 1 is one of the several machines Quaduro now offers to its clients in all the vertical sectors they serve. The Quadpad 1 is the optimum choice for Home Automation and AV industry Integrators. The machine has a high quality and modern rubber coated design with integrated Wifi, Bluetooth, microphone and speakers. The touch screen machine also has an impressive back stand.
The DHL delivery girl got a hug because my 24-inch monitor arrived today. I've just tweaked the home office setup with this $300 (refurbished said the penny-pinching, full-time blogger) display and it now becomes the primary monitor for the Samsung Q1UP. Since this UMPC supports resolutions at 1920x1200, I decided to take advantage of it: the 1440 x 900, 19-incher was nice, but I was running out of real estate with all of those Firefox tabs open.
This is a honkin' big monitor. I think I could arrange nearly six UMPCs on the face of it if I laid it down. I feel more productive already, although it might affect my mobile usage. No, I'm not going to carry this around with me... if I was going to do that, I might as well lug an HP Dragon! I'm wondering how I'll feel on the 1024 x 600 Q1UP display at 7-inches when I hit up Starbucks tomorrow.... Any UMPC owners dealing with "large external monitor withdrawal" these days?
HP unveiled a number of new products at this summer's "Connecting Your World" media summit in Berlin. One of the products on hand was the all-new HP Pavilion tx2500 convertible Tablet PC. This update to the tx2000 tablet features the latest AMD technology promising the highest level of performance we've seen from any tx-series tablet to date. We had a few brief moments to spend some hands-on time with the tx2500, so here's a look at our first look.
HP unveiled a new tablet PC, the Pavilion tx2500z entertainment tablet notebook. Here is more info on this laptop:
Mobility with a twist
For those whose active lives demand a flexible device for note capture, Internet(15) use entertainment, communication and computing, the HP Pavilion tx2500 series Entertainment Notebook PC delivers. The tx2500 combines powerful ultra-powerful computing with Tablet PC capabilities and entertainment features in an attractive design light enough to go anywhere. HP Pavilion notebook PCs help you work faster, connect in new ways and play more.
With all the new notebooks and tablets being updated, it's a no brainer that HP joined in and updated the tx2000 series Tablet PC with an AMD Puma processor.
Our very own Kevin O'Brien had the chance to see many surprises at Computex, with all the new models he uncovered laying around the show floor. In this case it was the AMD Puma equipped HP tx2500 he got to spend some time with. The sticker on the bottom of the notebook listed the following specifications:
AMD Turion X2 Ultra TL-84 2.3GHz processor
12.1" WXGA Touch Panel LCD
4GB DDR2-800 Memory
250GB Toshiba 5400RPM Hard Drive
802.11n Wireless
8 Cell Battery
It seems HP just refreshed the tx2000 with a new processor and some different specs. All-in-all, Kevin stated that the tablet has better performance and still had the same solid design. He tested out some games on the tablet and it worked wonderfully.
Last month I bought the HP tx2000z for less than $1000. There were all sorts of deals like free shipping, free webcam/microphone/fingerprint scanner, free RAM upgrades, free hard drive upgrades, free Bluetooth upgrades, etc. Of course I shopped around and Tablet PCs with similar specifications from other manufacturers were more than double the price!
Just about everyone I've told about this has quickly picked one up for themselves. Typical configurations include dual core AMD Turion 2Ghz CPU, 3GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, DVD-R with Lightscribe, webcam, fingerprint scanner, Penabled Wacom digitizer with touchscreen (pressure sensitive using stylus), 12.1 HD widescreen, etc. The price has since gone up to a bit over $1000, but it is still quite a deal. That also includes Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Media Center, and a Media Center remote that fits in the Express Card slot.
Millions of fans will visit sites like Yahoo Sports and NBA.com this month to track the progress of the NBA Finals series between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. And the source of the stats that describe the progress of those games is a set of Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet laptops that sit courtside.
"We do the scoring for the NBA and the time clock for the NBA," said Stephen Hellmuth, executive vice president of opera
announced the C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA) and F5 semi-rugged tablet PC feature upgrades and new custom peripherals created for the unique design of the devices. The C5 now features integrated mobile broadband and solid state drive (SSD) options to extend its usability to the point of care, regardless of patient location. Additionally, the C5 and F5 now feature improved capacity with standard 80 GB hard disk drives (HDD) at no additional cost.
fulfills all your business needs at the tip of a light pen. It’s a very ergonomically designed and lightweight tablet PC in a slate form factor. 
the home office setup with this $300 (refurbished said the penny-pinching, full-time blogger) display and it now becomes the primary monitor for the Samsung Q1UP. Since this UMPC supports resolutions at 1920x1200, I decided to take advantage of it: the 1440 x 900, 19-incher was nice, but I was running out of real estate with all of those Firefox tabs open.
more info on this laptop:
of the NBA Finals series between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. And the source of the stats that describe the progress of those games is a set of Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet laptops that sit courtside.