News Week of June 12, 2011

Panasonic Rugged Toughbook 19 Tablet PC Gets CPU, Display Upgrades

The Toughbook 19 is designed for use by utilities, public-safety first responders, and maintenance and field service workers.

Although this model has been available for five years, the June 9 relaunch brought an overhaul to the Toughbook 19's CPU, display and storage capabilities.

Panasonic has doubled the processing power of the unit, adding an Intel Core i5-2520M vPro (2.5GHz) standard voltage processor with Intel HD 3000 graphics. A standard voltage CPU boosts performance without a drop in battery life, while providing the extra processing power to run graphics-intensive video and other applications faster, according to Panasonic. (Source:  Brian T. Horowitz, eWeek)

Four Reasons Why You Don't Really Need a Tablet PC

Tablet PCs are the in thing right now. In fact, you'd be hard put to walk into any sort of electronics store today and not be bombarded with displays for the latest and greatest tablet. But are tablets all they're cracked up to be? Or has Apple and its uber popular iPad duped consumers into tablet envy, and its competitors into a mad scramble to develop their own "iPad rivals?"

For an "average" tablet user that has no specific business-related purpose for employing such a device, the sheen on the popular form factor is rapidly wearing thin. When that happens, all you're left with beneath that shiny exterior is just another boring old piece of hardware. Here's why.  (Source:  Al Sacco, CIO, Network World)

American Airlines to Offer Samsung Tablets for In-flight Entertainment

Those breathing the rarified air of the front of the plane will have a shot at playing with a 10-inch Galaxy Tab on select transcontinental and intercontinental flights on American's 757 and 767 planes. Some of those same planes are among American's fleet equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi, meaning that as long as the browser is enabled on the devices, lucky testers will be able to surf the Internet from 36,000 feet--presumably to Google. "Why is my luggage in St. Louis if I'm flying to San Francisco?"

In a press release, the carrier says Samsung will "customize the Galaxy Tab for American's in-flight entertainment needs, including the addition of expanded memory," suggesting that the airline plans to preload the tablets with a variety of HD video.

This seems like a win-win-win situation. For the airline, it's a way to differentiate its premium services on something other than price.  (Source: Robert Dutt, PCWorld