Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve seen quite a few external enclosures trotted out at CES already and now Rocstor’s looking to reveal its cards. The company has announced three ruggedized pocket drives: the Amphibious X5, Hawker HX and Lancer LX. Following up last year’s X7, this year’s Amphibious model casts off the Smart Card while keeping the AES-256 encryption and both FIPS and NIST Cryptographic Engine validation with single-factor authentication. USB and FireWire connections return for the key-code unlocking unit in 64GB to 512GB SSD options and HDD varieties ranging from 250GB to 1TB. The Hawker HX keeps all of the above listed specs except for the FireWire connections and the pass code access. Finally, the Lancer LX scraps the super secure internals, but brings back FireWire — adding a second port to boot — and touts 64GB to 256GB SDD and 500GB to 1TB HDD models. All three offerings sport aluminum-clad, shock-absorbing ruggedized frames and will arrive this month. No word on pricing for any of the trio yet, though.

Continue reading Rocstor unveils three ruggedized pocket drives at CES: Amphibious X5, Hawker HX and Lancer LX

Filed under: Storage

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Source: Rocstor (1), (2), (3)

Panasonic just revealed the two newest members of its Toughpad family here at CES, the FZ-G1 Windows 8 slate and the 7-inch JT-B1 Android tablet. Naturally, when the company’s gave us the chance get handsy with this pair of chunky monkeys we jumped at the chance. Each of them have the telltale look of every Panasonic Toughbook and Toughpad — a solidly constructed silver plastic shell with black rubber corners and a girth roughly twice that of its less robust gadget brethren.

We were surprised to find that the smaller of the two tablets we fondled failed to have Android 4.2 on board. Instead it was loaded up with Ice Cream Sandwich, which the slate’s dual-core OMAP silicon kept humming smoothly during our brief time with it. Like its 10-inch sibling we saw last year, its matte screen mutes colors while it reduces glare. While the strap on the back is an optional accessory, we see its appeal for securing the device in hand, and fully expect it’ll be a popular add-on for enterprise customers.

Meanwhile, the Windows 8 slate’s screen was a bit brighter and more vibrant, and its Core i5 had us swiping through the OS’s tiles even more smoothly than its smaller stablemate. Build quality was, of course extremely solid, but results in a tablet with considerable heft. If you’d like to see the two Toughpads in action, a pair of videos await after the break.

Mark Hearn contributed to this article.

Continue reading Panasonic FZ-G1 Windows 8 Pro and JT-B1 Android Toughpad tablets hands-on

Filed under: Tablets

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Whether you’re the next Trent Reznor on a MIDI controller or simply get a warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy when hearing classic video game themes, there’s no denying the impact of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface specification. Three decades after its creators decided to collaborate and listen on a brand new invention, MIDI technology is now being used by more than 700 companies in a wide range of devices ranging from electronic keyboards and drum sets to video game consoles and cell phones. To commemorate its birthday, the MIDI Manufacturers Association just kicked off its “MIDI Makes Music” 30th Anniversary campaign with a preview of the past, present and future of the technology at CES. The yearlong tribute fittingly continues later this month at the NAMM Show 2013 — the same event where the technology was first demonstrated in 1983. For more details about the ongoing MIDI revelry, feel free to peruse the PR after the break. It doesn’t have instructions on how to transform your MIDI controller into a guitar enclosure but, hey, we kind of got you covered on that one, too.

Continue reading MIDI turns 30, gets year-long birthday bash from daddy

Filed under: Misc, Alt

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Source: MIDI Manufacturers Association

T-Mobile had more than just big updates at its CES event; it gave us opportunities to try both its newly national HD Voice service and a seemingly unknown carrier-specific NFC app, Tap Tag. The currently Android-only software is best described as a crossover between somewhat simpler existing NFC tag systems. like Samsung’s Tectiles, and multi-step automation like Motorola’s Smart Actions. Put a Tap Tag-equipped phone against a relevant marker and it will perform one or more customizable tasks, such as putting the phone in a do-not-disturb mode at the same time it sets an alarm for the morning. From our glance through the menus, it’s surprisingly deep and flexible without being intimidating. There are pre-defined templates, but nothing’s set in stone — if your definition of an office mode involves launching YouTube and cranking the volume, you can make it happen.

More details, including HD Voice testing, await after the break.

Continue reading Hands-on with T-Mobile’s HD Voice, Tap Tag app for NFC-ready Android phones

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, T-Mobile

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We love an underdog story. So when we saw that ZTE—a company which in the U.S. is not so synonymous with “quality” —was making a spec-monster phone, we were excited. After playing with it for about ten minutes, we’re a bit less enthusiastic. More »