May
24
After the inaugural release of the Percon Phoenix104 (like rising from the ashes) mobile data terminals, we plan on subsequent release of two new industrial computers with 12.1” and 6.4” displays. Although it appears that screen sizes are just the changes, we are addressing our ability to manufacture according to requested configuration(s). The Percon goal is to “right-size” the VMT to the customers’ needs and to provide a rugged terminal with JUST the required features at the right price. …. “kind of like Dell”
Longer term plans include a portable rugged tablet… essentially a mobile data computer that is not limited to a vehicle mount computer application. That will open opportunities in more industries.
Mobile Datata Computer and Bar coding
May
24
Forklift computers are industrial computers designed and manufactured to withstand the constant shock and pounding of a rough terrain vehicle such as a forklift. Operations of a forklift in a warehouse or material movement of a manufacturing plant require a vehicle computer device that can operate effectively and last years without continuous repairs.
It may seem inappropriate for a computer to reside and operate in industrial conditions but data capture for automation requires information for be collected at the point of its origin. That would be applications such as receipt of goods, movement of goods to a locations, picking items for shipment or for manufacturing staging. Each of these operations may require scanning of a barcode or reading an RFID tag to record movement of material to the company’s MRP or SCM systems.
photo credit: Matija Grguric
Mar
01
Which industries does Percon plan to concentrate in? Where does our vehicle mount computer product(s) fit?
Our initial target and plan is ‘stick” with what we know best; supply chain logistics in manufacturing and wholesale trade. We are also planning on penetrating transportation, oil production, and public safety. In reality, the need of our partners and the clients’ demand will dictate the direction of our product. But our marketing focus will be within the industries mentioned.
photo credit: Pimento Of Doom
Mar
01
Why build another vehicle mount computer (VMT)? Motorola, LXE, Psion, AML are already a big player. You’ll have too much competition!
That’s a good question that most of our prospects, integrators and resellers are asking us. The answer is two-fold:
- Today’s big players do provide vehicle mounted computers but they are a “step-child” to their product line. The vehicle computer projects do not get the get the funding and resources that the PDTs projects do. The result is that the industrial vehicle computers (VMTs) are generally behind in technology (few and slow upgrades) or the VMT offering is an OEM. There is just a three US manufacturers that produce VMTs as their primary product and the majority of their sale is direct.
- We did our homework when we did the marketing research in the viability of starting a Vehicle Mounted Computer manufacturing company. Venture Development Corporation (VDC) also supplied us with solid industry financial and competitive data. The Reader’s Digest version is: VMTs’ are a $250 Million market with a CAGR of 7%. That offers Percon a great opportunity. We are not looking to be a multi billion dollars conglomerate. We’ll be VERY happy with 5% of the market and we plan to get there one rugged computer at a time!
Our vehicle mount computer products can be reviewed on our website.
photo credit: Metro Centric
Dec
16
Let’s talk a little about the advantages of Windows CE 6.0 R3. It is the latest release from Microsoft. But there are important advantages to the newest version and we will try to shed a little light in this area.
Microsoft lists 6 reasons why WinCE 6.0 is superior to 5.0
- Process address space is increased from 32MB to 1 GB.
- Number of processes has been increased to 32K from 32.
- User mode and kernel mode device drivers are possible.
- Device.exe, filesys.exe, GWES.exe has been moved to Kernel mode.
- SetKMode and set process permissions not possible.
- System call performance will improve
These highly technical reasons focus exclusively on the internals of the operating system and are mostly invisible to the developer or end user, with one exception.
The kernel is the core of the operating system. When Microsoft originally developed WinCE it was believed that many of the systems using it would be “headless appliances”, that is devices without displays or mass file storage. So the designers placed everything related to user interface and file systems outside of the kernel. This allowed the 32MB kernel memory space to contain more real core os features including monitoring and communications drivers, but keyboards, graphics, touch screens and file storage drivers all resided in the “Files” portion of memory and require a task switch to access the rest of the OS. Moving everything into the kernel means less task switching for the OS, resulting in faster execution of applications. Some estimates go as high as 20% faster execution for applications with high levels of graphics interface, such as on screen mapping.
But there are additional reasons why WinCE 6.0 is superior to 5.0.
- WinCE 6.0 is fully integrated with Visual Studio 2005. This allows application developers to use the same tools for Windows development as was used for the WinCE development. Visual Studio 2005 also contains an emulation feature which allows application development to begin before hardware has been purchased.
- .NET 3.5 in natively supported in the OS and doesn’t have to be added by your application, keeping your applications smaller.
- WinCE 6.0 R3 includes Internet Explorer Embedded and Silverlight which allows more robust browser applications to be written.
- WinCE 6.0 includes AYGShell API, which ensures compatibility with Windows Mobile applications. This can be important for applications intended to be used by both Vehicle computers and Windows Mobile based handhelds.
- Bluetooth is an integrated driver in WinCE 6.0 and works more seamlessly in the OS and faster as its part of the kernel as described above.
- WinCE 6.0 R3 includes Touch Gestures, similar to what is used in iPhones, opening up the possibly of a whole new generation of exciting applications.
So while many hardware vendors are still selling forklift computers and mobile data terminals based on Windows CE 5.0 or even 4.2, it’s important to look for devices that use WinCE 6.0 to get the most out of your application!
If you want to learn more visit http://www.e-consystems.com/WindowsCE5vs6.asp or http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee504812.aspx.
