Motion Computing Launches Semi-Rugged Tablet PC

Designed for mobile work forces in industries like field service, manufacturing, government and construction, the F5 slate tablet PC incorporates the company's View Anywhere outdoor display, a built-in handle, a digital camera, barcode scanner, RFID reader and an optional solid state drive. It is IP54 compliant to tolerate dust and moisture exposure and includes Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.

"We heard a number of different times from our customers in various aspects of government and filed automation that they needed a device that was rugged enough to use in a harsh environment where they could drop it occasionally but they didn't want to pay a premium to buy a fully-rugged device," said Scott Eckert, CEO of Motion Computing, Austin, Tex.

Eckert calls the F5 a "semi-rugged" device.

"There's a continuum between traditional office computers that you really wouldn't want to drop or get in a rainstorm because they wouldn't work all the way to very rugged devices that the military uses. We're trying to do something right in the middle," he said.

Motion designed the F5 to be able to withstand drops of as high as 36 inches, about waist height, and to be able to tolerate more bumps and bruises than your average office notebook PC.

Motion hopes to use this product to reach new mobility and field-service resellers in addition to its current customer base. "We got a lot of feedback from our resellers that said they could sell existing products, but there's a portion of them that need something more rugged We're going outbound to recruit new resellers that focus on rugged markets. We think there are incremental resellers that will be interested in these," Eckert said.