Until now, users who wanted to benefit from LiFi technology had to use a USB dongle that they plugged into the side of their device. This process made the devices susceptible to even minor bumps or drops, making them inefficient to use in many fields of work, including essential parts of the defense and public safety, automotive, energy and manufacturing industries. With Getac's announcement, users can now count on fully ruggedized device solutions with integrated LiFi technology. The first of these devices will be the recently launched UX10 fully rugged tablet.

LiFi technology: Secure, high-quality, light-based connectivity

LiFi (Light Fidelity) technology uses light to transmit data and not radio frequencies (RF) as in conventional WiFi, LTE, 4G or 5G technologies. This method has advantages over RF-based technology:

• Improved privacy and security: Light is easier to contain than radio waves and better secured indoors. It is far less susceptible to hacking or data theft, while at the same time allowing more control over network localization, object tracking and user authentication.

• Superior connectivity: LiFi offers up to a thousand times higher data density than RF-based networks, resulting in greater reliability and interference-free communication. RF signals are not affected by LiFi, so both networks can be operated simultaneously in the same room.

• Extremely low delays: Light-based data connections have significantly lower latencies than RF-based ones, which enables fundamentally new innovations, automation and the use of advanced applications, including augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

"At Getac, we work hand-in-hand with customers across a wide range of industries, many of which face unique technology challenges and needs," said Rick Hwang, President of the Rugged & Video Solutions Business Group at Getac. "With today's announcement, we once again demonstrate our ongoing commitment to innovating to meet these needs: By combining powerful new technologies like LiFi with our proven rugged devices, we are creating market-leading solutions that are unbeatable in even the harshest conditions."