One big impression that I took away from CES 2013 was that there are a lot of tablets out there already, and a lot more are on the way. How is a vendor to distinguish its product from all the others? If you’re targeting the enterprise, and especially vertical markets such as healthcare or other highly regulated industries that are required to comply with security and privacy mandates, one way is to build in extra security.
That’s what Dell has done with their new Latitude 10. It’s a 10 inch tablet running Windows 8 that outdoes the iPad in several ways, including built-in encryption (with file-level encryption in the works) and two factor authentication support via smart card or fingerprint scan. Of course, it can also be managed in a Windows domain environment like any other Windows 8 computer. All of that security enhancement puts it a step ahead of most popular tablets, even without the non-security features such as the removable/replaceable battery.
Ed Tittel did a quick review of the Latitude 10 over on his blog, and pretty neatly sums up both its advantages and a few significant “worry points.”