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Rugged meets mobility.
ARTICLE SUMMARY
Today's police officer requires a computer that is both compact and rugged. While a tablet PC offers greater mobility than a laptop, it also presents certain challenges. Among these are the lack of a traditional keyboard, shorter battery life, the durability to withstand harsh conditions, and the robust processing power needed to run multiple applications from a police car. As agencies segue from laptops to the enhanced mobility of tablet PCs, industry leaders continue to address these challenges. A broad spectrum of semiand fully rugged tablets are now available, with user-friendly touchscreens and optional keyboards, high-performance processing systems, and extended battery life.
To function effectively in a highly mobile environment, today's police officer requires a computer that is both compact and rugged. While a tablet PC offers greater mobility than a laptop, it also presents certain challenges. Among these are the lack of a traditional keyboard, shorter battery life, the durability to withstand harsh conditions, and the robust processing power needed to run multiple applications from a police car.
As agencies segue from laptops to the enhanced mobility of tablet PCs, industry leaders continue to address these challenges. A broad spectrum of semiand fully rugged tablets are now available, with user-friendly touchscreens and optional keyboards, high-performance processing systems, and extended battery life.
James Bland, Consultant and Director of Interphase, a strategy development consulting company with extensive work in the mobility tech market, believes that the widespread adoption of tablets and smartphones by law enforcement agencies will continue to grow. He attributes this to several factors. The widening gap between the price of a mobile data terminal (MDT) and that of a tablet PC has made it a more cost-effective option, especially for agencies operating on limited budgets.
Where MDTs were once considered more rugged, today's tablets are built with solid state drives and designed to resist moisture, shock, and drops. Finally, the mobility factor is simply too strong to ignore. Studies have shown that police officers rarely remove their laptop MDTs from the patrol vehicle, often opting to use a personal smartphone or tablet in addition to their radio when outside of their vehicle.
Bland pointed out that the device that will dominate will have to be...