Technology · 09 Machines & Hardware
From the workstations we build on to the kiosks, terminals, scanners and sensors your product ships with, hardware decisions shape cost, support and lifespan. Here is how OlDevs specifies, integrates and supports it.
Updated September 2026 You own everything Reply within one business day
$oldevs deploy --env production
✓Build passed · 212 tests · 0 warnings
✓Migrations applied · postgres 16
✓API v2 healthy · 142ms p95
→Rolling out to 3 regions…
OlDevs, a full-stack technology studio in Vancouver, treats hardware as part of the product rather than an afterthought.We specify the devices, write the integration layer, and test against real units in our device lab before anything ships. We favour commercially supported hardware with published SDKs and multi-year availability, help clients buy direct so they hold the warranty, and plan replacement cycles from day one.
Key facts
09 · Machines & Hardware
Six categories of machine come up in almost every project we scope; here is when each is the right call and what it costs you later.
Right for every project: Apple silicon Macs for iOS and cross-platform work, Linux workstations with NVIDIA RTX PRO GPUs for model training, and a rack of real phones, tablets and scanners for testing. The later cost is ours, not yours, apart from any dedicated build runner you choose to host.
Right when data residency, air-gapped networks or existing hardware rules out public cloud: health, legal, public sector and some industrial clients. Later you carry patching, backups, spares and a replacement cycle of roughly five years, so we design the deployment to be rebuilt from scripts, not from memory.
Right when the software must run next to a camera, sensor or machine with no reliable internet: NVIDIA Jetson for on-device vision, Raspberry Pi 5 or Compute Module 5 for gateways, fanless industrial PCs where dust, heat or vibration matter. Later you need remote fleet updates and a supply plan for the board you chose.
Right for self-service check-in, wayfinding, ordering and lobby displays where a locked-down browser or Android app runs unattended. Later the cost is content management, screen burn-in and the day someone unplugs the unit, so we build in watchdog restarts and a remote console from the start.
Right when your app takes card payments in person: Stripe Terminal readers, Moneris devices, or Square hardware, chosen to match the processor you already use in Canada. Later you carry PCI scope, reader firmware updates and receipt printer supplies, and switching processors usually means switching readers too.
Right for warehouses, field service, events and retail floors where staff scan barcodes or RFID tags all day: Zebra and Honeywell Android handhelds, Bluetooth scanners for iPads, Zebra or Brother label printers. Later you need mobile device management, spare batteries and a plan for the OS support window on each model.
Stack
Concrete tools, current at the time of writing; confirmed for your project at scoping.
Workstations and build
Edge and IoT
Retail, kiosks and payments
Scanning and rugged handhelds
Servers, network and management
What changed
What moved in this area and what it means for your build.
Oct 2025
Many kiosks, signage players and industrial PCs still ran Windows 10 when Microsoft ended support. Clients with older fleets now choose between Windows 11 capable hardware, a move to Linux or Android, or paid extended updates, and we plan that refresh alongside the software work.
2025
Apple moved its workstation and laptop line onto M4 class chips with large unified memory. For clients this means faster iOS builds and the ability to run mid-sized language models locally on a single Mac during development, which reduces cloud spend while prototyping.
2025
NVIDIA released its Blackwell generation of professional GPUs with much larger memory. For regulated clients who cannot send data to a cloud provider, one Linux workstation can now train and serve models that previously needed rented cloud GPUs.
2025
Compute Module 5, the 16 GB Pi 5 and the AI HAT+ accelerator rounded out the Pi 5 line. With long-term availability commitments, it became a credible base for gateways, signage players and light kiosks where a full industrial PC would be overkill.
2025 to 2026
Tap to Pay on phones continued to spread across Canadian processors, and Stripe Terminal broadened its reader and SDK options. For pop-ups, events and mobile service businesses a phone can replace a dedicated reader for many workflows, though a countertop reader still wins for high volume.
2026
Zebra and Honeywell now ship rugged handhelds on recent Android releases with multi-year OS update commitments under Android Enterprise. That lets us pick a model and expect security patches for the life of a typical rollout rather than replacing devices early.
How we choose
If your IT team manages Windows and Intune, we do not hand you a Linux fleet. If nobody in-house will touch it, we choose devices with remote management built in and write the runbook for whoever inherits them.
Personal health information, public sector records and some contracts require Canadian data residency or no cloud at all. That decides on-premises versus cloud before we look at any server catalogue.
We estimate the cost of replacing each device class in three to five years, not just buying it today. A cheaper unit with a short production run often costs more once you re-certify and re-test its replacement.
We prefer hardware with a published SDK, a public roadmap and a stated end-of-support date. A terminal or scanner with no documented API becomes our problem and then yours.
Payment devices must be PCI certified, radios must be ISED approved for Canada, and equipment in plants may need CSA or UL marks. We confirm this before a unit enters the design rather than after procurement.
We check lead times and whether the model is sold through Canadian distributors with local RMA. Then we specify spares, batteries and cables as part of the order so a failed unit never stalls a launch.
Who it's for
Whether the audience is a customer, a member, a citizen, or your own team, the choice has to hold up under real use.
Multi-site rollouts of kiosks, handhelds or edge devices where fleet management, security policy and integration with existing ERP and identity systems matter more than the price of any single unit.
Check-in kiosks, member card scanning, event badges and on-premises servers under data residency rules, with WCAG 2.2 AA accessible interfaces on every public-facing screen and bilingual EN/FR support.
A standard hardware kit per location: point of sale, payment terminal, label printer and tablet, ordered the same way every time, enrolled automatically and supported from one console so a new store opens on a checklist.
Connected products and proofs of concept on Raspberry Pi 5 or Jetson, with a clear path from a hand-built prototype to a device you can order in hundreds without redesigning the software that runs on it.
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ExploreFAQ
You buy it. We write the specification down to part numbers and quantities, recommend Canadian distributors and confirm compatibility, but the purchase order and warranty are in your name. That keeps pricing transparent and means you own every device and account from day one, the same way you own the code.
Usually, if it has a documented integration path. Stripe Terminal, Moneris and Square all publish SDKs or cloud APIs that let a web or mobile app drive the reader. Older standalone terminals with no API can still be used, but the app cannot control them, so amounts are keyed twice and reconciliation becomes manual. We tell you which situation you are in before quoting.
Most Zebra and Honeywell handhelds run Android Enterprise, so a native Android app or a well-built web app works, and we use the built-in scanner through DataWedge or the vendor SDK rather than a camera. The main check is the OS version and its support end date; if a model is out of updates we will say so and suggest what to replace it with over time.
Cloud is the default because it removes hardware maintenance and scales on demand. We recommend on-premises when a regulator, a contract or an air-gapped site requires it, or when you already run a data centre with staff to operate it. In either case the deployment is scripted so it can be rebuilt on new hardware or moved between the two later.
We keep a device lab of phones, tablets, scanners, readers and single-board computers, and we ask clients to ship us one of each production unit they plan to deploy. Every weekly demo runs on that hardware, not an emulator, so scanner timing, printer margins and touchscreen behaviour get fixed early.
We design the integration layer so the device-specific code sits behind one interface. When a scanner, printer or reader reaches end of life, we add a driver for its replacement and the rest of the product stays unchanged. We also track vendor end-of-support notices for the models in your fleet and flag them during regular maintenance.
The studio is in Vancouver and most work happens remotely with video calls in your time zone. For rollouts that need someone physically present, such as kiosk commissioning or a plant edge deployment, we travel when the work calls for it; otherwise we prepare devices so your staff or a local installer can enrol them from our checklist.
Let’s connect
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