December 2013

Xplore Technologies announced it has received its first major purchase order for its RangerX rugged Android tablet (see RuggedPCReview report on RangerX). The order of approximately US$4 million from a major U.S. telecommunications provider includes tablets and accessories and is expected to ship this month. "This multi-million dollar order is a great testament to how the RangerX caters to the telecommunications industry unlike any other rugged device on the market," Mark Holleran, president and chief operating officer for Xplore Technologies, said. [See Xplore press release]

Applebee's to install 100,000 rugged tablets in 2014
E la Carte, a company founded in 2009 by a group of MIT engineers and employing just over 35, announced that restaurant chain Applebee's will deploy 100,000 ruggedized E la Carte Presto tablets with integrated credit card readers in 2014, allowing customers to "order, pay, play." E la Carte provides no specs other than claiming a 20+ hour battery life and a whimsical "2X faster & 2X more memory", says there are $0 upfront costs and then a monthly fee, and has received lots of publicity from major mainstream media. [See Businessweek coverage] -- Posted Tuesday, December 3, 2013 by chb