No frills, just features: Motorola’s new semi-rugged MC55 mobile computer

[This is repost of a news story posted elsewhere on this site] I’m fascinated by the engineering challenges, actually the engineering achievements, in rugged and semi-rugged devices. I even talked to a bunch of engineers on how they do it and wrote a story about it, “When devices just can’t break.” GD Itronix recently unveiled a new semi-rugged notebook PC, and this week, Motorola brings out a refreshed “enterprise digital assistant” — the MC55. It’s a semi-rugged all-around smartphone/scanner/mobile computer that can stand up to hard use and demanding conditions. Here’s the story… Motorola has released the latest of its designed-for-the-enterprise mobile computers, with a more powerful processor, and an updated Windows operating system. The new MC55 Enterprise Digital Assistant is intended as a mid-range, semi-rugged mobile device, aimed at hard daily use in markets such as health care, field service, warehousing, government and public safety. Both models support VoIP, improved Wi-Fi, and integrated Bluetooth to support IP-based voice and data and work with an array of peripherals. Semi-rugged handhelds and notebooks are targeting business users who are on the move either inside the enterprise, such as warehouses, or outside, in field service jobs. The products, like the MC55 and GD-Itronics recently announced semi-rugged Windows notebook , are designed to stand up to the kind of hard use and hard conditions that are not part of the typical office. Like its predecessors, the MC55 combines a cell phone, two-way radio, bar code scanner, digital camera and mobile Windows-based computer in one handheld. The 5590 model has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; the 5574 model adds to that quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE cellular and integrated GPS. Here’s the WLAN version, with the keypad configuration: Priced at $1,625-$1,8295, it’s somewhat more expensive than the aging MC50 and somewhat less expensive than the PPT8800 series handhelds, both of which the new product replace. Both were originally developed by Symbol Technologies, which was acquired by Motorola. About 500,000 of the older products have been sold, according to the company. The top of the line, fully-rugged, Windows-based MC7090 will still be available, priced at $1,195-2,195. It offers the same display as the models it replaces – a big 3.5-inch QVGA (320×240 pixels) resistive touch screen. It can be ordered with a cellphone-like keypad or a full QWERTY keyboard. With dimensions of 5.78 x 3.03 x 1.06 inches (slightly longer and thicker for the cellular model), it’s the smallest Motorola handheld with this size screen and keyboard. Just for comparison, the Apple iPhone is 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 inches. But it now comes with the Marvell 520-MHz PXA 270 Bulverde processor, a faster clockspeed than earlier models, and a chip widely used in popular smartphones such as Palm Treo and Motorola Q. The OS has been updated to Windows Mobile 6.1, the current release. Microsoft just announced the 6.5 version which is expected to show up in consumer-class smartphones starting in mid-2009 But there are bunch of new features, all of which continue the product’s focus on mobile enterprise requirements since the MC70 was introduced 3 years ago http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/012306-symbol-handheld.html: – 2-megapixel camera with autofocus and user-controllable flash – a lot more memory: 128Mbytes SDRAM and 256Mbytes Flash – MicroSD slot instead of the larger SDIO slot – Latest versions, as options, of Motorola’s 1-D laser and 2-D imager scanners – 802.11abg adapter, instead of 11b – integrated Bluetooth 2.0 Enhanced Data Rate, instead of an optional card via SDIO – improved durability, surviving up to at least 2 4-foot drops per side onto concrete – integrated GPS, enabling support for a range of location-based applications and services Full MC55 details are available online. Also integrated is Motorola’s Total Enterprise Access and Mobility (TEAM) Express client software, which gives the MC55 push-to-talk capability with other Motorola devices such as the CA50 VoIP-enabled wireless bar code scanner, TEAM VoIP WLAN-based smartphones, and even the company’s broad array of two-way radios. More details of the TEAM voice-over-WLAN capabilities are at the Motorola Website. Push-to-talk (PTT) offers some interesting possibilities for enterprise users, according to wireless analyst, and NW blogger, Craig Mathias. “PTT is going to become, I believe, a standard feature on essentially all handsets of all forms over time,” he wrote last Fall when Motorola unveiled TEAM Express. “It’s convenient, it works well on IP-based networks,… and it’s a natural extension to social networking and enterprise Web 2.0 capabilities.” Both the WLAN and WLAN/cellular MC55 models are available now.