"The days of pencil and paper are numbered at the private girls school. Starting this year, all seventh-graders plus new students in grades 8-12 are required to own "tablet PCs," a new generation of laptops that allow users to write on them like a tablet.
The enhanced laptops are winning praise from students and educators, though they come with a stiff price tag of around $2,000 for parents.
"We do think it's expensive. It's also hard to know how important and how effective it is," said Ned Atwater, whose three daughters attend the upper school.
Several schools in the area require students to use traditional laptops, including Beth Tfiloh, Notre Dame Preparatory and Calvert School, say officials of Roland Park Country. But they think their school is the second in the nation to require the use of the higher-tech tablet PCs" (Source: Larry Perl, Baltimore Messenger)
Posted Friday, September 10, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 2.96Comments ()
"The prototype robot is low to the ground and moves about as fast as a person walks, Parrish said. It's built to go over stuff, not for speed, he said, but it's still strong enough to tow his 2,200-pound truck an inch at a time on level ground.
Parrish said he built his Explorbot from off-the-shelf parts. He wired a Tablet PC to a laptop stand just like the one in his office, attached a high-powered Web camera and mounted the whole thing on four knobby wheels powered with strong batteries. He controls the robot with a laptop and a wireless networking card.
"I want to take serious robotics and take it to a point where it can be used in mass quantities by the public," Parrish said. " (Source: George A. Chidi, Rocky Mount Telegram)
Posted Friday, September 10, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 2.97Comments ()
"Mi-Co announced today that Mi-Forms software for mobile data capture is currently being implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture to assist in monitoring to assist in monitoring the potential spread of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE).
Even before Dec. 23, 2003 when the USDA was alerted to the first case of mad cow disease in the United States, extensive precautions have been implemented to ensure that this disease does not affect our food supply. One of the USDA initiatives is to collect data on the livestock and send that data immediately to the agency's databases for analysis. Mi-Forms software has been a key component of this effort to allow the USDA to increase their efficiency and effectiveness of the data capture process.
The project has four key goals:
-- Gather more information in a mobile setting that would aid in monitoring the disease -- Reduce the time required to get that data in useable form for analysis -- Ensure the highest quality of data -- Provide a data capture process that was efficient and would be embraced by the individuals that needed to conduct the work
Kevin Burden, IDC Program Manager-Mobile Devices, stated, "These applications are the types that turn a general hardware device, in this case a Tablet PC, into a vertical or specific solution device. Digital ink applications on Tablet PCs can be an excellent fit for organizations needing to capture data while in a true mobile state. There are devices that are smaller, and more easily carried than tablets, but the devices with a smaller form factor can make ink input quite cumbersome."
"Working with the USDA has been a rewarding experience because of the importance of this work to all of us," said Carolee Nail, Vice President of Operations at Mi-Co. "The USDA was looking for ways to increase the quality of the data that was collected and after using the Mi-Forms system on 25 Tablet PCs and doing a thorough evaluation, they are ready to roll out 100 more." (Source: Press Release, MarketWire)
"Mi-Co announced today that Mi-Forms software for mobile data capture is currently being implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture to assist in monitoring to assist in monitoring the potential spread of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE).
Even before Dec. 23, 2003 when the USDA was alerted to the first case of mad cow disease in the United States, extensive precautions have been implemented to ensure that this disease does not affect our food supply. One of the USDA initiatives is to collect data on the livestock and send that data immediately to the agency's databases for analysis. Mi-Forms software has been a key component of this effort to allow the USDA to increase their efficiency and effectiveness of the data capture process.
The project has four key goals:
-- Gather more information in a mobile setting that would aid in monitoring the disease -- Reduce the time required to get that data in useable form for analysis -- Ensure the highest quality of data -- Provide a data capture process that was efficient and would be embraced by the individuals that needed to conduct the work
Kevin Burden, IDC Program Manager-Mobile Devices, stated, "These applications are the types that turn a general hardware device, in this case a Tablet PC, into a vertical or specific solution device. Digital ink applications on Tablet PCs can be an excellent fit for organizations needing to capture data while in a true mobile state. There are devices that are smaller, and more easily carried than tablets, but the devices with a smaller form factor can make ink input quite cumbersome."
"Working with the USDA has been a rewarding experience because of the importance of this work to all of us," said Carolee Nail, Vice President of Operations at Mi-Co. "The USDA was looking for ways to increase the quality of the data that was collected and after using the Mi-Forms system on 25 Tablet PCs and doing a thorough evaluation, they are ready to roll out 100 more." (Source: Press Release, MarketWire)
Mountain States Health Alliance, the largest regional health care system in northeast Tennessee, has signed an agreement with Johnson Controls, Inc., the global leader in facility management and control, for the first system-wide installation of a single wireless distribution technology in the health care industry.
The InnerWireless� System, an in-building wireless distribution system, will be installed throughout the health care system, including its nine hospitals. This wireless infrastructure provides complete wireless coverage for a variety of voice and data services that are essential to facilitate patient care.
Mountain States Health Alliance plans to use the system to support an electronic clinical documentation system that will allow medical orders, notes and prescriptions to be entered into a patient's medical record, at the bedside, through handheld devices such as PDAs and tablet PC's. All the medical professionals participating in the patient's care then can access that information. In addition the system records and double-checks the administration of medications.
Under the $2.4 million contract with Johnson Controls, installation of the InnerWireless System will begin at the Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, Tenn., the flagship hospital, this fall and then will be implemented throughout the system over the next 13 months. At Johnson City Medical Center, the wireless system will be installed in the new intensive care unit that will compliment the articulating arm service columns within each room. These columns will hold all patient monitoring equipment and data connections so that a patient's bed can be moved around the room for treatments, testing or family interaction." (Source: Press Release, Yahoo Finance)
Posted Friday, September 10, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 2.94Comments ()
"That was undoubtedly the best and coolest part," said John Stanton, a senior last year at Cathedral Preparatory School in Erie, Pa., who took part in a pilot program to test the devices.
Mr. Stanton, 18, was on the school's debate team, and he used a tablet PC to take notes and prepare responses during debates. He said the tablet kept pace with swift handwriting and was useful because he could quickly call up his writings from earlier rounds.
Administrators at Cathedral Prep had initially considered laptops, but switched to tablet PC's after early testing by staff members. "We did not want to get caught up with the novelty of this thing," said the Rev. Scott W. Jabo, headmaster at Cathedral Prep. "The more we were using it, we saw a lot of practical uses." (Source: THOMAS J. FITZGERALD, The New York Times)
Posted Wednesday, September 8, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3.06Comments ()
"This addendum extends the Microsoft� Tablet PC Platform SDK. It includes details about the OleInk control and the extensibility features of Microsoft Windows� Journal." (Source: Microsoft's Website)
Posted Wednesday, September 8, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3.05Comments ()
"College Dean Edward L. Ayers, who has a reputation for incorporating technology into coursework, said Tablet PCs have the potential to improve teaching at the University.
"The tablet puts the new technology in the hand of the student as well as the professor," Ayers said. "Instead of just having students sit and watch, it's a tool they can use in the classroom and beyond."
A unique feature of the University's Tablet PCs is OneNote software, which allows students to draw or make notes on any page on the computer screen, ranging from a blank page to a diagram on a PowerPoint slide.
Neale said the handwriting software was especially useful to her last year, when she tore a ligament in her arm and took notes on the tablet with her left hand.
"It could actually translate my left-handed scrawl into text," Neale said. "I took all my notes on it and completed my papers on it. I wouldn't have been able to complete my classes last year without use of the tablet." (Source: Jayni Foley, The Cavalier Daily)
Posted Wednesday, September 8, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3Comments ()
"At least that's the way it works in the movies, specifically current crime thriller "Collateral," in which Tom Cruise plays a hired gun who relies on a Hewlett-Packard TC1100 Tablet PC to meticulously organize an evening of hits.
We wonder why someone in that profession wouldn't choose HP's "rugged" device, but the decision to go Tablet makes perfect sense. Don't you just hate trying to type when you've got a pistol in your hand?
Neither HP nor Microsoft's marketing--umm, collateral--mentions one of the biggest product placements yet for the Tablet PC format. The movie studio's fan sweepstakes for "Collateral," in fact, promises the winner the wrong Microsoft product--an Xbox game console, which would be useless to a professional hit man." (Source: David Becker, CNet News)
Posted Wednesday, September 8, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3.04Comments ()
"Mobile applications are becoming strategic parts of a company's IT portfolio, as they are a critical element in realizing a real-time enterprise," said Tim Scannell, president of Shoreline Research. "Utilizing mobile applications for business processes in areas such as field force and supply chain are the most measurable and definable and yield the highest ROI, as they are highly complex processes. Adesso's platform allows organizations to easily develop and scale an application across multiple devices and within several different business processes without the need for modification, saving time, money and resources."
To help organizations implement mobile solutions that can deliver ROI quickly, the Adesso Instant Mobility platform now includes business processes frameworks that serve as best practice templates for building Field Service, Field Sales, Field Compliance and Data Collection-focused applications. The process frameworks provide users with the foundation for an application, which the customer can further tailor to fit their individual needs and business processes. This ensures that an application will stay relevant even as requirements and needs change. Customers can use the Adesso platform to enable multiple processes with mobile information requirements, reusing elements they create across Adesso applications. This capability enables the creation and deployment of applications in record time. In addition, companies are able to build an application once yet deploy it to any device - Smartphone, Pocket PC, Tablet PC, laptop or desktop computer - without having to make additional changes.
"Traditionally, companies have only had two options for mobile solutions - packaged applications that don't accurately reflect how they do business, and custom applications built from the ground up that take too long to develop and are impossible to maintain and enhance," said Dennis Kelly, CEO of Adesso Systems. "The Adesso platform offers a third option, providing the best of both worlds - a platform that can be easily configured and business process frameworks, which offer out-of the-box application capabilities that can be quickly adapted for their mobile business needs. By utilizing our business process frameworks, enterprises can implement mobile application solutions faster to improve performance, customer service and reduce costs." (Source: Press Release, BusinessWire)
Posted Wednesday, September 8, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3.03Comments ()
"We tend to think of instant messaging as the not-very-important electronic chatter of teenagers and white-collar workers. But an innovative auto-racing team is proving that chat can be a powerful tool outside the office.
The NASCAR and Indy Racing League teams of Chip Ganassi Racing use IM to achieve faster and more productive pit stops. The teams' pit crews use tablet PCs, an encrypted wireless LAN and Microsoft Corp.'s Live Communications Server 2003 to exchange handwritten notes, says IT manager Michael Carbone.
Pittsburgh-based Chip Ganassi Racing may have three cars in a race. IM allows the crews to coordinate the timing of pit stops, exchange engine-tuning strategies, estimate fuel mileage and share the drivers' radioed comments. For example, a pit crew may adjust the tire pressure and then get driver feedback on whether it's helping. "It's better than radio, because it's difficult to find a radio channel," says Mark Paxton, an R&D engineer for Chip Ganassi. Plus, radio chatter is hard to hear through the background noise of the racetrack, and IM eliminates the need for runners to relay messages to other pit locations" (Source: Mitch Betts, ComputerWorld)
Posted Tuesday, September 7, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3Comments ()
"Illinois High School District Transitions from Desktop Computers to Toshiba Tablet PCs
CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a leading provider of brand-name technology products and services to governments and educators, and Toshiba's Digital Products Division, a leading supplier of mobile computing products, today announced an agreement with Hinsdale Township High School District 86 in Hinsdale, Illinois, to transform the way teachers and students benefit from technology. The school district will be supplying more than 300 of its faculty with Toshiba Portege(R) M200 Tablet PCs as replacements for desktop computers, and also will be providing 250 tablets for daily student use in selected courses.
"Our district is not looking to design the school building of the future; we are working to design quality instruction of the future," said Dr. James R. Polzin, assistant superintendent of Hinsdale Township High School District 86. "We believe the introduction of Tablet PCs, rather than the continued use of desktop or notebook computers, facilitates greater interaction between student and teacher, between student and student and, most importantly, between student and the content they are studying. Tablet PCs provide teachers with a dynamic tool to create real communities of learners in their classrooms." " (Source: TMCnet.net, BusinessWire)
Posted Tuesday, September 7, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3.09Comments ()
"The online Windows XP SP2 competition is open to all residents of the South Gulf region (Oman, Pakistan, UAE and Yemen) and is to run for eight weeks, starting from August 30.
Each week, a new set of questions on SP2 will be posted on the website, www.microsoft.com/middleeast/win. The winning answers will automatically be entered into the weekly draw to win one of the three prizes each week. Among the prizes on offer during the competition will be products from sponsors Acer, HP, Intel, Western Digital and Microsoft software and games. A final draw will be held at the end of the competition, to win an Acer Tablet PC" (Source: Masarat Daud, CPILive.net)
Posted Tuesday, September 7, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3Comments ()
"The technology leadership teams of two Hinsdale Township High Schools (located in the suburbs of Chicago) were standing at a crossroads as they tried to determine which technology would best suit their computing needs for the future. They were torn between replacing classroom computers with combinations of desktop PCs and TV monitors and a more progressive setup consisting of tablet PCs and multimedia projectors. Whichever technology solution was selected, it would need to improve interaction between students and teachers and become the springboard for launching the schools' new team learning and problem solving concepts.
The infrastructure for the township's two high schools, Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South, was built to support access to personal computers and handheld computing devices for approximately 5,000 students, faculty and staff. Hinsdale District 86 had established a reputation for providing access to the latest technology for students and staff for over 15 years, and they were now ready to evaluate new tools that would promote greater classroom collaboration. The Hinsdale District 86 technology teams wanted their new equipment to stimulate more interaction between students and teachers and increase opportunities for collaboration and information sharing in a robust learning environment.
"The Hinsdale Township High School District is not only interested in creating the technology-based classroom of the future -- but wants to design the instruction of the future as well," said Jim Polzin, assistant superintendent of Hinsdale's District 86. "We need a solution that allows students and teachers to solve problems together -- engaged by the interaction and linked through technology." (Source: Press Release, BusinessWire)
"Xplore Tablets PCs being used to mobilize largest utility management company in Ontario, Canada
Xplore Technologies(R) Corp. (TSX: XPL) announced today its iX104(TM) rugged Tablet PC system was selected by Hydro One, the largest electricity delivery company in Ontario, Canada, for use in the majority of its mobile field applications including data collection and forestry management. The units were purchased through Filbitron Systems Group, an Xplore systems integration partner based in Ontario.
According to John Dobie, Senior Supervisor of Technical Services for Hydro One, the Xplore tablets are deployed where standard commercial grade laptops are unable to withstand the demands of the environment and a rugged and portable PC was the ideal solution.
"The iX104's ability to withstand the rough conditions we work in, the viewability of the AllVue(TM) enhanced screens, and the integrated GPS capabilities were prime considerations of ours," Dobie said. "Furthermore, with the hardware capabilities of the Xplore tablet, we were able to develop specific applications for our needs. The Xplore computers will be used system-wide for most of our rugged mobile computing needs in Hydro One Provincial Lines and Forestry." " (Source: Press Release, PRNewswire)
Posted Tuesday, September 7, 2004 by ChrisD Rating: 3Comments ()
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