Device Analyzer Android study wants to track your every move, if you’ll let it

And here we thought folks were concerned about protecting their personal data. As it turns out, however, a surprising chunk of Android users have volunteered to give a group of University of Cambridge researchers a look at exactly how they use their cellphones. By downloading the Device Analyzer app from the Android market, more than 1,000 participants have allowed the data collection program to harvest statistics in the background while they use their phones. Those statistics — varying from when the power is switched on, to which apps are in use — are then made available to users via the Device Analyzer website. Of course, this is Cambridge, a rather well respected institution of higher learning, and the researchers involved say the data collected is stripped of personal information «as best as possible,» but we’re not keen on anyone peeping our cell stats. If you’re an Android exhibitionist, however, you can sign up for the study at the source link below.

Panasonic unveils Android Toughbook slate for Q4, sledgehammer sold seperately

Panasonic Toughbook to Address Market Void by Delivering Enterprise-Grade Android Tablet

Device to include enterprise-scale security, functionality and durability for government and commercial mobility

InfoComm 2011
Booth 3829
SECAUCUS, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Panasonic Solutions Company, provider of collaboration, information-sharing and decision-support solutions for government and commercial enterprises, today announced its plans to deliver an enterprise-grade Android™ tablet to the market in the fourth quarter of this year. The new Toughbook® tablet will address a current gap by delivering a product designed with security, functionality and real-world reliability in mind. By delivering this purpose-built business solution, the new Toughbook tablet will appeal to a wide variety of users, including mission critical government personnel, highly mobile field forces, SMB’s looking for a competitive edge, security conscious IT managers and bottom-line focused CFOs.

«The vast majority of tablet devices-regardless of the OS-are engineered for consumers and don’t offer appropriate levels of security and durability or the functionality needed for business use. Like all Toughbook products, our Toughbook tablet will be designed and constructed with the mission-critical mobile user in mind.»
«Enterprise customers are very interested in the tablet market, but have been frustrated by the lack of appropriate solutions,» said Rance Poehler, president, Panasonic Solutions Company. «The vast majority of tablet devices-regardless of the OS-are engineered for consumers and don’t offer appropriate levels of security and durability or the functionality needed for business use. Like all Toughbook products, our Toughbook tablet will be designed and constructed with the mission-critical mobile user in mind.»

From a functionality standpoint, the Toughbook tablet will avoid the typical glossy screens-found on current tablet offerings-that are all but unreadable in outdoor environments. The Toughbook tablet will include a high brightness, daylight viewable screen so that mobile workers, in markets like field service, home healthcare and public safety, can easily see critical data and operate the device regardless of lighting conditions. The new tablet will also include an active stylus, allowing mobile workers in sales, customer service and mobile point-of-sale environments to capture signatures on the device’s 10.1″ XGA multi-touch display.

Enterprise-class mobile computing requires a heightened level of device security that is not currently available in today’s tablet market. To address this need, the new Toughbook tablet is being designed with security embedded at the hardware level.

The Toughbook brand is widely known for its reliability and durability, even in extreme operating environments. The new Toughbook tablet will be no exception, offering durability, and ingress protection consistent with its other fully-rugged devices.

Other features to be offered on the Toughbook tablet include satellite-based GPS, full-shift battery life, professional-grade accessories and optional embedded 3G/4G mobile broadband connectivity.

Combined with mobile broadband connectivity, the Android-based Toughbook tablet will offer quick access to applications and data that could significantly improve a field worker’s ability to make critical decisions that enhance customer service, improve response times and deliver results.

The device is being shown at Panasonic’s InfoComm booth (3829) in Orlando, FL. InfoComm runs through Friday, June 17.

Lenovo ThinkPad tablet coming in summer with Android, Windows slate later in the year

So we already know Lenovo has designs on bringing the LePad westwards in the form of the IdeaPad K1, but now the company’s also revealed plans to deliver a Think-branded Android slate to the market, at some point later this summer. That 10-inch device will strive to serve professionals’ needs, coming with a stylus for signature capture, and will be followed by an identically sized Windows tablet by the end of the year. Lenovo COO Rory Reid has changed his tune, having previously said there’d be no Windows 7 slates, but he does seem fully cognizant of the difficulty his company faces in breaking through in this rapidly saturating market. He notes that the experience is being tailored to a high standard and that «we only have one opportunity to make that first good impression.» For more info on what this new ThinkPad pad might look like, check out the previous leaks of purported specs and a Lenovo roadmap that identified it before this official confirmation.

Dual-screen LG Android phone shows up in the wild, poses more questions than it answers

A little shindig held by Orange in the UK has unearthed a T-Mobile-branded LG device that we’ve never seen before. It features a display of moderate size and resolution, which slides up to reveal a split QWERTY keyboard and yet another color display. The hidden visualizer is apparently used as an app-launching shortcut repository, though other details remain frustratingly light. Kineto Wireless were the company to bring this unannounced LG handset to the party, along with a bunch of others intended for the US market, and the rep on hand dropped the name Flip II to the Pocket-lint sleuths. There’s also the possibility that what we’re eyeing is the LG Maxx Q, which has popped up on a recently leaked T-Mo USA roadmap, though that Android 1.6 wallpaper could mean that this is just an aged prototype that never saw the light of retail day. Which would be a darn shame, if you ask us. Give the source link a bash for more pictures.