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Electronic Flight Bag Tablet PCs

Mar
4
2011

Over the last few years, more and more commercial and general aviation pilots are adopting the electronic flight bag concept.

On my flight back from Perth on Friday I noticed that Qantas provides its A330 pilots with Panasonic ToughBook CF-19

tablets in this role. Apparently the ToughBook CF-19 is commonly deployed on modern Airbus aircraft like the A380 and A330.

A key benefit of the Electronic Flight Bag is the possibility of eliminating paper (and weight) from the aircraft. In some cases, manuals can account for more than 20kg. With a tablet pc you could increase the documents you carry but reduce the weight.

From Wikipedia:

Key criteria in selecting EFB / Tablet PC Hardware:

Screen visibility

Outdoor viewable
Wide viewing angles

Why? If you have to move the tablet to see the screen, it is not an effective paper replacement.

Power management

Long battery life

Fast charging

Hot swap batteries -12/19/24v Power

Why? Long battery life is not enough. Power management and flexibility will allow you to run much longer than the longest battery life (consider operations longer than just flight endurance).

Ruggedness

Gorilla Glass

Drop tested

Water resistant

Why? A Tablet in the cockpit will be stowed and retrieved frequently. Vibrations, bumps and knocks will all be part at the environment. Your EFB can’t be too precious.

A final consideration would be mounting options, This of course may be subject to further certification.

More interesting discussion on EFB:
http://www.adrsoft.com/Electronic_Flight_Bag/Press_FAA_Certification.htm
http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/issue/feature/918.html

Tablets to consider for EFB Role:

5 Comments

Tags: Aviation, CF-19, EFB, Electronic Flight Bag, Motion Comptuing, Panasonic, Tablet PC, Toughbook Categories: Electronic Flight Bag - EFB |

Active digitizer does all the work…

Feb
14
2011

l was in a meeting recently with a large group of executives from one of Australia’s biggest companies. Half of the executives had iPad, (tablet envy anyone? ). Early in the meeting as l was feverishly taking notes on my tablet pc (Active digitizer of course). One of the execs turned to us and said,

"Wow, you really use those things don’t you!"

Interestingly none of the 7 iPads did anything during the meeting. Why?

This is not an isolated experience. I observe it all to often. Every plane flight l take lately, l get up and have a scan around to see what the iPads are doing… I’m yet to see one doing work on any of my regular flights. I’ve seen plenty of solitaire though…

In the meantime I used my last 3 hour flight to process 250 emails… Contacts created, appointments calendared, meetings requested, emails sent, spread sheets analysed. Perth to Melbourne seems to go in about 5 mins thanks to my Tablet PC and the power of the Active Digitiser Pen!

What my experience tells me is that even the slickest touch experience cannot come close to accomplishing what the Digital Pen can. Touch input is blunt, slow, frustrating and dumb. The only thing it has is convenience. That’s good, but it’s not enough alone…

Active Digitizer = Heavy Lifting

For a science / education perspective on why active digitizer technology is still the best method of input for real work, check out this article from John K. Waters. – Style, but no stylus.

I should add of course that I own an iPad amongst dozers of touch tablets. I’ve also been working with touch input for nearly 20 years now, and the last 10 with tablets and PDA’s – In other words, I’m no stranger to what’s possible!

27 Comments

Tags: Active Digitizer, Digital Ink, Handwriting Recognition, Productivity, Touch Categories: Discussion |

Working with a Pen Makes sense–Urban Planning

Nov
23
2010

As you’ll see from the following video demonstration, working on massive plans with a Wacom Interactive Pen display makes a lot of sense. This video shows an Urban Planner working with ArcGIS 10 to add features to a interactive plan.

Whilst the consumer technology media goes mad over touch based systems, you can see from this video that Active Digitizer Pen technology is far superior for many jobs that require precise input.

On a large screen like you’ll see touch can really get in the way by causing all sorts of accidental inputs. On the other hand this interactive pen display allows you to rest your hands naturally on screen, just like you would on a plan board.

Urban Planning using 23” Wacom Interactive Pen Display and ArcGIS 10

The Wacom Interactive Pen Display uses Wacom’s advanced active digitizer technology to deliver pressure and proximity sensitivity via the intelligent Pen.

The Digitizer Pen includes several programmable buttons that allow you to perform functions on screen and it can also take advantage of inbuilt Windows 7 Tablet PC productivity enhancements like pen flicks.

For a live demonstration of the Wacom Interactive Pen Display, contact Tablet PC on 03 9999 1601 or at info@tabletpc.com.au.

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Tags: Active Digitizer, ArcGIS, Digital Ink, Interactive Pen Display, Touch, Wacom Categories: Pen Displays, Wacom |

Tablet Kiosk eo TuffTab – Rugged 7” Tablet PC

Sep
14
2010

We posted another video today of the brilliant Tablet Kiosk eo TuffTab. The TuffTab is ideal for field workers who need to enter data on the move. As a rugged Tablet PC it is built to survive drops and bumps. With an outdoor viewable display and an IP54 rating (water and dust resistant), the TuffTab will work for you rain hail or shine.

Uniquely, the TuffTab includes a resistive multi-touch screen that can be used with rough / gloved hands. Even better, there is a version that includes a Wacom Active Digitizer as well as the Multi-touch screen. Regular viewers will know that this means the best of both worlds… The convenience of touch combined with the accuracy and versatility of the pen for note taking and data entry.

Tablet Kiosk eo TuffTab Rugged 7” Multi-Touch Tablet PC

The Tablet Kiosk eo TuffTab is another demonstration of the depth of Windows Tablet PCs offerings. No matter what work you do, there is a Tablet PC that will suit your workflow!

For more information on the Tablet Kiosk eo TuffTab visit our website.

1 Comment

Tags: Active Digitizer, IP54, Multi-Touch, Rugged, Rugged Tablet PCs, Tablet Kiosk, TuffTab, UMPC Categories: Tablet Kiosk |

Pressure Sensitive Sketching on a Tablet PC

Aug
3
2010

A lot of designers ask us if Tablet PCs are good for mobile sketching and drawing. The answer is an overwhelming yes! Many of our Tablet PCs like the HP TouchSmart Tm2 seen below use a Wacom Active Digitizer pen that is proximity and pressure sensitive up to 512 levels.

Whilst they might have a touch screen the Active Digitizer technology is different. It allows you to:

Rest your hand on the screen without interfering with your sketch
Use pressure sensitivity in Photoshop – press harder for a thick line, soft for a thin stroke
Work quickly – the combination of the Wacom Active Digitizer and modern Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors means that there is no lag while you are drawing.

Check out the video below from a Tablet PC user in France who is drawing on a HP TouchSmart Tm2.

So if you are an artist or graphic designer and you’re wondering what Tablet PC is best for you, feel free to contact us to discuss.

1 Comment

Tags: Active Digitizer, Design, Digital Art, HP, Pressure Sensitive, Sketching, Tm2, TouchSmart, Wacom Categories: Design |

Special Offer – Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 Tablet PC for Students

Jul
24
2010

To make way for the new Fujitsu Lifebook TH700, we are having a special run out of the Fujitsu Lifebook T4310. The T4310 is perfect for budget conscious students who want to take digital notes in classes and lectures on their laptop, so we have set our remaining stock aside to help out students.

If you are a student, or you have a student in the family then you are entitled to take advantage of this special offer while stocks last.

About the Fujitsu Lifebook T4310:

Includes the high-end Wacom Multi-Touch Screen with Active Digitizer Pen (Pressure sensitive for use with Photoshop and others)
Superb display with wide viewing angles
Uses the Intel Core 2 Duo T series high performance processor
Perfect for taking notes with Microsoft Office OneNote.

Buying from TabletPC.com.au gets you access to our years of experience with Tablet PCs. That means helpful advice, backup, and service.

Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 With Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010

RRP $2099

$1680 Including GST while limited stocks last.

Call 03 9999 1601 or email us at: info@tabletpc.com.au

Tech Specs:

Display: Excellent 12.1″ screen (WXGA – 1280×800 resolution) with Wacom Active Digitizer and Multi-touch screen – perfect for note taking

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ T6600 2.2GHz – Runs windows 7 beautifully

Storage: 320GB SATA Hard Drive

Memory: 2GB RAM – We can upgrade this for you to 4Gb for an extra $99

Warranty: 1 year Parts and Labour

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Tags: Education, Fujitsu, Fujitsu T4310, Students, Tablet Laptops, Tablet Notebooks Categories: Specials |

Intel Atom Vs Intel Core i7 – Which processor is best for your Tablet PC?

Jul
9
2010

Intel® Core™ i7 processor It’s generally hard to find a place where the Intel Core i7 and Intel Atom meet. You might have seen the Intel Atom processor featured in a netbook (a cheap, small lightweight and light use laptop). On the other hand you might have seen a new high end laptop advertised with the Intel Core i7 processor.

Intel® Atom™ processor You’ll also find Intel Atom processors in the current crop of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPC – small touch screen tablets) and most of the current range of full Tablet PCs feature the Intel Core i7 or Core i5. Occasionally the Intel Atom and the Intel Core i7 meet up with products like:

Rugged Tablet PCs – Motion F5v (Intel Core i7), Motion J3500 (Intel Core i7), Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 Mk 4 (Renamed Toughbook 19 – Intel Core i5), Trimble YUMA (Intel Atom) and Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1 (Intel Atom)
Mobile Clinical Assistants (MCA) - Motion C5v (Intel Core i7) and Panasonic Toughbook H1 (Intel Atom)

In these categories you might be considering a product with an Intel Atom processor against a product with the Intel Core i7. These overall product ranges are in a much higher price category compared to regular notebooks and tablet PCs, so the processor cost is insignificant in the overall price. In other words, cost is not a factor.

So why would you go for Atom over Core i7?

Certainly not based on performance. As the following video shows, the Intel Core i7 demonstrates up to 40 times the processing performance of the Intel Atom.

Of course performance is not just about whizz bang 3D animations. It directly relates to how responsive your computer is and there’s nothing more frustrating than a computer that is constantly working to catch up.

What we have found is that Tablets that are slow and frustrating are usually sitting at the back of someone’s draw or at the bottom of the cupboard. A rugged tablet or MCA would make an especially expensive paperweight!

What about battery life?

Power consumption is usually a big part of the decision to go with an Atom processor in a rugged Tablet PC or MCA. Unfortunately much of the discussion gets lost on battery life run times. The reality is that all manufacturer’s claimed run-times are based completely unrealistic scenarios.

Yes, real battery life is important and you may squeeze and extra few minutes of battery life from an Atom based processor. Our testing with the Mobile Clinical Assistants shows that while the manufacturers claimed run times for Atom based tablets might look good on paper the real use run time is not much different to the Intel Core i7 due to the fact that Atom has to work so much harder at all times. Certainly the power savings are not usually enough to justify computer that is up to 40 times slower!

What is more important is battery management. Things like fast charging and hot-swappable batteries are critical to ensure that your Tablet PC continues to work goes through the day uninterrupted.

Why does it matter?

Tablets, particularly the rugged ones are usually deployed into companies for very specific jobs. And your testing might show that an Atom is passable for that one job. What you don’t know is that Tablet PCs open up possibilities… “What if we did…?” What your tablets will be used for in one, two or three years is likely to be much more than you ever imagined.

For example, a physiotherapist might look at a Tablet PC as a way to eliminate paper notes in their practice, and its note taking capabilities will be perfect for that job. Over time the physio will learn how to prepare exercise sheets, book appointments or even demonstrate conditions to their customers using 3D anatomy modelling software.

The Atom based Tablet might be fine for taking the notes on, but it will be a painful experience for any of those other tasks. So the task that you want your Tablet computer to achieve today is only 1/10th of its usage scope over its lifetime. You need to plan for that.

The following quote from a Toms Hardware article sums it up for us:

“we recommend staying away from Atom if you have the slightest expectations for how systems should perform, if you’re impatient, or if you regularly run workloads through your system” – Toms Hardware – Efficiency Analysis: Core i3 Trumps Atom On The Desktop

In most cases our advice is: If you want a good Tablet PC experience for yourself and your staff, stick to the Intel Core i7 or i5 processor.

For a real simple explanation, check out this video discussion on Intel Core i7 Vs Atom at Tekzilla @27 mins.

2 Comments

Tags: Intel Atom, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, MCA, Mobile Clinical Assistant, Rugged Tablet PCs Categories: Processors |

Intel Core i7 or Core i5 – Which do you choose?

Jul
7
2010

With a whole range of new Tablet PCs like the Motion Computing J3500, F5v and the Fujitsu T900 all offering the choice of either Intel Core i7 or Intel Core i5 processors, you might wonder which one do you choose?

Jamie Balfour of Fort William in Scotland has a good explanation for you:

One point to bear in mind is that Jamie is talking about the desktop version of the i7 and i5 processors which have four processing cores. The ultra mobile versions of the Intel Core processors that are found in Tablet PCs currently are designed to conserve power and have 2 cores, but the principle is still the same.

Price is always a factor when choosing a processor for your Tablet PC. The price on the Motion Computing J3500 varies only about $200 between the Core i7 and Core i5 models. Our general recommendation (like Jamie’s) is to go for the i7 models. There are two reasons for that:

Nobody wants a slow computer! It’s worth going for a higher spec when the price is right.
Rugged Tablets like the Motion J3500 and F5v are an investment that you expect to be with you for at least 3 years, so it is worth ensuring that they will still be performing well in 3 years time. Going with the i7 now will future proof your investment.

That said, the performance difference between the Intel Core i7 and Core i5 pales into insignificance when you compare it to an Intel Atom processor – like you would find in most netbooks and UMPCs. Our next post will address the difference between the Intel Atom and the Intel Core i7.

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Tags: Fujitsu, Fujitsu T900, Intel Core, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, Motion Computing F5v, Motion Computing J3500, Motion F5v, Motion J3500 Categories: Processors |

Want to see the Future of Touch Input?

Apr
12
2010

Whilst the Tablet PC active digitizer pen is the trusted workhorse of many serious business Tablet PC users, the push towards touch screens has been somewhat puzzling to us.

Sure, multi-touch features are pretty cool and nice to have, but what does a swipe or a pinch really offer that is going to help you to become more productive?

Many of the people that call us insist that their Tablet PCs must have touch, but not many of them have a clear idea of why it should. There are a couple of reasons for that:

There is a lack of awareness of the difference between an Active Digitizer Pen and a Stylus.
Touch is the talk of the town
There is an anti-stylus agenda run by folks such as Steve Jobs from Apple.

Currently, touch offers some basic convenience for doing things like

Clicking on links
Typing short text on a virtual keyboard (too slow to write a paragraph without frustration though)
Playing touch games
Using programs specifically designed for touch

As many people have now noted, a touch screen only device does not offer you much in the way of input.

Most people don’t realize that an Active Digitizer pen is a lot smarter than a stylus. It offers you the ability to:

Use handwriting recognition that is accurate and fast – up to 40wpm
Take notes in your own handwriting – no need for text recognition or conversion, just keep your notes as handwriting
Annotate documents like word and PDF files in an easy and natural way.

Currently touch adds a little bit of convenience, but as Xavier Lanier noted over at Gottabemobile.com, even the die hard Apple fan boys don’t take notes on their brand new iPads – because it is not practical with only a touch screen to work with.

However, touch is destined to become much more than just a sideshow thanks to the tireless work of Microsoft Research. Touch has the ability to significantly augment the already powerful input features of the Tablet PC.

Watch the video from Microsoft Research’s Ken Hinckley here to see what we mean:

Combining natural input methods like this gets us seriously excited. As Ken points out on his accompanying blog post, this is the future of natural interface. Not just pen or touch, but both working together!

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Tags: Active Digitizer, Digital Ink, Microsoft Research, Microsoft Surface, Touch Categories: Multi-Touch |

Multi-Touch Windows 7 Fun with the Fujitsu T4310

Mar
15
2010

We had a great time with the Fujitsu T4310 recently, right up until the point where we broke the screen :-0… but that’s another story!

What we really loved is how zippy and responsive the multi-touch screen is. So we took a video of a number of Windows 7 multi-touch goodies including:

Microsoft Collage – This really shows how smooth and slick Multi-Touch applications can be under Windows 7
Microsoft Virtual Earth – Another touch goody from the Microsoft Surface team, included in the Windows 7 Touch Pack – Very fast app as you’ll see
Multi-Touch typing on the virtual keyboard of the Tablet PC Input Panel
Handwriting Recognition – The best kept secret of Windows
Touch web browsing.

The Fujitsu T4310 is an absolute pleasure to use. It has a very fast Intel Core 2 Duo processor, but it also has a great 5+ hour battery life.

Take a look at the video here: