Introducing the new IMPULSE Demonstration Facility

IMPULSE have a custom-built design and industrial computer systems integration facility on site at our head office in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and are now pleased to announce the addition of a new demonstration facility. The demonstration facility offers customers the opportunity to get hands-on with a number of industrial computer products and actually see these products demonstrated in real world scenarios.

IMPULSE are one of the UK's leading manufacturers of Industrial PC (IPC) systems with over 15 years experience helping our wide range of customers in the sourcing, designing, assembling and testing of their industrial computer products.

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IMPULSE Attending Intel® Atom™ Processor E6xx Series Hands‐On Training Event

IMPULSE is attending the Intel® Atom™ Processor E6xx Series Hands‐On Training Event in London today. General Manager Craig Stone and Senior Technical Account Manager Stuart Martin will be getting a hands-on experience with the next generation of Intel Atom platforms.

The Intel® event provides valuable insight into the future of the Embedded PC and Single Board Computer markets. The lab will include hands on experience with OS installation, hardware customisation and details covering power and performance optimization, embedded debugging, software solution choices and many other design decision topics.

Click here for more information on the Intel® Atom™ E6xx training event

IMPULSE Launch New Partners Page

Over the past couple of days, IMPULSE have been working hard to develop a new “Partners” section of the website that lists all of the partners key to the success of IMPULSE over the past 17 years.

Each partner has a dedicated page with an overview of the company and the product range they develop. The pages also include any events held or awards that IMPULSE have won over the years.

Click here to visit the partners page

For more information regarding our product range and services, please contact IMPULSE of +44 (0)1782 337 800 or visit the IMPULSE website.

New Marketing Manager For IMPULSE

IMPULSE CORPORATION LTD is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Craig Stone to the position of Marketing Manager.

Bringing extensive experience from his time in senior marketing and operations roles, Craig joins the team at IMPULSE as the business celebrates its most successful month on record with a 220% increase in sales compared with last year.

“Craig will bring a vast amount of marketing and managerial expertise to IMPULSE ensuring our continued growth within the industrial and embedded computing sector experienced over the past few years”, said Craig Wright, IMPULSE’s Operation Director. “I am confident he will be an integral part of the future success of IMPULSE and the new strategies we have put in place to ensure we remain the premier and innovative partner for our customers in the UK industrial PC market”.

In his new remit, Craig will take immediate responsibility for building and implementing strategies to drive customer acquisition, revenue growth and brand development for the UK market as well as taking control of all online and offline marketing activities. Craig will work closely with IMPULSE’s technical accounts managers to aid business development and will continue to build on the strategic partnerships IMPULSE currently have in place with their key partners and suppliers.

Craig Stone commented: - “I am delighted to have been appointed as the Marketing Manager for IMPULSE. These are exciting times for the business and a planned move to new premises this summer will provide increased capacity and help continue IMPULSE’s impressive growth. I look forward to working closely with the various teams at IMPULSE to increase market share and build partnerships with our suppliers that will enhance the services IMPULSE can provide to its customer base.”

Prior to joining IMPULSE, Craig worked in a number of senior management and project management roles, most recently as the Marketing & Operations Director at CSI Media, a leading UK Web Technology Company. In this role, Craig was responsible for managing the creation and marketing of a number of high-end and blue-chip websites in the travel, retail and finance sectors.

Craig graduated from Staffordshire University in 2003 with a 1st Class BSc (Hons) Degree in Computing Science. Taking up his new responsibilities from April 2010, Craig will report directly to the Managing Director & Operations Director.

Atom Based Low Cost Embedded Computing with the AEC-6420

IMPULSE is excited to confirm that AAEON Technology, our premier Industrial PC Partner has released a new low cost embedded PC, the AEC-6420. This model is part of the BOXER Lite series in the AAEON embedded controller product line and is characterized by its compact size and competitive pricing in the market.

The AEC-6420 is an extension of the existing AEC-6410 model and its debut completes the BOXER Lite product line. The unit features the Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor which offers low power consumption and a condensed footprint and also support for SODIMM DDRII 400/533 system memory of up to 2GB. The AEC-6420 can be operated with a low operating voltage reducing power consumption requirements often essential in the embedded market.

“Although the AEC-6420 is an economical version of our BOXER line, this model is equipped with flexible I/O interfaces and allows for ample data storage. It deploys two COM ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and one parallel port to provide plenty of options for any robust and critical application. Furthermore, there are two Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 ports for better network connections and communications. Additional features include mainstream operating system support, such as Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Embedded and Fedora offering easy OS compatibility with existing systems.“ said Linux Wang, the Product Manager of Panel Automation & Appliance Division, AAEON.

In addition to its generous I/O count, the AEC-6420 also comes with a SATA/IDE interface, an internal CompactFlash socket for flexible storage expansion, and optional SATA HDD kit for additional storage. This model is ideal for Machine Control, Factory Automation, Building Automation, and other industrial applications.

Full software and driver support is assured for Windows XP Pro, XP Embedded and Linux. IMPULSE is a leading certified Microsoft Embedded Partner and is ready to assist you directly with any BSP and imaging support that is required.

For more detailed product information, please visit www.impulse-corp.co.uk or contact our technical sales team for further assistance.

Windows Embedded at Impulse

Impulse Corporation now offers support for your Microsoft’s Legacy Operating System solutions. Our engineers can either support you in creating a standard Operating System Image, or create one for you to your exact specifications. We can also include your software and basic settings to reduce your deployment time when you receive the system.

Microsoft DOS for Embedded Systems

Impulse can still maintain your legacy MS DOS applications avoiding needless and costly redevelopment. MS-DOS is a cost effective solution for simple legacy applications. Available as a ROM or disk-based Operating System, MS-DOS has minimal resource requirement and is ideal for small, mobile applications and those that do not need a user interface.

Microsoft Windows 2000 for Embedded Systems

Windows 2000 for embedded systems allows you to maintain your existing Windows 2000 Professional applications without having to make any modifications to your existing software platform.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional for Embedded Systems

As you will now all be aware, as of the end of 2009 Windows XP Professional OEM will no longer be available through your usual channels. However Impulse can still support your XP Professional Systems. Windows XP Professional for Embedded Systems is not a componentised version of the Windows XP operating systems and as such Impulse can support your existing XP Professional installations. Finished images including you applications software and settings can be created and installed on to your systems considerably reducing you deployment time.

Windows Embedded at Impulse

Impulse Corporation offers support for all Microsoft’s Embedded Operating system solutions. Our engineers can either support you in creating your own Embedded Operating System or create an image to your specifications. We can also include your software and basic settings to reduce deployment time when you receive the system.

Windows Embedded Standard

(Next generation of Windows XP Embedded)

Windows Embedded Standard is a fully componentised version of Windows. Windows Embedded Standard allows development of advanced commercial and consumer devices to run thousands of existing Windows applications and drivers. Windows Embedded Standard includes Silverlight, .NET Framework 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, RDP 6.1 and Network Access Protection.

With Standard, we can optimize the size of the OS footprint on your device because we can select only the drivers, services, and applications you need. By using only the components you need, we can reduce your product development time, optimize operating system size and scale as low as 40MB in size with a bootable kernel. Windows Embedded Standard is also used in devices such as Thin Clients and kiosks.

Windows Embedded CE

Windows Embedded CE 6.0 allows development of small-footprint devices with a componentised, real-time operating system. The componentised features in Windows Embedded CE are optimised for small devices with limited memory and processing resources, for mobile devices that require power management capabilities, next-generation devices that require rich networking and communications standards, or for real-time devices that require deterministic responses to interrupts.

Examples of Windows CE-based devices include portable navigation and communications devices. Impulse can help you with the development of you project and can supply BSP’s from our suppliers to ease your CE development.

Windows Embedded POSReady

(Next generation of Windows Embedded Point of Service)

Windows Embedded “POSReady” is a flexible operating system optimized for the retail industry with built-in networking capabilities and standards-based plug-and-play support. It lets you connect a variety of retail and hospitality device peripherals onto a single POS system. Windows Embedded POSReady is used in a wide range of POS devices including self-checkout systems, customer-facing information kiosks, cash registers, fuel pumps, and digital signage.

Windows Embedded Standard 2011

Windows Embedded Standard 2011 is a reliable Embedded O/S due for release in the second quarter of 2010 which will allow for a secure and stable O/S based on Windows 7. Using Windows Embedded Standard 2011 allows OEMs to concentrate on differentiating their product offering based on hardware/software/applications rather than investing in platform development.

Impulse will be offering Windows Embedded Standard 2011 as soon as it is available so keep this in mind for your future requirements.

RTC-1000 - New 10.2” IP65 Rugged Tablet PC for Harsh Applications

AAEON, the premier industrial PC partner of IMPULSE, has released the new RTC-1000 to enrich the existing AAEON Rugged Tablet Computer (RTC) series designed to deal with applications in harsh/severe environments.

The RTC-1000 features a 10.2” WSVGA (1024 x 600) sunlight readable 450nit LCD display with integrated optically bonded vandal-proof touchscreen and optional digitizer.

The RTC-1000 series supports two models, the RTC-1000A features the Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor and the RTC-1000D offers the Intel Core Duo U2500 1.2GHz or Celeron M 423 1.0GHz ULV processors. Both models are equipped with one 200-pin DDR2 SODIMM socket with support of up to 2GB memory. In addition, the RTC-1000A/RTC-1000D offers flexible I/O and storage options including two USB2.0 ports, one Mini USB port, one RS-232 port, a PCMCIA socket, two internal Mini Card slots, and a CompactFlash slot.

“The RTC-1000 is sealed to the IP65 specification. It is built from the ground up to withstand water, dust and vibration encountered in the harsh environments it is utilized in. This model deploys a 10.2” WSVGA 16:9 TFT LCD display with LED backlight that can be clearly viewed from wide angles along with a sunlight readable patented AOT (Advanced Optical Technology) touch screen. This advanced technology ensures display impact protection often required in rugged applications”, - Howard Hu, Product Manager of R & D Center, AAEON. “In addition, built-in handwriting recognition and numeric keypad and programmable function keys on the front panel are all user friendly features of the RTC-1000. Another unique design is the Finger Print Reader, which is ideal for personal security systems”

The built-in 9-cell smart Lithium-Ion high capacity battery provides up to 5-7 hours operating time between re-charging. The optional docking station and vehicle chargers can keep the system up and running for multiple operating shifts. For network communications, the RTC-1000A/RTC-1000D offers one 10/100/1000Base-TX Ethernet port and a Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11 b/g connection plus one Bluetooth 2.0 Class 1 module to provide fast and convenient connectivity. An optional 3.5G Modem Module is also available up on request.

The RTC-1000 series supports the latest Windows Embedded OS, Windows Embedded Standard 2009, IMPULSE can assist you with standard and custom imaging services for this new platform. It also offers high performance with low power consumption, perfect for applications in the Emergency Medical Service, Public Safety, Transportation, Marine and Aviation industries.

Please feel free to call our experienced technical sales team for more information and pricing on the new RTC-1000 Rugged Tablet PC from AAEON.

Welcome to the Impulse Blog

Welcome to the new Impulse blog. We plan to provide you with up-to-date news on our products as well as updates on the company and our future plans. You may also follow us on Twitter. If you have the facilities to do so you can subscribe to our RSS feed.

Feel free to leave any feedback you have on our posts or drop us a line on Twitter.

About Impulse

IMPULSE is a leading UK distributor and systems integrator of industrial computing products including single board computers, touchscreen industrial panel PC’s and LCD monitors, data communication and acquisition products as well as rackmount, microbox and embedded computer platforms to exact customer specifications utilising our in-house integration and design facilities.

Since 1993, IMPULSE as supported a wide range of markets and applications in the automotive, medical, military and process control industries offering key products, solutions and design support to customer requirements.