BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, is thrilled to introduce the brand-new Intel Arc A750 OC Graphics card. BIOSTAR proudly presents the Arc A750 OC graphics card, a true game-changer for content creators and professional gamers. It is meticulously designed to cater to a wide range of computing needs, seamlessly accommodating content creation and gaming at every level. The Arc A750 OC graphics card harnesses the cutting-edge Intel Arc graphics technology, offering a unique blend of unmatched performance and innovative features that sets it apart in the competitive market.

With its impressive 28 Xe-Cores and a graphics clock speed of 2200 MHz, the BIOSTAR Arc A750 OC is a powerhouse designed to deliver robust gaming and content creation performance. It comes packed with a substantial 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, operating at a lightning-fast speed of 16 Gbps, and utilizes a 256-bit memory interface for efficient data transfer and processing. With a total board power (TBP) of 225 W, this graphics card is engineered to balance power consumption with high-end performance, making it an exciting option for users looking for a powerful yet efficient GPU solution.

During the Vision 2024 event, Intel announced that its upcoming Xeon processors will be branded under the new "Xeon 6" moniker. This rebranding effort aims to simplify the company's product stack and align with the recent changes made to its consumer CPU naming scheme. In contrast to the previous "x Generation Xeon Scalable", the new branding aims to simplify the product family. The highly anticipated Sierra Forest and Granite Ridge chips will be the first processors to bear the Xeon 6 branding, and they are set to launch in the coming months. Intel has confirmed that Sierra Forest, designed entirely with efficiency cores (E-cores), remains on track for release this quarter. Supermicro has already announced early availability and remote testing programs for these chips. Intel's Sierra Forest is set to deliver a substantial leap in performance. According to the company, it will offer a 2.4X improvement in performance per watt and a staggering 2.7X better performance per rack compared to the previous generation. This means that 72 Sierra Forest server racks will provide the same performance as 200 racks equipped with older second-gen Xeon CPUs, leading to significant power savings and a boost in overall efficiency for data centers upgrading their system.

Intel has also teased an exciting feature in its forthcoming Granite Ridge processors-support for the MXFP4 data format. This new precision format, backed by the Open Compute Project (OCP) and major industry players like NVIDIA, AMD, and Arm, promises to revolutionize performance. It could reduce next-token latency by up to 6.5X compared to fourth-gen Xeons using FP16. Additionally, Intel stated that Granite Ridge will be capable of running 70 billion parameter Llama-2 models, a capability that could open up new possibilities in data processing. Intel claims that 70 billion 4-bit models run entirely on Xeon in just 86 milliseconds. While Sierra Forest is slated for this quarter, Intel has not provided a specific launch timeline for Granite Ridge, stating only that it will arrive "soon after" its E-core counterpart. The Xeon 6 branding aims to simplify the product stack and clarify customer performance tiers as the company gears up for these major releases.

Intel on Wednesday released the XeSS 1.3 performance enhancement, which works with Intel Arc "Alchemist" discrete GPUs, and Intel Arc iGPUs powering the Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors. The new super sampling technology brings several under-the-hood improvements to the upscaler, which improves image quality at a given resolution. Intel leveraged this improved upscaler to rework the resolution-scale of each performance preset, thereby improving performance per preset; while also introducing new presets at both ends of the resolution scale. The company released the XeSS 1.3 SDK on GitHub, so developers can begin exploring the tech and implementing it on their games.

The XeSS 1.3 update is predicated on an improved upscaler. Intel says that it has updated the AI models with new optimizations, and additional pre-training, particularly with difficult to upscale elements (such as meshes, as in textures with a lot of alpha pixels). The updated upscaler offers better reconstruction of detail, better AA, less ghosting, and improved temporal stability. Intel then used this up change the resolution scale across all its presets as detailed in the table below. It introduced the new Ultra Performance preset that does a 3.0x resolution scale, something that didn't exist in the previous versions of XeSS. On the other end of the spectrum is Native AA, a mode that has zero upscaling, but just the full application of the upscaler as a varnish—this is essentially Intel's take on DLAA.

Toward the end of 2024, Intel will update its client processor product stack with the introduction of the new "Arrow Lake" microarchitecture targeting both the desktop and mobile segments. On the desktop side of things, this will herald the new Socket LGA1851 with more SoC connectivity being shifted to the processor; and on the mobile side of things, there will be a much-needed increase in CPU core counts form the current 6P+8E+2LP. This low maximum core-count for "Meteor Lake" is the reason why Intel couldn't debut it on the desktop platform, and couldn't use it to power enthusiast HX-segment mobile processors, either—it had to tap into "Raptor Lake Refresh," and use the older 14th Gen Core nomenclature one last time.

All hopes are now pinned on "Arrow Lake," which could make up Intel's second Core Ultra mobile lineup; its first desktop Core Ultra, and possibly push "Meteor Lake" to the non-Ultra tier. "Arrow Lake" carries forward the Xe-LPG graphics architecture for the iGPU that Intel debuted with "Meteor Lake," but there's a key difference between the desktop- and mobile "Arrow Lake" chips concerning this iGPU, and it has not just to do with the Xe core counts. It turns out, that while the desktop "Arrow Lake-S" processor comes with an iGPU based on the Xe-LPG graphics architecture; the mobile "Arrow Lake" chips spanning the U-, P-, and H-segments will use a newer version of this architecture, called the Xe-LPG+.

Intel appears to working on an intriguing next generation adaptive sharpening filter—as revealed in mid-week published patch notes. Lunar Lake's display engine seems to be the lucky recipient here—its Xe2 "Battlemage" graphics architecture is expected to debut later this year. Second generation Intel Arc integrated graphics solutions have been linked to mobile Lunar Lake (LNL) processors—driver enablement was uncovered by Phoronix last September. The notes reveal that Team Blue is exploring a more intelligent approach to improving visual enhancements across games and productivity applications.

Author, Nemesa Garg (an engineer at Intel India) stated: "Many a times images are blurred or upscaled content is also not as crisp as original rendered image. Traditional sharpening techniques often apply a uniform level of enhancement across entire image, which sometimes result in over-sharpening of some areas and potential loss of natural details. Intel has come up with Display Engine based adaptive sharpening filter with minimal power and performance impact. From LNL onwards, the Display hardware can use one of the pipe scaler for adaptive sharpness filter. This can be used for both gaming and non-gaming use cases like photos, image viewing. It works on a region of pixels depending on the tap size."

MSI has officially confirmed the price for all three Claw gaming handheld SKUs, including two SKUs with the Intel Core Ultra 7-155H CPU and one equipped with the Core Ultra-135H CPU. The MSI Claw starts at $699.99 for the base version with an Intel Core Ultra 5-135H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. The other two SKUs, are priced at $749.99 and $799.99, both come with a Core Ultra 7-155H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and either 512 GB or 1 TB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. Unfortunately, there is no word on the rumored SKU with 32 GB of LPDDR5 memory.

These prices make the MSI Claw just a tad bit more expensive than the ASUS ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, but it should do well if the performance is there. MSI has also confirmed to The Verge that the Claw's 7-inch 1080p screen comes with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) operating between 48 and 120 Hz. The MSI Claw is rumored to launch in February or March.

Intel is planning to launch its next-generation Arc "Battlemage" GPUs in 2024. When they come out, they could possibly be the first to implement a PCIe Gen 5 host interface, with the BCM-G10 silicon powering the top SKUs reportedly featuring PCI-Express 5.0 x16. Given how sensitive current generation Arc GPUs are to host interface features such as resizable BAR, the GPUs might possibly need not just the added bandwidth, but also features Gen 5 introduces, such as memory coherency. It might not just be a move aimed at sprucing up the specs sheet.

The Moore's Law is Dead report behind this leak also says that with the Arc Xe2 generation, Intel might not release mobile AIC cards like it does with the current generation. Now, this does not mean that there won't be mobile SKUs, it's just that they'll be sold to laptop OEMs to hardwired onto their laptop mainboards—as it's done on the majority of laptops with discrete GPUs. Besides laptop GPUs in trays, Intel will also develop desktop PCIe add-on graphics cards based on the new GPUs.

Intel Corporation today reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 financial results. "We delivered strong Q4 results, surpassing expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter with revenue at the higher end of our guidance," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. "The quarter capped a year of tremendous progress on Intel's transformation, where we consistently drove execution and accelerated innovation, resulting in strong customer momentum for our products. In 2024, we remain relentlessly focused on achieving process and product leadership, continuing to build our external foundry business and at-scale global manufacturing, and executing our mission to bring AI everywhere as we drive long-term value for stakeholders."

David Zinsner, Intel CFO, said, "We continued to drive operational efficiencies in the fourth quarter, and comfortably achieved our commitment to deliver $3 billion in cost savings in 2023. We expect to unlock further efficiencies in 2024 and beyond as we implement our new internal foundry model, which is designed to drive greater transparency and accountability and higher returns on our owners' capital." For the full year, the company generated $11.5 billion in cash from operations and paid dividends of $3.1 billion.

SPARKLE is announcing the low-profile series: SPARKLE Intel Arc A380 GENIE graphics and SPARKLE Intel Arc A310 ECO graphics. Both graphics cards come as low-profile configurations with 1x HDMI and 2x mini-DP video outputs, a free additional short bracket in the box, and are packed with Intel Arc technologies. Advanced technologies include AI-enhanced Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) for higher image quality and performance, DirectX 12 Ultimate support including hardware-accelerated ray tracing, full AV1 hardware encode and decode for the latest multimedia support, and Intel Deep Link Technologies for exclusive platform advantages combining Intel Core processor and Intel Arc graphics.

These cards are ready to fit into any magic lamp and make gaming wishes come alive! Furthermore, SPARKLE has built an exclusive Intel Arc A310 by successfully reducing the TBP (total board power) of the Intel Arc A310 from Intel's default 75 W to 50 W, providing the best balance of features, technologies and experiences in a small but advanced form-factor.

Intel released the latest version of its Arc GPU Graphics drivers. Version 101.5122 WHQL comes with support for the 14th Gen Core HX and Desktop 65 W series processors with their Intel UHD 770/730 series integrated graphics based on the Xe-LP architecture. The drivers also add optimization for "Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown." The company hasn't fixed any issues with this particular driver release, but identified a handful new issues to fix with future releases. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.5122 WHQL

Intel, in a company presentation made to its channel partners, confirmed that it is looking to release its next generation Arc Xe² discrete GPU lineup, codenamed "Battlemage." This would be Intel's second rodeo with high performance gaming graphics since its 2022 return to the segment with the Arc "Alchemist" series. The One Intel presentation slide talks about what to look forward to from the company in the client segment, in the coming year. The slide states that PC processor, workstation processor, and discrete GPU segments will each see upcoming products, which can be seen as a confirmation for a 2024 launch of "Battlemage." Older company slides had illustrated that the launch of "Battlemage" would be timed around that of the company's "Meteor Lake" and "Arrow Lake" client processors. The company is expected to launch "Arrow Lake" sometime in 2024. With "Battlemage," Intel is looking to offer a linear increase in performance, along with new hardware capabilities. The discrete GPUs from this family are expected to be built on a 4 nm-class foundry node by TSMC.

With both NVIDIA and AMD having the ability to nearly double frame-rates in games using frame generation technologies such as DLSS 3 and FSR 3, Intel Graphics couldn't be too far behind. The company is taking a significantly different approach than the other two GPU makers. In a research paper titled "ExtraSS Framework Details Intel's Take on Frame Generation," Intel provides an overview of how ExtraSS works, and its obvious advantage over DLSS 3 and FSR 3—latency.

ExtraSS is a technology that relies on frame extrapolation, instead of interpolation on FSR 3 and DLSS 3. In interpolation, the software uses past- and future frames to guess an in-between frame, using motion vectors and temporal data. This adds latency, which is why NVIDIA and AMD rely on technologies such as Reflex and Anti-Lag+ to mitigate it. There's no such technological problem to solve with ExtraSS. On the other hand, generating frames entirely using past frames (i.e. extrapolation in the literal sense of the word), can result in artifacts and ghosting. Intel intends to solve this using a new warping method, and AI. ExtraSS should come in particularly handy as Intel is betting big on giving its processors powerful iGPUs, such as the Xe-LPG powering the Core Ultra "Meteor Lake," while its Arc "Alchemist" GPUs remain a generation older than what NVIDIA and AMD have in the dGPU market. Intel hopes to launch its next-generation "Battlemage" discrete GPUs in 2024.

On December 14 Intel launched its first generation Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" line of mobile processors, and here is a a brief overview of the various processor models on offer at launch, thanks to a compilation by ComputerBase.de. "Meteor Lake" is Intel's first completely disaggregated processor, in which its numerous components are broken up into chiplets fabricated on different foundry nodes that strike the right performance/Watt suitable to the component, all held together by Intel's Foveros packaging technology (an evolution in multi-chip modules with a design focus on reducing inter-chiplet latencies to levels comparable to components on a monolithic chip). "Meteor Lake" also introduces a 3-tiered heterogeneous CPU architecture, with the introduction of the low-power island CPU cores.

Intel's mobile processor lineup is broadly categorized into the U-segment, targeting thin-and-light and ultraportable devices; and the H-segment, targeting notebooks of conventional thickness. At launch, the Core Ultra H-segment, and U-segment processors will coexist with P-segment processor models from the 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" series; as well as the upcoming 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" HX-segment. The P-segment is positioned between the U- and H-segments, targeting a class of devices that either what to be thin-and-light mainstream notebooks, or higher performance ultraportables. The HX-segment caters to high performance gaming notebooks and mobile workstations.

Intel is slowly preparing to launch its next-generation Meteor Lake mobile processor family, dropping the Core i brand name in favor of Core Ultra. Today, we are witnessing some early Geekbench v6 benchmarks with the latest leak of the Core Ultra 7 155H processor, boasting an integrated Arc GPU featuring 8 Xe-Cores—the complete configuration expected in the GPU tile. This tile is also projected to be a part of the more potent Core 9 Ultra 185H CPU. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor has been benchmarked in the new ASUS Zenbook 14, which houses a 16-core and 22-thread hybrid CPU configuration capable of boosting up to 4.8 GHz. Paired with 32 GB of memory, the configuration was well equipped to supply CPU and GPU with sufficient memory space.

Perhaps the most interesting information from the submission was the OpenCL score of the GPU. Clocking in at 33948 points in Geekbench v6, the GPU is running over AMD's Radeon 780M GPU found in APU solutions like AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS and Ryzen 9 7940U, which scored 30585 and 27345 points in the same benchmark, respectively. The GPU tile is millimeters away from closing the gap between itself and the desktop Intel Arc A380 discrete GPU, which scored 37105 points for less than a 10% difference. The Xe-LPG GPU version is bringing some interesting performance points for the integrated GPU platform, which means that Intel's Meteor Lake SKUs will bring more performance/watt than ever.

Intel today released the latest version of Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.4972 beta fixes an issue with "Starfield" posting lower than expected performance with game patch version 1.8.86 on Arc GPUs. The drivers don't include any new performance updates or bug fixes, but Intel has taken the opportunity to identify a few new issues to address in its future driver updates, spanning games such as "Ghostrunner 2," "Total War: Pharaoh," "Dead by Daylight," and Topaz Video AI. Grab the driver from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4972 Beta

Intel today released the latest version of Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.4887 beta adds support for the new Arc A580 desktop graphics card, which you'll hear more about soon. The drivers also add optimization for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III" (beta), "Total War: Pharaoh," and "Lords of the Fallen." The drivers also offer performance improvements for "Starfield," with up to 117% performance uplifts at 1080p with Ultra settings, and up to 149% uplifts at 1440p with High settings, as measured with an Arc A770.

The drivers also introduce performance uplifts for "Forza Motorsport," with up to 8% uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings; and "F1 23," which now yields up to 12% gains at 1440p with Ultra High settings; and up to 136% at 4K with Ultra High settings. With this release, Intel fixed a bug that caused "Minecraft" (DirectX 12) to exhibit color corruption in night scenes with DXR ray tracing enabled.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4887 beta

Today HP Inc. redefined versatility with the HP Spectre Foldable PC, a remarkable 3-in-1 device with a foldable screen that seamlessly integrates the best features of a laptop, tablet, and desktop for the ultimate hybrid experience.

"Consumers are demanding greater flexibility to connect, work, and play for their hybrid lives beyond what the traditional laptop can provide," said Jo Tan, Senior Vice President & Division President of Personal Systems Consumer Solutions, HP Inc. "We are excited to introduce the HP Spectre Foldable PC, designed to seamlessly adapt to the various ways you want to work with its unique, durable form factor that pushes the boundaries of design and technology."

Thanks to the latest report from Phoronix, we know that Intel is working on supporting the latest "Xe2" graphics architecture for their upcoming Lunar Lake processors. Today, the latest enablement comes in the Mesa Linux drivers. By employing a new technique that allows for importing prior-generation XML files within the Intel Mesa driver code, Intel engineers have managed to streamline the overall file size. This is significant not just for the efficiency it brings but also because it signifies the beginning of work on enabling Xe2 graphics support. It suggests a thoughtful approach to building upon existing architectures, making it easier to adapt and evolve the software support for each new generation of Intel graphics.

Even though we are at the early stage and Lunar Lake is far away, the progress on Xe2 doesn't stop at Mesa driver changes. There is already some work at the kernel level, and new merge requests for draft compiler changes and shader compiler patches have also been spotted. This proactive development strategy positions Intel well in offering robust open-source graphics support for Linux, and it sends a strong signal to the developer community about Intel's dedication to the platform. After the Linux kernel driver works, this Mesa driver will enable better OpenGL/Vulkan API compatibility, so Lunar Lake arrives with proper software support.

Intel Graphics has released the latest version of the Intel Arc GPU Graphics drivers, version 101.4672 Beta. Although a bit late to the party, the new drivers brings optimizations for Bethesda's Starfield game, with reduced game load duration, instability and visual artifacts fixes, as well as Game On support for NExT Studios' SYNCED game.

The new 101.4672 Beta drivers do not appear to bring any further improvements or fixes and appear mostly focused on supporting the Starfield game. There are still plenty of issues with Starfield but Intel notes that further fixes are coming in future driver updates.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4672 Beta

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, is excited to unveil the BIELK-PAT industrial motherboard and MS-J6412 applications system, tailored to meet the rising demands of modern industries. The BIELK-PAT mainboard is an embodiment of versatility and innovation. Designed to support a broad range of temperature -40 °C ~ 85 °C and 9-24 V operational voltage, the BIELK-PAT mainboard thrives in diverse environments seamlessly integrating into workspaces like outdoor devices, EV charging stations, kiosks, and refrigerated factories. Under its robust framework, it houses an Intel Elkhart Lake SOC Processor and offers display outputs via LVDS, HDMI, and VGA. It supports 2x SO-DIMM DDR4 RAM up to 32 GB 3200 MHz and 2.5 GbE LAN powered by Intel.

Diving deeper into the specifications, the BIELK-PAT features a SATA III and an M.2 slot for storage, along with multiple USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports. It is a top choice for SI businesses seeking robust system integration builds with great hardware synergy with Windows 10 and Linux Ubuntu operating systems. The MS-J6412 applications system from BIOSTAR is ideal for fanless embedded system. Compact yet powerful, it is adept at driving POS systems, interactive kiosks, and interconnected IoT devices across many industries supported by its DC-IN design. It boasts a sleek, thin design and ensures quiet computing thanks to its groundbreaking, slim barebone fanless design.

Intel Graphics today released the latest version of Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.4669 beta comes with Game On (day zero) optimization for "Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon." With the new drivers in place, the Arc A750 can provide average frame-rates of up to 92 FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings; and up to 82 FPS at 1440p with High settings. Among the issues fixed with this release include an application crash for "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" in DirectX 11 mode, in the game menu. Also, it turns out that Arc A380 reporting a base frequency of 2150 MHz compared to 2000 MHz reference with the previous 101.4644 drivers, was a bug. Intel fixed it with this release.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4669 Beta

Intel today released the latest version of the Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.4644 WHQL comes with Game On (day-zero) optimization for "Madden NFL 24," and "Wayfinder." Among the issues fixed with this release include an application crash noticed with "Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection" when launching the game; a system hang noticed when waking up your desktop from sleep, needing you to cycle power; and an application crash observed with Blender 3.6 during render operations, when hardware ray tracing is enabled. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4644 WHQL

Intel Graphics late Wednesday released the Arc GPU Graphics Software 101.4578 beta. These drivers come with Game On (day-zero) optimization for the hottest game release of this Summer, "Baldur's Gate 3." Intel beat both AMD and NVIDIA to be the first with optimized drivers for the game. The fantasy RPG releases later today. Given that the game is very easy on system requirements, you can expect the entire span of Intel Arc "Alchemist" graphics card to be perfectly suited to the game. The Arc A380 should be able to max out the game at resolutions of 1080p, while the A750 and A770 should max it out at 1440p and 4K Ultra HD.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4578 beta

Without fanfare, Intel has launched two new mobile GPUs in the shape of the Arc A570M and the A530M. The Arc A570M gets 16 Xe Cores and 256 execution units, as well as four render slices and 16 RT units. The lower-end Arc A530M gets to make do with 12 Xe cores, 192 execution units, three render slices and 12 RT units, which is a smaller cut than the model name suggests. What's interesting to note here is that the Arc A570M appears to have identical hardware specs to the Arc A550M that launched in the second quarter of 2022, although as we'll see, the clock speeds and TGP differ between the parts. The Arc A570M supports 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, the same as the Arc A550M, with the Arc A530M supports 4 or 8 GB of GDDR6.

Both the Arc A570M and the A530M will get a GPU clock speed of 1,300 MHz, which is a significant boost from the Arc A550M which is plodding along at a mere 900 MHz in comparison. This makes the two newcomers Intel's third highest clocked mobile GPUs, with only the Arc A770M and Arc A370M being clocked higher. The downside of this is an increase in TGP, where the Arc A550M had a fairly reasonable TGP of 60 Watts, the Arc A530M has a TGP range of 65 to 95 Watts, while the Arc A570M extends this to 75-95 Watts. The rest of the specs appear to carry over from the Arc A550M, so the new GPUs will support up to four displays via eDP, DP 2.0 or HDMI 2.1 and the full set of video encoders and decoders are also supported. The new additions are still made using TSMC's N6 node, so what we're looking at are most likely just optimised silicon here, which has led Intel to be able to boost the clock speeds while maintaining acceptable thermals.

Durabook, an innovator in purpose-built, rugged computing solutions, today announced upgrading its U11 Rugged Tablet with the 12th Gen Intel processor and other architectural innovations that establish it as the most versatile 11-inch rugged tablet. The U11 rugged tablet solution goes above and beyond standard requirements to elevate the professional user's experience.

Upgrading the U11 CPU to the latest Intel 12th generation Alder Lake platform, with Intel Core i7 and i5 processors, is significant in part because it enables performance up to 225% faster than the previous, 10th Gen CPU. Sporting the Coolfinity fanless thermal solution lets the U11 tablet operate quietly while offering higher reliability and decreasing downtime and repairs that negatively impact productivity. Delivered with Intel Iris Xe Graphics boosts the U11's computing power to process large amounts of data, images, and video feeds in real-time. Packing these and a trove of functions and features into a rugged tablet appeals to professional users that desire the utmost performance with the ease of a tablet.