Hasta La Gadget!

Fujitsu’s Stylistic M532 has had a protracted development process that saw it appear on our radar as early as January; imagine our surprise after it ships to the US with barely more than a knock on the door. Now that it’s here, it looks to be on the sunnier side of average for an Android 4.0 slate. A quad 1.4GHz Tegra 3, a 1,280 x 800 display and 32GB of built-in space won’t rock our world in mid-2012, but the rough-and-ready among us will likely appreciate the military-spec abuse tolerances and support for optional Absolute CompuTrace theft tracking, just in case it’s pilfered from an open bag. Fujitsu’s obstacles? Apart from not having much of a cachet in the tablet arena, the company also has to convince buyers that the extra safeguards are worth a $549 price — for those who treat their tablets more delicately, there are a few tempting alternatives.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Fujitsu’s Stylistic M532 quad-core tablet ships to the US with toughened body, dash of security originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Much ado has been made of weather-resistant cameras, but it’s all a moot point if the memory card dies, isn’t it? Panasonic wants that level of survivability in its SDHC and SDXC cards, and its new UHS-I-level SDAB and SDUB lines are tested for the kind of abuse that could see the camera give up the ghost first. The cards can take the kinds of punishment that we often associate with rugged gear, such as temperatures from -13F to 185F, immersion in 3.3 feet of water for half an hour and the usual steep drops. It’s beyond this that the resistance levels become truly exotic: the cards are also built to survive zaps of electricity, proximity to magnets and exposure to X-rays. If it all becomes too much to bear, the design will even fuse on the inside to prevent fire burning the card from within. Those who like what they see will only have to decide whether or not they want the SDAB range’s 95MB/s read speeds and 80MB/s writes or are willing to settle for the SDUB line’s respective 90MB/s and 45MB/s transfers. We have yet to see if or when the SD cards cross the Pacific after their September 8th launch in Japan, although we hope so — with that kind of extra-tough design, our photos are more likely to endure than we will.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Storage

Panasonic preps SD cards that survive heat, water and X-rays, will probably outlast you originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’m not sure how the TSA will deal with the grenade-like looks of this USB flash drive, but it definitely looks interesting. While I prefer something more minimal, the fact of the matter is that some USB flash drives get lost so quickly that it makes sense to make them more visible. The RuggedKey uses a protective orange bumper to keep the flash drive secure, and so you probably won’t lose track of it either.

The RuggedKey was designed by the Scottish designer Neil Poulton, and has similar looks to LaCie’s rugged orange hard drive. When the RuggedKey flash drive is stowed in the bumper, your data is supposed to be safe from heat, cold, and 330 feet drops, as is evidenced by this video:

It’s made to be unbreakable, but I’m sure we’ll see a YouTube video where someone finally manages to break it – with a steamroller or by dropping it in a tub of thermite.

It comes in sizes of 16 and 32 GB and is USB 3.0 compatible. The 16 GB RuggedKey sells for $39.99(USD) while the 32 GB version costs $69.99.

[via designboom]

Encountered much violence lately? Then consider yourself a target for Lacie’s new ruggedized USB 3.0 stick, which is now available at the company’s online store. Yes, it’s as fat as it looks in the SanDisk Extreme comparison photo after the break, but most of that girth comes from the rubbery orange cushion designed to protect your data from water, extreme temperatures and 100-meter drops. Exactly how much of that protection you’d retain even after removing the orange part isn’t yet clear, but we can vouch for the fact that an 850GB video file made it across from the RuggedKey to a Retina MacBook Pro at almost exactly the claimed maximum transfer rate of 150MB/s. The write speed wasn’t so stunning compared to the SanDisk — only around 40MB/s when data travelled the other way, or a quarter of the speed of a 64GB Extreme stick — but then, at $40 for 16GB and $70 for 32GB, the Lacie also comes in a lot cheaper.

Continue reading Lacie USB 3.0 RuggedKey now shipping: $40 for 16GB, $70 for 32GB

Filed under: Storage

Lacie USB 3.0 RuggedKey now shipping: $40 for 16GB, $70 for 32GB originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo must have struck a chord with schools looking for some rough-and-tumble ThinkPads, as it’s bringing out the ThinkPad X131e even while teachers are still drafting their course plans for the fall semester. The new model keeps that better-than-military ruggedness in an 11.6-inch laptop while freshening the choices of AMD E-series chips or their Intel-made Celeron and Core i3 challengers. Dolby Advanced Audio even gives the speakers boost when it’s not a matter of all work and no play. Educators, in turn, get the usual options for extended support or customizing the laptops with a little school pride. There’s a premium to pay for putting classrooms on the cutting edge, however: at $499, the new systems are $70 more costly than the launch price of the X130e portables they replace, which leaves quite a bit less money for notebooks of the paper variety.

Continue reading Lenovo unveils toughened ThinkPad X131e for education, hikes price to $499

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo unveils toughened ThinkPad X131e for education, hikes price to $499 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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