If you’re ready to get rough and tumble with a Santa Rosa-based Toughbook, you’re almost there: Panasonic’s announcing the new CF-52‘s availability in the US, as well as new specs and features. There are two base configs (optimized for $2500 and standard for $1650), which feature:

• Core 2 Duo CPUs (2.0 and 1.8GHz)
• 1GB RAM (expandable to 4GB)
• 15.4-inch WUXGA or WXGA display (1920 x 1200 or 1366 x 768), enhanced 512MB grahics for Aero
  
• 80 or 120GB drives (shock mounted), DVD burner
• 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (optional)
• 3G option (launches officially with Verizon exclusively for 120 days, then will have Sprint Rev. A and Cingular HSDPA support — or add your own)
• (4) USB 2.0, PCMCIA slot, ExpressCard slot, SD reader, 1394, VGA, gigabit Ethernet, modem, serial
• TPM chip, and optional SmartCard and biometric scanner
• Spill-resistant keyboard and integrated handle

Available in July — if you’re hearty enough to carry around a 2-inch thick 7.3-pound beast of a box.

Gallery: Panasonic’s Toughbook CF-52 with Santa Rosa lands in US

   

From engadget

HTC just made their “major” announcement. Are you ready for it… wait… it’s the Elf now official with its “Touch” street name. Right, the Windows Mobile device we first saw six months ago and already formally announced by O2 Germany as the Xda nova. HTC’s big surprise? Well, the Touch is the first device to feature TouchFLO touchscreen technology “developed by HTC” — though we think Microsoft had a little something to do with it. It’s not multi-touch like the iPhone, but it does offer a “new and unique” way to sweep a finger (or stylus) across the screen to control the 3D interface. To recap, the diminutive 99.9 x 58 x 13.9-mm Touch runs Windows Mobile 6 with TouchFLO UI on a 2.8-inch display and OMAP850 processor while packing tri-band 900/1800/1900 GSM with EDGE, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB microSD expansion included, and a 2 megapixel cam. Best of all, it’s available now in the UK, later this month around Europe and Asia, and then North and Latin America in the 2nd half of the year.

Gallery: HTC’s Touch with TouchFLO — the Elf with new 3D sweep interface

Read — press release
Read — TouchFLO interactive
from engadget