News Week of February 24, 2008

Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education (WIPTE)

WIPTE 2008 will be held on October 15-16, 2008

WIPTE is open to anyone with an interest in instructional technology. A wide variety of disciplines are embracing Tablet PC's and similar pen-based devices as tools for the radical enhancement of teaching and learning. This conference is intended to leverage this shared passion and to identify best practices in the educational use of pen-based computing so that all educators may benefit from this next generation of technology. Each WIPTE paper presentation includes an assessment component as an important part of the presentation. The WIPTE program also includes keynote talks, poster presentations, vendor booths, panels, and special sessions.

Learn more about WIPTE  (Source: WIPTE Website)

GETAC V100 ruggedised laptop review

The GETAC V100 looks more like the kind of workman's toolbox you expect to find in the depths of a dusty shed than it does a laptop or tablet PC. The tough grey magnesium alloy case features dark plastic protection on every edge, as well as rubber and plastic port covers.

They do their job too � we dropped the laptop several times from waist height while standing, and the impact had no adverse effect on the GETAC V100, no matter which corner or side it landed on.

Furthermore, according to GETAC, the V100 has achieved an international protection rating of IP54 standards, ensuring any unexpected spills or sprays won't affect the inner workings of the GETAC V100.   (Source: Carrie-Ann Skinner, PC Advisor)

K-Sketch For The Tablet PC

I can't draw worth a darn, so this program I founda program called K-Sketch from The Register might be good for some 'impressive' drawings when no one is looking.  This might make for a fun contest sometime to see who can come up with the most creative animated drawing.  (Source: Matt Faulkner, GottaBeMobile)

Review:Toshiba Portege M700-110

With UMPCs (ultra-mobile PCs) and truly portable laptops such as Asus� Eee PC, you�d be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft�s tablet PC dream was dead and buried.

But if you�re partial to scribbling text directly onto a screen using Vista�s excellent handwriting recognition tools, large screen tablet PCs, such as Toshiba�s Portege M700-110, are hard to beat. Toshiba has done a good job with the styling and has included some interesting features.

To prevent the 12.1in (1,200x800) screen from twisting round during tablet use, two latches either side of the screen lock it into position; this does, however, mean that you have to make sure the screen is perpendicular to the base before twisting it.  (Source: Will Stapley, Personal Computing World, Vnunet.net)

UMPC takes Skype to another level

But it has two new tricks up its sleeve. Though it is not a convertible tablet like the LifeBook U1010, the TangoX Nano sports a touchscreen to complement the pathetically small touchpad at the bottom. Another interesting feature is a removable Skype phone located at the side of the display which can be used for VoIP.

Running on a VIA 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, this UMPC is no powerhouse but more than capable of most productivity tasks. The 7-inch 800 x 480-pixel resolution screen is a little disappointing, as more than a few Webpages are optimized for 1,024-pixel width. No needs on price or availability yet, but this is one baby will be keeping track of.   (Source: Darius Chang, CNet Crave Via Akihabara News)
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by ChrisD
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First impressions of The Fujitsu Lifebook P1620 Tablet PC

The new Fujitsu Lifebook P1620 perfect is travel companion that lets you get things done but doesn't take up space or weigh you down.   If your an individual who's always on the go, I highly recommend checking out the Fujitsu Lifebook P1620 Notebook - Tablet PC

Don't let the scaled down size fool you, the Fujitsu P1620 Notebook - Tablet PC is packed with features that let you do everything you need to do, without weighing you down or taking up a lot of space in your bag.   As far as productivity goes, all you need to add is Microsoft Office and your ready to go.   

Small in size without compromise....

Small in size and big on features the Fujitsu Lifebook P1620 functions as a full  size notebook - Tablet PC without the weight or the bulk.  It is feature packed Notebook Tablet Pc with full pen, ink and touch capabilities that will run all of your your productivity applications.   When it come to fun the P1620 turns into portable entertainment center that will let you listen to music or watch movies when your traveling as.  If you happen to be on a family vacation the P1620    lets you surf the web, edit photos from your digital camera and keep up with your email while your gone.   (Source: Linda A. Epstein, TabletPC2.com)

Toshiba Satellite M200

Who wouldn't love an easy to remember name like the PSMC3A-04P008? Sure, it sounds like an all-in Star Wars android orgy, and rolls off the tongue as easily as a rusty razor blade, but we digress. That rather painful sounding product name thankfully refers to the specific version of the Toshiba Satellite M200 that we were sent for review; as it's available in various under the hood technical configurations, it carries that kind of unintelligible suffix so that product vendors can keep track. Just to confuse consumers even more, Toshiba's already had an M200 on their books; the tablet Portege M200. That unit now has more than four years on the clock, so if you get offered one, don't pay Satellite M200 type money for it.  (Source: Alex Kidman, CNet)
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008 by ChrisD
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Dell(TM) Tablet PC Helps Health Care Go Mobile

The Dell Latitude XT brings more than its exclusive sub-four-pound weight and pen and capacitive touch capability to health care professionals. The Dell laptop, one of the thinnest and lightest convertible tablets in the industry, using software from Axolotl, Sencor and e-MDs Healthanywhere, is ushering in a new connected era in health care and life sciences.

Software tools available on the XT enable diagnostic imaging and image sharing, electronic health records, home health and disease monitoring, clinical assessment tools, electronic prescribing, patient entertainment and education, claims and benefits administration. Health care providers already using any of these software tools can easily and smoothly incorporate the XT into their technology operations.

"Technology can play a critical role in driving efficiencies and improvements in health care," said James Coffin, Ph.D., vice president and general manager, Dell Health Care and Life Sciences. "The combination of Dell's innovative tablet and the latest software delivers new tools to help enable high-quality care across the health care industry."

The following vendors' software is validated to work with the Latitude XT running the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system:

-- Allen Technologies           
-- Medkinetics
-- Axolotl                      
-- Neurostar
-- e-MDs                        
-- nSuite
-- Empiric                      
-- PeerVue
-- Endometric                   
-- Physmark
-- Global MindScreen            
-- Practice IT
-- Healthanywhere               
-- Ramsoft
-- Hermes Medical Solutions     
-- Sencor
-- Logicom Health Systems       
-- Sorna

To learn more about Dell's ongoing work in health care and life sciences, visit the Direct2Dell blog, and to share ideas about how technology can help drive an evolution in health care, visit Dell Ideastorm.  (Source: Press Release)

Duke integrates technology through programs, training

Though Blackboard is the most widely-used tool, technologies such as Tablet PCs have enjoyed niche success. This semester, 17 faculty members received Tablet PC loans through the DDI, up from 15 last semester.

Lisa Huettel, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been using Tablet PCs in her classes since Spring 2006.

In a video posted on the CIT Web site she said the Tablet PCs helped to "bridge the gap" between classroom lectures and laboratory work. She added that the integration of Tablet PCs was "a great exercise in increasing student engagement."  (Source: Donnie Allison, The Chronicle Online)
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008 by ChrisD
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iMedica Asks Physicians to �Take A Tablet� and Call In a Week

Unique, Free �Test Drive� Program Puts Tablet PCs Loaded With iMedica�s Patient Relationship Manager� into Physician�s Hands �After we used the tablet�, we decided to go with iMedica.�

HIMSS 2008 Annual Conference
Booth #2307
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iMedica Corporation, a leading developer of healthcare software solutions for physician practices, announced today a new program that equips physicians with a tablet PC loaded with iMedica�s Patient Relationship Manager (PRM), a single-application Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) solution, for them to test for a week.

iMedica�s �Take a Tablet� program allows physicians to bypass the often costly, time-consuming guessing game of evaluating EHR and PM systems. The program is simple � once a physician practice is pre-qualified, an iMedica representative personally delivers a tablet PC and then trains the physician to use the iMedica PRM, which is already installed on the tablet PC. The physician can evaluate iMedica PRM for a week.

�Physicians need EHR/PM solutions that fit seamlessly into their practices� workflow and that won�t slow them down,� says Michael Nissenbaum, iMedica�s President and CEO. �They want to determine what an EHR/PM solution can actually do for a practice. This process requires more than just listening to a boilerplate sales presentation � it demands a physician test drive.�

Interest in EHR implementation has grown in response to recent announcements that EHRs can have a significant positive impact on outcomes and costs in chronic disease management, according to the Rogosin Institute, a not-for-profit treatment and research institute affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College. Such data helps make good on the core EHR promise to enhance care, reduce costs and improve patient care.

Physicians who choose to participate in iMedica�s one-week test-drive have the opportunity to try out typical practice tasks such as patient charting, prescription refills, documentation of chief complaints, referrals tracking, task and message management, scheduling, billing and collections.

�We did a lot of research to narrow down our choices � we even accessed one company�s web-based portal � but it wasn�t until we held in our hands the tablet PC loaded with the iMedica application and tested it like it would be used in our practice that we realized the iMedica PRM was head-and-shoulders above the others,� said Louis Marino, M.D., of Buckingham Family Practice in Pennsylvania. �After we used the tablet, experienced the advantage of its �chief complaint-driven� system, and saw how easy it was to customize, we decided to go with iMedica.�

iMedica also meets the criteria of improved portability and accessibility by allowing physicians to chart from any location � with or without Internet access � and by allowing for remote access and disaster recovery.

For more information on iMedica, call 866-960-6890 or visit www.imedica.com. Or, please visit us at HIMSS in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 25-28 at Booth #2307.  (Source: Press Release)

'Paper vs. electronic': hospitals wage war

Saint Mary�s Regional Medical Center, which kick started its EHR efforts in 1997, now has two-thirds of its records in electronic form. Saint Mary�s also has portable computer terminals and tablet PC�s that medical personnel can use throughout the center to access medical records.

�The overhwelming reason to have electronic medical records is to replace the paper record, which is so inefficient,� said Dr. Ron Smith, chief medical informatics officer for Saint Mary�s. �If you have a paper chart, you have just that single paper patient chart. Accessing that single chart has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks of paper records.�  (Source: Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal)-->
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 by ChrisD
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Same products but different specification by where you are...

Now the TX2000 series is one of hottest tablet laptop PCsfrom HP, and it was finally launched in Korea about a week ago. But this model also came with downgraded specs compared to the US model. If HP Korea had released many series with various choices, this would have been okay. But it released three series of the TX2000 with down specifications to Korean customers. And the price isn't any cheaper than in other markets even though we have been given lower specifications.  (Source: Kevin (Kilmo) Kang, CNet Asia)
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 by ChrisD
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Wacom Cintiq 12WX Drawing Tablet

The $999 (as of 2/1/08) 12WX is light (4.4 pounds), with a 12.1-inch display area that resembles the screen of a high-quality 12-inch laptop and has a native resolution of 1280 by 800. However, though the 12WX is compact relative to its larger cousins, I was taken aback by the amount of desk space I had to clear for it. The display is encased in a 16-by-10-inch frame, and I also had to create space for the video control converter unit, a modem-size device that bridges your computer's DVI or VGA input and the 12WX. (On larger Cintiqs, the converter is built into the display.) Add the USB cord that connects the converter to your PC, and you have quite a bit of clutter.

The large, tilting surface of the 12WX looks good and is comfortable to use. I had fun using it as a second monitor, especially when I allowed clients to draw on the screen while I handled back-seat driving with a mouse.   (Source: David Karlins, Washington Post)

Versatile tablet PC combines best of both worlds

My frustration and disappointment were soon alleviated by an HP Compaq tc4400 Tablet PC. A tablet PC is a laptop and a ruled paper notebook combined. I had originally bought the tablet, which can be found at local electronics retail stores or on the Internet, because it was a requirement at school, but soon I found it to be a lifesaver.

The tablet provides security, versatility and multifunctionality, and has helped me tremendously in college.

Although digital text is the primary tool of communication in our modern era, the tablet PC has brought back the traditional written text in a secure digital form. Ideas, notes and data that you once wrote on a naked notebook are now preserved eternally in an editable form. The tablet's secure authentication uses the password unique to each human -- fingerprints. (Source: Udit Bajaj, Courier-Journal.com)

The Motion C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant One Year Later: Changing the Way Patient Care is Delivered

Studies Show the C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant is Transforming the Way Patient Care is Delivered by Reducing Medication Errors, Enhancing Compliance with Disinfection Control Protocols and Providing Immediate Access to Patient Data

HIMSS 2008 Annual Conference
ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Motion Computing�, a leader in mobile computing and wireless communications, today announced that one year after its initial launch, the C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA) is proving to change the way patient care is delivered. The success of the industry�s first mobile clinical assistant is clear this year at HIMSS, where the device will be featured by more than 50 vendors across the show floor.

�The C5 was developed by Motion and Intel to address many of the issues that are facing healthcare organizations today,� said Scott Eckert, CEO of Motion. �The most positive result is that we are enabling caregivers to provide better patient care by impacting such critical areas as improving point of care documentation, enhancing nursing satisfaction and providing immediate access to information to help clinicians prevent medication issues, like medication administration errors.�

The features of the C5 help caregivers improve the delivery of patient care. Clinicians can use the integrated bar code reader and RFID scanner to positively identify patients and manage medication administration. Additionally, the durable, sealed design enables simple cleaning and disinfection. Results from a series of usability studies conducted by Motion, Intel, hospital clients and leading software providers prove that the C5 can positively impact some issues facing healthcare professionals today. Some recent results include:

42 percent improvement in point of care (POC) documentation
80 percent reduction in data that needed manual transcription, reducing the potential for human error
Identification of 15 of 1853 �near misses� at the point of medication administration
Decreased transcription error rate from 25 percent to 7 percent due to increased POC documentation
�To this graying, 30 year veteran of the HIT wars, whose education and initial experience with HIT was to evaluate and justify clinical IT based on its value as a productivity enhancer and tool for process and quality improvement, the results of first six of these studies are impressive, indeed,� commented Marc Holland, Program Director of Health Provider Research for Health Industry Insights, in a recent issue of the Health Insights & Outlooks newsletter.

Holland continued, �Based on the results of these field studies, C5-enabled care processes were deemed to be cheaper, quicker, more efficient and led to better outcomes and higher user satisfaction ratings than computers on wheels (COWS).�

The Motion C5 at HIMSS

Motion is exhibiting in booth #2050 at the HIMSS annual conference, where visitors can register to win a Motion tablet PC. Representatives from some hospital study sites and Motion healthcare and mobility experts will conduct booth presentations Monday, February 25 through Thursday, February 28. These speakers include:

Patricia Abbott PhD, RN, BC, FAAN: Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Dr. John Waller, MD: CMIO, Professor of Anesthesia, Medical University of South Carolina
Allana Cummings, PMP, CPHIMS: VP and CIO, Children�s Hospital in Omaha
Cheryl D. Parker, RN, MSN, PhD: Senior Clinical Informatics Specialist, Motion Computing
Brian White: VP, Mobility Services, Motion Computing
Grace Lanni: Director, Healthcare Partner Solutions, Motion Computing
Michael Westcott, MD, FACEP: CMIO, Alegent Health
Marshall Couper: Global Mind Screen Group
Additionally, more than 50 Motion partners exhibiting at HIMSS will be highlighting the C5, including:

AeroScout     GE Healthcare     Oracle 
Agfa HealthCare Corporation   Greenway Medical Technologies   PatientKeeper 
Allscripts   GTSI   Picis 
Bond Technologies   HealthConnection   Proximity Systems, Inc. 
Cardinal Health   Hewlett Packard   Pulse Systems, Inc. 
Carstens   Howard Medical   QuadraMed 
CDW Healthcare   IBM Healthcare   RAM Mounting Systems 
Cerner Corporation   InfoLogix, Inc.   Rubbermaid Medical Solutions: 
Cisco Systems, Inc.   Lenovo Group LTD:   Sage Software Healthcare: 
CPSI   Lexmark International, Inc.   Sentillion, Inc. 
Dell   Man & Machine, Inc.   Siemens Communications 
Dictaphone, a division of Nuance   McKesson   Siemens Medical Solutions 
eClinicalWorks   MEDHOST, Inc.   Standard Register 
Eclipsys Corporation   Medinotes   Trapeze Networks 
EnovateIT   MEDITECH   T-System 
Epic Systems Corporation   Mi-Co   Wayport 
Ergotron, Inc.   Misys Healthcare Systems   Welch Allyn, Inc 
Flo Healthcare   MPC   Zebra Technologies 
GCX Corporation   NextGen Healthcare Info Systems   

For more information about Motion and the C5 visit http://www.motioncomputing.com/solutions/healthcare.asp. (Source: Press Release)

Can Apple Patent the Pinch? Experts Say It's Possible

Patent experts contacted by Wired.com stressed that the patent office can take four or more years to grant patents, and Apple is far from certain to win these patents. Indeed, other companies, including BenQ-Siemens and Nokia, have also filed patent applications on a series of gestures and touch applications for multitouch devices. However, with more than 200 patent claims for the iPhone alone, including several multitouch-related patent applications, Apple is clearly seeking to control as much of the multitouch world as it can.

Multitouch technology itself is far from being an Apple invention. Jeff Han wowed the crowd at TED in 2006 with a demo of his multitouch research, and Bill Gates demo'd Microsoft's Surface Table in early 2007, months before the iPhone was released. Even Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly used Microsoft's work with tablet PCs as the jumping-off point for iPhone development.

However, the iPhone is arguably the first mainstream gadget to successfully implement a set of concrete touch gestures and link them to specific functions. Pinching zooms in and out. Double tapping initiates a "smart zoom" that hones in on a particular area of the screen. What's more, iPhone and iPod Touch users are now familiar with these gestures and their effects, and will expect to see other multitouch devices work the same way.(Source: Bryan Gardiner , Wired)