The ever-innovative folks at Comfort Software Group have added multi-touch support to Hot Virtual Keyboard, their on-screen typing solution for Windows. Replacing the original Windows On-Screen Keyboard, Hot Virtual Keyboard 5.0 offers numerous benefits over the built-in version to allow computer users type faster and with more comfort. The latest edition adds support for Windows 7 and its sensor input with up to 255 touch points. There's also word auto-complete, programmable keys, several dozens of different layouts, as well as complete customization. -- Posted Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by chb
Xplore secures working capital credit facility
Xplore Technologies Corp., makers of the Xplore iX104 line of ultra-rugged tablets, announced that it has entered into a $4.75 million working capital credit facility with Far West Capital. The new working capital facility replaces a credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank, which has been paid in full. -- Posted Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by chb
MP samples of Samwell RUGGEDBOOK SR820 now available
Samwell International announced in an email to current and prospective customers that samples of their Atom Z530P-based RUGGEDBOOK SR820 tablet are now available. The SR820 seems a compelling device: Netbooks are selling by the millions, so why not offer the same size and technology in a ruggedized touch screen device without the extra bulk and weight of a physical keyboard? [See Samwell announcement and SR820 product description] -- Posted Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by chb
Pfizer equips sales reps with Lenovo Tablet PCs
The Wall Street Journal reports that Pfizer is equipping its sales reps with Lenovo ThinkPad X200 convertible Tablet PCs. Planning for the Tablet PC project began a year and a half ago, and became more urgent when the systems became part of an agreement with the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Tablet PCs will help in not only provide more thorough and up-to-date information about drugs to doctors, but also displaying a list of preapproved products. -- Posted Monday, December 14, 2009 by chb
Shenzhen Guangxuntong Communication Technology Co., Ltd.
And yet another cool little machine we'll never get. Offered by Shenzhen Guangxuntong Communication Technology Co., Ltd. of China, the eKing S515 is an Atom Z515 or Z520-powered micro-UMPC with a 5-inch 800x480/1024x600 display, 16GB of SSD, WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G modules, a camera and USB ports. The little thing weighs less than 12 ounces and apparently runs Windows 7. [See website] -- Posted Friday, December 11, 2009 by chb
Healthcare Technology Online: Don't lose faith in EHRs
A recent study led by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School suggested that EHR (Electronic Health Records) so far have not resulted in the savings and increased quality hoped for. Healthcare Technology Line, however, feels it's much to early to pass judgement on EHR and that its benefits will become more than evident over time. These systems are of important to the rugged industry which has been bringing a variety of MCA (Mobile Clinical Assistant) devices to market. [Read Heathcare Technology Online position on EHR] -- Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009 by chb
MSI touch-screen PCs used for White House exhibit 
MSI announced that its Wind Top All-in-One desktop PCs are being used by the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Ill., for its new exhibit, The White House: A Look Inside. The exhibit is leveraging MSI’' All-in-One PCs with 18.5-inch widescreen displays to help provide guests with never-before-seen views inside America’s most famous landmark. The MSI AE1900 models use an Atom 230 or 330, are in the US$500 range, and provide touch screen browsing and computing with netbook performance in a sleek and elegant all-in-one. -- Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009 by chb
Little Japanese Atom-powered Win 7 Tablet PC
Every time I go to Japan I see lots of interesting gear that never makes it stateside. Some of it is too small, specialized or expensive for the US market, but some products would be interesting to have on the US market. Take, for example, the Atom Z520-powered, Windows 7-based Onkyo NX707A4, a small (7.6 x 5.2 x 0.95 inches) and light (1.6 pounds) convertible Tablet PC with a 1024 x 600 7-inch touch screen, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, dual cameras, a multi-card reader, etc. Cost? US$675. [See the Onkyo NX707A4] -- Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009 by chb
DLI announces rugged, super-compact point-of-sale tablet
DLI, a LaPorte, Indiana based manufacturer of rugged mobile tablets has announced the DLI 8800 Mobile POS tablet. The rugged Atom Z530-powered DLI 8800 has a 7-inch screen, weighs just 2.3 pounds, has an integrated mag stripe reader, and can be ordered with an integrated RFID reader and 2D barcode scanner. The DLI 8800 is available either with a touch screen or an active digitizer. [See description and specs of the DLI 8800 POS tablet] -- Posted Tuesday, December 1, 2009 by chb
PhatWare releases update to PenOffice
PhatWare has released an update to its PenOffice app, adding compatibility with Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It also offers pen-based collaboration, improved security and reliability features, support for multi-core processing, and configuration and management features to improve mobile working. PenOffice supports numerous languages and is designed for use with Windows-based PCs. Beyond the Microsoft Office markup feature, PenOffice now adds support for OpenOffice.org 3.0 or later documents. [See the PhatWare PenOffice page] -- Posted Tuesday, December 1, 2009 by chb