Hasta La Gadget!

There’s multifaceted, and then there’s X-Arcade’s Solo Joystick. Following up on the outfit’s aptly-titled Dual Joystick, the Solo here is a 12-pound beast that’s built to withstand just about anything. And, indeed, function just about anywhere. Up for pre-order now, the gamepad is set to ship to gamers everywhere on December 1st, bringing with it 11-inches of arcade-style glory. It’ll function with PC, Mac and Linux rigs right out of the box for $99.99, while optional adapters enable support for nine different gaming consoles (PlayStation 1 / 2 / 3, Wii, Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Wii U). Oh, and since you’re wondering, they company claims that it’s “hard at work on new adapters for the upcoming Xbox One and PS4,” and it’s throwing in a fully licensed version of Maximus Arcade Software for anyone who places an order before September 1st.

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Via: HotHardware

Source: X-Gaming

There’s no lack of high-powered ruggedness in the Panasonic Toughbook range, and when it comes to keeping up with the rest of the notebook power world, the company is making sure of Windows 8-era excellence this week. There’s the Toughbook CF-31, CF-19 and CF-H2 from Panasonic’s “ultra durable Fully-rugged” range and the Semi-rugged CF-53 that are getting said upgrade, it’ll finally be time to really, truly be done with Windows XP.

Speaking on the end of Windows XP support by Microsoft in 2014, Panasonic suggests that this upgrade to Windows 7 and 8 will offer “smooth migration option(s) for businesses.” That’s not the only use for these hardcore machines, of course, with each unit aimed at unique use-cases for computer needs small and great. In addition to updating the operating systems of these notebooks, camera upgrades are in order for full video conferencing functionality.

Each of the four models mentioned will be hitting the market with a push for the next generation of convertible notebook, tablet, and all-in hardcore notebook machines immediately. Just make sure wherever you’re picking one of these machines up that you’re hitting the newest range – run down the specs while you’re at it!

Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 (pictured above)
• Intel® Core™ i5-3340M vPro Processor
• Windows® 8 Pro
• Intel HD 4000 graphics
• Vibration and shock resistant (MIL-STD 810G)*
• Water and dust resistant (IP65, MIL-STD 810G)*
• Balanced lightweight at just 2.3kg
• Extremely bright 10.1″ transflective plus LCD with Touchscreen or Dual Touch (up to 6.500cd/m2 reflective brightness) with circular polarizer
• Long battery life of up to 10 hours
• 3G mobile broadband optional (HSPA+, up to 14.4Mbps)

Panasonic Toughbook CF-31
• Intel® Core™ i5-3340M vPro Processor (Standard Model)
• Intel® Core™ i5-3380M vPro Processor (Performance Model)
• Windows® 8 Pro
• Intel HD 4000 graphics (Standard Model), AMD® Radeon™ HD 7750M (Performance Model)
• Vibration and shock resistant (MIL-STD 810G)*
• Water and dust resistant (IP65, MIL-STD 810G)*
• 13.1″ high brightness outdoor display (up to 1.200cd/m²) with circular polarizer
• Up to 14.5 hours battery life (Standard Model, 12 hours Performance Model)
• 3G mobile broadband optional (HSPA+, up to 14.4Mbps)
• Backwards compatible with CF-30 docking stations and Car Mounter Kit**
• High flexibility and connectivity through new configuration such as second LAN, camera or GPS

Panasonic Toughbook CF-53
• Intel® Core™ i5-3340M vPro Processor
• Windows® 8 Pro
• Intel HD 4000 graphics
• 14″ HD display
• Integrated DVD Super Multi Drive
• Up to 11 hours battery life
• High capacity “road warrior” Battery optional
• 3G mobile broadband optional (HSPA+, up to 14.4Mbps)
• Dedicated GPS Module optional
• RFID Module optional
• 2nd LAN, Firewire or Modem optional
• Robust magnesium alloy display case
• Shock-protected HDD
• Low temperature HDD optional
• Withstands drops from a height of 76cm***

Panasonic Toughbook CF-H2
• Intel® Core™ i5-3437U vPro processor
• Windows® 8 Pro
• Intel HD 4000 graphics
• Vibration and shock resistant (MIL-STD 810G, Field Model)*
• Water and dust resistant (IP65, MIL-STD 810G)*
• Easy to clean/disinfect and meets Hospital Safety Certifications (Health Model)****
• Extremely bright 10.1″ transflective plus LCD with Dual Touch (up to 6.500cd/m2 reflective brightness) and circular polarizer
• Lightweight form factor – weighing only 1.58kg
• Dual hot swappable batteries providing up to 7 hours battery life
• USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, LAN and Serial Port (depends on model)
• Integrated Barcode Reader optional
• Smartcard Reader optional
• Camera, GPS or RFID optional

SlashGear also recently had some hands-on time with the back-breaking Panasonic Toughbook CF-AX2 if you’d like to take a look. This machine was revealed well within the bounds of this same future-ready range of Windows 8 machines so doesn’t fall under this reboot schedule – it’s already prepped!

The same goes for the Panasonic Toughbook CF-C2, a display-turning transformable notebook ready to bring on both tablet and notebook abilities in a hardcore form. And for those of you that want to say small and don’t necessarily feel the need to move forward with Windows 8, there’s always the Panasonic Toughbook SX2 from back in 2012 – always room for a strange trackpad or two!

Panasonic Toughbook Windows 8 upgrade continues push for rugged supremacy is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Several years have passed since the original hardcore phone from Casio hit the public, also on Verizon. Here we’re seeing the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE, a machine made for getting beat up in the field while it remains powerful enough for the standard Android-loving phone user, complete with a bit of the ol’ 2013

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Let’s face it: no rugged phone is going to get more attention today than the Galaxy S4 Active. Just the same, NEC is showing off the Terrain, its first handset for the US market since 2005. The phone, which is hitting AT&T for $99 with a two-year agreement, is mainly aimed at the enterprise (read: field technicians and other mobile workers). Since it’s unlikely to reach mainstream consumers, we won’t be running a full-on review, but we did take the opportunity to get hands-on. As you’d expect of a device that can be immersed in water up to 30 minutes, this thing’s coated in rubber, with a sealed USB port and a secure (but removable) battery cover. It’s a bit chunky for a phone, to be sure, but at 6.06 ounces it’s still eminently portable. In fact, the rounded edges and soft finish make it more comfortable to hold than some of the more minimal handsets we’ve seen recently.

Other than that, you’ll be pleased to find an unskinned version of Android, though it’s 4.0 and not a newer build like 4.2. The capacitive screen responds well to taps and swipes, though the 640 x 480 resolution isn’t going to knock anyone’e socks off — and neither will the washed-out colors. Performance-wise, the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 8960 processor means transitions happen quickly, and there isn’t any tiling in the Chrome browser. We also got on well with the QWERTY keyboard, though the buttons are packed in quite tightly. And that’s a good thing: it’s slim pickings for anyone who wants a portrait QWERTY Android phone. Finishing up our tour, you’ll find a microSD slot (to support the 8GB of built-in storage), dedicated speaker and push-to-talk buttons and dual 5MP / 0.3MP cameras, with an NFC radio under the hood. It’ll be available tomorrow on AT&T’s LTE network, through the carrier’s business channel, specifically. Check out the hands-on photos below — we even got a requisite shot of it in a fish tank.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

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Samsung unveiled its new waterproof and dustproof Galaxy S 4 a few days ago, called the Galaxy S4 Active, and now AT&T is the first out of the gate to announce availability of the new device. AT&T will begin taking pre-orders for the phone starting on June 14, with an official launch date of June

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