LXE, a division of EMS Technologies announced today the launch of the Tecton™ rugged handheld computer, targeting supply chain applications. The successor to LXE's highly successful MX7 handheld, the IP-65 rated Tecton handheld computer accelerates real-time data capture with an industry-leading PXA 320 806 MHz processor running Windows® Mobile 6.5 or Windows® CE 6.0.

LXE, a division of EMS Technologies, announced today the launch of the Tecton™ rugged handheld computer, targeting supply chain applications. The successor to LXE’s highly successful MX7 handheld, the IP-65 rated Tecton handheld computer accelerates real-time data capture with an industry-leading PXA 320 806 MHz processor running Windows® Mobile 6.5 or Windows® CE 6.0.

Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association and the research firm GfK released global retail sales projections for the consumer electronics industry. In North America, the firms predict a 15% rise in consumer spending on electronics through 2011. Globally, retail sales of consumer electronics will has the potential to hit the $1 trillion mark this year. If the predominant buzz at this week's NRF show is any indication, these figures spell huge opportunities on many fronts for retailers. At face value, there's a great opportunity for retailers in many segments to capitalize on the relatively fast-growing and very profitable CE product line. Specifically, the rate of mobile device adoption in North America is good news not just for retailers in the electronics and communications segments, but also for the mass merchandisers, department and discount stores, online retailers, grocers, and corner stores that sell ancillary products and services (accessories, phone cards, mobile applications, etc.). More than 50% of North American adults are expected to own a smart phone by the end of this year, creating a huge market for all things mobile. Consumers Have Them, Now What? Here at the NRF show, that rapid rate of smart phone adoption is intriguing to retailers not just from the perspective of potential device, application, and accessory sales, but because of the glaring opportunity to leverage mobility and the "mobile Internet" as a sales and promotion channel. As more Americans invest in smart phones, retailers are getting wise on how to reach those consumers, on a personal level, via those devices. The implications are far reaching; a rapidly growing m-commerce-enabled consumer base poses inventory placement, fulfillment, security, marketing, and brand protection challenges, among others. But the retail solutions community is responding in a big way, developing applications that take everything from widely adopted product comparison and store locator applications to the POS itself down to the consumer device level. Indeed, some major retailers put creative m-commerce applications to the test this past holiday season, and their success will parlay into wider rollouts this year. Best Buy, for example, took advantage of a mobile product and price comparison application developed by TheFind.com. Using the app, consumers with so-enabled phones can scan an item's UPC code to call up similar products at any number of competing stores, enabling price and product comparisons in the aisle. For its part, Best Buy leveraged the application to load a Best Buy advertisement or promotional message to the user's phone whenever the app was used, even in the aisles of its competition. Home Depot has introduced a mobile application that lets consumers calculate how much paint they'll need to cover a room. Word now has it that Google is making a push to build more NFC (near field communications) capability into its Android phones, enabling consumers to complete in-aisles transactions "m-wallet" style, using their phones as a means for both payment and POS. There's a lot of investment going on here, retailers are deploying, and the consumer market is not just poised to grow, it's growing.