Customers wanting notebooks able to withstand most situations might be interested in the Dell Latitude 14 Rugged Extreme notebook and the Latitude 12 Rugged Extreme convertible.

Both are built for worst-case scenarios, with magnesium alloy and impact-resistant ultra-polymer construction and IP-65 dust- and water-proof certification. Sealed doors and compression gaskets protect data, keyboards are sealed, backlit and customisable, and QuadCool thermal management handles performance during high temperatures.

The Latitude 12 Rugged Extreme also features what Dell claims is the first rugged "flip-hinge" convertible display, with a resistive multi-touch display allowing operation with gloved hands.

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) and bring your own device (BYOD) provider SOTI launches the Altitude Partner Program-- a means to help channel partners take advantage of the growing enterprise mobility business.

The company promises "distinct value" with its partner program, with benefits such as multiple program tiers, lucrative margins across all partner tiers, a partner acceleration program and dedicated channel managers, sales, technical and marketing support.

Partners also get RFP services, access to subject matter experts (horizontal and vertical), not-for-resale demo licenses, funding for joint-marketing programs and an opportunity rewards program.

Microsoft confirms the "mobile first, cloud first" ethos of CEO Saya Nadella with two mobile- and cloud-related announcements-- the iPad version Office and a BYOD bundle in the shape of the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS).

“Microsoft is focused on delivering the cloud for everyone, on every device," Nadella says. "It’s a unique approach that centers on people-— enabling the devices you love, work with the services you love, and in a way that works for IT and developers.”

Office for iPad has been a long time coming, and sees launch before the Surface-tailored version. It includes Word, PowerPoint and Excel as redesigned with a touch-first UI and OneDrive cloud storage integration. Users can create regular Office documents and edit files created in other versions of the software, and Microsoft insists the app wholly preserves document formatting and visual fidelity (something the current OneDrive app fails at with distressing regularity).

The app requires an Office 365 subscription, and one subcription cover allows installation on up to 5 tablets and 5 PCs/Macs.

Aerospace company Boeing stabs at the ultra-secure smartphone arena with the Boeing Black-- an Android device so paranoid the data it carries self-destructs should someone tamper with it.

As a Boeing patent puts it, "any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable." Just like any phone fit for a spy (or the set of TV's Person of Interest), then.

Further security features inside the Black include storage encryption, a hardware root of trust and a hardware crypto engine. It is also modular, allowing users to integrate additional functionality such as biometric sensors or satellite connectivity.