January 2013

Intermec enhances 70 Series of ultra-rugged handhelds with fully integrated RFID
Intermec announced integrated RFID capabilities for its ultra-rugged CK70, CN70 and CN70e mobile computers. The devices now offer a fully-integrated UHF RFID reader without the need of an external antenna by using Intermec’s IM11 embedded module along with an internally housed antenna. This way, customers get advanced RFID read performance without changes to the compact form factor of the 70 Series mobile computers. [See Intermec press release] -- Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 by chb

Motorola Solutions showing Windows Embedded 8 Handheld prototypes
Motorola Solutions announced it is showcasing new Motorola enterprise mobile computing prototypes running Windows Embedded 8 Handheld at NRF, and that its HTML5 cross-platform development framework, RhoElements, will support Windows Embedded 8 Handheld. Motorola Solution also said that in addition to enterprise-rade security and manageability, the upcoming devices will have full Windows Phone 8 application compatibility. [See Motorola Solutions press release] -- Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 by chb

Microsoft delivers Windows Embedded 8 Handheld for Enterprise handheld devices, but not just yet
At the National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention & Expo in New York, Microsoft issued a press release entitled "Microsoft Delivers Windows Embedded 8 Handheld for Enterprise Handheld Devices." According to the release, Microsoft is working with Motorola Solutions "to design a line of retail devices from the circuit board up," with the promise of generating the next device for Home Depot which, after deploying 34,000 Windows Embedded Handheld devices in 2010 complained, "How can we get more?" Microsoft says that "because Windows Embedded 8 Handheld is built on Windows Phone 8, organizations can benefit from enterprise-class manageability, and both Microsoft and Windows Phone 8 management partners already offer solutions that support Windows Embedded 8 Handheld." The only problem is that Microsoft -- which said it is working also with Intermec, Honeywell, Ingenico and Bluebird -- won't even release the Windows Embedded 8 Handheld SDK until later this year. [See Microsoft release] -- Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 by chb