News Week of May 11, 2008

How-to-Guide: Clean Install of Vista on the HP tx2000

Some users are satisfied with spending a few hours hunting through the standard HP Vista build and uninstalling any program they do not want. For others though, they would rather spend a few hours and just wipe the drive and start fresh. They might have even figured that they could save a few dollars by not getting the upgraded Vista OS from HP because they already have a spare copy.

While Vista is much better than XP at having standard drivers either pre-loaded on the DVD or through the windows update, there are a few specialized systems that users will have to take a more hands on approach to do a clean install. The tx2000z falls into the latter category. The specialized buttons, active/passive touch screen, Fingerprint reader can cause headaches to the most experienced user due to HP’s lack of documentation and proprietary programs.

This step-by-step guide should help if you decide to perform a clean install on your tx2000z. The instructions are first, followed by the reasoning behind each step. The folder paths are written calling the 32-bit version of Vista, but if you’re using a 64bit or want to upgrade to a 64bit system, the “Program Files” might actually reflect a path to the “Program Files (x86)” directory.  (Source: ScotchtapeLoser, TabletPCReview.com)

HTC Shift UMPC review

The HTC Shift takes a few good ideas and clubs them over the head with some serious design and performance flaws. The device's leather sleeve, the wonky slide mechanism and the tiny keys all detract from what should have been a great idea, an extra-large version of the AT&T Tilt. With a thinner shell and a more touch-friendly interface, this device might have solved some of the nagging issues with the UMPC form factor, but instead it simply creates new problems. The integrated 3G networking is a great touch, but it's easy enough to add WAN capabilties to a better UMPC, so this feature doesn't help us forgive the Shift its shortcomings. Finally, the SnapVUE interface, which should have made the device more convenient, sits in marked contract to HTC's TouchFLO overlay, which does the same thing and looks much better . . . on a cell phone, no less. Release: March 2008. Price: $1500. (Source: Infosync)
Posted Wednesday, May 14, 2008 by ChrisD
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Top Tablet PCs

Convertible tablets are becoming popular among workers and students. Lenovo has long been a leader in this arena, with the Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet our Editors' Choice in this category by virtue of its solid features, good performance and writing experience, and great keyboard. The HTC Shift is a tiny laptop with a 7-inch screen. While other convertible tablets use a hinge to swivel the screen between modes, the Shift's screen can be pushed back to reveal a keyboard, and then tilted upward into tablet mode. The HP Pavilion tx2000z improves upon HP 's original tablet PC by adding Wacom digitizer technology to its touch-screen functionality. The Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 is lightweight (3.9 pounds) with exceptional battery life. Though it has no internal optical drive, its battery lasted 5 hours 32 minutes running a DVD off an external drive—for more routine tasks, it should last much longer. All of the convertible tablets here run Windows Vista, which integrates tablet functions and provides particularly good handwriting recognition. The newest kid on the block, the Toshiba Portégé M700-S7002, offers a built-in optical drive (a rarity in this category), as well as excellent performance and superb "green" attributes (we actually gave it our PC Magazine Green Tech Approved seal).

Slate tablets, which present a flat writing screen but no keyboard, have become rarer and largely serve niche markets. For instance, the Motion Computing F5 is geared to healthcare professionals as well as certain field workers. Apple doesn't have a tablet of its own—the Newton is the closest they came to one. The Axiotron Modbook was designed to help fill this void. The only tablet that runs Mac OS X Leopard, this slate tablet is a modified 13-inch MacBook, with the keyboard removed and the lid replaced by a Wacom digitizer screen. It should appeal to graphics designers and illustrators who would rather work with a pen than with a keyboard.   (Source: Tony Hoffman, PC Magazine)

Summer Professional Development for K-12 Teachers: Tablet PC Academy

Hunterdon Central in New Jersey is hosting another Tablet PC Academy this year. The three day conference helps teachers, administrators, and others learn best practices on how to integrate the technology into the classroom for teaching and learning.

There will be two sessions this summer:

1. July 15 - 17, 2008
2. July 22 - 24, 2008

Registration is now open for a team of teachers or individuals. There is a discount if you register before June 1, 2008. (Source: Lora, WhatIsNew)

OtterBox Announces On-The-Go Protection for Samsung’s Industry Leading Q1 Ultra & Q1 Ultra Premium Family of Ultra Mobile PCs

Otter Products, LLC. introduces the OtterBox 1990 a sleek, stylish, semi-rugged case to protect the Samsung Q1 Ultra and Q1 Ultra Premium UMPCs from Samsung Electronics America, Inc. As part of the Defender™ Series line, the 1990 safeguards from drops, bumps and scratches while still allowing complete interaction with all navigation keys, I/O ports, camera and webcam right through the case. Ultra-mobile enthusiasts and businesses employing ultra-mobile product solutions now have even more mobility!

The OtterBox 1990 maintains the small form factor of the UMPC while still providing three durable layers of protection:

Layer 1: Thermal formed protective clear membrane slides on to safeguard screen and keys from scratches, dirt and dust* (layer optional depending on the level of ruggedization desired)
Layer 2: Hi-impact polycarbonate shell snaps together over the device
Layer 3: Silicone skin wraps over the case to provide additional protection from bump and shock
“Mobility without compromising device ruggedness is everything and the OtterBox 1990 allows Q1 Ultra and Q1 Ultra Premium users even more convenience on the go,” said Curt Richardson CEO of Otter Products, LLC. “The case provides protection from drops and scratches and offers a sense of security so people can truly work anywhere like on the airplane, in a cab, while waiting in line or rushing to a big presentation.”

“Additionally, the OtterBox 1990 is ideal for those vertical market applications that require additional protection. These applications include healthcare, repair and maintenance workers, hospitality, inventory management, sales automation, education, construction, field research, real estate, insurance adjusters and others.”

“Samsung Electronics is very excited about the release of the OtterBox 1990. OtterBox is the industry’s leading developer of rugged and semi-rugged cases for the mobile PC industry, and Samsung strongly believes that this new solution will generate incremental business for both companies, especially as the new UMPC product category continues to expand. Samsung welcomes our new partnership with OtterBox,” said Bret Berg Senior Product Marketing Manager, Samsung Electronics America, Inc.

Engineered with convenience in mind, the OtterBox 1990 case offers an interchangeable hand strap on the back that can be switched to the right or left side depending on the user. Additional carrying options consist of the Samsung wrist lanyard (included with Q1 Ultra and Q1 Ultra Premium UMPCs) or OtterBox offers an optional shoulder strap kit.

The OtterBox 1990 comes in black silicone on a black polycarbonate shell or black silicone on a yellow polycarbonate shell. Black cases work perfectly for military, emergency services, government or general users, and yellow cases are ideal for construction, field force automation and industrial customers. The case accommodates standard (4 cell) and extended (6 cell) batteries. An included tethered stylus with external stylus storage and a flip stand for multimedia use provide the ultimate experience and protection in one compact solution.

Suggested MSRP is $79.99.

Environmental Protection:

Drop and Shock:

·         Protected up to 36” to plywood on concrete

Water Protection:

·        This case is not fully protected against water (not intended for protecting against damage caused by water)

Dust Intrusion:

·         Protected against solid objects greater than 1mm

Additional Information:

Optional Accessories:

 ·       Shoulder strap kit
 ·        Hand Strap kit

Colors:

·         Layer 2: black and yellow
·         Layer 3: black
·         Belt Clip: black

Dimensions:

·         9.5 x 5.4 x1.9

Weight (Case Only):

·         11.5oz

(Source: Press Release)

Fujitsu and Socket Mobile Form Strategic Partnership to Improve Mobile Data Collection

The initial offering from this partnership is a mobile data collection and payment solution for the retail industry that enables workers in a retail environment to scan bar codes, swipe credit cards and finalize sales from anywhere in the store. The combined solution features the Socket Mobile CF Mag Stripe Reader, which reads and transfers magnetic stripe data into any Windows application running on the Fujitsu LifeBook® P1620 convertible tablet PC, creating a mobile Point of Sale (POS) terminal. When this combined device is used in conjunction with the Socket Mobile Cordless Hand Scanner (CHS), which scans and sends bar code data to the terminal via Bluetooth, it will create a complete, integrated payment solution, enabling sale completion directly from the sales floor.

With the solution in place, retail workers can scan the bar code on the physical product with the CHS, send the information to the tablet PC, swipe the credit card information with the CF Mag Stripe Reader and have the customer sign for and complete the transaction from anywhere in the store. This will enable retailers to greatly streamline the transaction process and enhance worker productivity and customer satisfaction. Offering a level of mobile computing power previously not available in the retail industry, the POS solution will be available to Fujitsu corporate customers and its resellers via the Fujitsu business-to-business e-commerce website.   (Source: CNN)

Slim, cool and quiet

If you've been fantasising about a slimline A5 slate PC - the sort of thing on which a Star Trek captain would read the week's duty roster - the HTC Shift could rock your world. It has a beautiful 7 inch, 800 x 480 touch-screen display and weighs in at a shoulder-friendly 800 grams. Unlike some ultra-mobile PCs we've seen, the Shift runs surprisingly cool and quiet, albeit somewhat sluggishly thanks to the Intel Stealey 800 MHz with 1 GB of RAM. It runs Windows Vista Business Edition with the Tablet PC features as well as Microsoft's small-screen-friendly Origami 2.0 interface. The killer feature is a slide-out qwerty keyboard, and you can even tilt the screen up so you can sit the Shift on a desk. To the right of the display is a fingerprint reader, a surprisingly useful trackpad, a Communications Manager button and a button that makes it possible to toggle between 800 x 480 and 1024 x 600 screen resolutions. It has Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g and the option of a SIM card for SMS and HSDPA internet access but not for making calls. But you could still use VoIP and the built-in webcam. To the left of the display are left and right mouse click buttons along with a "SnapVUE" button which launches an "instant-on" stripped-down Windows Mobile 6 interface. SnapVUE can run even when Vista is shut down, displaying SMS and email inboxes (with push email support), calendar and contact list. The Shift also has a SD/SDIO card slot, USB2.0, headphones jack and analog monitor output, which is more useful for presentations than the i-mate Ultimate 9502 we looked at recently. It also comes with a USB hub equipped with three USB2.0 ports and Ethernet. Unfortunately, it's too wide to hold in two hands while typing with your thumbs  (Source: Adam Turner, The Age)
Posted Tuesday, May 13, 2008 by ChrisD
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Beauty & the Geeks: Twists, turns in mini-laptop's story

The Vye Mini-v S41 weighs 2.7 pounds — less than the MacBook Air, which is a little over 3 pounds. Unlike the Air, it has a built-in DVD reader and burner. The 7-inch touch screen twists and swivels, turning the laptop into a tablet PC, while the standard keyboard and trackpad make it a full-fledged Windows Vista computer. Those with large hands may trip up on the tiny keyboard. The touch screen, however, makes it easy to tap and drag windows and icons.  (Source: John Biggs, Denver Post)
Posted Monday, May 12, 2008 by ChrisD
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MobileDemand xTablet T8600 Tablet PC

The xTablet T8600 is a latest generation rugged Tablet PC with very unique features that set is apart from most other Tablet PCs. First, the T8600 is a compact and rugged, full-function Tablet PC with an integrated numeric keypad that allows for exceptionally easy data entry. Second, it has a very high capacity battery that yields a minimum of seven hours of battery life without power management; and, third, the device is available with an integrated bar-code reader and signature capture/imager, making extensive, sophisticated data collection a snap.

MobileDemand is also covering insurance, warehousing, manufacturing, inspection, construction, and what could generally be called "field-based" applications. In other words, applications that require compact, mobile computer power, but also demand a good degree of ruggedness from the equipment.

In my opinion, a review of MobileDemand's rugged xTablet T8600 slate computer only makes partial sense unless prefaced with some more general considerations about the specific markets, applications and industries this tablet computer was designed to be used in.  (Source: Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, Rugged PC Review)

GBM Interview: An IM Conversation with Dennis Moore, CEO of OQO

I  had the opportunity this morning to sit down and chat with Dennis Moore, CEO of OQO, about keeping a company agile, his schedule, his team, the Model 02, Vista Lite, Tablet PC, touch, and the new ultra-portable entrants from Asus and HP. Keep up to date with what Dennis is doing by subscribing to his blog.

The following is the transcript of our conversation. Enjoy!  (Source: Rob Bushway, GottaBeMobile.com)