Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

Some prospective iPad users have made the comment that you can get a stylus for capacitive touch screens, and that’s true. You can. The experience however appears a bit underwhelming – like drawing with a crayon.

Take a look at the following video from a long time Tablet PC user in Malaysia who compares the resistive touch screen on the Fujitsu UH900 to the capacitive touch screen on the Lenovo S10. During the video he shows:

• Writing with a stylus pen on the resistive touch screen – good experience on the fast and small UH900, although not quite as good as active digitizer
• Writing with finger on the the capacitive touch screen – no leverage, very hard to sustain for longer than a few seconds
• Writing with a pogo stick on a capacitive touch screen – like using a crayon.

Fast forward to about 6:30 to see the pogo stick (crayon) in action.

From this video you will see that a capacitive touch screen is fairly useless for pen-like or fine input – think sketching, drawing, note taking  and handwriting. To resolve that problem, Windows Tablet PC manufacturers include an active digitizer on their capacitive touch screen Tablets.

Engadget gave the new Fujitsu T4310 a great review, not for its looks, but for its great multi-touch tablet experience with Windows 7.

The key feature for really useful and functional touch Tablet PCs is the inclusion of both the Wacom Active Digitizer Pen and the capacitive touch screen. The T4310 is one of the many new Windows Tablet PCs that include both!

A touch screen on its own makes for a very limited Tablet PC experience.

Navigating web pages and opening programs is a dream with touch under Windows 7. On the other hand handwriting recognition, sketching and note taking are completely impractical with touch.

So the inclusion of the pen gives you both the convenience of touch and the note taking and sketching functionality of the accurate digitizer pen.

Take a look at the Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 in this video below:

We’ve had a great time playing with the new multi-touch Fujitsu T4310 over the summer. The combination of windows 7, Office 2010 (currently in beta) and multi-touch just rocks!

The first Fujitsu tablet to come out with multi-touch was the T4310, and it has now been followed up by the T900, the replacement for the beefy T5010 Tablet PC. Fujitsu continue to innovate with pen and touch computing and are one of the clear leaders in the Tablet PC field.

The following user give a good demonstration of the T4310. Although this user points out a couple of the shortfalls of the product, he still gives it a big thumbs up… And so do we.

Part 2 in particular shows how the capacitive touch screen works with OneNote 2010. It makes navigating your workspace super easy!

You won’t find a better demonstration of the combination of digitiser pen and touch. As you will see in this video, touch nicely augments the functionality of the pen.

Touch does not eliminate the need for the pen however, and as you’ll see a digitizer pen is pretty essential for serious Windows based tablets.

Call us on 03 9012 6602 for more info on Fujitsu Tablet PCs.

Most computers and electronic devices like Tablet PCs and UMPCs use Lithium Ion batteries. Lithium Ion (LiIon) batteries have some really compelling advantages that make the kind of small and lightweight gadgets that we have today possible. Lithium Ion batteries:

• Have a low weight to energy ratio
• Can be made in a variety of shapes and sizes
• Do not exhibit a memory effect (you don’t need to discharge them or run them down before charging again)

However, there are some disadvantages to having all this power…

What you should be aware of with Lithium Ion batteries:

• They have a minimum charge threshold - usually protected by the electronic controller on the battery-  and if they go below it they may be unrecoverable (i.e. dead).
• They lose capacity over time - A full battery will lose about 20% of its total capacity every year if stored at 25 degrees C. If fully charged it will lose 35% per year at 40 degrees C (laptops often get hotter than this!).
• They have a limited number of charge cycles* – usually between 500 – 1000.
• You should expect to replace them at some stage.

Tips for saving your Tablet PC or UMPC battery

The following tips will help you to keep your Lithium Ion battery running as long as possible. You might find that some of these tips are not that practical, but being aware of them will help you.

1. Store it at 30% – 40% charge (I.e. not full) - For example, if you’re heading away for a month and your not going to take your tablet, charge it to about half and put it somewhere cool.
2. Never leave your Tablet PC in your car, especially on a hot day – As detailed above, heat will greatly diminish the capacity of your lithium ion battery to hold a charge. Keep them cool as much as practically possible.
3. Remove the battery from the Tablet PC when you’re running on power constantly (I.e. if you’re mainly deskbound).
4. Unplug it! Let your Tablet PC run on battery as much as possible rather than keeping the battery in the unit fully charged.
5. Don’t leave a battery flat for long periods of time – If you do, it may discharge below the voltage threshold, and they don’t come back from that. The typical storage loss is 10% per month, so if you left a battery flat for a month or two or three, it may not recover.

Battery power is a critical component of your Tablet PC. Without your Lithium Ion you simply won’t be mobile anymore! So when choosing a Tablet PC you want to consider a couple of things about it’s batteries:

• How much do they cost? – Any decent Tablet PC or UMPC will outlive its battery! You absolutely will need to replace them at some stage
• How fast do they charge? – Some charge much faster than others
• How many will I need to keep? – If they charge faster you will probably need fewer batteries
• Will they continue to make the batteries? – Lithium Ion batteries do not store well as outlined above, so it is not a good idea to buy some for now with the intent of using them in future. You will want to be able to buy fresh new batteries in future.

* Charge cycle = 100% full discharge and recharge. So, if you discharge and recharge to say 60%, then back to full, then another 40%, then back to full you have reached 1 cycle.

The Sonim XP1 is a rugged, IP54 rated, MIL-810F drop tested mobile phone that is pretty close to unbreakable… That is until this BBC reporter got hold of it (Click on the screenshot to watch the video):

As you can see, the weak point of this phone is its glass screen. We find that the glass screen is the weak point on many of the Tablet PCs on the market too – even the rugged ones. Even though standard screens are made from chemically hardened glass, they are still prone to break when a little force is applied.

Corning turned this problem on its head when they released Gorilla Glass last year – Gorilla Glass is strengthened with a process that achieves a much deeper level of strengthening. You can see a demonstration of Gorilla Glass by Andrew Moore-Crispin of butterscotch.com here at CES in Las Vegas last week.

Motion Computing were the first Tablet PC manufacturer with Corning Gorilla Glass on the rugged F5 and C5 tablets last year. Gorilla Glass is up to four times stronger than other glass used in Tablet PCs and as yet, Motion are still the only Tablet manufacturer using the technology.

Having used Tablet PCs for nearly 10 years (and broken at least 4 screens), I can attest to the value of this glass. It should be an essential component on all Tablet PCs along with a low power Hydis AFFS+ outdoor viewable display – another Motion Computing first.

Sonim should plan a visit to Corning to make their rugged phone even tougher (so that this doesn’t happen in future)!

Steve Chippy of UMPC Portal shows the Amazon Kindle for PC software in a bit more depth that we did in our videos here. Chippy is using a Viliv X70 for the review which is larger than the Viliv S5 that we used. We have both the Viliv X70 and S5 available here in Melbourne for demonstrations.

From Chippy’s video we learnt that the grey sidebars in the reading pane can actually be used for page turning – a handy feature for a touch screen UMPC. We also learnt a simple way to control the screen brightness on the Viliv X70. Wonder if it works the same on the S5? Off to test…

With the release of the Amazon Kindle software for PC as well as the Barnes & Noble eBook software, there has never been a better time to get into creating a digital library. On top of that, we now have good, practical, affordable UMPCs like the Viliv S5 to read eBooks on.

Of course eBooks have been around for years now and there are many titles available, but the addition of Amazon and Barnes & Noble to the market mean that there are many more quality current titles available.

In the following video we take a look at the S5 as an eBook Reader. Then in part 2 we compare the Amazon Kindle software to the Barnes & Noble software.

eBook Reading on UMPC – Part 1

eBook Reading on UMPC – Part 2

We take an up close look at the new Motion Computing C5 MkII MCA (Mobile Clinical Assistant) Tablet PC. We take the C5 outside to show of the capabilities of the new Hydis AFFS+ display with Gorilla Glass.

The Motion C5 includes a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo processor and huge array of options like:

• RFID
• Smart Card Reader
• Bar Code Reader
• Solid State or Traditional Hard Drives
• Telstra Next G certified mobile broadband
• GPS.

Of course it also carries the best screen technology currently available (Hydis AFFS+) making the C5 the most comfortable Tablet PC to read indoor and outdoors without sacrificing battery life.

This is an exceptional Tablet PC and thanks to the strong Aussie dollar, it is currently very well priced.

We have a demonstration unit available for you to get your hands on anywhere within Australia. Contact us for demonstration today on 03 9012 6602 or via our website today.

The Xplore iX104C4 is a super tough IP65 rated rugged Tablet PC. Because the Xplore is ATEX certified we have been able to deploy it on gas inspection work for the coal seam gas projects in Western Queensland.

Whilst the Xplore is not intrinsically safe (no computer is), it is safe for use in certain dangerous environments (ATEX / UL1604 Class I / Div II.). You will need to check to be sure that the ATEX certification that this device carries will satisfy the requirements of your work environment. Give us a call to discuss it.

The Xplore is built with a triple layer magnesium housing and a unique patented bumper system that enables it to pass a direct drop test onto concrete from 4 feet. It also comes with a choice of Wacom active digitiser or a Wacom digitiser / touch screen combination.

Importantly Xplore also uses smart outdoor screen technology to ensure maximum viewing without needless power draining backlighting. And best of all, with Xplore you don’t have to sacrifice computing power for ruggedness. The iX104C4 uses an Intel Core 2 Duo processor giving it great computing performance.

Thanks to www.RuggedPCReview.com for the pictures in this video. You can read their review of the Xplore iX104C4 here.

I got caught out in one of Melbourne’s four seasons (the rainy one) with one of our Motion F5 tablet PCs recently. As you can see from the video below, the Motion F5 has an IP 54 rating, so it takes it all in stride…

The Motion F5 has an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance. IP is an industrial rating scale for Intrusion Protection. The first number, in this case a 5 relates to the dust rating, and the second number relates to the water rating.

To achieve these ratings, the Motion F5 – and for that matter the Motion C5 – must run through a series of physical endurance tests. The machines must operate through the testing without failure. To see the tests in action, watch below:

Motion F5 Water Test

Water is sprayed constantly onto the Motion F5 from all sides for 1 hour. It must continue to operate throughout the test.

Motion Dust Protection Test

Whilst this video shows the Motion J3400, the Motion F5 and C5 pass the same test. The Tablet PCs are subjected to a fine dust cloud for 8 hours and must continue to operate.

Motion F5 Drop Test

The Motion F5 unit is dropped from 3 feet onto all sides, corners and faces. It must continue to operate throughout this test to pass.

Motion F5 Gorilla Glass Test

This demonstration shows a 1kg ball bearing dropped onto the screen. As you can see, the screen flexes but does not break thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass technology.

Tablet PCs like these go into places that regular computers don’t go. It is important that you choose a Tablet PC that is designed to go where you want it to go!