Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Xplore Technologies isn’t exactly the most prolific purveyor of rugged computers, but it looks like it’s finally managed to churn out a follow-up to its circa-2006 iX104C3 tablet PC, with its new and slightly improved iX104C4 now making its official debut. This one retains the same 10.4-inch form factor of its predecessor, but gets a 50% brighter Dual Mode AllVue Xtreme display (still XGA), along with a 1.2GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and all the usual wLAN, wWAN, Bluetooth and GPS options. As has been the case with Xplore in the past, there’s no word on a price but, then again, most of the folks that wind up using these in the field won’t exactly be paying for them out of their own pocket.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

HP just unveiled a pair of rugged (MIL-STD 810F tested for dust, altitude, and high temperature) Centrino 2 12-inchers with the launch of its 2530p laptop and 2730p tablet. The 2730p bests the HP 2710p launched last year with the inclusion of a touchpad and new jog-dial along the side for use when the tablet is in slate mode. HP is also offering improved ULV (up to 1.2GHz) and LV (up to 1.86GHz) Core 2 Duo processor options and faster, 1.8-inch 5400RPM hard drive (up to 120GB), 80GB SSD, and Qualcomm’s Gobi dual EV-DO / HSPA wireless option for near-complete WWAN support globally. The 2730p continues to maintain the legacy LED-backlit display, “Night Light” keyboard lighting, optional webcam (with business card reader), slice battery (up to 10-hours), and expansion base / docking station. Importantly, the stylus no longer slips out of the silo when carrying the 2730p through the cubicle farm.

The 2530p offers pretty much the same in a thinner (0.99-inches vs. 1.11-inches thick), lighter (3.19-pounds vs. 3.74-pounds), more traditional laptop design. See it pictured after the break.

[Via jkOnTheRun, twice]

Read — 2730p
Read — 2530p

Continue reading HP’s rugged EliteBook 2730p tablet and 2530p laptop for suits and Gobi squares

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

Though we expected Dell’s ruggedized Latitude E6400 ATG to have already launched by now, we suppose late is superior to never. As of this very moment, said laptop is available to order from the outfit’s Small & Medium Business division, and the baseline machine comes with a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU, Vista Home Basic, a 3-year warranty, 14.1-inch WXGA LED-backlit (and outdoor viewable, too) display, Intel’s GMA 4500MHD graphics, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB 5,400RPM hard drive, 802.11b/g and a built-in combo drive. The machine we just described can be ordered up for $2,399, but those with a higher spending limit can opt for integrated WWAN, a 64GB SSD, a respectable amount of memory and a 2.8GHz T9600 processor. Sadly, the estimated ship date is September 29th, but you can feel free to get in line before that figure slips well into Q4.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Though we expected Dell’s ruggedized Latitude E6400 ATG to have already launched by now, we suppose late is superior to never. As of this very moment, said laptop is available to order from the outfit’s Small & Medium Business division, and the baseline machine comes with a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU, Vista Home Basic, a 3-year warranty, 14.1-inch WXGA LED-backlit (and outdoor viewable, too) display, Intel’s GMA 4500MHD graphics, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB 5,400RPM hard drive, 802.11b/g and a built-in combo drive. The machine we just described can be ordered up for $2,399, but those with a higher spending limit can opt for integrated WWAN, a 64GB SSD, a respectable amount of memory and a 2.8GHz T9600 processor. Sadly, the estimated ship date is September 29th, but you can feel free to get in line before that figure slips well into Q4.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Wearables

Automatic movement? Sweeping hands? Pish posh. Casio’s looking to impress a few watch aficionados itself with the all new Tough Movement. Designed to slip inside its Oceanus and G-Shock series of timepieces, the new movement “features a high shock resistance and a hand position correction function using LED.” During the 55th minute of each hour, the movement receives time calibration signals from six bases located throughout the world; if the hands are off at all, it automatically corrects things to ensure that you’re never a moment off. Reportedly, the first wristwatch to utilize the technology will be the GS-1200, which is currently slated to hit Japan this September for a stiff ¥42,000 ($390).

[Via OhGizmo]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS

Sure, Garmin’s new nüvi 500 series can get you from point A to point G on paved and well-lit highways, but that’s not the (whole) point here. Instead, these rugged (and waterproof) navigators are geared up to take to the trails, waterways and sidewalks with one-touch transitions between driving, bicycling, boating and walking modes. The 500 includes road maps and topographic maps for the lower 48 US states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, while the 550 touts comprehensive street map coverage of the US and Canada. Both devices boast a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a removable, rechargeable battery, Garmin’s “Where Am I?” feature and geocaching support to boot. As for USers, you’ll find the 500 and 550 on sale in Q3 for $499.99, while those across the pond will see the nüvi 550 land this September for £299.

[Via GPSTracklog, thanks Rich]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: GPS, Laptops

While it seemed touch and go for a few months there as to whether the the Everex Cloudbook would ever hit store shelves, what’s never been in doubt is the fact that hackers are going to have a field day with the thing. The first major hack is courtesy of Azazel from the Cloudbooker forums. His “Dreambook” mod incorporates an internal four-port USB hub to add all sorts of fun stuff like GPS, Bluetooth and 4GB of flash storage. He removed the webcam for the time being, and is having some trouble getting his replacement WiFi card to work, but it’s certainly a promising hack. Next on the agenda is another small hub to support 802.11n WiFi and some 3G connectivity — we like where this is headed.

[Thanks, David]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

While its claim of being the “first” to offer an OS specifically designed for the latest crop of low-cost laptops and UMPCs may be a little dubious, the unfortunately-named Linpus is at least pretty quick to jump on the bandwagon. To that end, the company’s just let loose its Linpus Linux Lite OS, which it says will run just fine on laptops like the Eee PC and Cloudbook, or any other system with as little as a 500MHz CPU, 128MB of RAM and 512MB of storage. Just as importantly, the OS is also apparently designed with low-res 7-inch screens in mind, although as CLUMPC points out, it doesn’t go so far as to include support for little things like built-in WiFi out of the box. Still, if you want to give it a shot, you can grab it now in the form of a Live CD direct from Linpus.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops

What’s more fun than seeing a highly-anticipated device get the full-on dissection treatment? Upgrading it, of course. Cloudbooker forum member Azazel got a Cloudbook to play with and is doing just that: ripping apart the laptop piece by piece for you viewing pleasure, while also upgrading the RAM and documenting the process. He’s already spotted a way to add Bluetooth internally, and how to open up the laptop without voiding your warranty, but we’ve still got a long ways to go before we start to see Eee PC-level hackerdom.

Read - Part 1
Read - Part 2

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

It’s been a long time coming, but after some confusion and a few false starts, Everex’s Eee PC-competing Cloudbook is now finally available to order from Wal-Mart’s website. As we’ve mentioned, now that ZaReason has dropped it, Wal-Mart is also now the only place you can get your hands on the budget-priced laptop, at least for the time being (though you can get the identical Packard Bell-branded model in the UK). Hit up the read link below if you’re ready to part with that $400, just be sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

[Via Laptoping]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops

Everex’s Cloudbook hasn’t exactly seen the smoothest of launches, and now that the official launch date has come and gone, it seems that things just keeping getting curiouser and curiouser. For starters, the budget-priced laptop has now finally shown up on Wal-Mart’s website, but it’s already out of stock, and it’s not clear if it was ever in stock to begin with. In other non-availability news, retailer ZaReason (which has actually shipped a few Cloudbooks) has announced that it’s ditching the laptop altogether, stating only that “due to the amount of money we have lost granting refunds (due to bank transaction fees) we can no longer sell the Cloudbook.” Needless to say, some are speculating that Everex’s deal with Wal-Mart is the primary cause for the troubles at ZaReason, but either way, it seems that anyone actually looking to get their hands on a Cloudbook is out of luck, at least at the moment.

Read - Wal-Mart
Read - CloudBooker, “ZaReason drops the Cloudbook”
Read - Eee Site, “ZaReason drops the Cloudbook”

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops

According to DigiTimes, the reason we haven’t seen any CloudBooks on sale is due to the weather. Recent heavy snowfalls in China wreaked havoc on the local rail systems and power supplies leaving FIC unable to meet their targets. According to “sources,” retail shipments will now be pushed back to mid-March. Now our quandary. What’s more dubious? Everex’s newly posted 2/21/2008 availability date or China’s claimed ability to control the weather during the summer olympics?

Read — Everex
Read — DigiTimes

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

The folks over at Laptop already hooked us up with some unboxing pics of Everex’s Cloudbook, and now they’ve posted up some quickie first impressions of the would-be Eee killer — and it looks like Everex could use that extra delay time to polish things up. The Cloudbook’s gOS build was found to be reasonably speedy and the minuscule trackpad designed for thumb usage actually grew on the reviewers, but what really killed the machine was a host of video glitches Everex says are the result of the wrong OS version being installed on the machine. Still, we’re not ready to give up on this little guy yet — we’ll wait to see what the formal reviews say before crowing the Eee the winner of this round.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

Oh Cloudbook — it’s like you just keep floating off on us. We all thought Everex’s little Eee competitor was going to drop today (the 15th), but since that turned out to be a bust, we started to get curious. As you might have guessed, the $399 UMPC has been ever-so-slightly delayed, again, this time until February 21st (or so they say). We’ve covered an unboxing if you’re really jonesing for a look at the gOS-sporting device — but keep in mind you could ruin that x-mas-morning feeling of wonderment when you pop open the box.

[Thanks, Travis]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Laptops

Merely hours after we first wondered where all those CloudBooks were on launch day, here they come — fashionably late, of course. As of this moment, Everex’s CE1200V is up on NewEgg’s site, but is still sporting a “deactivated item” status. Nevertheless, Packard Bell’s XS20-006 (as it’s so eloquently dubbed across the pond) is currently for sale at PC World for £349.99 ($686). And yeah, there’s a number of unboxing shots pleading for your attention in the link below, so what exactly are you waiting for?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - PC World’s XS20-006 listing
Read - CloudBook unboxing

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph