Hasta La Gadget!

If you’d like a ruggedized camera to match that white Nexus 4 of yours, Pentax has you covered. The outfit has just unveiled an alabaster WG-3 that boasts the same specs and price tag as its vibrantly colored siblings. Dropping $300 on the shooter nets risk-prone photographers a 4x, f/2-4.9 lens backed by a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, a 3-inch LCD screen, video capture at 1080/30p and 720/60p, and even GPS for an additional $50. A toughened exterior makes the hardware cold-proof, crush-proof, drop-proof, shock-proof and water-proof. Yearning to get your hands on the ivory cam? Pentax says it’ll see a “limited distribution” at brick-and-mortar establishments and head to online shops this July.

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Source: Pentax

After being fed up with constantly breaking their smartphones due to a lack of ruggedness, a small group of people, including a couple folks from Nokia, started up Adaia to develop a rugged smartphone with satellite capabilities called the Blackcomb. It’s a collaboration between Adaia and BMW, where the German auto company is handling the design of the phone.

As the description of the phone would suggest, the Blackcomb is meant for outdoorsmen and adventurers, including those that enjoy sailing, climbing, skiing, biking, snowboarding, kayaking, etc. And since most of these activities occur out in the middle of nowhere, where a cellular signal is usually never to be had, the Blackcomb will come with satellite connectivity for making phone calls and checking email, as well as calling for help in the instance of an emergency.

According to AllThingsD, Adaia consists of 16 employees, where around half of them are from Nokia. It’s taken two years to make the prototype of the Blackcomb, and the company expects to begin testing out the device later this summer. Interestingly enough, the design of the phone was inspired by topographical maps, and the unique rigid design allows for a firm grip on the device, according to the company. However, they’re not letting go of the look of the phone just yet — the teaser image above is all we get.

As for price, the Blackcomb won’t be cheap. It’ll be more expensive than a typical top-tier smartphone, but the company says that it will cost less than all the phones you’ve had to buy as replacements for broken ones. They certainly do make a valid case, and the company is marketing this new phone as the solution to rugged devices.

The Blackcomb is planned to be released at some point later next year, and specific details about the phone aren’t yet known, including the screen size, and the hardware on the inside. However, if the phone isn’t releasing until next year, the hardware that’s running the phone now will certainly be obsolete by the time 2014 rolls around. Then again, rugged smartphones usually don’t come with the latest and greatest hardware in the first place, but if we really wanted a rugged device, we’d rather get an iPhone 5 or an HTC One with an OtterBox case and call it a day.

BMW and Adaia team up for rugged, satellite-connected Android phone is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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We’ve never understood why Panasonic chose to brand its top-line tablet as the Toughbook H2, but given the hairy-chested types who build and use the gear, we’re not gonna challenge ’em. The company hasn’t messed too much with the Windows 7 slate, except pushing the top chip to a 2.8GHz Intel Core i5-3427U and to swap out the 320GB 7,200RPM shock-mounted HDD for a 500GB model. Panasonic has also tweaked the hardware’s polycarbonate-encased magnesium alloy chassis, with MIL-STD-810G1 ensuring that the gear will survive drops from six-feet, as well as IP651 weather-proofing. The 3.5-pound unit also sees its battery life pushed to seven hours and also gains boosted WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.1+EDR connectivity. Once you’ve selected a unit, there’s a hefty list of possible add-ons, including barcode scanners, smart card readers, Gobi-running 3G, LTE and GPS options. There’s even a model that meets MIL-STD-461F standards for electromagnetic protection — useful if your day job involves battling superheroes. The standard unit will set you back $3,349 and comes with a three-year international warranty, so you’d better get buttering-up your procurement manager now.

Filed under: Tablets

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Samsung is moving quickly to diversify its phone line, with variants of the S4 popping out of the woodwork left and right, including the Galaxy S4 Zoom, which features a rumored 10x optical zoom on its rear camera. Today the Galaxy S4 Active, a ruggedized, smaller version of the flagship S4 has hit the Bluetooth Special Interest Group for certification, which means it could be coming along shortly, too.

The S4 Active is supposedly a water- and dust-resistant phone designed for use with an active lifestyle, or in outdoor conditions where generally phones don’t fare very well. The S4 Active would compete head-to-head with Sony’s latest lineup of phones, including the Xperia ZR announced today, which is a smaller version of the Xperia Z with slightly less impressive specs. It’s submersible in water for up to 1.5 meters, however, which pits it against the Active’s rumored feature set.

Both the Active and the Zoom S4 variants remind me of how companies are diversifying in another crowded, near saturated market: point-and-shoot cameras. Manufacturers regularly highlight the long zoom and rugged versions of their devices, as these are areas where consumers feel they need more than what’s available to them on the smartphone devices they carry around every day.

Manufacturers like Sony and Samsung moving in this direction with their devices marks an attempt to broaden their lineup’s appeal vs. other similar competitors, but also encroaches on the territory of single-purpose devices like the camera. And the market is likely to get more crowded, not less, as Google has been teasing devices that can withstand harsh environmental forces coming from its Motorola acquisition, through executive statements.

I said previously that Samsung is essentially preparing a phone for every feature to compete with any unique advantage its rivals may try, and the S4 Active is definitely that. But these variant devices also have the potential to act as advance market research for tech that can be adopted back into a flagship device: if any is particularly successful, it provides a roadmap for Samsung about what will draw customers to the S5 or beyond.

The S4 Active getting its Bluetooth certification means it’s likely to get a consumer reveal before too long, so we should see exactly how far Samsung has taken the rugged phone concept soon.

Samsung Gulf president Young Soo Kim reportedly made casual mention of an upcoming rugged take on the Galaxy S 4 at a press event earlier in the week, but left out any details. Sources for the Wall Street Journal claim to know more of the story, and it sounds like the toughened phone won’t be alone this summer. The Galaxy S 4 Active, as it’s rumored to be called, would arrive in July and carry the dust- and waterproofing of spiritual predecessors like the Galaxy Xcover 2 while maintaining the GS 4’s design language. A smaller, 4.3-inch parallel to the GS 4 would appear at the same time — Galaxy S 4 Mini, anyone? The same tipsters also expect the release of a new 8-inch “Galaxy-line tablet” in June, which suggests the Galaxy Note 8.0 may get a regular Tab counterpart. We wouldn’t base our buying strategies around the rumors when Samsung hasn’t said anything that’s truly on the record, but it might be wise to hold off if you’re not in a rush.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: Wall Street Journal