MOBILITY MATTERS

Rethinking Social Media in Channel Marketing

2011-10-27T17:08:00.001-07:00

Rethinking Social Media in Channel Marketing

October 27, 2011 at 9:00 am by Larry Walsh

People keep up with family and friends on Facebook. Professionals share ideas and news through Twitter. And, increasingly, social networks are becoming the place where IT pros research products and services before purchasing.

Case in point is a recent thread in the Spiceworks security community forum. A user posted a simiple question: Which unified threat management appliance vendor is better, Fortinet or SonicWall? The response was overwhelming and one-sided. SonicWall users raced to endorse their brand of choice and praise its UTM’s performance. They were equally critical of Fortinet in terms of price and performance.

Fortinet – directly and through users – was absent from the conversation. Only a relative handful of users rose to Fortinet’s defense.

The exchange got me thinking: Will the rise of social media as a business tool make having a social media engagement specialist a necessity among vendors and solution providers? It’s more than probable.

The magic of social media is that no one really controls the origin or flow of conversations. People are free to exchange ideas, experiences and insights on any topic. The technology industry has long sought to leverage social tools as a means for replacing technical support; users would self-police problems through social exchanges.

Users, on the other hand, are using these tools to talk about products and vendors. Many IT professionals and, increasingly, solution providers are engaging in social forums on their brand and product preference, as well as the problems they have with certain vendors. All of these conversations fall far outside the control of vendors, which have always sought to keep tight reins on their communications and brand integrity.

In the Spiceworks community forums, where more than 65,000 IT service providers and 1.7 million end users often congregate, conversations range from how to use features in the Spiceworks platform to operational issues between branch offices of companies. It’s equally common for users to probe the quality of products and services and the experiences of users with different vendors.

Spiceworks advocates to vendors the need to engage with its community, to participate in the discussion. It’s not a matter of counter-messaging or controlling a conversation, as marketers and communication pros have often sought to do in the past. Rather, it’s about honest engagement in the conversation, candor in communications and learning from the interaction. In the social context, credibility and integrity are integral to success.

Failure to engage in the social conversation could mean two things: Vendors and solution providers will remain oblivious to the factors and actors influencing purchasing decisions, and the subsequently lose opportunities to competitors for net-new sales.

This isn’t a Spiceworks or Facebook issue, either. Channel conversations are happening all across the social media spectrum. Channel partners are active in LinkedIn forums and on vendors’ own open posting boards. Serial entrepreneur Bob Godgart is expected to take the wraps of his new channel social network, ChannelEyes, next month. Already, the site is garnering strong interest among vendors, industry associations and solution providers.

Imagine this: ChannelEyes opens and becomes a center for channel conversation and interaction. Solution providers use its features to learn about channel programs, promotions and initiatives – its intended purposes. But they will also have the opportunity to share in vendor experiences and performance. Failure to engage in those discussions will lead to loss of credibility and business.

Solution providers, too, will need to take these social media issues into consideration. On a local and regional level, end users are engaging in social and professional forums to find suppliers and contractors to help with technology needs. The forums often have the same impact as LinkedIn, Spiceworks or ChannelEyes in the purchase consideration process.

All of this is adding up to a rethinking of the role of communications in the social era. Vendors and solution providers will need to rethink not only where they engage with their partners and customers, but how they engage. It’s the “how” that reflects upon credibility, integrity and, ultimately, business success.

* * *

Lawrence M. Walsh is CEO and president of The 2112 Group, a technology business advisory service that specializes in optimizing indirect channels and partner relationships. He’s also the executive director of the Channel Vanguard Council. He is the former publisher of Channel Insider and editor of VARBusiness Magazine. You can reach him at lmwalsh@the2112group.com.

On Twitter:
Larry Walsh: @lmwalsh2112 | Channelnomics: @channelnomics

TabletKiosk Authorized Reseller Program - ALL NEW!!

2011-10-18T16:50:00.001-07:00

It’s official… The all new TabletKiosk authorized Reseller Program has recently launched with a Complete Kit which includes a comprehensive overview of our new procedures and policies for the following:

Tiered Gold and Silver Reseller levels
NFR and Demonstration units
Deal Registration
Support Resources
RMA procedures

For now, the Reseller program exists as a hard copy notebook or PDF. For next steps, we are working on the dealer portal of www.tabletkiosk.com so that our reseller partners can easily access all of their sales tools on a password protected site.

For more information about our product line, please contact me directly, or reach out to one of our Authorized Distributors

Seneca                              Distributor that specializes in Tablet PCs
M-S Cash Drawer               Specializes in the POS market
NewWave Technologies       Specializes in the Document Imaging Market
Filbitron                              Canadian Distributor

TabletKiosk, Channel Marketing and the Distribution Channel

2011-08-02T14:30:00.001-07:00

It seems that for every 2 years that I stay at TabletKiosk, I am assigned a new job title / function and take on new responsibilities – and so I am now back into the land of Channel Marketing where I am overseeing our VAR channel and Distributor relationships.

To be very frank, the Channel Marketing role is a very good fit for my skills and background, and I feel that my previous job history has been a great training ground for this new endeavor.

TabletKiosk has always had a Channel sales strategy, however, we never put together a formal Reseller strategy to attract new VAR partners, educate our dealers and manage our products that are sold through distribution. This is the new role which I have taken on, and I am very excited to get my feet wet and grow our channel sales accordingly. I am going to re-invigorate this blog and will be writing more about our reseller partnerships, key findings about the distribution channel and best practices I learn along the way.

One of the first steps I am taking is to sign up new reseller partners that can help us expand our visibility. We recently began selling our products through PC Mall, and yesterday we held a training Lunch and Learn session at their Torrance phone center.

If you are a TabletKiosk reseller, I encourage you to check follow this blog to stay up to date about the latest TabletKiosk happenings.

TabletKiosk® Introduces World's Most Powerful Slate Tablet PC Next Generation Sahara Slate® PC i500 Powered by Intel® Core™ i7 Processor, Runs 64-bit Microsoft® Windows® 7 Operating Systems

2011-06-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

TabletKiosk, a leading provider of slate-style Tablet PCs and customized mobility solutions for the enterprise, today announced the availability of the Sahara Slate PC® i500 series, the newest generation in the company’s flagship line of Tablet PCs. The new line features an unparalleled array of user configurable options that provide flexibility in terms of user input, functionality, performance and price. Now shipping, the Sahara Slate PC i500 will be on display at Computex Taipei (Microsoft Booth, Nangang Hall #L108)

Designed for professional use in the field or at the office, the Sahara Slate PC i500 offers a robust, yet highly mobile computing solution in a new sleek, streamlined design. Capable of running 64-bit Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional, the Sahara Slate PC i500 is the only slate-style Tablet PC currently powered by an Intel® Core™ i7-640LM vPro™ processor, making it the most powerful Tablet PC on the market today. It also is equipped with a 12.1” dual mode screen that intuitively switches between a Wacom® active digitizer (pen) and two different touch options, including traditional resistive and new, multi-touch capacitive screens. Flexible input options allow users to leverage the precision of Microsoft's Digital Inking technology for superior handwriting recognition.

“We really hit the mark with the Sahara Slate PC i500 by offering an even more enhanced user experience at a price point starting below the previous generation,” said Martin Smekal, president and CEO of Torrance, CA-based TabletKiosk. “Like all of our products, the Sahara Slate PC i500 is built with a designated purpose emphasizing productivity and speed. With its enormous power and modular expansion capability, the i500 allows an enterprise the flexibility to choose add-on functionality to support a highly specialized business application, minimizing the need to pay for superfluous options.”

TabletKiosk offers mobile solutions for industry sectors including healthcare, gaming and hospitality, government, industrial control systems and field force automation. The Sahara Slate PC i500 gives users the flexibility to choose different functionality solutions, ranging from basic to add-on modules for highly targeted business applications, such as a bar code scanner for inventory management or a magnetic stripe reader, creating a mobile point-of-sale device.

The Sahara Slate PC i500 is manufactured with dual hot swappable, rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries, which allows users to essentially operate the Tablet PC 24/7 without any system down time. As with all TabletKiosk products, the new Tablet PC features an extended life cycle of more than 24 months, as well as compatibility with existing accessories.

“Intel is excited to see the strength of mobile Intel Architecture come to market through one of our innovative, long time customers,” said CJ Bruno, VP, GM, Intel Americas. “TabletKiosk has a long history of providing breakthrough Tablet PCs to business customers. The combination of TabletKiosk's creative product design and Intel's energy efficient performance will enable businesses to implement tablet technologies that will deliver growth and business success.”

Enhanced Security

To address on-going concerns in the enterprise marketplace regarding mobile security and remote management, the new Sahara Slate PC i500 features an Infineon Single Chip TPM (trusted platform module) with high-level encryption capability; Intel® vPro™ technology with BIOS level remote management; and Intel® Trusted Execution and Intel® Anti-Theft Technologies. Together, these security measures keep critical data safe from external attacks or physical theft, provide for secure remote access with field upgradeability, and enable safer electronic transactions and wireless communication.

“We are delighted to see TabletKiosk, one of our strategic OEM partners, launch the new Sahara Slate PC i500, here at Computex,” said Eddie O’Brien, Vice President US OEM, Microsoft Corporation. “This high-end device, when brought to life by Windows 7, is clearly designed to meet the needs of serious business professionals who seek to leverage the power of productivity, security, and digital inking capabilities in a single device.”

About TabletKiosk®

TabletKiosk is a registered trademark of TabletKiosk, LLC. The company's line of quality enterprise-grade to rugged Tablet PCs and accessories are designed to optimize mobile productivity in key vertical markets while offering power, flexibility and security. For more information, visit www.tabletkiosk.com.

Choosing Between Enterprise-Grade and Consumer Focused Tablets For Your Business Needs

2010-12-13T12:09:00.001-08:00

TabletKiosk Education Series: December 15, 2010

Tablets and mobility are all the rage these days for businesses trying to streamline workflow processes, increase productivity and enhance the guest experience. Many hospitality are exploring how to integrate tablet devices into their daily operations have discovered that navigating these new technological waters is a greater challenge than previously expected. Given the overwhelming recent success of the iPad and the impending releases of additional low cost consumer tablets, that challenge is rapidly becoming even more daunting.

Clearly, there is a strong need for information to help businesses decide which of these new consumer devices, if any, are appropriate for their immediate and long term goals, or whether a traditional, more enterprise focused Tablet PC, while initially more expensive, makes sense from a total cost of ownership perspective.

Join TabletKiosk for a one hour educational webinar to learn how to easily differentiate an enterprise class Tablet PC from a consumer oriented tablet, what considerations must be made to integrate them into your existing infrastructure, and how to quickly determine, based on your unique business goals, which types of these devices will most likely meet your needs.

During this webinar you will learn the following:

Key industry statistics surrounding tablet technology and current industry projections for growth
How to effectively differentiate between a consumer device and an enterprise grade device
How to most effectively compare between the two on a total-cost basis, including total cost of efficiency

Wednesday, December 15 at 11:00am PST
Seating is limited so REGISTER TODAY!

Click here to register now for this FREE event!

Presenter:

Harold Winkles, Director, Healthcare Solutions

Mr. Winkles has been with TabletKiosk since 2008 and directly oversees all strategic development and sales into the healthcare vertical market. Prior to joining TabletKiosk, Mr. Winkles worked 7 years for Motion Computing representing the same vertical for tablet PC sales, and an additional 3 years selling tablet technology during its infancy stages for a handful of other firms. All told, in addition to his extensive background in the healthcare space, Mr. Winkles has helped educate clients on the benefits of tablet technology for well over a decade.

About TabletKiosk®

TabletKiosk is a registered trademark and wholly owned subsidiary of Sand Dune Ventures, Inc. a privately held technology incubator. The company produces enterprise class, slate-style Tablet PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs and a mobile clinical assistant (MCA) marketed through an authorized reseller channel and directly through the company website.

Casinos and Hotels Join Forces

2010-11-03T16:03:00.001-07:00

Editor-in-Chief Glenn Haussman talks about how the casino and lodging businesses are finally partnering with each other. It’s about time and a sure win-win.

Reprinted from www.Hotelinteractive.com

Here’s something I never expected to have happen in my lifetime. Casino resort executives are finally seeing the wisdom in partnering with traditional hotel companies. For time infinitum the gaming business has refused to associate itself with hotel companies. And back in the 1990s execs at hotel companies started feeling the same way, essentially disassociating their companies from casino gaming by divesting in them.

Since then it seemed as if both sides were intent on pretending the other didn’t exist. It’s been a really Odd and Great Divide that’s had me head scratching for years. In conversations with executives throughout the year it became apparent each camp wasn’t even open to the notion each side could learn something from the other.

Part of the reason was that casino companies viewed themselves through the prism they were gaming companies and that rooms were just a fungible function of trying to keep people at the gaming tables longer.

So instead of realizing they had complementary skill sets that could be combined to create powerhouse profits, they just played in their respective sandboxes. Each group was content to go at it alone ignoring the other side’s ineffable abilities. For example, casino companies are masters at customer relationship management. They totally understand the individual characteristics of their best guests and for years have been tailoring specials and deals to get those people in the door. And to woo the biggest players of all, casino companies have developed an innate ability to ensure preferences are always respected.

Hotel companies are experts at distribution, something casino companies haven’t mastered. So while they should have been looking for ways to work with each other, sky high profits between the post 9/11 era and when the declines that quietly began in late 2007 distracted these two groups from seeing The Light.

For years when I would talk to executives about why partnerships between hotel and gaming companies should happen they would look at me like I was crazier than an NBC executive deciding to dump Conan.

But now it seems as if both of these sides are ready to bridge the chasm. They’re starting to realize each side’s mission is the same as the other: Get people through their doors that will pay a price higher than they would to stay with a competitor.

It’s amazing what effect the steepest decline in the economy in 80 years can have on getting folks to think of creative ways to work together.

Essentially what’s going on is that hotel companies during the past few years have looked beyond their core goal of selling franchises and helping those owners fill rooms. During the last few years most of the major hotel companies have realized they’re sitting on a distribution goldmine. Marriott has the Autograph Collection, Choice has Ascend Collection, IHG just unveiled Intercontinental Alliance Resorts and Wyndham has just partnered with Planet Hollywood – which has a Las Vegas resort—in a franchising deal.

The hotel companies have realized they’re sitting on great distribution systems that literally reach hundreds of millions of people a year, and can leverage this to not only reach those looking to stay on the Las Vegas Strip. Except Hilton, none of the major hotel companies have a company on The Strip. And that’s the genesis for these relationships.

The hotel companies would love to be able to offer properties not currently in their portfolio. The casino companies finally realize no matter how deep their databases are, they don’t even come close to the number of eyeballs that check out hotel sites.

Take The Cosmopolitan, which opens Center Strip on December 15. The company is partnering with Marriott International and has entered into a distribution agreement with the hotel company’s Autograph Collection, a portfolio of upper-upscale and luxury independent hotels and resorts. More importantly, it gives CEO John Unwin and his team access to 33 million Marriott Rewards members, which should help level the playing field in a tight market.

“Marriott International has the best engineered distribution system in the business. This gives us opportunity to utilize that system, as well as a great enterprise sales team of execs that will be selling our product to group and convention customers,” said Unwin.

Marriott International’s President & COO Arne Sorenson is equally bullish on this deal, he told us. “We are very thrilled to have them as the biggest hotel in our system. I think we have many customers interested in going to Las Vegas and us being able to welcome them to a hotel on The Strip is important. Additionally, of the group customers we have had over the years, many go to Vegas regularly. It has become a destination that belongs on the rotation of many meeting shops and this gives them something now center-Strip,” said Sorenson.

Boiling it down further, it’s just smart business and something that should have been done years ago.

“The alliance with the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and IHG’s InterContinental brand creates a shared opportunity to give our guests access to leading luxury resorts in Las Vegas,” said Jim Abrahamson, IHG’s president for the Americas.

Looking to speed up the hotel check-in process without sacrificing 5-star service?

2010-10-12T14:25:00.001-07:00

Many hotel technology professionals are using the Sahara Slate PC i440D by TabletKiosk to speed up guest registration while offering a first class, personalized experience. Using the Sahara Slate PC, hotel staff can run the full touch screen versions of most Property Management Systems (PMS) wirelessly including Micros, Par Springer Miller, SoftBrands and Agilysys to successfully greet guests and avoid long lines at check-in.

"Pop-up" stores fill commercial real estate vacuum

2010-10-07T10:47:00.001-07:00

In the retail / hospitality space, an easily adaptable mobile solution is a great solution for an a “pop-up” seasonal store.
Read full article here.

By Deborah L. Cohen

CHICAGO | Wed Oct 6, 2010 11:14am EDT

Credit: Reuters/handout

Perfume vendor Sonny Ahuja is seen at the counter
of his pop-up store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in this undated handout photo.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - As a small business owner Nancy Rhodes is always looking for a bargain. So with a commercial real estate crisis gripping her hometown of Phoenix, she took advantage of desperate landlords to open a temporary store with a short-term lease and a steep discount on rent.

"I'm cheap, I'm really cheap," said Rhodes, whose 21-year-old business, Furniture Affair, gleans couches, chairs, tables and other goods from model homes and retailers looking to unload floor samples. "It was a very aggressive offer. I said ‘I'll pay it right now, all of it, take it or leave.' And they took it."

Rhodes, whose primary location is in Phoenix, plans to open a new 5,000-square-foot temporary store later this month in the suburb of Tempe. She negotiated a month-long lease for a spot near a popular IKEA furniture store that she said cost roughly 25 percent of the rent she would pay in a peak market. Rhodes intends to use the space as an alternative to costly advertising, giving newcomers a little taste of what they might find in her mainstay 30,000-square-foot location.

"It could be a revolving store," said Rhodes, who is considering other temporary sites. "Next month in Gilbert, next month in Scottsdale. There is vacant real estate space everywhere."

REAL ESTATE HANGOVER

Commercial real estate vacancies are hovering around 13 percent nationally, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), up from 12 percent a year ago, despite the economy showing signs of recovery.

George Ratiu, an economist with the NAR, said that's because there is a six-month lag on recovery in the commercial real estate market. So-called "pop-up" stores are not a new phenomenon, he said, noting that for years seasonal sellers of Halloween and Christmas merchandise have taken advantage of short-term leases.

Today's temporary stores are being opened by a broader range of businesses, including year-round retailers like Furniture Affair, as well as online stores seeking to explore the viability of brick-and-mortar locations, he said. Even big national sellers, such as Toys "R" Us and Borders, have been testing temporary concepts to push seasonal merchandise out the door.

"With the size of the downturn in commercial real estate, they've become sort of mainstream," Ratiu said. "This is certainly a trend that we're noticing across the country."

Users of temporary space tend to be uncomplicated retailers or service businesses with little need for retrofits, he said, adding that temporary leases typically run a week to a month and a half. However, Ratiu has seen agreements as short as one day from those seeking to liquidate merchandise quickly, including pop-ups in Manhattan that push clothing and other wares with Twitter and other social media.

POP-UPS ON THE RISE

Christina Norsig, a long-time operator of pop-up stores selling kitchenware and table-top furnishings in New York City, in February founded PopUpInsider (www.popupinsider.com), an online network that matches tenants with landlords willing to fill space on a short-term basis.

Norsig noted that landlords, who pay to advertise available space on her website, appear less worried about getting the full value of rents and more concerned with removing the potential stigma associated with darkened spaces in malls and other locations.

On the flipside, there are some risks that go along with operating stores on a temporary basis, said Sonny Ahuja, a Milwaukee-based perfume retailer who has operated seven temporary locations since 1996. He currently runs one pop-up shop in addition to an online store, Grand Perfumes (www.grandperfumes.com).

Temporary lessees in malls don't benefit from the advertising that comes with being included on directories and site maps, which are standard services for full-time tenants, said Ahuja. In addition, pop-ups often have a clause in their agreement that says they can be asked to vacate quickly - sometimes within 24 hours - if the landlord finds a full-time tenant.

Join TabletKiosk at the Global Gaming Expo. Register Now with this Complimentary Pass to the show.

2010-09-07T15:05:00.001-07:00

Join us at G2E 2010 — Register Now with this Complimentary Pass to the Exhibits Courtesy of:
TabletKiosk

Visit us at Booth #459
www.tabletkiosk.com

TabletKiosk offers a full line of robust touch screen Tablet PCs ideally suited for use in a casino environment. Our lightweight tablet computers are widely used in the Gaming industry where they are deployed as Bingo card minders, mobile point of sale terminals, VIP registration kiosks and table management panels.

It's our pleasure to offer you this Complimentary Exhibits-Only Pass so you can register and visit our booth at G2E 2010. We're excited to be a part of G2E this year as they celebrate 10 amazing years! G2E is the best place for you to see the latest new products and learn about the hottest breakthroughs and innovations that will help you redefine the future of your business.

As our valued customer, please accept this complimentary Exhibits-Only Pass, a $150 value, to G2E 2010 and be sure to stop by our Booth #459 to see and learn what we've got going on...

This offer does not apply if you have already registered.

TabletKiosk makes every effort to send you only information we believe you will find useful. We apologize if this information is no longer valuable to you. Please e-mail us at
opt-out@tabletkiosk.com to be removed from our mailing list.

What could be more mobile than a Mobile Food Truck?

2010-09-03T10:03:00.001-07:00

Mobiles Find It’s a Bumpy Road

Thinking of tapping into the trendy food-cart craze? Here are a few points to consider.
By Jordan Melnick, QSR Magazine

As mobile quick serves grow in popularity across the country, operators should be prepared for a host of challenges when running one.

Alternatively known as lunch trucks or food wagons, these horse-powered kitchens might seem like the cure to the common restaurant operator’s daily headache, but nothing could be further from the truth.

“Imagine the workload and times it by 100,” says Molly Taylor, who drives her Sweets Truck around Los Angeles.

Lower start-up costs notwithstanding, the burgeoning mobile food business has its fair share of stressors. Permits can be hard to come by—especially in New York’s lottery system—and, with long heating and cooling periods for ovens, opening for business every day is anything but a turnkey operation.

“Don’t be fooled,” says Joe Jiannetto, a 12-year veteran on the Manhattan circuit with three pizza trucks. “It’s a 16- to 18-hour day. It’s definitely not easier than running a restaurant.”

For one thing, restaurants don’t have to fight traffic or worry about dislodging an oven because the car in front stopped short. Then there is the eternal issue of finding a spot. Imagine you had to park your business everyday. While most trucks manage to stake out a patch of asphalt, they are not always warmly received—especially if they end up idling in front of a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“That’s the biggest stickler,” says Mitchell Collier, part owner of Green Truck, which serves organic fare to Los Angeles pedestrians. “The restaurants think we’re taking business from them. But it’s our right and we pay our dues to go and do business.”

But that logic doesn’t always prevail. Taylor makes a point of not parking her Sweets Truck in front of Starbucks or other bakery cafés. But during a busy arts walk in February, she couldn’t avoid setting up in front of an open restaurant.

“I felt like I walked into a political nightmare,” Taylor says. The owner “was asking any cop she could find to cite us.”

Despite the inconveniences special to the mobile-kitchen business, there is no denying it has taken off in part because of its advantages. While not cheap, revving up a food truck is more affordable than opening a restaurant, requiring about 30 percent less capital, Jiannetto says.

And parking wars aside, prime real estate does not come at a premium.

“Location, location, location is what they always say,” says Collier, who enjoys the freedom his veggie-oil-powered trucks give him to spread Green Truck’s environmental message across Los Angeles. “If I had a fixed location, I couldn’t go out and green Hollywood.”

Internet technology is another boon in the business. Social media sites, particularly Twitter, help food-truck followers track their favorite trucks. There are also several Web sites like Food Carts Portland and Find LA Food Trucks devoted to promoting—and locating—mobile kitchens.

It’s a 16- to 18-hour day. It’s definitely not easier than running a restaurant.”

Mobilecravings.com, which launched in September, is looking to become one of the first sites to index food trucks on a national level. Users can search by city and food type and give portable eateries a star rating. Food-truck owners have profile pages with menus, Twitter feeds, videos, and pictures of their rigs, which are often well worth a second look.

“We wanted our truck to be a showpiece,” says New York City–based Street Sweets Truck owner Grant Di Mille. “We didn’t want to hide behind steel walls.”

However slowly, the image of the grimy lunch truck is giving way as the newer breed of mobile kitchens rolls across the country. And while the food-truck business is largely run by small operators, bigger chains have taken note.

Jeff Harvey, CEO of Burgerville, which introduced its Nomad food truck last July, says food trucks are not only cost-efficient, but also represent a new way to engage customers.

“There’s really an opportunity for a much deeper relationship with your market,” he says.

Burgerville’s commitment to mobile kitchens is “pretty strong,” Harvey says, and the Vancouver, Washington–based chain plans to expand to as many as five trucks this year.

Windows 7 and hospitality technology – Are you ready?

2010-08-13T11:13:00.001-07:00

As we continue to expand our business by selling touch screen tablets to the hospitality channel, including hotels, restaurants and casinos, we continue to receive requests for tablets downgraded to Windows XP. The primary reason for this is that many of the legacy and most popular Property Management and Point of Sale software systems were written for the Windows XP operating system and are not compatible with Windows 7.

Up until now we have been able to provide and ship systems licensed with Windows 7 Professional along with recovery media to downgrade to Windows XP. However, because Windows 7 has been so successful, Microsoft has decided that it is finally time to put their eight year old operating system to bed.

As of October 22, 2010, and per our licensing agreement with Microsoft, we will no longer be able to ship systems downgraded with Windows XP or provide Windows XP Restore Media for the purpose of downgrading.

So what’s a hotel, restaurant or casino to do if you need new hardware after October 22, 2010, but are just not yet ready to make the switch to a new OS?

The good news is that after October 22, customers will still be able to downgrade to Windows XP, but we can’t do it for them. In order to obtain the downgrade, they will have to contact Microsoft directly and provide them with the following key items:

1) an existing physical copy of the Windows XP installation media

2) Their new order invoice along with the license number/product key code listed on the Windows 7 COA sticker.

The other option that many companies are choosing for enterprise use is to run a Windows Embedded POSReady (which is basically an enterprise version of XP Pro which maintains UPOS and POS for .NET standards.) Important to note that the POSReady license can only be used for “Point of Service”, and may not be used for general or consumer use.

So in order to get a better handle of where the industry is heading, I’m curious to hear if your systems are set up to run on Windows 7 or are you a Windows XP holdout. Looking forward to feedback.

10 things you can do with a Tablet PC in a casino…

2010-08-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Tablet PCs from TabletKiosk are being deployed at casinos worldwide for functions ranging from poker table management to mobile point of sale?

Here are some noteworthy usage scenarios culled from casinos around the country…

Bus check-in for player validation
Poker room table management
Fixed and mobile Bingo card minding
Custom Surveys
Players’ Club Validation
Poolside mobile Point of Sale
Tableside Point of Sale
Restaurant table management and hostess desk functionality
Meeting and conference space check-in
ID Card Scanning and documentation

There are hundreds of ways that tablet technology can be utilized in a casino setting and I’m always looking for additional usage scenarios to explore.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Standardizes Architecture on Microsoft Platform From Desktop to Datacenter

2010-07-06T17:02:00.001-07:00

reprinted from Microsoft News Center.

ORLANDO, Fla. — June 22, 2010 — Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group today announced that it has standardized its IT architecture exclusively on the Microsoft platform for competitive advantage and to deliver a highly responsive “connected journey” experience for its guests. The announcement was made at the HITEC 2010 conference in Orlando, Fla.

Microsoft Corp.’s approach to cloud computing in hospitality was instrumental to Mandarin Oriental’s decision to fully transition to the Microsoft platform. This is part of Mandarin Oriental’s overarching strategy to build a highly responsive IT infrastructure with the applications and tools needed to provide personalized guest experiences worldwide.

“We are confident that Microsoft’s ‘connected travel’ approach is the right one for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group as we move to the cloud,” said Nick Price, CIO/vice president, Information Systems, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. “After evaluating leading competitive offerings, we have standardized exclusively on Microsoft technologies, which provides us with a single, highly streamlined IT platform that spans the entire organization, from the mobile and digital consumer touch points up through mid- and back-office operations and beyond. We are working with Microsoft and our core ISVs as they enhance their applications to take advantage of Windows Azure so that we can further cost-cutting and consolidation.”

Mandarin Oriental has standardized exclusively on Microsoft technologies for more than 10 years and has evolved a single, highly streamlined IT platform that spans the entire organization, from the mobile and digital consumer touch points up through mid- and back-office operations and beyond.

Mandarin Oriental is virtualizing its hotel systems as a key step toward Windows Azure and the public cloud, with plans to implement its first fully virtualized hotel later this year. It has completed the server virtualization stage using Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V technology and has already realized significant savings, increased systems availability and a reduction of carbon emissions.

Further, Mandarin Oriental is working with PAR Springer-Miller Systems to deploy its next generation hospitality platform on Windows Azure.

Microsoft’s Hospitality in the Cloud Strategy

For over a year now, Geoff Cairns, worldwide managing director of Hospitality at Microsoft, and his team have been working with principals from The Gendreau Group (TGG), revenue strategists who focus on helping companies across industries generate additional revenues and value from technologies, products and services. The goal has been to enable the hospitality industry to deliver more value to guests and other customers, and to find more and better ways to interact and transact successfully with each guest across each and every journey. Microsoft’s Hospitality in the Cloud strategy has been a primary outcome of this work.

“Microsoft’s vision brings into focus what they have dubbed the ‘connected journey.’ The resulting strategy is focused on changing the travel experience by working with hoteliers and service providers to plan and take actions to overhaul their existing technology environments,” said Timothy Gendreau, chief revenue strategist at TGG. “To make this possible, Microsoft has been building an ecosystem of collaborating partners and customers whose commitments underscore that Microsoft’s strategy and planned accelerators are both viable and implementable today using Microsoft’s existing technologies and products.”

Microsoft’s hospitality industry ecosystem partners include Agilysys Inc., PAR Springer-Miller Systems, Newmarket International, Red Rock Software Inc., SoftHotel Inc. and SuiteLinq Inc., as well as key customers who provide guidance to the ecosystem through participation in Microsoft’s hospitality industry customer advisory board.

“Through these efforts, and with the participation of experts such as Nick Price at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, we have developed an actionable cloud strategy for the hospitality industry that includes specific recommendations aimed at enabling hospitality companies to rationalize their core infrastructures, add flexible new functionality, improve their digital marketing and merchandising capabilities, and push IT infrastructure and applications out of their back offices into the cloud, while simultaneously achieving built-in investment protection,” Cairns said.

“Our cloud approach for hospitality is also unique in the industry; we are doing much more than simply providing virtualization services and cheap e-mail,” Cairns said. “Our strategy is aimed at enabling an industry, not just about creating a technology foundation. Cloud computing is only one dimension. To do this, we are leveraging our integrated stack of cloud-enabling technologies and industry-specific integration capabilities to simplify and provide a consistent platform for development, operations and delivery of cloud services. We are also collaborating with and enabling an ecosystem of partners who are experts in hospitality-specific solutions. Finally, through our massive investments in our worldwide network of datacenters and through partnerships with leading communications providers, we are enabling the cloud itself.”

At the HITEC 2010 conference, Microsoft described how partners are cloud-enabling their applications today, and how the company is developing shared services that the developer community can leverage to accelerate their developments. Microsoft’s goal is to provide a set of industry-specific shared common services that will allow its independent software vendor community to develop software better, faster and cheaper, without overlap and duplication. Immediate hospitality industry customer benefits include the cost savings from shifting internal routine IT operations to the cloud, allowing companies to reinvest their IT dollars in projects that are truly core to their business.

Benefits from the Microsoft approach to cloud computing for hospitality include immediate operational cost reductions, the opportunity to better allocate capital and other resources, and the ability to accelerate change by engaging an ecosystem of partners with solutions optimized for the Microsoft platform and Windows Azure.

About Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is the award-winning owner and operator of some of the world’s most prestigious hotels, resorts and residences. Mandarin Oriental now operates, or has under development, 41 hotels representing over 10,000 rooms in 26 countries, with 17 hotels in Asia, 13 in The Americas and 11 in Europe and North Africa. In addition, the Group operates, or has under development, 13 Residences at Mandarin Oriental, connected to the Group’s properties.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Hotels Gear up for Tech-Savvy Guests

2010-05-18T17:06:00.001-07:00

Reprinted from PC Magazine, May 17, 2010
By: Rik Fairlie

Despite the lingering economic turndown, hotels are investing in technology to ensure that tech-loving travelers are as content in the hotel room as they are in their fully-equipped homes.

Or perhaps a bit happier, given that hoteliers are offering access to new devices like the iPad, IP TV, and a slew of smartphone apps that enable guests to check in and order room service from their phone.

For some hotel chains, though, the fundamentals come first. For instance, most guests assume that wireless Internet access is a basic service, yet robust, reliable connectivity remains a serious challenge in the hospitality industry.

"One of the things we are refocusing on is reliable, quality high-speed connectivity," said Bryson Koehler, senior vice president of revenue and guest technology for the InterContinental Hotels Group, which includes Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, among other brands. "We need the right infrastructure to support guest demands for bandwidth-intensive activities like videoconferencing, watching online video, and Skype calls."

To achieve that goal, Intercontinental is installing 45Mbps DS3 lines in some hotels and combining (or "bonding") two cable modems to boost bandwidth in others, he said.

More Than Just Wi-Fi Access
Marriott is taking a holistic approach to better networks with an initiative called ClearSkyNet. The tactic comprises a consolidated information network that will deliver faster Internet access and enable new technologies like in-room IP TV. The Seattle Pioneer Square Courtyard by Marriott will be the first property outfitted with the new infrastructure when it opens in mid June; Marriott says that eight others will soon follow.

"We are looking at our networks very differently than in the past," said Page Petry, Marriott's senior vice president of information resources. "Rather than having multiple networks that support all technologies, [the Seattle] hotel has a converged network that supports all components: TV, back-of-the-house systems, guest high-speed Internet access."

The ClearSkyNet infrastructure will enable hotels to adjust bandwidth to meet shifting needs. For instance, if participants in a technology conference in the meeting areas consume an inordinate amount of bandwidth, the hotel will be able to increase capacity to the meeting while ensuring that other systems, like IP TV, maintain have adequate bandwidth. Most hotels, Petry said, will employ a DS3 45Mbps external connection to the Net.

Marriott's IP TV service will launch in mid-June at the Seattle Courtyard by Marriott with 65 channels, 50 of which will be in high definition, Petry said. The service will offer a scrollable electronic guide, much like in-home cable services. That means no more aimless shuffling through channels to find the station you want.

Access Your Home DVR on the Road
InterContinental Hotels is taking TV in a different, albeit familiar, direction. Koehler said that his group is gearing up to test in-room network-based DVRs that can access content stored on the guest's home DVR.

"We are in talks with Verizon and AT&T to extend the DVR," he said. "The downside is that the companies have somewhat restricted markets, but they are both available in most large cities and that's where we're headed. We'll have a pilot in an Atlanta hotel this year."

Some hotel companies are extending new technology to the guestroom door. InterContinental, for instance, is conducting a trial with a company called OpenWays that will enable guests to unlock their doors with their smartphones. Aloft Hotels, a brand of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, is rolling out a Smart Check In feature that enables guests to bypass check in and open the guestroom door with a personal RFID keycard.

New technologies aren't limited to rooms, however. Many hotels realize that they can make a bigger splash with innovations in lobbies and other public areas.

InterContinental Hotels has installed Microsoft Surface tabletop computers in concierge lounges of three InterContinental brand hotels. "It's a richer, more interactive experience," Koehler said. "A lot of people have seen Surface in movies and TV shows, but they haven't seen it in real life. It's a cool factor."

Marriott has hung 57-inch interactive touchscreen TVs in about 150 properties (and will achieve 300 installations by year's end) that provide a portal for information like attractions, airport information, weather, and maps. The devices, known as GoBoards, also enable guests to print info and take it with them.

More public guest technology also makes sense for Holiday Inns because "our average customer is social and doesn't want to stay in the room," said Koehler. The company is experimenting with interactive touchscreens that will serve as an information portal as well as public telepresence, he said.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, on the other hand, is going with tried-and-true technologies for its lobbies. The company has installed a lobby lounge it calls Link@Sheraton in more than 360 hotels. The Link@Sheraton provides free Wi-Fi for those who bring their own portable devices, as well as Internet-connected desktops and printers for guests to e-mail, browse the Web, and print boarding passes.

A Few New Uses for Tablet PCs in the Hospitality Market…

2010-03-11T17:17:00.001-08:00

I’ve officially made the transition from Marketing to overseeing Sales into the Hospitality market and I’m having a blast. I’ve discovered that there are hundreds of uses for a Slate Tablet PC in the hospitality field. Here are some of the uses that are coming up again and again.

HOTELS

     Remote Wireless Check-in
     Mobile Concierge
     Conference check-in and registration
     Signature capture guest packages
     Guest surveys
     Remote Property Management System (PMS)
     Key card encoding

RESTAURANTS, BARS AND NIGHTCLUBS

       Line Busting
       Mobile POS
       Tableside ordering
       Catering and event management
       Guest Surveys
       ID Scanning
       Data collection for mailing lists
       An extra POS terminal for busy times patio service
       Hostess stand seating management

CASINOS
       Electronic Bingo Terminal
       Diagnostic testing of slot machines and video poker
       Table Management
       Security and Surveillance
        Guest surveys

TabletKiosk® Showcases New Mobile Touch Screen Solutions at the Global Gaming Expo In Las Vegas

2009-11-18T07:15:00.001-08:00

LAS VEGAS, NV -- November 17, 2009 — TabletKiosk®, a leading provider of mobile touch screen computing solutions, continues to extend its presence in the casino industry by showcasing its newest handheld Tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs in booth #643 at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E). These mobile touch screen tablets offer improved value and productivity to casino professionals due to their mobile form factor and ability to run a full PC operating system.

The eo™ a7330D, powered by the Intel® Atom™ Z530P ULV processor features a "fit-in-your-hand" mobile design with a 7.1-inch dual mode digitizer and touch screen, dual hot swappable batteries and a revolutionary new modular expansion system that uses interchangeable modules to enhance the device’s functionality for specific tasks including swiping player cards and mobile POS. In order to highlight the eo platform as a mobile point-of-sale terminal, representatives from TabletKiosk will demonstrate the new eo a7330D running Focus POS, a leading restaurant management software application.

The Sahara NetSlate™ a230T, powered by the Intel® Atom™ N270 processor, features a 12.1-inch resistive touch screen and is designed to run client/server, or cloud -based, applications. This new entry-level Tablet PC is an affordable option for businesses looking for a touch screen tablet solution, without the enhanced feature-set or processing power of the existing Sahara Slate PC® i400 series of Tablet PCs. At G2E, representatives from TabletKiosk will demonstrate the Sahara NetSlate running several restaurant entertainment applications from TapCode, a leading provider of self-service and digital entertainment restaurant solutions.

In addition to highlighting the ease of incorporating a mobile solution in a casino or resort setting, TabletKiosk will also showcase the Sahara Slate PC i400 series of Tablet PCs running Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 7 with enhanced touch and inking functionality to promote on-the-go communication. Demos of several of the industry’s most innovative applications will be running on the Sahara Slate PC.

The first demonstration features a Sahara Slate PC i440T acting as a mobile terminal for Cantor Gaming’s “In-Running” betting application, which enables casino guests to wager on live sporting events before and throughout the event. This solution is currently in use at the M Resort in Henderson, NV, for a variety of sporting events, including NBA Basketball and Major League Baseball.

To encourage improved staff/guest interaction, TabletKiosk will also demonstrate the web-based GoConcierge guest service application on a Sahara Slate PC i440D with handwriting input for entering information on the fly. The GoConcierge application is currently in use at the Bellagio and will also be used in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at City Center, opening in November.

“As an industry innovator, TabletKiosk is in a unique position to showcase how the Tablet PC platform can improve worker productivity for casino and resort staff,” said Martin Smekal, president of TabletKiosk. “Because our company focuses solely on solutions featuring slate-style, touch enabled tablets, we understand both the benefits and challenges that integrating this form factor presents and we work closely with our partners to identify potential issues before they occur."

About TabletKiosk®

TabletKiosk is a registered trademark and wholly owned subsidiary of Sand Dune Ventures, Inc. a privately held technology incubator. The company produces slate-style Tablet PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs and a mobile clinical assistant (MCA) marketed through an authorized reseller channel and directly through the company website. For more information, visit http://www.tabletkiosk.com/.

# # # #

MusicReader and TabletKiosk® Create Custom Music Reading Solution for Britten Sinfonia's "Dialogues" Concerts

2009-11-03T10:47:00.001-08:00

Torrance, CA -- November 3, 2009 — One of Europe’s most celebrated and innovative chamber orchestras, Britten Sinfonia, is adding a hi-tech element to its upcoming "Dialogues" concerts. In lieu of traditional paper sheet music, three featured soloists will read their music on a Sahara NetSlate™ Tablet PC by TabletKiosk that is running MusicReader software from Leoné MusicReader.

MusicReader and TabletKiosk developed a special solution for Britten Sinfonia using the Sahara NetSlate a230T Tablet PC on a custom music stand. For page turning, the AirTurn AT-104 wireless foot pedals will be used. This combination gives the soloists the flexibility they need for a seamless and uninterrupted performance.

The three "Dialogues" concerts will be performed on November 6, 7 and 9in Norwich, London and Cambridge respectively and is conducted by the esteemed Pierre-Laurent Aimard. More information about the performance pieces and soloists can be found at Britten Sinfonia's website at www.brittensinfonia.com.

To learn more about the MusicReader software and the AirTurn AT-104 wireless foot pedals, visit www.musicreader.net. For more information on the Sahara NetSlate a230T, as well as the full line of innovative Tablet PCs and UMPCs from TabletKiosk, visit www.tabletkiosk.com.

About Leoné MusicReader B.V.

Leoné MusicReader is a privately held company based in Borne, The Netherlands.
The company offers innovative digital sheet music software to musicians worldwide. Together with this program, the company offers the necessary hardware to supplement the software, including the AirTurn AT-104 wireless page turning solution. The company also has ongoing research and development efforts to be able to offer musicians state-of-the-art software.

For more information about MusicReader please contact:
Marco Leoné - CEO Leoné MusicReader B.V.
Phone: +31-74-7114314

About TabletKiosk®

TabletKiosk is a registered trademark and wholly owned subsidiary of Sand Dune Ventures, Inc. a privately held technology incubator. The company produces slate-style Tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs marketed through an authorized reseller channel and directly through the company website. In the UK and Europe, TabletKiosk products are available through Forest-it Design www.forest-it.com Tel +44(0) 118 963 7461.

LIMITED TIME OFFER – FREE BUMPCASE WITH PURCHASE OF A SAHARA SLATE PC i412T, i440T or i440D.

2009-10-19T14:10:00.001-07:00

Special Offer for Web orders only…

Purchase a Sahara Slate PC i400 series 12.1-in. Tablet PC from our web store and get a protective Bump Case FREE! ($69.99 value)

This attractive padded case not only looks slick, but also protects your Sahara Slate PC from scrapes, bumps and scratches. Ideal for on-the-go protection, this case was designed to fit securely on all of the Sahara Slate PC i400 series Tablet PCs while providing convenient access to all of the buttons, fingerprint reader and I/O ports. Also features a built-in screen protector.

The case features comfortable elastic crisscrossing straps to provide easy one-handed use as well as an adjustable shoulder strap for hands-free carrying convenience.

For details about how to get this special offer, click here.

I’m all about touch technology, but this seems ridiculous.

2009-10-19T14:01:00.001-07:00

http://www.rubikstouchcube.com/#/about/

TabletKiosk to co-sponsor POS Hardware Showcase for Hospitality – Oct. 7

2009-10-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

This Wednesday, Oct. 7, I will be participating in a webinar presented by Hospitality Technology Magazine entitled

POS Hardware Showcase: A Power-Hour of Leading Solutions.

In this webinar, I will be presenting the full line up of TabletKiosk wireless handheld devices and discussing how they are currently being deployed in the Hospitality market for Point of Sale, and property management services.

Click Here to register for this informative webinar.

Price Reduced for Sahara Slate PC i440D White – while supplies last

2009-09-29T16:59:00.001-07:00

For a limited time only and while supplies last, TabletKiosk has lowered the price of Sahara Slate PC® i440D (white only) to $1,897 (save $498) list price is $2,395.

The Sahara Slate PC i440D features the following:

Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo LV L7400

3.0GB DDR2 5300 SDRAM

160GB SATA Hard Disk Drive

Built-in Wireless a/b/g Networking

Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR

12.1" TFT XGA Wide Angle View LCD Dual
Mode Active Digitizer / Touch Screen Display

Sunlight Readable Display (standard)

Biometric Finger Print Reader

Windows Vista® Business, Windows® XP Embedded, or openSUSE Linux

Pearl White outer casing

If you’ve ever considered purchasing a brand new Sahara Slate PC i440D, you won’t want to miss this opportunity. For details, click here.

Note that special reduced pricing is for standard configurations only and price reduction does not apply to black units.

TabletKiosk® Expands its Tablet PC Product Line with a Trio of New Systems Based on the Intel® Atom™ Processor

2009-09-22T11:04:00.001-07:00

IDF: San Francisco, CA, September 22, 2009 — TabletKiosk®, a leading provider of mobile business computing solutions, today introduced three new systems powered by Intel® Atom™ Processors: the 7-inch eo™ a7330D Ultra-Mobile PC, the 7-inch eo TufTab® a7230XD Rugged Ultra-Mobile PC and the 12.1-inch Sahara NetSlate™ a230T touch screen Tablet PC.

This new generation of slate-style tablets is built for the Enterprise marketplace, and includes a number of new and innovative features designed specifically to deliver improved productivity and value to professionals working in the office or out in the field.

eo™ a7330D Ultra-Mobile PC

This newest member of TabletKiosk's family of eo Ultra-Mobile PCs is the first 7-inch tablet to feature an auto-switching dual mode active digitizer / resistive touch screen panel developed by Wacom®, the pioneering leader in pen technology. Business professionals in hospitality, home automation and industrial control systems are also excited about other features of the eo a7330D including its dual, hot swappable battery packs; integrated wireless connectivity; a "fit-in-your-hand" design; and a revolutionary new modular expansion system. By attaching one of the interchangeable expansion modules, the functionality of the device can be customized for specific business applications including scanning bar codes, swiping credit cards and even connecting to enhanced 3G/3.5G wireless wide area networks. Based on high-speed USB Bus technology, the modules are hot swappable and can be removed or switched out without powering down the system.

“We designed the new eo a7330D in response to the industry-specific challenges which we felt were not being met by the current crop of 7-inch devices,” said Martin Smekal, president of TabletKiosk. “Instead of pushing a 'one-size-fits-all' device that must be paired with external attachments, cords and dongles, the new eo a7330D with its modular expansion system can be easily and cleanly customized to perform specific business functions, thus providing seamless integration with industry standard applications.”

eo a7330D is powered by the Intel® Atom™ Z530P processor and comes standard with 1.0 GB RAM, 1.8" 80 GB HDD (SSD drives optional), sunlight viewable screen, dual hot swappable batteries, built-in wireless capabilities including GPS, 802.11a/b/g/n Dual Channel WiFi and Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR, and the auto-switching dual mode digitizer/touch screen for highly accurate handwriting recognition and finger touch control.

eo TufTab® a7230XD Rugged Ultra-Mobile PC

The new eo TufTab a7230XD is a rugged Ultra-Mobile PC that surpasses MIL-SPEC-810F specifications and is rated IP54 to provide a lightweight and durable solution for on-the-go professionals working in harsher than normal environments. Featuring the same auto-switching active digitizer / passive touch screen as the eo a7330D, this revolutionary device is ably suited for outdoor fieldwork, data collection, warehousing, mobile point of sale and other work functions which endure extreme handling.

Also powered by the Intel® Atom™ Z530P processor, the eo TufTab a7230XD comes standard with 1.0GB RAM, 80GB HDD (SSD optional), 802.11a/b/g/n Dual Channel WiFi, 2.0 Mpixel Still/Video camera with auto focus, dual hot swappable batteries, integrated RFID reader, built-in 1D/2D barcode scanner, 1Gb Ethernet, RS-232 Serial port, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and TPM v1.2. Built-in 3G/3.5G WWAN module is optional.

Sahara NetSlate™ a230T

The latest addition to the Sahara Slate PC® line of 12.1-inch slate-style Tablet PCs is the Sahara NetSlate a230T. This new, entry-level touch screen tablet is more affordable option for on-the-go professionals and companies looking for a true slate-style tablet solution, but not necessarily with the enhanced feature-set or processing power of the existing Sahara Slate PC® i400 series of Tablet PCs.

The Sahara NetSlate a230T shares the same body design and form factor of its i400 series siblings, but is powered by the Intel® Atom™ N270 processor and comes standard with 1.0GB RAM (upgradeable to 2.0GB) a 120GB HDD (SSD optional), 802.11a/b/g/n Dual Channel WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and an optional built-in 3G/3.5G WWAN module.

Because continuity is an important value when integrating a new client solution into an existing business installation, the Sahara NetSlate is fully compatible with all accessories created for the Sahara Slate PC® i400 series, including the docking cradle, VESA mounting plates, batteries and carrying cases.

“The Intel Atom processor is a great low power design perfectly suited for bringing the Internet to small devices, from MIDs and netbooks to Tablets and smartphones,” said Pankaj Kedia, director of global ecosystem programs in Intel’s Ultra Mobility group. “The Atom processor is helping to accelerate hundreds of innovative designs, like the new eo Ultra-Mobile PCs and Sahara NetSlate products that TabletKiosk is announcing today.”

Because today’s business applications vary greatly in their requirements, all three devices come preinstalled with a choice of Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business, Windows® XP Embedded or openSUSE™ Linux 11. All three systems qualify for a FREE downgrade to Windows XP Professional (or Tablet PC Edition for the two eo UMPCs). In addition, all three also qualify for a FREE upgrade to Windows 7 Professional if purchased with Windows Vista on or before January 31, 2010.

Pricing and Availability

eo™ a7330D can be pre-ordered now and will start shipping the beginning of October.

eo TufTab® a7230XD can be pre-ordered now and will begin shipping the third week of October.

Sahara NetSlate™ a230T is available now.

For pricing and additional details, please visit www.tabletkiosk.com or contact your Authorized TabletKiosk Dealer.

Let the Countdown Begin

2009-09-21T18:53:00.001-07:00

9:00 AM tomorrow – PST 3 new products from TabletKiosk to be announced

Final web programming happens tonight
Web links will go live in a few hours
FCC approval received for eo a7330D
Press Release submitted and approved by MarketWire
Intel has samples and collateral for launch at IDF
Press list finalized
Press kits given to Dan and Martin to take up to SF

Let the games begin.

Team Photo from our Recent Sales meeting

2009-09-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

We recently had our summer sales meeting, and for one of our evening activities we went go-cart racing. Here’s a photo of some of the team members. Can you guess who won? Not me.

Ready or Not… Hospitality Sales Here I Come!

2009-09-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

I’m in transition mode now – and am soon to be moving from the crazy world of marketing at TabletKiosk to the even crazier world of TabletKiosk sales.

As many of you know, for some time now, I have been informally overseeing the sales of our products into the Hospitality market because

1) I identified Hospitality as a new market for us
2) There was no one in our sales team who was familiar with this market
3) I was having a ball discovering new opportunities for TabletKiosk in hospitality
4) I like staying in hotels, shopping and eating in restaurants (not really a reason, but entirely true)
Our all encompassing definition of Hospitality includes hotels, restaurants, clubs, retail – basically any
industry where customer care and sales transactions occur directly at the point of service.

So recently, I decided to take the leap to move into the sales department full time and (sadly) walk away from my marketing duties. I’m in transition now, so I’m still handling most of the marketing functions while jumping headfirst into sales (with little time to breath).

Seven Ways to Improve Your E-Mail Messages - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership

2009-08-10T12:32:00.001-07:00

Seven Ways to Improve Your E-Mail Messages - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership

Posted using ShareThis

Microsoft's Bing TV ad: Huh? - Los Angeles Times

2009-06-09T13:58:00.001-07:00

This morning’s LA Times posted a very funny article about the new TV ads for the new Bing search engine.
Click here to read the full article.

Judging from a commercial for Microsoft's new Bing 'decision engine,' the company needs to search for a smarter marketing campaign.

Written by Dan Neil, June 9, 2009

A Strong and Steady Business Vision in a Sea of Netbooks

2009-05-27T09:40:00.001-07:00

Paying close attention to the online techie news sites, I can’t help but notice the emergence of very cool and inexpensive netbooks which seem to be popping up almost daily. These small and lightweight devices have really taken the consumer market by storm and it’s great to see such a great response to new mobile technologies.

In fact, these devices are becoming so prevalent that one of my extremely non-technically minded friends called me up to determine the difference between the netbook her husband bought for her and our TabletKiosk tablet PCs. She had seen a preview of the new eo (shown at right) was worried about how it would compete with her netbook.

So as I found myself explaining how our tablets are different than these lower priced consumer devices, I thought that the information would be good information to share on this blog.

To start with, you have to remember that TabletKiosk operates in the B2B enterprise sector and does not market our products to consumers (although consumers can purchase our products through our website). Because our products are designed for business, they are primarily used to access a central server with domain log-in which can only be accomplished via XP Professional/ Vista/ Win 7 Business OS (or Ultimate). Most netbooks come pre-loaded with a special lower priced version of XP Home which cannot accommodate domain log-in. Microsoft uses this as a key factor to define the differences (function and price) between its Home/Business Operating Systems.

Some other key differentiations that TabletKiosk offers:

Our devices are designed for business use. In order to keep our legacy customers in the TabletKiosk family of products, we offer an ecosystem of business accessories designed to be interchangeable between individual devices as well as for future product revs. Our product rev cycle may be longer than consumer devices, but our products provide a better ROI as a capital investment. From a CIOs perspective, this just makes good business sense.

Our products are designed to run Vista® Business, XP Pro/Tablet, XP Embedded, Win 7 Business or Linux openSUSE.

Our upcoming products offer superior wireless connectivity 802.11a/b/g/n with dual Channel Networking.

We work closely with key industry ISVs to get our devices certified and vetted for use with their software.

Our sales team is vertically focused (healthcare, control systems, education, hospitality) with in-depth knowledge of industry specifications, changes and challenges. In order to validate our products, we also invest in vertically focused pilot programs to ensure that our hardware is the right fit for a perspective project.

We are a US based company with a company-run full service center. All products come with a 1 year standard warranty and we offer live customer service and tech support from corporate headquarters in California.

For volume orders, we can provide options for private label and customer specific builds.

As you can imagine, all of the differentiations listed above result in an entirely different (higher) pricing model for enterprise customers which should not be compared with the lower priced consumer market. In this enterprise space, our competition consists of companies that offer slate tablets like DT Research, Motion Computing, Itronix and Mobile Demand. However what I find the most interesting is that because of the features and services that TabletKiosk and the other enterprise manufactures offer, we rarely hear customers mentioning netbooks as viable solutions to their business needs.

In our niche world, the same customers who use an apple iPhone with capacitive touch for their personal use specifically request resistive touch for their work machines because they often wear gloves when operating our devices. Pan scrolling is cool and it’s fun, but for simple, menu-driven applications, it’s just another bell and whistle that is not needed to get the job done.

From the coolest / latest speeds feeds and features perspective, some of the newest “coolest” technologies just don’t make sense in the enterprise technology sector. To sum it all up, the world of enterprise computing doesn’t focus on the newest, sleekest, shiniest and most inexpensive toys, instead, we focus on producing the right computers to meet our customers unique needs.

Food (and drink) for thought about Starbucks, McDonalds and too many meetings

2009-05-12T18:22:00.001-07:00

In today’s business climate, it is quite common to see people walking into business meetings holding their beloved cup of Starbucks coffee and feeling oh-so hip about it.

Do you think that these same people would be as comfortable walking into a high powered business meeting holding a cup of coffee purchased at McDonald’s?

As a marketer, I look forward to following the latest round of Coffee Wars.

A Day at the Racetrack with TabletKiosk and Intel!

2009-05-11T11:16:00.001-07:00

Last week, TabletKiosk and Intel hosted an exciting event at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale for CIOs and IT lead staff from several hospitals around Southern California.

Dubbed “Electronic Healthcare Day”, this event gave us the opportunity to meet with high level IT managers in a fun and informational setting to educate them about how mobile handheld Tablet PCs from TabletKiosk running Intel processors can be seamlessly integrated in a healthcare setting.

The day began with a short driving training for all participants. Then the the group was split in two. Half of the participants headed to the track to drive while the rest of the people sat through the product training led by Intel and TabletKiosk.

This was the first formalized training event that we have held outside our offices and the event was a resounding success. In fact, we’re considering having more of these mixed-use fun and informative events in the future at different locations around the country and directed at our other targeted industries.

Product Launch – An inside peek of what’s going on behind the scenes

2009-05-01T15:54:00.001-07:00

I received an email today asking me why I haven’t posted any recent blog updates. Well with 2 new products launching in the next 60 days, our R&D, Marketing and OPs teams have been extremely busy juggling all of the tasks required to facilitate two successful launches.

So to give you an idea of what is currently going on behind the scenes at TabletKiosk, here is a very short list of what we are currently working on.

Approving final engineering and tooling
Certifications for WHQL, Intel, Energy Star, FCC, UL
Creating device drivers
Creating recovery media
Testing and benchmarks of final engineering samples
Securing trademarks and patents
Sourcing in box components
Designing packaging and inserts
Writing product manuals and quick start guides
Finalizing Spec sheets
Updating web pages
Creating marketing messaging and materials
Forecasting and planning roll-out quantities
Previewing and planning with our distribution channel
Finalizing pricing for distribution sales channel
Sales channel readiness
Keeping close tabs of inventory for EOL SKUs
Licensing software
Creating accessory ecosystem internally
Working with third party vendors to help develop accessories
Training sales team
Creating launch kit
Finalizing Logistics

Hmmm… no wonder I don’t have any time to blog… I need a vacation.
Stay tuned for news about the launches – we’re counting down from 60 days!

Cantor Gaming implements Mobile Gaming at the M Resort in Las Vegas with Sahara Slate PCs

2009-04-10T11:45:00.001-07:00

Sometime ago, I posted an article that described the new mobile gaming offerings that the new M Resort in Las Vegas would be implementing in its new casino with.

Well now that the casino is up and running, the mobile gaming sportsbook at the M Resort, run by Cantor Gaming is garnering a lot of attention.

The article below was printed in the Las Vegas Review and describes how the “tablet-like” devices are being utilized in the sports book area of the M Resort. Of course, I know that the devices being used are actually Sahara Slate PCs i440Ds which were modified to fulfill the strict standards set by the Nevada Gaming Commission…

New system lets bettors wager on games in progress

(reprinted from the Las Vegas Business Press, April 01, 2009)

Wagering on the NCAA men's basketball tournament took a different twist this month at the M Resort. Gamblers could not only place money on the outcomes and point totals, but on certain games bets were accepted while the action took place. The bets were possible through M Resort's "in-running" wagering, in which betting lines were changed as game play dictated.

Cantor Gaming, a technology company trying to bring hand-held wagering devices into Nevada casinos, is managing M Resort's sports book. The company, a subsidiary of the worldwide financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, introduced the "in-running" betting system to the sports book.

Customers can place money on account at the sports book and will get a device that resembles a tablet personal computer. The device only works in the M Resort sports book.

On the tablet, betting lines are changed and updated while a game takes place, allowing gamblers to wager on the action. Customers can cash out when the game ends.

"I think this really provides an exciting opportunity to sports bettors and M Resort's customers," said longtime gaming executive Phil Flaherty, who is a consultant to Cantor Gaming. "It was interesting to see how quickly it was accepted by the customers."

M Resort is serving as the showroom for the gambling technology. Cantor Gaming wants to bring the devices into other Nevada sports books. Flaherty said the NCAA basketball tournament was the perfect event for introducing the system. Not all the games during the first two rounds and Sweet 16 were available for the technology. However, all the Final Four matchups Saturday and Monday will be part of "in-running" wagering.

The system will be in full swing, Flaherty said, during the National Basketball Association playoffs and the Major League Baseball season. He expects the technology to receive its biggest challenge during the college and professional football season.

"It's designed to enhance the experience, but it's also designed to enhance the handle (amount wagered)," Flaherty said.

M Resort first tested the system on a National Invitational Tournament college basketball contest between Baylor and Georgetown. Baylor started out as a three-point favorite and had a 10-point lead at halftime. Baylor had to rally, however, to win the game by two points.

Flaherty said wagering on the game increased significantly over what the handle would have been if just the outcome and total had been on the board. The back-and-forth lead changes during the game's second half factored into the wagering.
Early statistics from the system show customers placed anywhere from $200 to $2,000 on accounts for "in-running wagering." Customers have placed between eight and 50 wagers per game. The typical bet is in the $20 to $40 range, but some players have gambled as much as $250 each time the line changed.
"It's been quite fascinating to watch," Flaherty said. "We've also seen a number of women using the system."

For M Resort Chief Executive Officer Anthony Marnell III, new ideas that bring customers into the month-old property might turn them into long-term customers. The sports wagering idea adds to his goal of making M Resort one of the leading casinos for technology.

"Everything is done in real time and you can see the points, spread and money line fluctuate as the game goes on," Marnell said. "We're giving M's sports bettors the most innovative way to bet in the country and the most exciting way to do it."

TabletKiosk® Introduces the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT: A Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) with Touch Screen Input

2009-03-04T10:54:00.001-08:00

TORRANCE, CA, March 04, 2009 — TabletKiosk®, a leader in mobile computing solutions, today announced the new MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT, the only mobile clinical assistant (MCA) featuring a sunlight readable 10.4 inch resistive touch screen. The MCA reference architecture developed by Intel® and based upon significant ethnographic research, workflow studies and conversations with healthcare professionals worldwide; was created specifically for the rigors, needs and workflow of the clinical environment— whether that is a ward, clinic or emergency room.

Built for today’s demanding healthcare environments, MediSlate™ MCAs were designed to improve workflow efficiencies, ease clinician workloads, and help reduce medication and administrative errors by utilizing an array of data and image capturing technologies. Traditionally, healthcare professionals had to rely on paper charts, stationary desktop PCs and equipment wheeled around on bulky carts to help them complete common activities such as taking medical histories, monitoring medications, reviewing test results and x-rays, and patient charting. Using a MediSlate™ MCA in tandem with their existing EMR systems, clinicians and administrators are able to perform all of these same tasks easily and directly at the point-of-care, allowing them to spend more of their time interacting with patients.

The MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT, powered by Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology, is a versatile and full featured computing device that is housed in a specially sealed, semi-rugged, smooth surface case that is drop-resistant and spill-proof enabling it to be easily wiped clean and disinfected to help reduce the spread of germs. Also, with its integrated 2D/1D barcode scanner, 2.0 megapixel web-enabled video camera, biometric fingerprint reader and a 13.56MHz RFID reader built into its ergonomic handle, the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT is a mobile, easy to carry, point-of-care device that clinicians can use to enter data, verify patient identification, verify themselves as authorized care givers, and scan pre-printed labels from patient ID bracelets, medication packaging and blood vials.

“Intel’s ethnographic research with healthcare professionals and commitment to improving quality of care for patients worldwide ultimately led to the development of the Mobile Clinical Assistant reference platform. Our goals continue to be reinforced as technology companies, including TabletKiosk, introduce their own innovative MCA devices,” said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager, Intel Digital Health Group. “As awareness for the MCA platform continues to grow, we look forward to more and more clinicians having the opportunity to take mobile point of care to the next level.”

For maximum durability and usability, the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT is available with a shock mounted 80GB, 1.8” SATA HDD (standard) or 1.8” 32GB Solid State Drive (special order) and is powered by an Intel® Core™2 Solo ULV processor. Configured standard with 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM, dual band Wi-Fi® 802.11 a/b/g/n (Draft 2.0), integrated Bluetooth® and two (2) hot swappable Lithium-Ion batteries (standard), MediSlate™ MCAs offer uncompromised computing power along with a broad range of essential technological capabilities to keep doctors and nurses current and connected wherever their work takes them.

“Launching the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT as the newest addition to Intel's mobile clinical assistant reference platform reflects TabletKiosk’s firm commitment to the healthcare market,” said Martin Smekal, president of TabletKiosk. “The purpose built functionality of the MCA platform, combined with the MediSlate MCA's built-in compatibility with existing PC based EMR systems and its familiar touch screen interface, delivers new possibilities and efficiencies for improving patient care by enhancing the workflow of nurses and clinicians.”

MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT Fast Facts:

Processor:            Intel® Core™2 Solo U2100 ULV

Memory:               2.0GB DDR2 533/667 MHz SDRAM
Drive:                   80GB, 1.8" SATA, 4,200 rpm HDD, shock mounted
                            “G sensor” to auto-park read/write heads in case of free fall

O.S.:                     Genuine Windows Vista® Business with Service Pack 1
                             Qualifies for Free Windows® XP downgrade at time of system order

Display:                10.4" TFT XGA (1024x768) LCD with LED backlight
                             Sunlight readable and anti-glare surface
                             G sensor auto-rotates screen orientation up to 360° (0° / 90° / 180°/ 270°)
                             Automatic and manual screen lock for added security

Batteries:             2x Modular battery bays, Hot Swappable to maximize uptime
                             2x 3-cell Lithium-Ion (3S1P) high capacity smart battery packs (standard)
                             2.25 hours of battery life per pack (4.5 hours with both batteries installed)
Wireless:               Intel® Pro Dual Band (2.4/5.0 GHz) WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (Draft 2.0) networking
                             Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR
                             3G Data Module for WWAN (optional)

Security:              Validity Sensors, Inc. fingerprint reader
                            Single Chip Trusted Platform Module (TPM v 1.2)
                            Kensington Locking Port (Lock mechanism sold separately)

I/O:                      4 wire passive resistive touch screen with palm rejection technology
                            Integrated 2.0 megapixel camera with auto focus and video capture
                            2D bar code reader (1D compatible)
                            RFID reader with ISO 14443A/B and ISO 15693 support

                            Docking Station Connector for additional I/O and security

Dimensions:         270mm x 256mm x 35.34mm (10.63" x 10.08" x 1.39")

Weight:                3.25 lbs (1.47 kg) with both batteries and 3G module installed

Rugged:                IP 54 compliant and meets MIL-STD-810F standards
                             Drop rated up to 4 feet
                             Sealed body enclosure can resist alcohol (80% or less), bleach, iodine
                             and common hospital disinfectants.

Rain, spill, dust and vibration resistant

Availability

MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT is shipping now. For pricing and additional details, please visit www.tabletkiosk.com.

About TabletKiosk

TabletKiosk is a registered trademark and wholly owned subsidiary of Sand Dune Ventures, Inc. a privately held technology incubator. The company produces slate style Tablet PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs and mobile clinical assistants (MCA) marketed through an authorized reseller channel and directly through the company website. For more information, visit www.tabletkiosk.com

# # # #

My new Amazon Kindle is on order...

2009-02-10T09:44:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited!

My husband pre-ordered my Amazon Kindle yesterday, which is my combined birthday, anniversary and Valentine’s Day present for the past year. I am so psyched to receive it because I am a veracious reader and when I travel, I get always get stuck with the same old titles to choose from in the airport bookstore.

I am not a tech geek. I don't own an ipod, I don't text and I definitely don't tweet, but this is the one "gadget" that I believe will truly affect my lifestyle!

A short geography lesson...

2009-02-09T12:47:00.001-08:00

When I am wearing my marketing hat, I spend a quite a lot of time studying our web traffic to determine our strongest partner links, where hits are coming from and what is being written about us on the Internet. The worldwide reach of the Internet never ceases to amaze me and often I will discover stories written about TabletKiosk in different languages from all areas of the world.

Would you believe that only 57.26% of our web traffic comes from the US? This is followed by 5.7% from Canada, and 5.1% from the UK. The remaining 32.04% of our web traffic comes from 202 other countries. I have heard of most of the countries, but some are entirely new to me. For example, where is Lesotho? Extremetracking informs me that it is in Africa and that in January, we had 2 visitors from there. By searching Wikipedia, I learned that Lesotho has a population of 1.881 million (Lesotoans?).

Have you ever heard of Montserrat? I hadn't either but I now know that it is a small island located 300 miles from Puerto Rico and has a population of 4819.Who knew?

With the wonders of the internet, I can easily track when articles or entries are posted from anywhere in the world. For example, yesterday, we had numerous site visitors from France arriving at the TabletKiosk website by entering the search terms "Sahara Slate PC", "Sahara PC" and "Sahara Tablet" in Google, Yahoo and MSN (mostly Google). Obviously, they heard about the Sahara Slate PC - but the question is where did the mention come from? I checked to see if there were any direct links coming in from France, but all of the leads came from a search engines and not from direct links. Here is a screen capture from my tracking service so that you can see the type of information I received.

So the source of these french inquiries remains a mystery. If anyone can track down the original source point, I'd love to see it. That way I can even brush up on my high school french.

Merci beaucoup!

RIP UMPC - But is the 7" Touch Screen Tablet PC really dead?

2008-12-16T16:56:00.001-08:00

Over the past week, I've seen a few posts that reference the demise of the UMPC in 2008. However, I think that the funeral they are referring to is for the UMPC as a consumer, mobile computer device which Microsoft originally touted in 2006, and not necessarily the 7" touch screen Tablet PC form factor.

Remember this?

Ultra-Mobile PCs are a new class of computer that is optimized for mobility. With a screen size of 7 inches or less, Ultra-Mobile PCs can be slipped into a purse or a small bag for ultimate portability. A touch-screen, a tablet pen, and a D-pad give you a variety of input options while you are on the move. Built-in Bluetooth gives you the option of staying connected wherever you go.

Stay in touch with the people and the information that are important to you, get things done quickly and easily, and have more fun on the go. With an ultra-mobile PC, you can experience your world from virtually any location—at the touch of a finger.

In 2006, TabletKiosk embraced the UMPC platform for its touch screen, small form factor and ability to run a full Windows OS, which made a complimentary extension to our line of Sahara Slate PC line of touch screen tablets. At the time, and to Microsoft's dismay, we chose to market the eo (our brand name) to the enterprise community, instead of the end consumer; and have since developed our 7" device as a specialized niche mobile computer in the hospitality, medical, home automation and control systems markets.

Every month, our eo sales continue to grow as more of our customers find the benefits of using a mobile, 7" touch screen computer, and at CES 2009 we will be showing our latest line extensions which we have developed in response to customer requests.

Our customers are attracted to the eo line because of its 7" touch screen which can run the full Windows OS. This is key because they are running or accessing full X86 applications and cannot use Windows Mobile, CE, or any other condensed program to run their software. The 7" screen can output to 1024x768 resolution without sacrificing viewability.

In our experience, these customers never utilized any of the consumer-friendly "Origami Experience" applications , which were designed by Microsoft to increase productivity, because these programs were simply not developed for business usage.

So to those that are nailing the coffin closed, playing taps or sitting "shivah" for the UMPC form factor, consider if you really saying goodbye to the UMPC as Microsoft's promise of the do-everything, inexpensive, mobile computer (the one being handily replaced by the netbook and mobile phone). From my perspective, the 7" touch screen tablet has a very bright future and isn't going away anytime soon!

Business as Usual with My Tablet PC

2008-11-03T11:16:00.001-08:00

Because I use my white Sahara Tablet PC as my primary work computer, I've been trying to pay more attention to how I work differently than my friends who use traditional desktops or laptops. Here is a brief recap of some of the ways that I take advantage of the tablet functionality everyday.

When I get into the office, I place my tablet into its docking cradle. I always have my external mouse, monitor and keyboard hooked up to the back of the cradle so that the tablet becomes a full-featured desktop solution.

I usually use the fingerprint reader to log-on. If for some reason, the fingerprint reader is temperamental (maybe I used too much hand cream that day), I'll log in on the keyboard or touch the on-screen EyesBoard virtual keyboard to log-on.

Once my computer is fully booted, the first thing that I do is start downloading emails. I'm a multi-tasker, so while the messages are downloading, I listen to my phone messages and type the caller information directly into OneNote. I have to admit that it took a long time for me to wean myself off of yellow stickies and scrap paper for phone messages. To do this, I set up a tab in OneNote to use as my dedicated phone log and have been adamant about typing or writing all phone messages into the log. On a few occasions, I have misplaced a phone number and have been able to easily retrieve the info by searing through the log electronically.

As I read through my emails, I make sure to send all sales lead messages directly to OneNote so that I can keep an accurate communication log of the opportunity. These leads come through our website "sales inquiry" form, so when I get these leads, I have the full contact information which I can then include as a page in OneNote.

When I attend meetings, I take the Sahara out of its docking station and use it for taking handwriting notes. If it is a group meeting where we share notes or drawings on a White Board, I hook my tablet up to the projector and take notes directly on screen to project them on the wall. This way, I don't have to retype my meeting notes at a later date. **Note to self, make sure you turn off new message notifications in Outlook when doing this...

Interesting to note that I almost always use my tablet in landscape mode though I'm not sure why...

As you can see, I try to incorporate using my tablet for as many tasks as possible and go out of my way to find new ways to use it. So now the question is, how do you use your tablet?

Gambling on the Go

2008-10-23T09:41:00.001-07:00

Gambling on the Go by Christina Volpe
Reprinted from Hospitality Technology Magazine, October 9, 2008

Gambling on the go
Imagine being able to gamble practically anywhere you want in a casino: by the pool, in the lobby or even while you wait for your table in a restaurant. Nevada has become the first state in the nation to approve of the use of handheld mobile gaming devices in casinos, and several casino operators are lining up to test out this innovative technology.

These wireless handheld devices, which look like Nintendo's Game Boy, feature a variety of games that patrons can choose from to play such as bingo, poker, blackjack, baccarat, roulette or horse betting. In order to use these mobile devices, guests simply need to sign them out with the proper identification and load them with the desired amount of money.

By limiting where players can use these wireless devices (they only work in public areas, such as by the pool or in the lobby), manufacturers and operators hope to curb incidents of theft and underage use. Should guests roam away from the sanctioned areas of play, these devices will turn off and can only be reactivated once the player returns to the casino's public area.

The M Resort, Spa and Casino (www.themresort.com) is just one of two Las Vegas resorts which is in the process of testing mobile hand-held gaming, which management expects to go live in spring 2009. Through an exclusive agreement with Cantor Gaming (www.cantorgaming.com), the M Resort has plans to use the hand-held mobile devices for operating their racing and sports books, in addition to offering guests the opportunity to play unique casino game offerings.

The M Resort is currently in the process of choosing which games they are going to use on the mobile devices.
"There is definitely a demand for mobile gaming as an operator," says Joe Magliarditi, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the M Resort, Spa and Casino. "We are going to be able to offer casino customers more time to game at the pool, or during conventions, or when going to dinner with friends. We, like everyone else, are trying to give customers more options. Our hotel will be very value oriented and customers can do something here that they cannot do at other properties. And that is very important."

The Venetian Resort, Hotel, Casino (www.venetian.com) was the first property in Las Vegas to field test devices from Cantor Gaming. After receiving approval from the Gaming Control Board, testing began in April 2008 and is expected to conclude this fall. The field trials are currently contained in the high limit slots salon of The Venetian only, with hopes to roll out mobile gaming throughout The Venetian and The Palazzo once the tests have concluded.
Cantor Gaming is the exclusive mobile gaming provider for both the M Resort and The Venetian. The company is the first licensed manufacturer, distributor and operator of a mobile gaming system in the Nevada Gaming Commission and was one of the early proponents pushing for the legalization of mobile gaming in Nevada.

"It is just like everything else, says Magliarditi, "We are going to have to closely monitor it with security, management and surveillance."

A New Tool for Automatic Data Capture

2008-10-21T13:16:00.001-07:00

As the marketing contact for TabletKiosk, I often get to try out third party hardware accessories to determine how they work with our tablets.

I don't get blown away too often, however I was recently introduced to a scanning solution which really enhances the usability of the Sahara for some specialized business applications.

The Snapshell, from Card Scanning Solutions, is a small USB scanner which reads the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) from Driver's Licenses (all 50 US states and over 45 countries), reads ID and PDF417 barcodes. This data can then be sent directly to a database or can populate a form.

The Snapshell works especially well with our Sahara Touch Tablets because it captures the relevant information from the driver's license information to reduce the need for typing in key information in a mobile setting. It can also read the embedded electronic watermark to authenticate IDs, In just seconds! No typing required!

Just imagine using the Snapshell for the following:

- Car Dealers and Car Rentals who need to get a copy of the customer's driver licence as a part of the selling process.
- Bars & Clubs who need to identify the age of their customers.
- Places who need to have an access and visitors control, like office buildings, schools and clubs
- Loan and mortgage Brokers who need a copy of their customer's ID card
- Mobile bloodbanks who need to collect donor information
- Clinical trials

For privacy concerns, the image capture can be deleted and you are left with just the relevant data which is collected from the license

I've been playing with the Snapshell at my desk and it's really remarkable how it works. In addition to scanning driver's licenses (yes that's really my license with some key info deleted out) I have also been running their Scan to Contacts software to scan my piles of business cards directly directly into Outlook. Note that this is the only software which does not require cards to be scanned into a 3rd party application before the information is imported into Outlook.

If you work in a business setting where you are constantly collecting the very same data that is referenced on a driver's license (you can customize which data you collect), this may be a great solution for you.

Fighting Fires with Paper

2008-10-13T17:59:00.001-07:00

It's October and fire season has started in Los Angeles.

Read about the current fires here

For those of you who do not live in LA, here is the general scenario...

We don't have any rain from April through November
During this time, the wild vegetation in the forests and canyons dry out from lack of water
In the Fall, the hot and dry Santa Ana winds start to blow
Forest fires (either natural or manmade) occur in the forests and dry canyons, and the combination of wind, heat, and dryness from the Santa Ana winds act as fuel for the fires

Thankfully, I live in the "Concrete Jungle" area of LA, away from the fires. However, I have friends who live in the areas which are currently burning, and I am praying for their's, and everyone else who lives in the area's safety.

The reason that I'm writing about this today is because of what I saw on television this morning...

The television reporter was interviewing to a Fire Captain who showed a map of where the fire was burning. The Fire Captain used this map (actually a page torn out of a Thomas Guide) to plan the deployment of the firefighters, determine which roads to close and mark up the direction of the wind. The problem was that once he marked up the map, the lines couldn't be erased, which made it difficult to track the evolving pattern of the fire. In addition, the paper was getting torn up from the wind and it was literally blowing off the clipboard.

I was very surprised that the fire team did not have access to a mobile computer - especially with all of the advancements in GPS and satellite photos. Just imagine how much it would help to be able to calculate maneuvers and weather patterns from a mobile computer...

Just for fun...

2008-09-24T09:58:00.001-07:00

My very first experience with a tablet and stylus

As a child of the 70s, I remember the hand/eye coordination it took to move the metal shavings onto Wooly Willy's face via the "magic wand". Who would have predicted that 30 years later I'd be using a using a similar magic wand, aka stylus, to make things happen on a slate.

photo credit: James R. Herzog collection

For the sake of nostalgia, here's a link to a Wooly Willy as an online online flash game.
Enjoy

TabletKiosk and Dean Evans & Associates Create Mobile Conference Management Solution

2008-09-24T09:36:00.001-07:00

TORRANCE, CA, September 24, 2008 — TabletKiosk^®, a leader in Tablet PC and mobile computing solutions, is pleased to welcome Dean Evans & Associates (DEA), a leading developer of facility and resource scheduling and shared workspace management software solutions, as a new strategic ISV partner in the meeting and event management arena.

“As two innovation leaders in their respective markets, TabletKiosk and DEA are in a unique position to combine technologies to offer a wholly mobile terminal for managing resources,” said Martin Smekal, president of TabletKiosk. “Because DEA targets many of our same vertical markets that we do, including Healthcare, Education and State and Local governments, I see a great deal of synergy between our companies and look forward to a long term business relationship.”

For mobile deployment of its signature Event Management System (EMS), DEA has chosen the Sahara Slate PC i440T for its resistive touch screen interface combined with a sleek, carry-everywhere design.

“We are very excited to promote EMS with the added benefit of mobility on the Sahara Slate PC,” said Kevin Raasch, executive vice president of Dean Evans & Associates. “Accessing EMS from a mobile tablet PC, event planners should experience greater flexibility in planning, improved response times and real-time problem solving from wherever their work takes them. Facility visitors can also take advantage of the Sahara Slate PC in its role as a wall-mounted digital sign or touch-screen kiosk.”

About TabletKiosk

TabletKiosk is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sand Dune Ventures Inc. a privately held technology incubator. The company produces a broad line of slate style tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs, featuring Touch screen and marketed through an authorized reseller channel and directly through the company website. For more information, visit www.tabletkiosk.com.

About Dean Evans & Associates

Dean Evans & Associates offers a line of sophisticated software systems for shared workspace management (office “hoteling”), facility scheduling, resource management, academic scheduling and online calendaring. Their Event Management System (EMS) products are ideal for booking the space, services and resources needed for events as well as for maintaining a web-based master calendar. For more information, visit www.dea.com

# # # #

New offerings for TabletKiosk Linux Users

2008-09-17T11:24:00.001-07:00

For our Linux customers...

Our project manager in Germany has recently updated our Linux images and new applications
(tkcontrol menu, hrw, drivers) on www.tabletkiosk.de for use with our slate tablet PCs.

These new Linux images will enable those less familiar with Linux to install our updates or drivers via their RPM package manger with one-click -and are supported by openSUSE, RedHat and other RPM-based Linux distributions.

In order to create an ongoing support system for Linux users, we are encouraging our Linux customers to click on the advanced settings tab to create an automatic prompt for future site updates and new applications as they are added. This will take TabletKiosk to the next level of Linux support as we continue to integrate ourselves as a full solution provider to our openSUSE installations.

Remember, that the link to find these updates is www.tabletkiosk.de.

If you are a Linux user who tries out these new updates, I look forward to hearing your feedback.

The Eyesboard Keyboard is now available for download for all owners of TabletKiosk Tablet PCs and UMPCs

2008-09-08T09:26:00.001-07:00

How would you like to use a fully customizable, on-screen, virtual keyboard on your Sahara Slate PC which responds to touch or active digitizer?

Or how about a virtual, on-screen Function Bar and independent Number Pad in matching colors?

All of these virtual keyboards can be customized for color, size, opacity settings and even sound effects. My favorite feature of the Eyesboard is that it appears at Start Up for inputting log-in passwords.

Shortly, we will begin shipping all TabletKiosk Tablets and UMPCs with the Eyesboard keyboard pre-installed. For current TabletKiosk owners, however, the application is available for download on our website.

Enjoy!

What a difference a year makes

2008-08-12T17:32:00.001-07:00

Last week, our team participated in four intense days of Power Point presentations, new product trainings, forecasting, ~~heated~~ lively discussions and a round of miniature golf, also known as the TabletKiosk Sales Meeting. We hold these meetings 2x per year (in January, right after CES and in August) to bring our Sales team to the corporate office in California, to share information and updates.

We had quite a few new faces at this meeting, because since the beginning of the summer, we added several new team members, including Harold Winkles (formerly of Motion Computing) as our Western Region Sales Manager and Ed Stein (formerly of Global Streams) as our Central Region Sales Manager. Ken Hughey, who had been handling sales for the Central Region, is now working in a newly created Business Development role.

Now as I am going through my notes and remembering last week's overflowing meeting room (19 people in our conference room was cozy, not crowded) it's fun to reflect on some of the milestones happening (and soon to be happening) at TabletKiosk.

Our current line has 6 tablet models. In 2009, that number should bump up to 10 base SKUs
Our revenues continue to grow by over 100% each year
In the next six months, we will need to expand the office area by either knocking down walls or moving support staff to a new building
We moved our US corporate offices and warehouse to a much larger facility -- and John got a brand new forklift to go with it
Our Taiwan team expanded its Engineering staff and QC team and also moved offices to double their office space
We opened a new European service center in Germany
We secured a new partner to manufacture the eo i7300 series
We established a new company network infrastructure

Big thanks to all who helped make all this happen. Special thanks to Amber, Ronni, Lauren, Mary, Gene, Grant, John, Cliff, Robert, Jimmy, Iverson, Catherine, Ira, Ken and Dan. See you all in Bora Bora.

Microsoft Surface Computing Hits Las Vegas

2008-08-11T16:46:00.001-07:00

Interesting article in the LA Times this weekend about how Microsoft has rolled out the Surface Touch Screen Table Computers at the i-Bar in the Rio Hotel and Casino. At a current cost of $10,000 each, I hope that this sophisticated technology will be used for more than flirting and customizing drink orders.

At least it's a start. Congratulations to the Microsoft Hospitality team for getting these initial units rolled out.

Click here to read the full article.

My "aha!" moment regarding Tablet PCs in Education

2008-08-01T10:19:00.001-07:00

This summer, I'm conducting a very, and I stress very, informal survey on some of the local campuses to learn about what students think about Tablet PCs. Now before I go on with this entry, I must clarify that the students I've speaking with are definitely not computer savvy. They are not the types of students who would ever visit a mobile computing blog like www.tabletpc2.com or www.gottabemobile.com, and if they knew about www.studenttabletpc.com, they still wouldn't go there.

So while this doesn't exactly sound like a great demographic who could promote Tablet PC technology, after speaking with a few of them, I had a real "aha!" moment for a whole new way to promote Tablets on campus. When I describe the scenario, it may give you an "aha!" moment too...

Just imagine a college freshman coed (you have to be a girl for this scenario) who arrives at the first day of class ready to use her new notebook computer. The young lady starts to take notes on the laptop and as she types; her beautifully manicured nails make an awful clack clack clacking sound on the keyboard. She hopes that no one notices, and she also hopes that the typing does not chip her polish.

Now imagine how noisy it would be if all of the girls in the class with long nails started typing at the same time. According to the students I've spoken with, it is distracting for them and for the professors. And so, in some cases, professors have asked students with long fingernails to refrain from typing in class. In fact, due to the sound and image distraction issue, some professors are completely forbidding the use of laptops in the classroom.

Check out the link below for a very interesting article that we published last October. Now if only the professors who banned keyboards and promoted note taking knew about Tablet PCs...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/334150_laptops04.html

So my "aha!" moment gives me a great new reason to promote Tablets on campus to a more mainstream student. Now I'm wondering if all of us in the Tablet industry have missed the boat by touting our respective tablets for their speedy processors, screen resolutions, and powerful hard drives instead of emphasizing the basic functionality and convenience factors of the units. Maybe we should be marketing our products to the "average" student, instead of the ~~studious geek~~ student who is obsessed by the latest in gadget and tablet technology. Based on what I'm hearing on campus, I may be on to something.
What do you think?

Today's cool use for a Touch Screen Tablet PC - Make Music!

2008-07-30T11:36:00.001-07:00

Remember the Friend's episode where Ross waxes nostalgic about his Casio keyboard from the 80s? Well, way back in the 80's, I had a little portable keyboard too, and sometimes, I miss the little bugger. Imagine how delighted I was to find this these virtual piano keyboards which work well with the touch screen on my Sahara Slate PC. Great for plunking out tunes! Best of all, they're free online applications. No downloads required!

Paint the town RED!

2008-07-21T11:42:00.001-07:00

Flickr Tags: Tablet PC,custom computer,TabletKiosk

Would you like to own a One-Of-A-Kind exclusive Sahara Slate PC Tablet computer?

Our R&D team in Taiwan has been having fun experimenting with all different case colors, and shortly, we will be offering these "one-off" computers via auction on the TabletKiosk website.

This first model, the fire-engine red Sahara i440D has already been claimed by Martin Smekal, TabletKiosk president. This means that unfortunately, that no one else will be able to claim ownership to this tablet that matches perfectly to the Acer F-20 widescreen LCD monitor. I've seen the red tablet and I know that it is going to attract a lot of attention.

We're still working out the details, but we anticipate that individual colors will be available sporadically through the year. So stay tuned for details.

What color tablet would you be willing to bid on? Remember that these will be one of a kind devices we are going to have a lot of fun with the color choices.

Sahara Slate PC Extended Life Battery (SELB) Hits the Streets

2008-07-10T10:47:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: tablet pc

Late last week, we began shipping the long awaited Sahara Extended Life Battery (SELB) for the i400 series of Tablet PCs. You may recall that we originally showed a prototype of this Extended Life Battery at CES in January. However, since then, we have retooled and refined the product to make it a real standout addition to our line.

Over the holiday weekend, I got a chance to use the SELB and I think that it's an absolute winner for TabletKiosk. Our R&D team in Taiwan really took their time to develop a well-designed and functional accessory that really represents design, innovation and forward thinking. It's a great add-on accessory to use when you don't have access to a power source to provide up to 8 hours of battery life.

Sahara Extended Life Battery Fast Facts

1) High capacity Lithium Ion battery provides up to 8 hours of battery life when used in conjunction with existing tablet battery. Note that the actual battery results are dependent upon how the tablet is used.).

2) Offers additional USB and IEE1394a (FireWire) Ports. Both of these ports are located on the back of the tablet facing down so that peripherals can be attached without having cables coming out of the sides of the tablet

3) The pass-thru DC power port allows you to charge the SELB without having to remove it.

4) Comes with a detachable, 3-way adjustable legs to hold the unit upright while maximizing viewing angles. The legs can be easily removed for flat-down desktop use.

5) Features LED Indicator lights on the back which show the unit's charging status as well as the remaining power level (in 25% increments)

6) Includes an AC Adapter for on-the-go charging

7) Weighs 2.2 lbs. Depth = 14 mm

8) For quick changes, the SELB attaches to the back of the unit with oversized, easily removable thumb screws.

9) SELB fits flush to back of the tablet which leaves all functions keys, power switches and I/O ports unobstructed and available for use.

10) Features built- in MIS-D 100mm VESA mount holes

11) Price $369

If you are a the type of person who needs a really full battery charge to get all your work done, then this is a must-have accessory for you.

Can one company really "own" all Mobile Touch Screen Technology?

2008-06-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, several Google alerts popped up in my inbox describing how Typhoon Touch Technologies added ten additional companies as defendants in their patent infringement lawsuit including Apple, Dell, Fujitsu and Panasonic. (Sand Dune Ventures, the parent company of TabletKiosk, was previously named in the lawsuit) These alerts were triggered by a press release issued by Typhoon Touch Technologies at 9:52 PM Monday, June 23.

The release describes how Typhoon’s intellectual Property is being unfairly exploited by all of the named companies and goes on to recount how they have reached settlement agreements with Motion Computing and Electrovaya.

The release also states “Typhoon withdrew from preliminary settlement talks with defendant Sand Dune Ventures (TabletKiosk). The Action, which seeks damages for lost profits as well as a permanent injunction from continued infringing activity by the defendants, is pending in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, Case No. 6:07-cv-546. The Action was filed on behalf of the Plaintiffs by Blank Rome LLP and shall proceed against both Sand Dune (TabletKiosk) and the other remaining defendants.”

In order to set the record straight, I sat down with Martin Smekal, our company president, to ask him about his thoughts on the lawsuit. Here are some of his responses below.

Regarding the Lawsuit

“After conferring with our attorneys, we are confident that Typhoon’s claim of owning the patent to “portable touch-screen computing” is without merit. Because mobile touch screen technology has been around since the 1980s, we feel that this is a frivolous lawsuit and that Typhoon Touch Technologies claim of ownership has no warrant whatsoever. We intend to fight this case to the end.”

“Based on the way our Supreme Court has previously ruled, I think that the Typhoon Touch Technologies lawsuit will be invalidated. In 2007, in the case of KSR vs. Teleflex, the Supreme Court voted against Teleflex’s ownership of “obvious technology”. The court’s decision involved an area of patent law that dealt with whether an invention is obvious and hence, not patentable.”
"Typhoon Touch Technologies acquired their patents out of bankruptcy court and is trying to expand the coverage that the original patent owner and applicant, Microslate, Inc. applied for in 1997.”

“TabletKiosk fully respects and value the intricacies and merits of patent law and licensing, which protect new inventions and emerging technologies and intellectual properties. In fact, some of these licenses are key components of our products. However, in this case, I do not consider the umbrella grouping of mobile touch screen technology to be a concrete asset that can be owned by one person or group.”

Regarding claims of a potential settlement by TabletKiosk

“I was shocked to see that they made this claim in their release. We did not and have no intention of entering into settlement talks with Typhoon. Yes, our attorney contacted their lawyers to explain our defense; however, Typhoon immediately rejected our claim, and we never discussed settlement.

“I find it interesting that the two companies that “settled” with Typhoon, Motion Computing and Electrovaya, do not currently offer mobile touch screen solutions. How do you settle on something that you do not sell?”

Now I had heard much of Martin’s feedback before, but this is the first time that I have shared it in the open. It will be interesting to follow the implementations about technology ownership as this case progresses. By adding Apple and Dell to the list of defendants, this superfluous lawsuit is garnering a great deal of attention while it is linking TabletKiosk with some of the largest names in the business. If you want a good laugh about how people’s initial response to the expanded lawsuit, I suggest that you check out these threads on engadget and Apple Insider.

Hmmmmm... If Typhoon Touch Technologies can own the universal license for all Mobile Touch Screen Technology, then maybe I should apply for a patent that covers making a call on a mobile phone or using a knob to turn on a car radio...

What patents would you apply for?

Singing Do Re Mi with a Tablet PC

2008-06-09T11:25:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned that I sing with a choir? If you knew me personally, you would definitely know it because I talk about it a lot, but I don't believe I have blogged about it. I am a first soprano in the Angel City Chorale, a 120 member volunteer choir based in Los Angeles. We have performed with appeared with Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross and Mary Chapin Carpenter at venues ranging from The Kodak Theater to the Los Angeles Convention Center and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. In my spare time, I edit the choir's MySpace page and spend a lot of time helping them with publicity and marketing. (pretty cool how I snuck in those links...). In fact, this past weekend, we performed two concerts and officially launched our newest CD entitled The Road Home.

So besides me shamelessly plugging the choir, how could this my choir experience possibly relate to Tablet PCs?

Well in my quest to incorporate my Tablet PC into various facets of my life away from work, I loaded MusicReader, a Tablet PC based music reading software program that addresses many of the challenges that musicians face, including easy page turning, convenient music library and the ability to take notes. Although not specifically designed for choral music, I adapted the features of MusicReader which worked best for choral singing so that I could use it during rehearsals and recording sessions.

According the choir rules, we have to return all of our music at the end of the season in pristine condition. For this reason we have to take all of our notes in pencil - which really does not pop from the page and I wind up missing half of my notes and cues. Using MusicReader, however, I can take all of the notes I want and highlight parts without worrying about destroying the music or making extra copies. I'm having a ball using MusicReader to create some really colorful musical masterpieces. I can import musical symbols including rests, breath notes, pianissimo and forte notations so that my notes really stand out.

The most major area for improvement with MusicReader is the note-taking experience. The annotation mode is not as seamless as I am used to using OneNote or Journal. I have been communicating with Marco Leoné, the creator of MusicReader and he informed me that he is working improving the inking experience and that I will see improvement in the next few months.

Having the tablet in rehearsal is definitely more fun than using my standard music loose leaf binder. Granted, I'm not a great site-reader. I certainly read well enough to follow with the music, count measures, recognize rests and follow note patterns, but I couldn't sit down and site-read if my life depended on it. However, the touch screen really responds well to page turns and highlighting. I've also been known to answer a few emails or play a few games of spider solitaire when our conductor is working with the other sections.

The bad news is that I couldn't use my tablet during the actual concert because the backlit screen is stands out and it is too bright for me to hold it onstage. I also need to hold my matching choir binder so that I blend in with the rest of the group.

Overall, I have enjoyed using my Tablet PC with MusicReader in rehearsals and will definitely continue using it for future choir seasons.

Remembering Sydney Pollack

2008-05-27T16:08:00.001-07:00

Sydney Pollack, the Academy Award-winning director of "Out of Africa" who achieved acclaim making popular, mainstream movies with A-list stars, including "The Way We Were" and "Tootsie," died yesterday. He was 73.

Linda A. Epstein, Tablet PC enthusiast and editor of TabletPC.com had the pleasure of teaching Mr. Pollack to use a Tablet PC. This photograph shows him using a Sahara Slate PC from TabletKiosk, one of the two devices he owned. According to Linda, Pollack loved technology and filled his office with all types of techie gadgets. She told me that Pollack was an amazing man who was full of life and a great deal of fun to work with.

On a personal note, “Tootsie” and “The Way We Were” are among my favorite movies of all time. His exceptional talent and vision will be missed by me and moviegoers everywhere.

Talking Tablets with other OEMs

2008-05-14T15:23:00.001-07:00

While reading industry blogs I often see entries describing informal meet-ups between bloggers, Tablet PC enthusiasts and members of the Microsoft MVP program. Aside from the Tablet gathering at CES, I rarely get to participate in these fun and informal opportunities for networking with my peers from other mobile computing companies.

Yesterday that all changed.

I am writing this blog from Florida where I am attending the Microsoft North America Channel Partner Summit (CPS), an event that brings together hundreds of MS partners including OEM manufacturers, ISVs, distributors and system builders. Included in the agenda yesterday was a lunchtime round-table mobility discussion for direct OEM partners including TabletKiosk, Motion Computing, OQO, General Dynamics Itronix and Mobile Demand.

We covered a broad range of subjects including the challenge of transitioning customers to Vista, vertical market overview, consumer vs. enterprise markets and recent announcements about the ULCPCs. It was a very productive meeting, which was put together by Debbie Martin who is the Microsoft OEM Account Manager for Mobility.

Later in the evening, some of us continued the meeting on a much more informal basis over a couple rounds of drinks in the hotel bar. It was really cool to have such a positive experience with my peers, and sometimes competitors, who face similar challenges everyday; and I look forward to developing these new business relationships.

To my friends in the bogging community, please know that we are all paying attention to your posts...

Tablet PCs and UMPCs - Coming Soon to a Restaurant or Hotel Near You!

2008-05-08T12:54:00.001-07:00

As many people know, I have always been one of the most ardent supporters of using a Tablet PC or UMPC for different functions in the hospitality industry. Over the past 2 years, I’ve spent considerable time doing research about the hospitality market, finding perspective partners and attending various industry seminars and trade shows.

Basically, I’ve been the initial hospitality contact for TabletKiosk, so it made perfect sense for me to take on a special project of handling all hospitality sales for TK in addition to my marketing duties. I started the project in the beginning of April and it is amazing how much knowledge I’ve gained over the past 5 weeks.

So with my Hospitality Sales hat firmly in place, here are some of my findings.

1) One of the new buzzwords for restaurants is handheld Point of sale (POS) and the eo works great as a mobile terminal.

2) POS dealers talk. Once one Aloha POS (one of the top selling restaurant software) dealers discovered the eo as a mobile handheld POS device, word spread quickly through the dealer community via industry user groups and forums. I’m now receiving daily inquiries from new Aloha dealers.

3) Accessories are key. People are “discovering” TabletKiosk because of our wide range of business accessories including magnetic stripe reader with a specially designed bracket, VESA mounting plate, docking station and bump case. These accessories really help set TabletKiosk apart from the other Ultra-Mobile PCs on the market.

4) Our partnership with Citizen Systems, a leading manufacturer of mobile receipt printers, helps us provide a full POS solution to take order, swipe credit cards and print receipts without even leaving the table.

5) I'm also beginning to hear interest from restaurant groups interested in the 12" Sahara Tablet PCs. They are interested in providing their managers with a mobile solution to access the full restaurant suite of software including labor management and staffing, inventory control, reporting, communications, and guest relationships. Having a mobile touch screen terminal to access this key information keeps restaurant managers out on the floor where the action takes place instead of in a back kitchen office.

6) Exhibiting and attending industry trade shows HITEC, FSTEC, and Global Gaming Expo hare really helped us gain key exposure in the market. Next year I also want to start attending industry software dealer conventions.

It's amazing how joining the sales team for this project has given me a whole new perspective of our business. I've never officially acted in a sales role before, although I've supported sales teams for years, and it's really helpful for me to see our business from a sales perspective.

The Sound of Silence

2008-05-05T16:43:00.001-07:00

I have laryngitis. There, I said it.

Actually I wrote it because every article about remedies for laryngitis recommends to refrain from talking. That's a feat that is easier said than done because frankly I like to talk. I'm terribly old fashioned, but when I communicate with customers I prefer the phone over email. I also don't text.

I'm drinking lots of fluids, standing in the steamy bathroom, even gargling with vinegar, but I still don't have a voice.

One Note is working well for me today because I can easily jot down what I an trying to say. It gives new meaning to the old doctor's remedy to "Take two tablets and call me in the morning."

The Real Value of Customer Service

2008-04-22T16:03:00.001-07:00

If you purchased a computer today, what would your expect the manufacturer/ distributor to provide in terms of service and support?

Live Tech Support?
User Forums?
Driver Downloads?
Knowledge Base?
Repair depot?
Warranty?

I'm asking this question because I want to learn more about how customers perceive support services and if they recognize the value of such services.

If you visit the TabletKiosk.com Discussion Forums, you'll see lively conversations going on about the eo i7209 UMPC. Actually, I need to correct the previous sentence because many of Forum members conversing in the forum purchased their UMPC units in the UK under the Advent U1A badge at a greatly reduced price (see example).

Just yesterday, we received a call from a woman who purchased the eo v7110 / Amtek T700 from agopc. She was looking to have the motherboard repaired and was informed by agopc that to service the unit, they would need to ship it to Taiwan. She came to TabletKiosk because she knew that our repair depot was local and that we service her machine if she was willing to pay for the service.

In a perfect world, hard drives would never crash, computers would have unlimited storage capacities and screens would never lock up. This would be a world where tech support services are obsolete and gasoline prices would be lower than $1 a gallon- but we all know that this would is pure fantasy.

And sometimes, a good deal is too good to be true. Companies can often keep costs down by cutting out or charging for essential tech support services.

When you purchase your next PC, what type of support would you expect to receive from the company? Remember, you get what you pay for...

Thoughts on the Ultra-Low Cost PC (ULCPC) from the Land of the UMPCs

2008-04-14T18:47:00.001-07:00

People keep asking me my opinion about the upcoming Ultra-Low Cost PC (ULCPC) initiative by Microsoft and and how I think they will affect our sales of our eo line of Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPC).

As a mobile vendor that originally embraced Microsoft’s efforts to market the UMPC, I find it disappointing that Microsoft is embracing these new devices by extending the life of XP without considering some of the obstacles that the original UMPC manufacturers have faced all along.

A high cost operating system
Limited power to run the full Vista experience

Since TabletKiosk introduced the eo line of UMPCs in 2006, our goal was to offer a lightweight, low cost mobile touch screen device, at a fair price point, that enabled us to meet our margins. The materials required to build a full featured UMPC are not cheap and adding a premium OS like Vista further added to the cost. As much as we wanted to, there is simply no way that we could dramatically lower the cost of our UMPCs when were paying a premium price for the OS. (roughly 1/4 of the of the cost of the unit).

From a power standpoint, some of our UMPCs have less than 1 GB of RAM and Vista just does not run well at this spec. Remember that we market our tablets for specific business applications in the enterprise market. Our customers want the simplest OS possible from XP Pro or XP Tablet and do not want or need all of the bells and whistles of Vista (aero glass etc.) Many of our UMPCs have small hard drives (sub 80 GB) and just cannot sustain a positive computing experience running Vista.

Our goal is to continue to grow the eo line of UMPCs. Our customer base is expanding for those that require a mobile computer with a 7” screen and touch screen input. It is disappointing that Microsoft recognized that Vista is too feature packed for the ULCPC and by excluding the premium Vista OS, manufacturer partners can keep their costs in-line with a low priced unit.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about new low cost computing initiatives that are beginning to proliferate. I just wish that the distinctions between devices were more clearly defined in respect to the manufacturing partners.

So what are our options...

1) We can continue to sell our UMPCs with Vista, knowing that the computing experience is less than ideal. these customers will still have the option to downgrade to XP on their own.

2) For the next six months, we can continue to offer XP by purchasing licenses from the distribution channel instead of through the Microsoft authorized reseller program,

3) We can steer our customers to XP Embedded

4) We can hope that Microsoft will recognize the merits of the original UMPC platform and will include the original UMPC specs, with touch capabilities, as part of the XP extension for mobile devices.

I look forward to hearing feedback about this...

Today I'm Blogging In Ink

2008-04-13T12:10:00.001-07:00

Ink Blog Plug-In by Ed Holloway

TabletKiosk Wins "Best in Show" Innovation Award for Sahara Tablet PC used in Augmentative Healthcare Setting

2008-04-09T15:08:00.001-07:00

For the past couple of days, I've been in Las Vegas attending the Intel Solutions Summit. The event brought together nearly 400 leading System Integrators and OEM partners from the US and Canada who met for two days to learn about the latest roadmaps from Intel, participate in open discussions with senior Intel executives and network with prospective channel partners.

Last night at the final banquet, awards were presently jointly by Intel and CRN to Channel Partners who exhibited sales volume growth, and created strategic enterprise solutions. The final awards of the evening were for "Best in Show" Innovative Solutions for Mobile and Desktop Applications.

I am thrilled to announce that TabletKiosk took home "Best in Show" honors for Most Innovative Solution for the Sahara Slate Tablet PC used as an augmentative healthcare device - an honor that was recognized by over 600 show attendees!

This is a huge milestone for TabletKiosk as this was our first year as an Intel Premier Partner. To achieve such a high level of recognition during our first year attending is an honor that will be remembered for a long time.

Thanks Apple iPhone

2008-04-07T16:20:00.001-07:00

A big thank you to Apple and the iPhone for introducing the general public to the ease of touch screen input on a mobile computer. I don't own an iPhone, but plenty of my friends do and they think it's the greatest thing in the world.

As I watch my friends play with their iPhones and iPod touch, it reinforces my feelings that Touch really is the most intuitive method of input. Touch is simple to use because of onscreen, menu-driven instructions. Touch screen technology has been around for years, but it took Apple to bring it it mainstream and I couldn't be happier.

But it's not just the iPhone that has made Touch mainstream. In the past two weeks, I have been on the road, and have encountered touch screen kiosks wherever I went including ATMs, e-ticket check-in, and even a wedding registry. In Seattle, I bypassed the desk and used the Dollar rental car kiosk as well as the Embassy Suites electronic check. in. I tried to use the kiosk to program my room key, but the kiosk didn't work... and I know I'm not the only one who has experienced this problem.

So my question is... what have you touched lately and has it made your life easier?

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS134538+25-Mar-2008+BW20080325

TabletKiosk™ Ships the GETAC 840XT Full Mil-Spec Tablet PC

2008-04-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

Torrance, CA April 3, 2008 — TabletKiosk™, a leader in Tablet PC based mobile computing solutions, today announced that it is shipping the GETAC 840XT (g840XT), the company’s first full mil-spec rugged Tablet PC, created in partnership with rugged mobile computing pioneer, GETAC.

The g840XT is an 8.4” Tablet PC designed for people who require mobility, durability and advanced wireless functionality and that complies with the rigorous environmental requirements of the MIL-STD-810F standard. By incorporating a shock mounted HDD, GPS module, sunlight readable display and fan-less design, the g840XT offers the convenience of a touch screen Tablet PC encased in a durable, magnesium alloy exterior.

“We are excited to work with TabletKiosk on this joint project,” said Jim Rimay, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Getac US. “Because TabletKiosk focuses its sales efforts on industries which do not compete with our core markets, the partnership will expand the exposure of the Getac brand.”

“The smart design and rugged exterior of the g840XT complements our existing product line,” said Martin Smekal, president of TabletKiosk. “Now we can offer our customers the most comprehensive selection of slate style Tablet PCs available anywhere and built for either standard or rugged handling.”

The g840XT is sold through the TabletKiosk website at www.tabletkiosk.com, as well as a vertically integrated reseller network.

Is the Tablet PC the Ultimate Networking Tool?

2008-04-02T18:15:00.001-07:00

After yesterday's adventures with Tablet Tuesday I'm convinced that the Tablet PC is the ultimate networking tool.

So there I was, eating my lunch and minding my own business at Panera in Torrance, while using my Sahara State Tablet PC to read and write email. (love the fact that they have free wireless).

And people were staring.

I wish that I could say that they were checking me out because was having a good of a good hair day, or maybe they were admiring my fabulous outfit, but alas, I fully acknowledge that that they were checking out my computer and not my new shoes.

When I use my Sahara in public, it's not unusual for people to stop and ask questions. I often find myself demonstrating and explaining how to input text via Inking, how the unit converts to a touch screen as well as the benefits of a tablet. I've explained countless times how Microsoft has improved the handwriting recognition in Vista that no, the technology is not unique to TabletKiosk.

Yesterday, one of these casual tablet encounters turned out to be a terrific business contact for our our company. It turned out that the woman who stopped by my table to ask me a few casual questions is on the Torrance City Council. How serendipitous is that!! I now have her business card, she has mine (turns out her maiden name is Levy) and she is going to put me in touch with the people who do the procurement for the city.

Hmmmm... where can I camp out next Tuesday???

Tablet PC Conversation in the Most Unlikely of Places... With the Most Unlikely of Audiences

2008-03-31T09:37:00.001-07:00

On Saturday morning, I saw my first Amazon Kindle at the most unlikely of places at a Weight Watchers meeting (I'm happy to say I lost 2 lbs this week - gold star for me).

The Kindle owner was a woman several year older than I. It surprised me to learn that she was the owner of an HP tx2000, she used inking and she was well versed in mobile technology.

When I asked to see the Kindle, I introduced myself as an employee in the Tablet industry and we began an animated conversation about tablets, mobile readers and Bill Gates' vision. People around us were listening to us and started asking questions. And the conversation grew from there... I just wish I had my Sahara Tablet PC with me to show the people who had no idea what the heck we were talking about.

Since I joined TabletKiosk over 2 years ago, most of my technology conversations have been with industry professionals, work contacts and journalists/ bloggers. What made this conversation so remarkable was that it took place in such an unexpected location and involved 3 generations of women.

These women are not our target demographic and will probably never be. In fact, I would describe this group as the exact opposite of the demographic we target. However it is very interesting to note they were genuinely intrigued by the new technology and I was happy to share information with them. Who knows, maybe there's an untapped market here...

2 Whirlwind Days on the Microsoft Campus

2008-03-27T17:31:00.001-07:00

This week, I spent two days up in Seattle attending meetings at Microsoft which were set up by our OEM Account Manager. The purpose of this trip was to review our long term sales strategy and streamline our marketing campaigns to grow our business and further the visibility of TabletKiosk.

Looking back on the two days, the trip was an exhausting whirlwind of canceled flights (both ways, thank you United Airlines), intense meetings, product positioning, brainstorming and strategizing. In addition to all of the planning, we also had the the opportunity to spend valuable face time with key representatives from our target markets.

One of the most productive meetings we had was with Bill Crounse, MD Senior Director, Worldwide Health for Microsoft. Sitting with Dr. Crounse, we had the opportunity to discuss new areas for growth in healthcare technology as well as the still untapped opportunities for Tablet PCs in healthcare. I know that meetings like this do not happen everyday and I am extremely thankful for Dr. Crounse for sharing his time and thoughts with us.

We also spent some time with members of the Retail Industry team who provided valuable input about how our eo UMPC and Sahara Slate PC Tablet PCs can be most effectively integrated as retail hardware solutions. (They were especially intrigued by the eo i7300 prototype with the customizable modules which we previewed at CES...
No, we still do not have plans to sell our Tablet PCs into retail, but because of touch screen input and add-on accessories, our Tablet PCs make great mobile point of sale devices for retail and restaurants.

All in all, it was a tiring but incredibly productive 2 days. I look forward to our next visit. Just don't get me started about United Airlines...

Preparing for Meetings and Trade Shows with a Tablet PC

2008-03-18T15:38:00.001-07:00

In my ultra-glamorous job, I do quite a lot of packing for trade shows, key customer meetings and presentations. It is not the most challenging activity in the world, but I know that I make decisions on the fly and that my packing lists often change mid-flight. Packing my own presentation materials also keeps me in 100% control of my presentations (yes, I'm a control freak) so I know that whatever I pack will definitely show up in the condition intended.

I am definitely a list person, so for each show or meeting, I keep a packing checklist of all of the items that will be shown.

I mention lists and packing, because previously, I would print out the list (actually an Excel spreadsheet), attach it to a clipboard, mark the appropriate column after each item was packed, and jot notes all over the page. Then I would have to go back to my computer to enter in the information to keep a permanent record of what actually got shipped out.

Today, I refused to permit myself to print out the list (It is after all, Tablet Tuesday). Instead, I'm using using my Sahara Slate PC as my digital clipboard to mark all product confirmations and notes during packing. In order to keep everything in list form intact along with my notes, I exported my Excel spreadsheet into OneNote so that I can keep all my notes in one place.

This might not sound like too big a deal, but it is actually saving me quite a lot of time -- as I can add rows as I go along and make changes to the document in real time.

And yes, I am writing this entry sans keyboard...

What's Up Dock?

2008-03-12T09:31:00.001-07:00

We have just begun shipping the eo v7110e UMPC, the new rev to the eo v7110 series with the 1.2 GHz Via C7M processor, 1GB RAM and 40GB hard drive. The biggest news about this rev, however, is that in conjunction with the launch we have also released the eo v7110e docking cradle.

The dock is definitely a great addition to our line of accessaries, however owners of the original eo v7110 Ultra-mobile PCs may be disappointed, because the dock is not and will not ever be compatible with the original generation of eo UMPC.

You may recall that we originally showed the eo dock at CES 2007 and people were really excited to purchase it. At the time, we were informed that the move to production was just a few weeks out, and the dock met all operational hardware requirements. But as we moved closer to manufacturing, we discovered some major compatibility issues between the eo v7110 and the docking cradle which were impossible to ignore. Thus we decided to delay the release of the docking cradle until we revved the product. Sorry original eo owners, but in good conscience, we can't sell you a unit that will not meet your needs.

The good news is that the new docking cradle adds a new level of functionality for owners of the new eo v7110e. The i/o port layout is as follows:

10/100 LAN (RG45)
VGA out (HD15)
4x USB 2.0,
DC Power In

These ports promote improved flexibility by expanding the desktop functionality of the device for external monitor support, and adding additional USB devices.

The eo v 7110e docking cradle is available on the http://tabletkiosk.com/tkstore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=27&idproduct=140 or from on authorized Tabletkiosk dealer for $149.95

A Much More Productive Tablet Tuesday!

2008-03-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the second of my Tablet Tuesday experiments (I was in Orlando last week for a trade show) and I must say that it was an incredibly productive experience. It was the type of day that typified the Los Angeles experience with 75 degree weather and movie studios; and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My day started off with a meeting on the set of CSI NY at the CBS Studios in Studio City. I had scheduled this meeting (on Tuesday of course) to deliver additional Sahara Slate PC and eo TufTab units to the set of CSI NY. Tablet Fans should be thrilled to hear that CSI NY is going "paperless" for the remainder of the episodes for this year. This means that all of the characters will be walking around with Tablets in-hand to keep all of their work notes and computer screens with them at all time. How cool is that??

Yesterday was a filming day, so I got to see a few of the actors, including Gary Sinese, in person. I also had the opportunity to meet the Associate Producers and show them how the pen and touch screen can be integrated together. To be honest, they seem more interested in the touch screen capabilities than pen input; and they are creating some impressive graphics programs for the show. However, I'm still making a push to have them incorporate note taking with digital ink.

After I left CBS, I spent the rest of the morning around the San Fernando Valley with full wireless connectivity using my new Sierra Wireless Aircard 881.

I started using the Aircard while I was in Orlando last week, and it has become my new best friend when I'm away from my office or home. I can't believe how fast the connection is and how easy it is to use. I stopped in a Coffee Bean for a quick nonfat vanilla latte and checked email, and then stopped by to visit ex-coworkers at my previous employer, Munchkin Inc. Using the Aircard, I showed them my blog and demonstrated the touch and pen input options. Most of them had never seen a tablet before, and as always, I got a real kick out of seeing people's reactions to the keyboardless entry.

For the remainder of my day, I spent some time in a cafe and at my home office catching up on emails, writing marketing overviews and catching up after last week's show. It felt really good that I was able to stay undocked and away from my keyboard all day while remaining 100% productive and mobile.

Special Blow-out Pricing for eo v7110 White

2008-03-04T15:37:00.001-08:00

If you've been waiting for the right opportunity to purchase a brand new eo v7110, you'll be interested in our special blow-out pricing.

eo UMPC v7110 512/40 (white)

Price: $799.00
List Price: $1,048.95 (Includes 6-cell Extended Life battery)

You Save: $249.95

SKU: EO-V7110-1-W

Create your own Custom Configuration
1.0GHz VIA C7®-M ULV Processor
1x SODIMM DDR2 slot with configurations from 512MB to 1GB
Ultra Slim 7 " TFT-LCD Resistive Touch
802.11B/G and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Microsoft® Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition 2005

SPECIAL SALE. LIMITED TO STOCK ON HAND.

View More Product Details...

Tis the Trade Show Season -- Heading off to Orlando to HIMSS.

2008-02-22T15:58:00.001-08:00

Technorati Tags: tablet pc,HIMSS,trade show,tabletkiosk

Tomorrow, I'm flying to Orlando to attend the HIMSS Trade Show which is geared towards medical technology professionals. I will be the first from our team to arrive in Florida, and it will be my responsibility to supervise the union laborers who will build our booth all day on Sunday. The rest of the team flies in on Sunday to work at our 20x x 20' booth where we will be showing all our Tablets and UMPCs from 8 different kiosk stations. Here is a photo of how our booth looked last year at HIMSS as we were almost 100% set up.

I love working trade shows. There, I said it. Seriously, I really love the whole experience that starts with an empty exhibition hall that is transformed in 2-3 days to an industry showpiece . There's something about the build-out period -- the time when I can dodge forklifts, maneuver through a maze of crates and supervise the final merchandising and set up that makes me truly happy.

I'm also very much in my element during the actual show hours and manage to have a good time despite the long hours and achy feet. First, I like to give product demonstrations. I get a kick out of conversing with potential customers, finding out their needs, and showing them the best solution for them. Let's face it, no matter how hard we, along with our competitors and partners, have promoted the tablet form factor, there are always show attendees who have never seen digital ink or played with a touch screen computer.

As a marketing person, I don't get too much interface with our customers too much, so my time spent on the show floor becomes an intensive learning experience where I speak to potential and existing customers. Walking the show floor also gives me the opportunity to check out industry trends and see what our competitors are doing. I recently came across a B2B marketing blog where business marketers have been weighing in their thoughts about shows. Click Here to see the link. It's interesting to read how different people view the business of trade shows and how we calculate the return on investment.

If you will be attending HIMSS, stop by booth #831 to say hello. Hopefully, I will have a lot of stories to share upon my return.

TabletKiosk to Exhibit at HIMSS 2008

2008-02-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

Next week, members of the TabletKiosk sales and marketing teams are travelling to Florida to exhibit at the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) Tradeshow in Orlando (February 25-28).

If you are not familiar with HIMSS, it is the world’s largest Healthcare IT exhibition featuring 850+ vendors who will be exhibiting their healthcare technology solutions to over 24,000 attendees. See Interactive Show Map here.

For manufacturers of Tablet PCs, exhibiting at HIMSS gives us key exposure to his incredibly focused vertical market – a market that is looking for solutions for electronic medical record keeping combined with mobility. Most of the major manufacturers of Tablet PCs will be exhibiting at HIMSS, so if you plan on attending, here is a list of booth locations so that you can plan your time accordingly.

831 TabletKiosk
2050 Motion Computing
2401 Fujitsu
2247 Microsoft
2369 Panasonic
2929 DT Research
3687 Gateway
3823 Toshiba
6362 HP
6662 Dell

If you plan on attending HIMSS, please make sure you stop by the TabletKiosk booth to say hello. We'll be showing a sneak preview of the eo i7300 series, the first the first fully modular UMPC. We'll also be showcasing the Sahara Slate PC i400 series running several EMR programs and an innovative room scheduler by our partner NetSimplicity used to reserve examination and operating rooms.

Also featured will be the new Getac 840XT 8.4" fully ruggedized tablet, eo v7110e and eo TufTab which we will be showing in a variety of medical settings.

The HIMSS show is closed to the general public, but if you are in the Orlando area and are interested in attending the show, send me an email and I can see what I can do about getting a pass for you.My email: gail AT tabletkiosk DOT com.

4 UMPCs reviewed by ChannelWeb Network

2008-02-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

Last year, the websites for CRN (Channel Reseller News) and VARBusiness magazines joined with ChannelWeb to provide a single 'portal' for the solution provider audience.

The February 18th edition of CRN Tech, features an article which reviews four popular Ultra-Mobile PCs and rates them on performance, portability and Channel Profit Potential.

I am pleased to say that the new eo v7110e was the second highest rated UMPC of the series. Here is how the author sums up the current crop of UMPCs

"Bottom Line: Despite the high price tag, Sony struck a balance between having a solid product and a stable channel program, an equilibrium that helped it claim first place. While the company would not win any gold stars purely on technical or channel merits, Sony offers a UMPC that performs well and is readily available to the channel. Even though TabletKiosk's eo v7110e scored the worst on hardware performance, its various input options, the ability to support Linux out of the box, low price and battery life saved it on technical merits. And TabletKiosk's channel program was by far the best one, comfortably securing the company in second place. Technologically, the Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium blows rivals out of the water, but until it is more readily available to the channel, reviewers decline to give it top marks. It landed in third place. The OQO's Model 02 performed almost equal to the Vaio UX, but it is also fairly limited in its channel program, leaving it in fourth."

We are very pleased with this recognition and look forward to expanding our presence in the Value Added Reseller (VAR) Channel.

Touch Screen Tablet PC used to control Industrial Sewing Machine

2008-02-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

People often ask me to describe some of the cooler ways our customers use our Touch Screen Tablet PCs. It's easy to describe the pen mobile pen applications, but for some reason, people have a harder time understanding how our touch screens are used.

So as the first in a series, I'm going to showcase how our tablets are being used by some of the system integrators and Value Added Resellers (VARs) in our dealer channel. In this case, the end solution is called the Intelliquilter™ which uses the Sahara Slate PC as a control panel for industrial quilting machines. Until recently, this system integrator has been utilizing the Sahara i215 as a component of the whole solution, but I know that he in the process of switching to the Sahara i412T.

Click Here and Here to see the Intelliquilter in action. I can't promise that the subject matter will know your socks off, but I think you'll be impressed by how the Sahara Tablet is used as the main controller for this heavy duty machinery as well as the touch interface that controls the software. Important to note is that although the demonstrator uses a stylus, this solution uses a resistive touch screen. With the resistive touch screen, the user can activate the screen with a passive stylus or direct finger contact.

A Fix for Windows Update Error

2008-02-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning, I was all ready to catch up on some work and I got caught with the Windows Update error which caused my system to become stuck in a continual loop and unable to start up. The only thing I could see was a screen that said "Configuring updates: stage 3 of 3 - 0% complete" then the system shut down and rebooted to exactly the same screen, with no way to break out of this loop. NOT a good way to start the weekend...

Upon doing some checking, my husband and I (mainly my husband) found that this error is fairly widespread. See this link

What we discovered is that the only way to by-pass this loop is to restore your system to a previous restore point using the Windows Vista DVD. Once we restored the machine, everything works great.

If you are seeing this error, here is what to do to restore your system:

To be safe, plug your tablet into its external power supply. If the restore procedure is interrupted it could corrupt your system.

1) Plug in an external USB DVD drive, USB mouse, and a USB keyboard into the tablet (a USB hub to connect all three devices, if you don't have a hub, you can swap the mouse for the keyboard after choosing to boot from the DVD drive in step 7 below).

2) Power on the DVD drive and insert the Windows Vista Installation DVD, not the System Restore DVD.

3) Power on your tablet and enter the BIOS by pressing the [Delete] key repeatedly until the BIOS screen appears. Sahara Slate PC i400 series owners can more easily do this by pressing the "Rotate Screen" function button located on the face of their tablets to the left of screen as soon as the TabletKiosk logo appears on the screen.

5) Navigate to the "Boot" menu and select the USB DVD drive as the first boot device. Hit [F10] to save the changes and reboot.

6) Immediately after the TabletKiosk logo screen disappears, a message appears asking you to hit any key on the keyboard to boot from the DVD. Hit any key to boot from the DVD. (Note: Users without a USB hub can swap the mouse for the keyboard after hitting the key to boot from the DVD.)

7) Your tablet should boot to the initial Windows Vista installation screen. Click the "Next" button, using the mouse, to accept the language settings and proceed.

8) In the lower left hand corner of the screen that appears, click on "Repair your computer". DO NOT click on "Install now" unless you have decided you want to reinstall Windows.

9) Click the "Next >" button to accept the installation on your internal drive and proceed. From the "System Recovery Options" screen, click on "System Restore". After a few moments, a screen explaining about system restore will appear. Click "Next >" to continue to the "System Restore" screen.

10) Choose a restore point from a previous time you knew your system was functioning properly. The most recent restore point in the list should be sufficient. Click the "Next >" button to continue with the restore. DO NOT attempt to restart or interfere until the restore completes or you can completely corrupt your Windows installation to the point that only a clean reinstall with fix it. Be patient as this procedure can take a few minutes. (NOTE: This restore procedure will NOT affect any documents you have created or edited since the time of the restore point, only application installations, driver installations and other system configuration changes are affected.)

11) When completed, restart the tablet and again choose to enter the BIOS and change the 1st boot device back to your internal HDD (following essentially the same procedure as described above in steps 5 - 7).

Your system should now successfully boot into Windows Vista normally and inform you that the restore procedure was successful.

Until Microsoft fixes this error, we recommend that you change your Windows Update settings to not automatically and install Windows updates. Set it instead to inform you of new updates but not to automatically download and install them.

All of this information can also be found on the Forums of the TabletKiosk website.

Obviously, the copy above was written to reference a slate tablet pc from TabletKiosk. However, regardless of what brand computer you own, I hope this information helps you get your computer up and running again.

Follow up to Tablet Tuesday

2008-02-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

OK, I made it through my first Tablet Tuesday. The results were kind of mixed, a wasn't as mobile as I would have liked to be, and I never got out of the office. But I did stay undocked and untethered all day and spent my day sans keyboard, mouse and monitor.

Here are some of my findings:

I write a lot slower than I type.
My battery lasted 3.5 hours with wireless (no bluetooth)
Vista handwriting recognition is improved, but it's still not perfect
I missed my keyboard more than I missed a mouse
I can't wait until our new onscreen keyboard is ready for release
OneNote 2007 rocks - love the lasso
I like inking in Outlook for emails (I'm not sure if my recipients liked it)

I felt silly sitting at my desk, chatting on the phone and writing on my tablet. Using the tablet this way didn't make me more mobile, it made me feel stupid. Next week, I need to make sure that I get myself away from my desk.

However, it does bring up the point that most of our tablets and UMPCs are mounted in some way instead of being used for 100% mobile usage.

If you are using a slate tablet, let me know how you use it and how often it is docked...

Today is my Tablet Tuesday!

2008-02-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'm publicly declaring that today is my Tablet Tuesday.

My goal for today is to remain completely mobile with my Sahara which means 100% wireless, no dock, no mouse and no keyboard or monitor. I'm handwriting today's post instead of typing, I'm jotting all my notes in One Note and I'll probably working from our lunchroom, lobby, conference room and maybe even The Coffee Bean (so much better than Starbucks).

Tomorrow, I plan to write about my experience. Although I've played the mobile game on the road, at tradeshows and at home, I've never used my Sahara Slate to stay mobile in the office. Hey if this experiment works, I just may declare that every Tuesday is Tablet Tuesday.

Product Placement and CSI NY

2008-02-08T16:31:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday night, the eo TufTab made its debut on CSI NY, playing a supporting role for the Sahara which has already been prominently featured on the popular show. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Sahara and eo TufTab were supposed to be used for the entire season, but due to the shutdown from the writer's strike, the show stopped filming four months ago.

For the CSI NY episodes where they were featured, these devices got a lot of exposure. The actors carried the Sahara all around the lab and used the touch screen to access different files. From a marketing standpoint, the TabletKiosk, Sahara and eo logos could be clearly seen on close-ups and the show and have gotten some online attention in blogs like this one.

So you know, this product placement opportunity was orchestrated by Microsoft. Last summer, our Microsoft Account Manager contacted me to see if we were interested in sending some units up to Redmond so that they could present them to the show senior producers. From what I heard, several Tablet PCs and UMPCs were shown at the meeting and the producers chose the Sahara, among others, to feature on the show.

I mention Microsoft’s involvement with this because if it weren’t for the Power Meeting in Redmond, this opportunity would not have happened. Microsoft wanted to show Vista running on a cool hardware solution, which is why TabletKiosk products wound up on CSI.

So what’s my take on product placement in general? I think that it can be a very expensive proposition if you don’t have connections. I get calls all the time from Product Placement agencies hoping to get me sign expensive contracts and give away tablets as demo units to build up the TabletKiosk brand. My standard answer is no, because with a limited budget, I prefer a traditional targeted campaign.

The CSI exposure has given us some great publicity, but I know that opportunities like this don’t happen every day. So for now I hope the writer’s strike gets settled soon, filming continues as planned and my Sahara Tablet and eo TufTab keep making special guest starring appearances on CSI.

How I accidentally created a marketing niche for Folding Keyboards

2008-02-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

Recently, our order department told me that they're seing a surge of orders for our USB and BlueTooth Folding Keyboards. I got a chuckle out of this because this is an example where I created increased market awareness and created buzz for a product that we had previously thought of as merely an add-on sale .

So how did this happen?

First, from an organic standpoint (which I wish I could, but I can't take credit for...) we are ranked #1 in Google searches for the term usb folding keyboard and we are listed on page 1 for the search term "folding keyboard". Obviously, this brings us quite a lot of attention.

However, I can take credit for setting up pay per click campaigns for keyboards and some of our other general appeal accessories on comparative shopping sites like Nextag, Yahoo Shopping and Shopzilla. I did this on an experimental basis to determine if we could sell select items on their own instead of as add-on tablet accessories.

Lastly, since Igo announced that they were discontinuing their Stowaway Keyboard, some blogging sites have been discussing new options for mobile keyboards. This email string appeared yesterday on Internettablettalk.com and as a result, we got quite a few hits from it...

And so TabletKiosk's awareness of a company that sells folding keyboards continues to grow...

From a marketing standpoint, this is a success story that I hope to replicate many times over. The people interested in folding keyboards are most likely mobile, and if we can familiarize them with TabletKiosk as a company that can address their mobile needs, we are one step ahead of the game.

Melinda Gates goes public ... about living with Bill, working with Warren Buffett, and giving away their billions.

2008-02-05T09:35:00.001-08:00

This is a great article from Fortune Magazine about Melinda Gates - and who she is and what she is. I'm so impressed by her goals in life and how she leads the life she lives. It's not about the money - but how she can use her resources to help others. Now needless to say... no one that I know will ever have that kind of opportunity - but it's incredibly impressive to see what she is doing.

Melinda Gates, funnier, smarter, more fit than her husband is one half of the philanthropic team that is set to donate more than 100 billion dollars in their life time. Find out what makes her tick and where their foundation is headed.

read more digg story

Here is Your Chance to Win a New Tablet PC from TabletKiosk

2008-02-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

Attention Tablet PC fans, aspiring artists and anyone else who has ever been intrigued by the idea of owning a Tablet PC...

TabletPc2.com is revamping their logo and the prize for the creator of the winning logo is a brand new Sahara Slate PC by TabletKiosk.

Visit the contest page for all of the details. But here is a quick recap of the contest.

Email your logo design as a jpeg or gif to: NewLogo@TabletPc2.com

Include the following information in the email:

Name
Address
Phone number
Age
Email address

Contest ends February 15, 2008.
All entries must be received by TabletPc2.com no later than 11:59 p.m. on February 15, 2008

Click here for complete contest rules

Restaurants are using Handheld credit card scanners for more secure transactions

2008-01-31T14:29:00.001-08:00

More and more restaurants are providing their servers with mobile credit card scanners to capture customer credit card information tableside. This can be handled with a simple handheld device or for great funcationality, or an Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) with an attached mag-stripe reader, which runs the full point of sale application in addition to the credit card scanning capabilities.

read more digg story

Sahara Slate PC Touchscreen Tablet shown at International Casino Exhibition (ICE) in London, UK

2008-01-30T10:48:00.001-08:00

BetXTech at International Casino Exhibition (ICE) London, UK 22-24 Jan. 2008
Originally uploaded by betxtech.kiosk

Websites That Make Me More Productive

2008-01-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning here -- and I thought I'd share some of my favorite business related websites that help me become more efficient everyday. These are not necessarily related to the tablet pc and mobile computing platform, but I think that most marketing professionals will find them to be helpful.

My absolute favorite site: gethuman.com features over 500 listings of how avoid the phone electronic prompt menu to reach a real person instead of an electronic phone menu. I go to this site whenever I call an 800 number.

packtrack.com One click and I can track Fed Ex, UPS or DHL packages without going to three separate sites

istockphoto.com the most affordable site for stock photography. Downloads start at just $1.

extremetracking.com This is the site that I use to track visitors to our websites. I think that the information collected here is more in-depth and easier to find than Google Analytics.

rhymezone.com When I put on my blogging or PR hat, this is my favorite site for finding synonyms, rhymes, quotations and reference materials.

brandsoftheworld.com This useful site includes a universal database of corporate logos for downloading.

bitpipe.com It's the enterprise IT professional's guide to information technology resources. It's a free online library for the latest technical white papers, webcasts and product information.

capterra.com Full listing of software applications for most enterprise industries

That's it for today. Feel free to respond with some of your favorite helpful sites.

Tablet PC Mounting Solutions

2008-01-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

This morning, I had a fun conversation with a customer who wanted to know how TabletKiosk differentiates the Sahara Slate Tablet PC from competing slate Tablet PCs.

Of course, I mentioned key features like the dual mode touch/pen screen, outdoor viewable screen and the new battery options, but to my surprise, the customer was most excited about our options for docking and mounting.

This made me start thinking that I need to do a better job with our website and marketing materials to explain the flexibility, portability and mounting options available. We currently offer VESA plates with and without quick-release access, a Docking Cradle which is essentially our VESA plate with expandable legs, assorted mounting arms and stands. The question is, how to market these better to show their full functionality. Someone suggested that we create 3D animations to show how all of the pieces can work and fit together. Someone else suggested that we show real-life scenarios and show the accessories in action. What do you think?

I’d love to hear suggestions from tablet users of the most effective ways to show the features and benefits of tablet accesories?

CES an Exhibitor's Prospective

2008-01-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

In the past 2 weeks since CES 2008, as I've been recovering from CES Flu, I’ve been keeping up with the posted reactions and responses to CES from various bloggers and journalists including GottaBeMobile, TabletPC Review and The Mobile Gadgeteer. It was enlightening to read people’s responses to the TabletKiosk 2008 product line (both positive and negative) as well as staying informed of what our competitors will be offering on 2008.

Reading the online coverage, I realized that I’ve never seen a posting written from the perspective of a show exhibitor, so I’m going to provide an overview of our response to CES. Obviously, the TabletKiosk perspective of exhibiting from our 10’x 20’ private meeting room is quite different from the companies who spent millions of dollars for their mega-booths. However I hope that by reading this, you get some insight about how exhibitors work the show.

To prepare for this year’s show, we began planning at CES 2007. In case you are not aware, most of us are already working planning for next year’s show because exhibitors reserve their space a year ahead of time. Behind the scenes, exhibitors meet with CES reps at assigned meeting times (according the show priority points) at the LVCC and Sands. In these meetings, HUGE floor plans of the entire show are taped to the walls and exhibitors claim their spaces, pay deposits and sign contracts on the spot. As you can imagine, it’s quite an operation for CES. By Wednesday afternoon at noon, most of the large booths were placed and the entire Meeting Space for the South Hall was full.

Due to the fact that TabletKiosk markets our products to the enterprise market, we purposefully limited our exposure by securing a private meeting room instead of a booth. This provided us with the perfect outlet to meet with key customers, bloggers and partners in a completely controlled environment away from the show floor. Because our meeting room was set aside from the main floor, we were able to schedule staff in conjunction with meeting times instead of according to show hours. We also were free to lock up the room to leave for the tablet gathering.
Over the course of the show, our goal was to introduce people to our upcoming devices the eo i7300 UMPC and the g840XT Ruggedized Tablet. (more about the devices in an upcoming post)

These two new Tablet PCs had not been announced prior to CES and overall response was overwhelmingly positive. The eo i7300 was praised for its innovation and critiqued for its appearance in the blogs. The g840XT Rugged Tablet PC won universal approval and is an exciting addition to our line. I have to say that throwing a prototype on the floor to show the durability of the ruggedized tablet is not for the faint at heart.

So how did we spend our time in Vegas if we weren't traipsing through the show halls? Our days included 7:00am conference calls with Europe, customer meet-ups in our meeting room, partner meetings in their booths, PR events, breakfast meetings, podcasts, customer dinners, planning sessions with our 4 members of our R&D team who flew in from Taiwan and sales pitches from every component manufacturer you can think of… To top it all off, three of us caught the CES Flu and Martin got food poisoning (you can bet he won’t look at a plate of jambalaya the same way again).

So that sums up our CES adventure for 2008. Luckily, we have a whole year to recover!

Yes, TabletKiosk has its own Blog

2008-01-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks for visiting the new TABLETKIOSK Blog. I put this site together to keep Tablet PC owners and fans updated with all of our latest product announcements as well as describe some of the cool ways our Tablet PCs and UMPCs are being used.

For example, did you know that the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Maryland State Police and Johns Hopkins University is using the Sahara Slate PC as part of an ongoing mission to locate potential terrorist targets in the Baltimore / DC area. Click on this link to view the news coverage, courtesy of CBS-13 News, WJZ-TV in Baltimore.

If you continue to read these posts, and I hope you will... you'll notice that my entries will be written from a human interest standpoint, using the type of language that anyone, even my mother, can understand. I will be writing about how people are using tablets everyday in real life scenarios instead of describing processor speeds and feeds. These are the type of stories that I find most interesting about working in a high tech company and make me happy to go into work everyday.

MOBILITY MATTERS

Rethinking Social Media in Channel Marketing

TabletKiosk Authorized Reseller Program - ALL NEW!!

TabletKiosk, Channel Marketing and the Distribution Channel

TabletKiosk® Introduces World's Most Powerful Slate Tablet PC Next Generation Sahara Slate® PC i500 Powered by Intel® Core™ i7 Processor, Runs 64-bit Microsoft® Windows® 7 Operating Systems

Enhanced Security

About TabletKiosk®

Choosing Between Enterprise-Grade and Consumer Focused Tablets For Your Business Needs

TabletKiosk Education Series: December 15, 2010

Wednesday, December 15 at 11:00am PST Seating is limited so REGISTER TODAY!

Presenter:

About TabletKiosk®

Casinos and Hotels Join Forces

Looking to speed up the hotel check-in process without sacrificing 5-star service?

"Pop-up" stores fill commercial real estate vacuum

Join TabletKiosk at the Global Gaming Expo. Register Now with this Complimentary Pass to the show.

What could be more mobile than a Mobile Food Truck?

Mobiles Find It’s a Bumpy Road

Windows 7 and hospitality technology – Are you ready?

10 things you can do with a Tablet PC in a casino…

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Standardizes Architecture on Microsoft Platform From Desktop to Datacenter

Hotels Gear up for Tech-Savvy Guests

A Few New Uses for Tablet PCs in the Hospitality Market…

TabletKiosk® Showcases New Mobile Touch Screen Solutions at the Global Gaming Expo In Las Vegas

MusicReader and TabletKiosk® Create Custom Music Reading Solution for Britten Sinfonia's "Dialogues" Concerts

LIMITED TIME OFFER – FREE BUMPCASE WITH PURCHASE OF A SAHARA SLATE PC i412T, i440T or i440D.

I’m all about touch technology, but this seems ridiculous.

TabletKiosk to co-sponsor POS Hardware Showcase for Hospitality – Oct. 7

POS Hardware Showcase: A Power-Hour of Leading Solutions.

Price Reduced for Sahara Slate PC i440D White – while supplies last

TabletKiosk® Expands its Tablet PC Product Line with a Trio of New Systems Based on the Intel® Atom™ Processor

Let the Countdown Begin

Team Photo from our Recent Sales meeting

Ready or Not… Hospitality Sales Here I Come!

Seven Ways to Improve Your E-Mail Messages - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership

Microsoft's Bing TV ad: Huh? - Los Angeles Times

A Strong and Steady Business Vision in a Sea of Netbooks

Food (and drink) for thought about Starbucks, McDonalds and too many meetings

A Day at the Racetrack with TabletKiosk and Intel!

Product Launch – An inside peek of what’s going on behind the scenes

Cantor Gaming implements Mobile Gaming at the M Resort in Las Vegas with Sahara Slate PCs

New system lets bettors wager on games in progress

TabletKiosk® Introduces the MediSlate™ MCA i1040XT: A Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) with Touch Screen Input

My new Amazon Kindle is on order...

A short geography lesson...

RIP UMPC - But is the 7" Touch Screen Tablet PC really dead?

Business as Usual with My Tablet PC

Gambling on the Go

A New Tool for Automatic Data Capture

Fighting Fires with Paper

Just for fun...

TabletKiosk and Dean Evans & Associates Create Mobile Conference Management Solution

For mobile deployment of its signature Event Management System (EMS), DEA has chosen the Sahara Slate PC i440T for its resistive touch screen interface combined with a sleek, carry-everywhere design.

About TabletKiosk

About Dean Evans & Associates

# # # #

New offerings for TabletKiosk Linux Users

The Eyesboard Keyboard is now available for download for all owners of TabletKiosk Tablet PCs and UMPCs

What a difference a year makes

Microsoft Surface Computing Hits Las Vegas

My "aha!" moment regarding Tablet PCs in Education

Today's cool use for a Touch Screen Tablet PC - Make Music!

Paint the town RED!

Sahara Slate PC Extended Life Battery (SELB) Hits the Streets

Can one company really "own" all Mobile Touch Screen Technology?

Singing Do Re Mi with a Tablet PC

Remembering Sydney Pollack

Talking Tablets with other OEMs

Tablet PCs and UMPCs - Coming Soon to a Restaurant or Hotel Near You!

The Sound of Silence

The Real Value of Customer Service

Thoughts on the Ultra-Low Cost PC (ULCPC) from the Land of the UMPCs

Today I'm Blogging In Ink

TabletKiosk Wins "Best in Show" Innovation Award for Sahara Tablet PC used in Augmentative Healthcare Setting

Thanks Apple iPhone

TabletKiosk™ Ships the GETAC 840XT Full Mil-Spec Tablet PC

Is the Tablet PC the Ultimate Networking Tool?

Tablet PC Conversation in the Most Unlikely of Places... With the Most Unlikely of Audiences

2 Whirlwind Days on the Microsoft Campus

Preparing for Meetings and Trade Shows with a Tablet PC

Wednesday, December 15 at 11:00am PST
Seating is limited so REGISTER TODAY!

Price: $799.00
List Price: $1,048.95 (Includes 6-cell Extended Life battery)