Xplore Technologies is a global leader and recognized pioneer in the rugged mobile computing industry with more than 15 years of dedicated focus on developing and deploying fully-rugged wireless tablet systems. Our products have been engineered to meet our customers’ demands for reliable, fully-rugged mobility solutions that deliver superior performance and functionality, and can withstand the most extreme operating environments.  We deliver the most comprehensive and rugged tablet computing solutions in the industry.  Headquartered in the “Silicon Hills” of Austin, Texas, Xplore Technologies has spent more than a decade on research, development and product generation improvements culminating in the 2011 launch of the 5th generation system in the iX104C5™ product family.

The daily challenges faced by our clients in the field and on the front lines were the driving force behind Xplore’s “Voice of the Customer” product development methodology, which drives the engineering, testing and production of critical wireless, performance and expansion capabilities. Since inception, the company has sold approximately one hundred thousand systems globally across a breadth of industries and is a recognized leader and trusted source in the rugged tablet computing industry.

Xplore Technologies Corp. is a publicly-traded company (NASDAQ:XPLR).

Innovative Rugged Mobility Tablet PC Solutions

As demand for the tablet PC has surged, so too has the need for rugged mobility solutions with technology advances that allow greater reach into extreme environments. Xplore customers need mobile computing tools that match tough on-the-job requirements, whether those jobs take them deep underground, high above power lines or to the front line.
Driving rain, blowing sand and dust, temperature extremes, constant vibration, accidental system drops onto hard surfaces – Xplore tablets can go wherever users need to be, providing scalable performance, enhanced connectivity, flexible input methods, true portability and product lifecycles that match program and performance needs.
Xplore’s iX104C5 family of fully-rugged tablet PCs, vehicle/situational docking stations, enabling accessories, and peripherals deliver comprehensive solutions to meet the exacting needs of industrial, commercial and government customers.

XPLORE’s iX104C5 Dual-Mode Sunlight-Readable Tablet PC

Innovative Rugged Tablet For The Real World

Today, more than ever, mobile computing systems are relied upon by an increasingly diverse group of vertical professionals, military and security personnel to do their jobs. Xplore’s customers work in the toughest conditions and trust their tablet computers to be as rugged as they are. Beyond rugged, users demand scalable performance, enhanced connectivity, flexible input methods, true portability and product lifecycles that match their program and deployment needs. Xplore’s iX104C5 delivers with industry-leading ruggedness, performance data protection, meaningful innovation and longer-managed lifecycles.
Xplore’s 5th generation rugged offering enhances user productivity and safety by enabling work in the harshest conditions and by providing reliable operation while mobile in a standing position, vehicle or fork truck-mounted, or at a service desk. IT and program managers enjoy peace of mind in trusting their Xplore systems will operate when and where they need them, with advanced integrated technologies from industry leaders such as Intel® and Microsoft®.

Setting a New Rugged Tablet Computing Standard

• PROVEN RUGGED IN THE REAL WORLD – Industry’s Most Rugged Tablet PC
• XTREME PERFORMANCE – Industry’s Best Performance Platform for Today and Tomorrow
• FIELD-PROVEN DESIGN – Best Sunlight-Readable Dual-Mode Display
• TOTAL CONTROL OF OWNERSHIP – Long Lifecycles, Superior Management Capabilities

XPLORE: Proven Rugged In The Real World

Industry’s most rugged tablet PC

• Independently-tested to MIL-STD-810G, IEC IP67 ingress rating (10-cell battery), and Hazloc standards
• High-density, hardened magnesium alloy chassis with contoured bumper protection system
• Integrated piston gaskets on all user-accessible doors
• 3H hardened display protects against breakage and scratching
• 3rd party tested: 4' drop to concrete with system on; 7' operating drop to non-yielding surface
• Xplore’s Cool Touch thermal system, inclusive of multiple thermistors, regulate heating and cooling in extreme temperatures
• Exceptional data protection – Solid State Drive (SSD) storage, with dual SSD RAID (0,1) option

Military, public safety, field service and other front-line workers depend on their mobile computing systems to complete job tasks, execute mission plans and, in some cases, save lives. System uptime, continued deployed operation and data protection is paramount. Xplore’s iX104C5 is the gold standard in rugged tablet computing, delivering the highest degree of ruggedness in its class. Inspired by first-hand experience and input from utility and telecomm field service workers, military personnel, and law enforcement agencies, the iX104C5 can adapt to changing mission requirements and withstand harsh conditions.

Key Rugged Features Include:

• A drop specification that is more in line with real-life use conditions: 4', operating to concrete (a hard surface) 26x; 7' operating to plywood over concrete
• A unique piston sealing technology enables a higher level of ingress protection (IP-67 with 10-cell battery) from driving rain/snow, blowing dust/sand, and potential immersion in water
• An innovative data protection system utilizes a custom-engineered drive carrier, Solid State drive storage with dual SSD drive option, RAID (0,1) and JBOD array configurations which include advanced high-performance and durable solid state

XPLORE: Xtreme Performance

Industry ’s Best Performance Platform for Today and Tomorrow

• Intel® Core™ i7-620UE mobile processor, HD integrated Intel® graphics with dynamic frequency
• Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
• Up to 8 GB of fast DDR3 memory (Windows® 7, 64-bit OS)
• Multi-modal wireless options, including Intel® Centrino® Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Gobi™ 3000 Broadband
• Solid State Drive (SSD) for enhanced performance and durability
• Dedicated Fast Track GPS II – 2m and sub-1m models (optional)

The iX104C5 raises the bar for performance in the fully-rugged computing market by providing the most advanced performance platform in its class.
The iX104C5 is equipped with Intel®’s latest Core™ i7-620UE mobile processor, featuring the Intel® QM57 Express chipset, Turbo Boost Technology and integrated high-definition graphics with dynamic frequency.
This powerful mobile dual-core, hyper-threading processor with 4 MB of Smart L2 cache and up to 8 GB2
(Windows® 7, 64-bit OS) of DDR3 system memory supports higher-end applications like GIS mapping and mission planning that require real-time capabilities, fast processing and superior graphics performance to render images.
Multi-modal, integrated wireless options provide communications when and where customers need it.

BiP Solutions was established in 1984 to facilitate business between the public and private sectors.

Defence Contracts Online

Through a 16-year partnership with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) as official publishers of their contract information, BiP provides a range of defence-specific products and services to assist private sector businesses to successfully compete in the defence marketplace.

MOD Defence Contract Information Services

MOD Defence Contracts Online (DCO - www.contracts.mod.uk) is the official online source of UK Ministry of Defence contract opportunities, giving private sector suppliers access to all UK MOD contracts of all values, in one place. Access to MOD DCO is completely FREE and registered suppliers can search for contracts 24/7.

By registering for free and entering keywords/phrases into their unique supplier profile, registrants will also receive tailored daily email alerts directly to their inbox containing the latest UK MOD contracts that match their defence product and service offering.

The aim of the MOD Defence Contracts Online service is to guide organisations through some of the steps they will need to follow to sell to the UK Ministry of Defence, while providing a gateway to new contract opportunities for both large and small organisations wishing to compete for defence business, either directly as a prime contractor or indirectly as a sub-contractor.

To register your business today, visit www.contracts.mod.uk and follow the simple supplier registration process.

Defence Contracts Bulletin

Published in association with two key UK Ministry of Defence procurement agencies – Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) – MOD Defence Contracts Bulletin (MOD DCB) is read by organisations that are serious about engaging effectively with the UK MOD as a supplier, as well as by the UK MOD’s own buying community.

Through this fortnightly publication, readers gain access to a wealth of UK MOD contract opportunities and key defence market intelligence, including:

• All UK MOD contracts valued above £10,000;
• A unique insight into the UK MOD’s spending plans;
• The UK MOD’s ongoing and upcoming equipment projects;
• Future UK MOD requirements;
• UK MOD procurement policies;
• Key defence industry analysis and features;
• Exclusive interviews and commentary from key UK MOD and defence personnel.

Defence Contracts International

Defence Contracts International (DCI) is the premium source of information on defence contract opportunities and a world leader in providing key defence and security contracts in the UK, Europe and worldwide.

Our dedicated business intelligence research department search over 400 independent sources every day, and we receive direct feeds from the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and Fedcon to provide unrivalled defence contract information that keeps your business on top of what’s happening in global defence markets.

Defence is one of the world’s most lucrative industry sectors, with thousands of defence and security contracts published each year. With a DCI subscription, you can also enjoy direct access to contracts from other related sectors, such as:

• Homeland Security
• Humanitarian Aid
• Counter Terrorism
• Emergency Services
• Aerospace
• Aviation

Access to these further defence-related contract opportunities will undoubtedly allow you to further expand your business within existing and new defence marketplaces.

Other key benefits from having a DCI subscription include:

• Your own interactive dashboard, allowing you to flag contracts of interest and track opportunities for tendering;
• A unique supplier profile, tailored to your exact needs to ensure you receive only the most relevant opportunities;
• Daily email alerts containing the latest contracts published, along with live alerts for new contracts published throughout the day – keeping you at the forefront of new opportunities;
• Dedicated Account Management throughout your subscription year*, providing the best service possible and ensuring you receive maximum return from your investment;
• A gateway to further contract opportunities of a similar nature, from non-defence buyers.

DCI is ideal for organisations of all sizes, from SMEs seeking defence business opportunities in their own regional areas to major multinational players looking to capture as large a share as possible of the global defence market.

Annual subscriptions start from as little as £280 per year.

To find out more about how Defence Contracts International can help your business grow, simply visit www.dcicontracts.com today, or to speak with a Defence Business Growth Advisor call 0845 270 7092. We’re open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

*Our Account Management Team fully support subscriptions over the value of £500 only.

Defence Procurement Events and Exhibitions

BiP Solutions also delivers a range of defence-focused exhibitions and training events throughout the UK each year.

The Defence Procurement Research, Technology and Exportability 2013 exhibition is a one-day event that will showcase innovative defence procurement for buyers and suppliers.

Taking place on Wednesday 20 November 2013 at the University of the West of England Exhibition and Conference Centre, DPRTE 2013 will provide the buyer and supplier communities with a unique opportunity to interact across a single platform in order to enhance effective collaboration and competition in all areas of defence research and technology.

Delegates will discuss the future shape of the defence sector, as represented by:

• Defence Agencies
• Central Government
• Academic Institutions
• UK MOD Project Teams
• European Partners
• Prime Contractors
• 1st and 2nd Tier Sub-Contractors
• SMEs and Micro SMEs

Exhibiting suppliers will enjoy:

• Promoting their capabilities to over 1000 buyers as well as end users;
• Identifying opportunities to transfer technology into new markets;
• Exploring international markets;
• Identifying potential partners and funding opportunities;
• Engaging with academia to understand the latest technology concepts.

For more information on this unique and innovative showcase event, visit www.dprte.co.uk

Our Procurement Advice and Support Service (PASS) is the training arm of the business and delivers a Selling To Defence workshop in various UK locations.

The one-day workshop aims to inform delegates of the vision for the future of UK defence and the implications of the ongoing changes within UK MOD procurement, including the recently announced ten-year equipment spending plan, with the ultimate goal being to assist delegates in developing their strategy and defining processes to win business within the defence sector.

Topics covered include:

• Understanding the UK Procurement Regulations;
• Selling to Defence – the UK MOD’s Perspective;
• Defence and Security Exporting – Support for Small Businesses:
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Tendering

The event is fully supported by the UK MOD, with dedicated speakers from Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) as well as the UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO).

To find out more about the Selling To Defence workshop, as well as dates and venues, visit www.passprocurement.com/events

ULIS’ thermal imaging technology brings distinct advantages such as low weight, low power consumption and high image resolution to military gear, including handheld goggles, thermal weapon sights, and thermal cameras used in ground vehicle situation awareness. The company currently supplies its thermal image sensors to the French army’s FELIN program and Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV), in particular the Nexter. ULIS is also participating in two European anti-surface missile programs.

ULIS’ thermal imaging sensors rely on amorphous silicon microbolometer technology to convert infrared (IR) radiation into visible images.  This enables targets to be identified during the day and night, in adverse weather conditions and over distances of several kilometers, depending on the optics in the thermal camera.

Easy to use high-resolution thermal imaging products that solve SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power and Cost) reductions mark the qualities of the ULIS brand.

European Leader in Thermal Image Sensors
for Military Applications

A subsidiary of Sofradir, ULIS specializes in the design and manufacture of high quality thermal image sensors for both commercial and military applications. It is the second largest producer of thermal image sensors (microbolometers). ULIS offers a targeted range of microbolometers that are the key component of many top name thermal imaging equipment sold across Europe, Asia and North America.

The high spatial uniformity of ULIS’ microbolometer technology, a key parameter for high-resolution imaging, makes its IR imaging sensors particularly effective for military applications, allowing soldiers to locate and identify targets faster and more accurately during the day and night, and through fog and smoke.

By relying on amorphous silicon, a robust and reliable semiconductor material proven for its industrial production capacity, ULIS achieves large-scale manufacturing, which is one of its differentiators in the market.  This large-scale production capacity is enabling it to meet the growing demand from commercial and defense markets for IR equipment that consumes little power, lightweight and affordable.

Integration of Thermal Imaging Sensors into Military Equipment

ULIS is active in security and surveillance, energy management and in the thermography, defense and automotive markets. Hundreds of thousands of its products are used to detect threats and thereby protect property, industrial sites, national borders and commuter systems as well as military personnel in combat zones.

Size, weight, low power consumption and lower cost reductions drive ULIS innovations enabling the company to address new trends in energy efficiency for building automation and advanced driving assistance systems for vehicles.

Military Infrared Imaging Sensors - Microbolometer Technology

Thermal image sensors are made up of pixels that absorb thermal radiation. Each pixel acts like a thermometer. Each one will then increase in temperature, whereupon the temperature difference can be measured.

ULIS’ microbolometer technology is based on this temperature variation measurement. This method of measuring temperature variation means that the sensors using ULIS' microbolometer technology do not need cooling, unlike other technologies used to produce high sensitivity IR detectors, such as Indium Antimonide. These other IR technologies require cooling to maintain the IR chip at a low temperature to counter dark current, which keeps the IR detector working efficiently. Foregoing the necessity of a cooling system makes ULIS’ MEMS-based (microelectromechanical systems) sensors more affordable and highly suitable for large-volume applications. These include thermographic cameras used in building inspection and preventive maintenance, surveillance cameras, enhanced night vision driving and military applications, including handheld goggles.

Growth and Development
ULIS was founded in 2002. It is a spin-off from CEA-Leti, a leading European micro- and nanotechnologies R&D institution and Sofradir, the global leader in cooled IR detectors. ULIS began operations with a legacy of more than 40 years of infrared technology know-how and a long-established silicon manufacturing infrastructure. Located in Veurey-Voroize, France (close to major hi-tech center Grenoble), ULIS employs 160 staff and has access to close to 500 scientists and engineers from the CEA-Leti with which it continues to have a strong R&D partnership.

ULIS is a firm on the rise. It has more than 500,000 products deployed in the field. It has experienced double-digit compound growth since its founding. The company was among one of the first to deploy its thermal image sensors in cameras used to conduct health monitoring at Asian airports during the 2003 SARS outbreak. More recently, infrared cameras using ULIS products have been used to detect high body temperatures of passengers at airport terminals who might have contracted Ebola. Today, its product lines include military-grade IR sensors that are used in handheld goggles, thermal cameras for ground vehicle situation awareness and other military gear.

ULIS’ Large Format XGA Thermal Image Sensors Offer Higher Resolution and More Cost Savings

Similar to all manufacturers, the pressure to lower costs is unrelenting. Reducing the pixel pitch size while improving gains in performance has been ULIS’ main thrust.  It has accomplished a steady reduction in the pixel pitch size of its IR imaging sensors from 35 micron to 25 micron and then to 17-micron. ULIS was the first to introduce a 17-micron 1024 x 768 IR imaging sensors to the market. This megapixel product remains one of the largest thermal image sensor formats available.  It doubled the number pixels in the array over earlier models. With smaller pixel pitch sizes come two major advantages:

• Improved image resolution, as one can squeeze more pixels onto an IR imaging sensor.
• Smaller IR imaging sensors, which benefit system integrators by freeing up design space and bring cost-savings to the overall IR system.

New Pico Gen2 brand products

ULIS Pico Gen2 products bring extra performance to military gear and professional security and surveillance cameras. The brand offers important SWaP-enhanced advantages to military equipment needing extended infrared detection range, fast target detection and tracking, while keeping power consumption low.  Several Pico products are already deployed in European and North American airborne and land vehicle applications, as well as in anti-surface missile programs.

The Pico brand also makes higher thermal image resolution simpler and faster to install in professional cameras. This is due to its use of standardized communication protocols that are compatible with commercial camera systems.

Cost-saving measures
ULIS has pioneered technologies to enable customers to have price-competitive end-products. Early on, ULIS switched from metallic to ceramic IR sensor packaging that brought significant cost-savings. In conjunction with the CEA-Leti, ULIS has developed PLP (Pixel Level Packaging), a new wafer-based vacuum packaging. With this disruptive technology, ULIS can manufacture its pixels using the same semiconductor process step as the packaging. This makes the whole production cycle more efficient. The new packaging technique is expected to bring an additional 30% in cost-savings for end-customers.

All of these advances progressively make ULIS’ IR products more affordable and accessible to a wide-range of industry applications and attractive to procurers of military equipment increasingly turning to products that have their roots in the commercial world.
For more information, visit: http://www.ulis-ir.com