Xplore Technologies, a company known for making tablets that can survive when left in the elements, announced the “fully-rugged” Intel Atom-based Bobcat tablet.
The Bobcat’s claim to fame is containing the feature set of average rugged devices into a form factor that’s 0.86in. thick and 2.4 pounds, which, in the world of rugged tablets, make the Bobcat a “thin and light.” It helps that the Bobcat has an outdoor-readable touchscreen that accepts stylus and gloved-finger input, plenty of ports and slots, and the ability to hot-swap the battery. The Bobcat also has MIL-STD 810G and IP65 certification, so it should survive most tortures you can conceive of.
In terms of inputs, the Bobcat throws in everything but the kitchen sink: an Ethernet port, Micro HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, a MicroSD reader, a Micro SIM slot, and a serial port hidden behind a screwed-down cover. Optional integrated options include a 1D/2D barcode scanner, a Common Access Card (CAC) reader, NFC, and a fingerprint scanner.
Performance-wise, the Bobcat is powered by a quad-core 1.9GHz Bay Trail (E2845) chip that is coupled with 4GB of RAM. The display is a 10.1-inch, 1366 x 768 pixel IPS affair with a 500-nit backlight, which should let you read content shown on the screen while in direct sunlight.
While the base model comes with a 128GB Solid-state drive, you can upgrade to a 256GB SSD. In addition, you have the choice between Windows 7 Proand Windows 8.1 Pro. Whatever you decide to equip the Bobcat with, Xplore promises it will give you up to 8 hours of battery life, or up to 14 hours with an external battery.
