Panasonic Toughbook FZ-G1 in a mobile POS cradle with a credit card reader. (Credit: M. Brennesholtz)
Panasonic was at NRF showing its Toughbook mobile computers and tablets. Jeffery Pinc, the Panasonic rep I talked to, said that the company had been at CES showing them, but in a suite, not the CES show floor. (He’d been there and said CES and NRF back-to-back made his feet hurt.) He added that today Panasonic’s business is 80% B2B in the US, with little of its sales going directly to the consumer. He used the batteries in Tesla electric cars as an example, since they are made by Panasonic.
Toughpad Android tablets (L. to R.) FZ-A2, FZ-B2 and FZ-F1 (Credit: M. Brennesholtz)
Pinc said that none of the Windows-based Toughbook tablets on display were new introductions. He added that Panasonic is focusing on accessories such as docking stations to make the existing product line more useful in the retail environment. He added that development is continuing on new Toughpad tablets with the Android operating system.
Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 fitted with a portable barcode scanner from Koamtac (not visible in photo) and shown with a multi-unit charging station. (Credit: M. Brennesholtz)
Samsung was at NRF showing off its ruggedized tablets. Only two of these units, the Galaxy Tab Active2 and the Galaxy S8 Active were ruggedized as manufactured. Other units on display were standard Samsung phones with a ruggedized case from Scandit with an integrated barcode scanner. The Galaxy Tab Active2, which was introduced last October, specifically targets the B2B market, including retail uses such as mobile POS applications or in-warehouse use. “The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 was built based on in-depth customer and partner feedback and has been carefully developed to create a whole new category of tablet for the global workforce,” said Suk-Jea Hahn, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics’ Global Mobile B2B Team.
The Galaxy S8 Active targets both business and consumer customers. If you keep dropping your smartphone, maybe this is the one for you. Other than being ruggedized, this phone is identical to the consumer version. This and other consumer smartphones sold into the B2B market did have one change: the software was modified so the phone could not be used for any application other than authorized store-related applications. For example, the store employee could check the store inventory but not browse Facebook or play games.
The new Honeywell EDA70 tablet. (Credit: M. Brennesholtz)
Honeywell showed what is said to be the company’s first tablet: the ScanPal EDA70 enterprise Tablet. Honeywell makes other mobile hand-held computer systems but none have the tablet form factor. This tablet was introduced in November 2017 and is described as a semi-rugged enterprise-class Android 7” tablet with an integrated 1D/2D bar code scanner. It is designed for retail associates who require reliable access to retail operation-specific communication and information, including material related to customer engagement. It is said to provide smooth multi-task work flow processing and a high level of reliability in demanding retail store environments. The unit has a 7”, 1280 x 720 display with multitouch capability. The touch system has special features so the capacitive touch panel will operate correctly in the presence of water. The 3.8 V, 4000 mAh Li-Ion battery is said to be good for 8+ hours. The unit has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE and NFC wireless connectivity and a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8916 quad-core processor running Android 7.1 (Nougat).
Datalogic Joya Touch A6 (Credit: Datalogic)
Datalogic was demonstrating its mobile hand-held and vehicle mounted systems, including the new Joya Touch A6 hand held computer. This unit is specifically designed for retail applications such as self-shopping, queue-busting, shop floor, inventory access control, gift registry and assisted sales. It will scan 1D and 2D barcodes, including ones with Digimarc digital watermarks. The screen has a 4.3” capacitive multi-touch TFT-LCD with 854 x 480 resolution. It uses Gorilla Glass 3 to reduce screen vulnerability. The phone does not have 3G or 4G connectivity, but it will make a phone call using VoIP protocols.
Soredi (Datalogic) SH7 Taskbook. (Credit: M. Brennesholtz)
Soredi Touch Systems was acquired by Datalogic in October, 2017 but has not yet been fully integrated into the company. Soredi was demonstrating its products in the Datalogic booth, including the new SH series Taskbook, which comes in two versions, the SH7 with a 7” screen and the SH10 with a 10” screen. The 7” screen has a resolution of 1024 x 600 and brightness of 420 cd/m² while the 10” version has a resolution of 1280 x 800 and 350 cd/m² brightness. I was told the two versions were identical except for the screen. They use Intel Dual Core or i.MX 6Quad processors and run Windows 10 IoT, Windows 7 Professional and Embedded or Android 7.1.1
These tablets are designed to be rugged and will withstand a drop of 1.5M onto a concrete floor “several times,” have anti-glare 1.6mm Gorilla glass and an aluminum frame and IP65 protection. They will operate over a -20°C to +50°C temperature range. The integrated camera will read 1D or 2D barcodes and come equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE, GPS and RFID. The multi-touch screens can be operated while wearing gloves. The battery can be hot-swapped for unlimited operating time.
The units are not primarily for in-store use. Instead, they are for warehouse, shop, forklift and truck applications. They can be used in-store for applications like shelf checking and, with the accessory docking station, they can be used as mobile POS terminals.
Emdoor EM-T42 (left) and EM-T52 (Right) (Credit: M. Brennesholtz)
Emdoor Information Co. LTD. of Shanghai was at NRF showing its ruggedized tablets and hand terminals. While I was not familiar with the company, Alice Yang, Overseas Sales Manager, told me the company was not new to the US. The company was founded in 2002 and currently, according to their website, the R&D department has over 200 employees. It established a partnership with Intel and Microsoft in 2004. Currently, they are also partnered with ARM, Google, MediaTek and Rockchip. To date, they have manufactured over 1,000,000 consumer tablets. They both design and manufacture their own systems.
Ms. Yang pointed out and demonstrated two new products from Emdoor (out of the 12 they had on display), the EM-T42 and EM-T52 hand-held terminals. The two units are similar with a couple of exceptions.
The T42 has a 4” 480 x 800 IPS screen, a physical keypad and a 3.8V/4500mAh battery. The T52 has a 5” 720 x 1280 IPS screen, four physical control buttons but not a complete keypad and a 3.8V/4000mAh battery. Both systems run Android 7.0 on a MTK 8-core 8735b processor, have a Gorilla glass cover with multi-touch, and Wi-Fi (2.5G+5.8G), BT 4.0, and 4G/3G/2G wireless connectivity. Additionally, they have NFC, front and rear cameras and 1D/2D barcode scanning, which works at 1 – 2 metre distances and can scan metal barcodes. The both have built-in GPS/BeiD/GLONASS/QZSS location abilities. Wired interfaces include Micro USB, SD Slot, SIM Slot, Earphone Jack and a 5-pin pogo pin connector. They have IP-65 ingress protection plus CE NB, MIL-STD-810G, battery UN38.3, MSDS, and IEC62133 certification. Both have an operating temperature range of -10°C – +50°C, storage temperature range of -30°C – 70°C at a humidity of 5% to 95%. Batteries are removable on both terminals.
