While speaking at the company’s Technology Day here on Sept. 12, Alex Gruzen, general manager of Dell’s Product Group, famous for standing on one of Dell’s new Latitude machines to demonstrate its chassis’ strength, said that the Round Rock, Texas, PC maker has been studying the idea of expanding its notebook lineup with a “rugged” model and a tablet PC.

The company, which could potentially offer one or both products as soon as 2007 continually looks at new mobile technology—it’s even studied the Ultramobile PC space, according to Gruzen—and recently it has seen greater potential in the two areas of the market.

“I think we could expand the whole [rugged notebook] market,” Gruzen said in an interview with eWEEK in New York.

Rugged or ruggedized notebooks, as they are called, are generally built with special metal cases. They are designed to withstand shock and exposure to the elements, including water.

Their internal components, such as hard drives, are generally mounted in shock-resistant enclosures as well. They are used most often by companies who conduct field work, such as oil and gas exploration, or police and military. - eweek.com

This entry was posted on September 19, 2006 and is filed under Dell,Inc, News.