News Week of October 14, 2007

Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet PC Review

When Fujitsu announced the LifeBook U810 mini Tablet PC, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. This tiny tablet has been getting rave reviews and after spending some time with it I can see why. I am not saying it would be a good permanent replacement to a full-size tablet or notebook, but it is a great travel companion. It runs on Intel's A110 processor and has a 40GB hard drive. The 5.6-inch WSVGA display is small, but still up to Fujitsu's standards, meaning it looks great.

Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet PC in all its glory.  (Source: Tiffany Boggs, TabletPCReview.com)

Review: OQO provides PC for your pocket

Our review model was based on a 1.5GHz VIA C7M processor with a 60GB hard drive and running Windows XP. Other configurations include a 1.6GHz processor, hard drives up to 120GB, or a 32GB solid-state Flash disk. All models have 1GB of memory, Bluetooth and 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi.

In tests using the Winstone 2004 benchmark suite, we found the OQO model e2 achieved a score of 10.4. This is comparable with the score from Samsung’s Q1 ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) released last year, but the model e2 feels more responsive than this result might suggest and more in line with ultra-portable laptops we have tested. Its low score can perhaps be attributed to the use of a tiny 1.8in Hitachi Travelstar hard drive.  (Source: Daniel Robinson, IT Week)

Fujitsu's LifeBook U810 lightens road warriors' load

Why it's cool: With full support for Windows applications, the U810 is much smaller and lighter than a standard tablet PC, so it should be attractive to healthcare professionals and others who are away from their desk for long stretches and don't want to carry around a heavy notebook. For many years, users who've wanted the ultimate in mobility have had to sacrifice performance or other features to get something lighter or smaller, and Fujitsu has done a good job at providing most, if not all of the key features that notebook users need.   (Source: Keith A. Shaw, itbusiness.ca)
Posted Friday, October 19, 2007 by ChrisD
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Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 Tablet PC

The front-mounted battery that I liked so much in laptop mode turned into a bit of a liability in tablet mode, since I'm a right-hander who doesn't like having a left-side grip. You can rotate the unit 180 degrees so the grip is on the right, but then all the tablet buttons are in a nonstandard configuration on the bottom. One fix: Buy the six-cell battery in addition to the nine-cell battery, so you can swap batteries for maximum comfort.

The T2010's roaming range will expand early next year when Fujitsu integrates mobile broadband as an extra-cost option. For people worried about durability, a 32GB solid-state hard drive, which has no moving parts, is available for $519. But as it stands, you can't beat this ultraportable's Herculean battery life.   (Source: Carla Thorton, Washington Post, PC World)

Data-Basics Announces Tablet PC Giveaway to Help Firms 'Get the BIG Picture'

Drawing to highlight the hardware behind TechAnywhere wireless field service software.

Data-Basics, a leading provider of management software solutions to service, construction and facilities management firms, today announced its "Get the BIG Picture" giveaway for a free tablet PC. By simply viewing a demonstration of TechAnywhere, Data-Basics' wireless field service software optimized for tablet PC devices, a visitor's name will be entered into the drawing.

The "Get the BIG Picture" Giveaway
Since TechAnywhere wireless field service software and the tablet PC is the perfect pairing of unique wireless field service software and cutting-edge hardware, Data-Basics is giving away a free tablet PC (an $800 US value).

Entrants can visit www.databasics.com/contest or call 1-800-837-7574 to sign up for a demonstration of TechAnywhere software, along with SAM Pro Enterprise service management software. Once the demo is complete, visitors will be entered in the running for a Toshiba tablet PC. The random drawing is scheduled to take place on December 2, 2007. Official contest rules are posted at www.databasics.com.

Why Tablet PCs?
Through a unique interface, TechAnywhere software for tablet PC allows technicians to electronically fill out job tickets as they presently do: with a pen (also called a stylus) and on a form designed to look like the job tickets currently used. TechAnywhere software is the only solution available that accurately emulates the paper work orders that techs are already used to.

"Choosing to optimize TechAnywhere for tablet PCs really freed up Data-Basics," said Tim Carcione, senior product engineer. "Since we weren't limited to the three-inch screens found on PDA-style devices, we could avoid complicated navigation and menu systems."

The result is software with a smaller learning curve, leading to decreased deployment time and quicker adoption by a firm's mobile workforce. And since tablets are fully functional PCs, additional software such as an office productivity suite or an estimating package can also run alongside TechAnywhere.

Why TechAnywhere?
TechAnywhere wireless software is a comprehensive field service solution that allows technicians to update assigned work orders, access equipment history, check inventory, capture equipment metrics, add parts and labor, make recommendations and more. With technicians filling
out more information in the field - even entering time while on site - firms that use TechAnywhere reduce back office data entry and realize measurable cost savings.

Furthermore, TechAnywhere is fully integrated with SAM Pro Enterprise, a complete dispatching, accounting and service management software solution. Since the two software packages work seamlessly, work orders that are updated in the field using TechAnywhere will automatically update SAM Pro Enterprise's database back at the office. TechAnywhere is compatible with BlackBerry devices, ideal for users concerned with the size of a tablet PC. Firms with techs needing ultra-portable devices can access TechAnywhere on RIM's BlackBerry platform.   (Source: Press Release)

Gates still has a long to-do list

"Big screens, touch, ink, speech, that's something that I think, along with cloud computing, is the next big change in how we think about software," Gates told CNET News.com on Tuesday. (Cloud computing is the notion that many of the computing tasks handled by individual computers today will instead be tackled by servers in huge data centers connected over the Internet.) "Ray Ozzie is driving our cloud computing stuff...Some of the natural interface stuff, I think he and Steve (Ballmer) will ask me to sort of keep the energy and vision alive there."

Gates continues to lobby hard inside Microsoft for investment in speech and handwriting recognition, though neither has been a huge financial success for Microsoft. The Tablet PC, a frequent staple of Gates' Comdex keynote speeches in the 1990s, remains a fairly niche product. And though the ability to control PCs through voice is built into Vista, the feature has gotten scant attention, and the operating system itself has received less than enthusiastic support in its first year on the market. (Source: Ian Fried, CNet, ZDNet)

Internet takes learning wireless

In her class, assistant professor Corey Stilts is able to send via a wireless connection his notes as he makes them -- inserting model drawings and equations -- to each of 25 students in the room, all of whom have tablet PCs on which they can follow along, take notes and have their own copies.

In most places on campus, Ms. Leone, 19 of Ridgefield Park, N.J., can open her laptop, review the notes, check e-mail or surf the Web. In her dorm room, she can choose a hard-wired network port or use a wireless one.  (Source: Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

GIGABYTE U60 UMPC - Exclusive Look!

GIGABYTE recently showed the world a glimpse of their Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) called the U60 at CeBIT, and again at Computex earlier this year. You can see our teaser preview here.

Now we’ve got our hands on one of the early production samples and this puppy is all set to take the world by storm. Being based in Taiwan has its perks in terms of us being able to get access to the latest technology, but on the downside however it seems we’re not going to be able to get the retail product as it will be delivered in Europe and the West. This is mainly because the software is regionally dependent, but I have been given the list of all the software that the U60 will ship with. So rest assured that this review will cover as many of the features that you will experience with this interesting box of tricks.

This product definitely has the makings of an award winner and it seems worthy of our coveted “BEST VALUE” award providing everything goes well. Let’s look deeper and see if it has all that it is hyped up to be.  (Source:  John Freeman, TweakTown)
Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 by ChrisD
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Enterprise Mobility Assessment

Added comments to the Enterprise Mobility Assessment spreadsheet describe the areas of mobile optimization. Added action plans worksheet to automatically create a list of outstanding items to optimally support mobility. (Source: Chris De Herrera, Tablet PC Talk)
Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 by ChrisD
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Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet

These days, convertible tablet PCs are showing up as more than just a blip on the radar. They've been widely adopted in the vertical markets, and students are embracing them. Lenovo (formerly IBM) has long been a leader in the convertible tablet PC space. In the ThinkPad X61 Tablet ($1,934 direct) Lenovo continues to fuse the design of its darling X-Series ultraportable (see ThinkPad X60s) with the tablet's functionality. With the best keyboard in the industry, very good performance scores, and a sturdy design, the X61 Tablet earns an Editors' Choice award to set beside Lenovo's previous one in this space, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet.  (Source: Cisco Cheng, PC Magazine)
Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 by ChrisD
Rating: 4 (Rate it) 1 Lowest 2 3 4 5 Highest Comments (0)

Review: Gateway C-120X Tablet PC — Let's Do The Twist

WIRED The touch sensitive screen adds valuable functionality; no longer are tablet users slaves to the almighty stylus! Plenty of thoughtful features like a fingerprint scanner, DVD burner and FireWire port. 

TIRED Extra layers of the screen dulls image and appear grainy. Speakers are loud but tinny. Users must manually change screen orientation. Only 2 USB ports.   (Source: Danny Dumas, Wired Blog Network)