As a follow-up to the Chromebook 14 announced last month, Acer announced the Chromebook 14 for Work this morning. The rugged Chromebook is meant for businesses, features a spill-resistant keyboard, and has been tested to military standards.
At this year’s CES, Casio kicked off the trend of rugged smartwatches running Android Wear. Unlike other gadgets announced at CES, the Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10 will be available starting next week from multiple retailers for $500.
After announcing the flagship Idol 4 and 4S at MWC last month, Alcatel is releasing a $200 unlocked ruggedized phone with decent specs to match. The OneTouch GO PLAY is fully IP67 water, dust, and shock resistant plus comes with an additional thick protective case.
HP today announced a new Chromebook designed specifically for students and teachers with an ‘Education Edition’ model of its Chromebook 11 G4 starting at $199.
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Google Glass Explorer Edition
As we’ve come to learn more about the next iteration of Google Glass, it’s clear that this device isn’t the “Google Glass 2.0” that many diehard fans of the product — however many there are — have been longing for. Google Glass “Enterprise Edition” or “EE,” as the company is referring to it internally, is rather a spinoff of the Explorer Edition and an incremental revision targeted at the workplace. Google is ditching the fashion runways and #throughGlass pictures — and they’re getting into the enterprise where Glass has practical use cases.
And with that, Tony Fadell and company had to deeply consider with EE how the device looks, works, and functions. We’re familiar with multiple prototypes that are nearing the final stages of revision, and one thing is very clear: This isn’t going to be a drastic departure visually from the Explorer Edition. It has been tweaked, though, and there are at least a few differences noticeable from the outside. It folds like a regular pair of glasses, and because it’s first and foremost being built for the workplace, it has a more rugged build and appearance…
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Sprint has announced the Motorola Admiral this afternoon, a 3.1-inch device running Android 2.3 with a design to withstand rugged environments. The device features a 3.1-inch VGA display (Gorilla Glass), full QWERTY keyboard, 1.2 GHz processor, 4GB of internal memory, 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, and Android 2.3. That Gorilla Glass and full QWERTY keyboard are definitely a selling point for some.
The Motorola Admiral launches October 23rd for $99. We’ll have a full review then, so stay tuned.
In what looks like Toughbook tech for tablets, Panasonic Japan has announced a new lineup of rugged, built for business Android tablets.
The two models to debut in the BizPad tablet line include the 7-inch BizPad JT-580VT and the 10.1-inch BizPad JT-581VT. Both tablets, according to TechCrunch, are water-, dust-, and shock-proof, with the 10.1-inch model able to absorb impacts from up to an 80cm fall, and 120cm for the 7-inch.
The BizPad T-581VT(above) sports a 10.1-inch 1024×800 LCD display, built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, a 1.3-megapixel camera, weighs in at 700g. We aren’t sure when the device will be landing stateside, but Japanese users will get their hands on in January of next year.
The 7-inch T-581VT BizPad model (below) packs in 3G capabilities, a 5-megapixel camera, and a 7-inch 1024×600 resolution LCD display, built-in 802.11a/b/g/n, and weighs in at 400g. It’s doesn’t look as pretty as many of the other Android tablet alternatives, or even the 10.1-inch BizPad, but certainly looks like it can handle some abuse. This model will hit Japan in December.
Features included in both devices:
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This is my next is reporting an upgraded Defy, dubbed Defy+, is on its way to AT&T. The Defy is currently over at T-Mobile and is a very compact Android device, which can suffer punishment like being dropped and dunked in water. So obviously, a Defy+ excites us. What doesn’t excite us? That heaping serving of Motoblur
The Defy+ is sporting 850 / 1900 / 2100 HSPA bands which would make it appropriate for AT&T and Canadian carriers. The device’s specs are pretty similar to the original Defy’s, but the Defy+ features Android 2.3.3 and a 1GHz OMAP 3620 upgraded processor. Being dubbed with the ‘+’, we assume this device will be improved in some way. There’s no information on pricing or availability.
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