The opportunity finally presented itself when I got samples from two manufacturers of rugged notebooks: Panasonic , a unit of Japan's Matsushita (nyse: MC - news - people ), and the privately held Itronix , based in Spokane, Wash.

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Japan's Matsushita (nyse: MC - news - people) sells players under the Panasonic brand name, which use the Secure Digital (SD) card technology it developed with SanDisk.

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In December, Sony and Matsushita Electric Industrial (nyse: MC - news - people ), known for its Panasonic products, announced a partnership to develop a Linux-based platform for the home.

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