New devices are built to perform in the most unruly conditions
In addition to the slim and sexy consumer devices announced recently, veteran enterprise hardware manufacturers have introduced some unique and rugged Windows Mobile workhorses. Juniper, TDS and Symbol are all offering new devices that extend when, where, and how you can use Windows Mobile in the enterprise. These are rugged devices, built to withstand water, extreme temperature, and accidental drops, equally at home in the great outdoors or in the rough-and-tumble world of the factory floor. Like their newer consumer brethren, these Windows Mobile 5.0 devices now use "persistent memory" to store data. You no longer have to worry about loosing critical data if your battery dies.
The Archer Field PC from Juniper Systems
When I first saw the Archer Field PC from Juniper Systems, I was reminded of the old "Casio G-Shock" watches I loved as a kid. The "over the top" rugged look of the Archer makes you feel like you need to be outdoors just to use it, and the unit pays homage to the "working stiff," with a unique approach to the Pocket PC. Rather than the normal application hardware buttons, the Archer has six oversized buttons surrounding the navigation pad (Fig. 1). From top left going counter clockwise these buttons activate the Start menu, Application Manager, Today screen, power on/off, Context menu, and Enter key. The Context button is unique and extremely useful. Pressing it pops up the context menu, which you normally do by holding your stylus down on an item.
Fig. 1: The Archer Field PC features a tough magnesium case and oversized buttons.
The front of the Archer is made of magnesium and surrounded by a bright orange rubber casing to help protect against shocks from drops of up to 5 feet (bettering the other units in this article by 1 foot). The rubber casing also protects the memory card slots on the device, and an optional extended case (reportedly available in the third quarter of 2006) is designed for cards that project beyond the top of the device. The extended case will feature a mounting location for the Holux GPS Receiver antenna (an optional accessory) as well as a special hidden channel that allows you to run wires from the ports on the bottom of the unit to the top of the device. This would come in handy, for example, if you were using a GPS receiver that had an external antenna wire. Instead of letting the wire dangle outside the device and catch on a piece of equipment, you can store the wire in the hidden channel.
The Archer has a simple hand strap made of elastic connected with two metal clips. The bottom of the strap can be quickly unclipped, but the top clip remains attached unless you remove it while the rubber case is detached. This makes it easy to permanently remove, but it won't accidentally get lost while working in the field. Behind the hand strap is the plastic battery door, which features a large lock that can be disengaged even with gloves on. The unit's internal electronics are completely sealed, even when a battery is removed from the device, so batteries can be swapped in the field without concern for water damage.
In addition to the standard Windows Mobile 5.0 applications, Juniper Systems has added numerous shortcuts to the built-in Applications Manager, including a hardware button, a listing in the Programs menu, and an omnipresent icon at the top of the screen. These make it easy for users to switch between applications or close them down to conserve memory. (Although they call it the "Applications Manager," the shortcuts actually launch the Running Programs tab from the Pocket PC's Settings > System > Memory screen.) The Archer also includes a 15-page on-screen digital user's guide (Fig. 2) in PowerPoint Mobile format, allowing new users to acquaint themselves with the most commonly used features of the device.
Fig. 2: An on-screen guide acquaints new users with the most important features of the Archer Field PC.
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