June 10, 2010
Panasonic unleashes Toughbook F9 rugged laptop computer; $2,899
ZD Net
Rachel King shares some details about Panasonic’s new Toughbook F9 laptop device.
“The Intel Core i5-powered Toughbook F9 is meant for the business-minded (and) Panasonic reports that it can survive drops from up to 30 feet and at least 26 drops on every side (including the face) from 12 feet high crashing down on top of a ‘non-yielding surface.’ To keep your data as protected as possible, Panasonic has installed a shock-mounted, removable 320GB hard drive disk as well. The Toughbook F9 will be available in the U.S. on July 1, with a starting price set at $2,899.”
Acer Aspire One D260 netbook – Dual boot Windows and Android
ZD Net
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes that with Acer’s new Aspire One D260 netbook, the vendor has included a dual-boot feature with Windows and Android.
“What’s really interesting about this device is the dual boot – offering both Windows 7 and Google Android OS. There’s very little info on the Android OS from Acer at present, so I’m guessing Android 1.5. We are however promised a 15 second boot time to check email and surf the web, which is nice. No price yet, and availability is expected July 1st.”
What Does “Business Analytics” Mean?
Network World
Tom Davenport raises the issue of what “business analytics” really means.
“Some might object that ‘business analytics’ is not a good term for all BI activity because it excludes governmental and nonprofit organizations. But it doesn’t have to. The meaning of ‘business’ here could be that of ‘an immediate task or objective,’ with analytics being a means to achieve that objective. Governmental and non-profit organizations can use business analytics to advance their objectives as well, and in fact many do just that.”