Hasta La Gadget!

Handheld Group is ready to release the Algiz 10x 10.1-inch rugged tablet PC. Designed for field professionals, this rugged tablet PC is IP65-rated and meets stringent MIL-STD-810G military standards for protecting against dust, water, vibrations, drops, extreme temperatures and varying altitudes. Weighing at just 1.3 kg (2.9 lbs) and measuring at 32 mm thick, the Algiz 10X is equipped with a 10.1-inch touchscreen display with the latest generation of MaxView technology, a u-blox GPS receiver, WAAS/EGNOS/MSAS capability, Bluetooth 4.0 and WLAN 802.11 b/g/n. Other specs include a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, USB 2.0, VGA and RS232 ports. It also provides an Intel Atom N2800 dual-core processor with a 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a choice of a 64GB or a 128GB SSD, a microSD for storage expansion and the Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate operating system. The Algiz 10X rugged 10.1-inch Windows tablet PC will be available in January 2013. [Handheld Group]

If you’re in the market for a laptop that won’t buckle if you start flinging it across the room, Ballmer-style, then Panasonic’s “business ruggedized” Toughbook SX2 might be for you. Resembling one of the company’s Let’s Note units, the 12.1-inch unit boasts of a difficult-to-believe 14.5 hours of battery life, a slim yet sturdy magnesium alloy body and a 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5-3320M Turbo-boosted CPU. It’ll arrive later this month, with the base model making a $2,649 sized hole in your company’s procurement budget — and if you’d like to know more, there’s the obligatory hairy-chested press release after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic releases the Toughbook SX2, a laptop that’ll take no prisoners at the quarterly conference

Filed under: Laptops

Panasonic releases the Toughbook SX2, a laptop that’ll take no prisoners at the quarterly conference originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can’t blame us for having a bit of a soft spot for rugged devices. There’s something comforting about knowing you can drop or drown your phone and it wont be any worse for wear. That’s the reason we keep coming back to the Rugby series. Its specs dont impress and its certainly not a looker, but its sturdy masculine design kinda gets our blood pumping. So, we just had to stop by Samsung’s table at tonight’s AT&T event and spend some time with the Galaxy Rugby Pro, an updated version of the Rugby Smart we reviewed earlier this year. The basic design is the same — it’s a chunky slab of thick, ribbed, soft-touch plastic and rubber, with a sizable chrome screw holding the backplate in place. The textured rubber buttons up front have been reduced from four to three, in keeping with the updated user experience of Ice Cream Sandwich. Oh, did we mention it ditches Gingerbread for some delicious Android 4.0.4 goodness — a most welcome upgrade from the Smart. It’s not exactly smooth sailing on the 1.5GHz CPU, but the lag never got unbearable in our brief hands on time.

Perhaps the biggest knock against the device though, is the rather lackluster 4-inch WVGA screen. It’s a Super AMOLED panel, which means top-notch contrast, but colors were definitely off and a little washed out looking. It does however mean it should be perfectly viewable in direct sunlight — a major concern for devices such as this. The paltry 768GB of RAM and 8GB of storage aren’t really anything to write home about, but at least there’s a microSD slot under the battery. Along the left edge of the device is the volume rocker and a customizable key that can be used to turn on the torch or launch the camera or any number of other tasks, while the right side is home to the power / lock button. The micro-USB port is on the bottom under a tiny plastic door while the headphone jack is similarly protected at the top of the device. We can’t say we’re expecting much from the 5MP camera, but the extremely dark conditions at the AT&T event ensured that we couldn’t get anything usable out of it. For more check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro for AT&T hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro for AT&T hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now this is what we were hoping for from Thunderbolt. LaCie just stuck a Thunderbolt port on its USB 3.0 Rugged series of external drives, meaning it’s now a tiny, indestructible speed monster. More »

There are plenty of Bluetooth speakers around, but not many are capable of being used outside, at least without suffering damage from the elements. The Turtle Shell is pretty durable, and it will play your music almost anywhere.

Outdoor Technology’s Turtle Shell is a rugged Bluetooth-enabled speaker made to handle plenty of rough situations. It’s shock-proof, dust-proof and water-resistant. The underside of the shell has a threaded mount for any standard tripod and a reinforced latch to attach carabiners too. The controls are pretty simple. It has three buttons, which allow you to change songs. It also comes with a built-in microphone to receive and make calls.

The rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasts for 9 hours and comes in a number of different colors. It was launched over on Kickstarter, and has already amassed about $9,000 of it’s $40,000 goal with 17 days of fundraising left. You’ll have to pledge $99(USD) to get yours.

[via Cool Hunting]