December 2024

2025 will see AI PCs become the new normal, but ARM-based PCs will not grow out of their minority segment
ABI Research’s 5th annual Trend Report identifies the 2 key 5G Devices, Smartphones, and Wearables trends that will come to fruition — and the 2 that won’t — in 2025. As 2025 kicks off, predictions abound on the technology innovations expected in the year ahead. In its new whitepaper, 101 Technology Trends That Will—and Won’t—Shape 2025, analysts from global technology intelligence firm ABI Research. ABI Research analysts identify 54 trends that will shape the technology market and 47 others that, although attracting vast amounts of speculation and commentary, are less likely to move the needle over the next twelve months. [See ABI Research’s 5th annual Trend Report] -- Posted Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Zebra Technologies to acquire Photoneo, expanding its portfolio of 3D Machine Vision solutions
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a leading digital solution provider enabling businesses to intelligently connect data, assets, and people, today announced it intends to acquire Photoneo, a leading developer and manufacturer of 3D machine vision solutions. The 3D segment of the Machine Vision market is the fastest growing, and this acquisition will further accelerate Zebra's presence in the category. By combining Photoneo's 3D machine vision solutions with Zebra's advanced sensors, vendor-agnostic software and AI-based image processing capabilities, customers will benefit from a unique portfolio of offerings to address their most challenging use cases. [See Zebra media release] -- Posted Monday, December 30, 2024

OPINION: Another rugged systems acquisition gone bad
The mobile and rugged systems industry has a long history of take-overs and acquisition that quickly went bad. There are exceptions, but not many. And, sadly, MilDef's September 2022 acquisition of the Handheld Group didn't go as expected either, at least not for Handheld. After quickly closing down the long-running US office of Handheld, MilDef has now also shut down Handheld's original operation in Sweden, as well as the Handheld operation in Germany. MilDef said that it will "fully integrate the subsidiary Handheld's portfolio for the defense industry into MilDef's other operations and to cease operations in Handheld's other sales segments." [see full announcement] -- Posted Monday, December 23, 2024

JLT Mobile Computers celebrates 30 years in the rugged computing industry
This year marks a significant milestone for JLT Mobile Computers: three decades of pioneering rugged computing innovation. Since its founding in the early 1990s, JLT has witnessed and contributed to the remarkable transformation of the rugged IT industry, establishing itself as a trusted leader in delivering robust solutions for demanding environments, most recently with the upgraded VERSO™ Series and JLT1214™ Series. [See JLT Mobile media release] -- Posted Thursday, December 12, 2024

FULL REVIEW: Cincoze DS-1402 IPC with dual PCI/PCIe expansion
The Cincoze DS-1402 is part of a line of compact but highly expandable industrial PCs that can accommodate up to two PCI or PCIe expansion cards for graphics, AI, or custom cards. The DS-1402 can be equipped with a very wide range of CPUs, from Intel 12th gen Celerons and Pentiums all the way up to a 32-thread Intel 13th gen "Raptor Lake-S" Core i9-13900E. Capable of performance meeting or exceeding that of high-end rugged laptop workstations, the Cincoze DS-1402 is a modern embedded system that supports a wider range of I/O and expansion options than most in a package that is still compact enough to fit almost anywhere. [See full review of the Cincoze DS-1402 IPC] -- Posted Wednesday, December 11, 2024

FLIR Introduces Scout Pro thermal monocular for law enforcement and public safety professionals
FLIR, a Teledyne Technologies company (NYSE:TDY), introduced the FLIR Scout Pro, a next-generation thermal monocular designed to meet the rigorous demands of law enforcement and public safety professionals. Building on a legacy of reliable FLIR thermal monoculars, the Scout Pro offers exceptional situation awareness with its 32-degree field of view, allowing users to detect humans up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) away while maintaining a broad visual perspective. This balance of wide coverage and practical detection range provides the critical information and intelligence needed to patrol areas safely or to locate missing or injured people quickly. [See FLIR media release] -- Posted Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Lenovo's OEM Solutions untroduces the all-new Moto Smart scanner to power enterprise workflows
Lenovo, in collaboration with Motorola, announces the Moto Smart Scanner, a next-generation mobile compute scanner to enhance enterprise operations in logistics, retail, and healthcare, among other industries. Combining Lenovo's computing expertise with the mobile intelligence of Motorola, the fastest-growing OEM in the B2B segment, the Moto Smart Scanner delivers a powerful and ergonomic device with enhanced security designed to meet customers' increasingly complex needs for enterprise resource planning, electronic health record management, and streamlining point-of-sales. [See Lenovo media release -- Posted Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Dynabook refreshes featherlight Portégé X30W AI-equipped 2-in-1 convertible laptop with Intel Core Ultra processors
Dynabook Americas, Inc., the gold standard for long-lasting, professional-grade laptops, today unveiled the Portégé® X30W-M, a 13.3-inch 2-in-1 convertible Windows 11 laptop that meets the diverse demands of modern businesses and educators. With powerful and efficient U- and H-series Intel® Core™ Ultra processors, built-in AI tools like Copilot, and the versatility of a laptop-tablet hybrid, the Portégé X30W-M delivers a well-rounded solution for professionals who demand flexibility, productivity and durability. [See Dynabook media release] -- Posted Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Handheld: 10 ways to customize rugged handhelds
A recent blog post in Handheld's RuggedInformer blog presented ten ways in which rugged handhelds can be customized for any field or industry. We consider that very important -- it separates true value-added vendors that know their customers and local markets from nameless far east mass producers. [See 10 ways to customize rugged handhelds] -- Posted Thursday, December 5, 2024

OPINION: Intel's been on the wrong path for a long time
It doesn't seem a surprise that Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger had to go. Remaining an all-in-one integrated device manufacturer in an industry that's almost completely split into either chip designers or chip manufacturers made no sense. Offering a dizzying variety of similar chips for an essentially stagnating PC industry (an industry that began with all computers running on one and the same chip -- the Intel 8088) makes no sense. Continuing with the same old when everyone else either makes super-efficient device chips (ARM) or super-hot running graphics/AI chips (nVidia) makes no sense. Gelsinger took a gamble, and it didn't work out. Intel will be around, of course, and we wish them luck, but it won't be the same Intel. -- Posted Thursday, December 5, 2024

Pacific Defense launches COM6300VP tactical radio card, developed with Thales Defense and Security, Inc.
Pacific Defense a leader in Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) solutions, announces the COM6300VP, a 3U OpenVPX™ multi-waveform tactical radio plug-in card aligned with the Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA™) Technical Standard. The plug-in card features a dual-channel communication approach, utilizing both Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) and the TrellisWare TSM™ waveforms. The COM6300VP provides secure, low-risk communication capabilities through a Thales Defense and Security Inc. (TDSI) integrated crypto module, which can facilitate future NSA Type-1 certification. [See Pacific Defense media release] -- Posted Thursday, December 5, 2024

REVIEW: Janam XR2 UHF RFID Reader
There's barcode scanning, and there's RFID reading. The former is for individual codes, one at a time, the latter for high-speed reading of large numbers of tags simultaneously. Janam's XR2 UHF RFID Reader is an impressive example of the latter, integrating both RFID and barcode scanning into a well-balanced, ergonomically designed Android handheld specifically created for real-time tracking of assets and items through the entire supply chain. [See review of the Janam XR2 UHF RFID reader] -- Posted Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Ultra-Rugged Kyocera DuraForce PRO 3 hits Verizon retail stores, free for eligible police and departments and others
Kyocera a global leader in rugged devices, today announced that its ultra-rugged DuraForce PRO 3 Android smartphone is now available and on display in Verizon retail stores nationwide, free for eligible government customers and priced as low as 99 cents for eligible business customers. Designed for first responders, small/medium-sized businesses, construction, warehouse/ transportation workers, and anyone working in harsh environments, DuraForce PRO 3 can be found on Verizon's SMB Business tables, where customers can get demonstrations and consult with Verizon representatives to qualify for special pricing. [See Kyocera media release] -- Posted Tuesday, December 3, 2024

MobileDemand replaced xTablet T1190 with new T1195
3+ years after MobileDemand launched their sleek 10-inch xTablet T1190, the company replaced it with the xTablet T1195 of the same look and size. The new T1195, however, gets a new Alder Lake-N processor, twice the RAM, switches to much faster PCIe storage, USB 3.1 Gen2, Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3, uBlox-M9N, a 5MB front camera, Windows 11 Pro, adds an optional Honeywell N6803MR to available scanners, and more. It amounts to a total tech makeover of this rugged, compelling thin-and-light POS or data collection platform for anyone who needs Windows on the go. -- Posted Monday, December 2, 2024

What happened in rugged computing 15 years ago: December 2009
Parvus announced that its DuraCOR 810 mission computers had been integrated into Northrop Grumman's MQ-5B Hunter Unmanned Aircraft System. Raytheon developed mission software apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch. We examined the new Atom N450 and Atom D410/510, but weren't quite sure where they were going. Psion Teklogix proudly announced new contracts. Motorola released the MC3090-Z, Panasonic swallowed Sanyo, Seagate entered the SSD market, the Wall Street Journal praised MobileDemand's innovative marketing, DLI announced the Atom Z530-powered, DLI 8800 Mobile POS tablet, and Trimble showed what farmers can do with GPS. The Examiner declared Windows Mobile dead, and Intel celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Windows Embedded partner Program. [See December 2009 archive] -- Posted Sunday, December 1, 2024