April/May 2002

Full-screen CE for rugged Symbol terminal

Windows CE makes its appearance in impressive full-screen format on the latest ruggedised computer from Symbol. Symbol reckons the 12.1in SVGA touchscreen display of the VRC 8900 is twice as big as those of most rugged computers; in fact it's comparable to those of many laptops, and with the detachable keyboard in place it could almost serve as one.

That's not it's prime purpose, though. It's intended for manufacturing and warehouse logistics environments, and can be mounted on a forklift truck or anywhere required for fast access to information. Symbol is targeting typical receiving, tracking, put-away, picking and shipping applications.

 

At its heart is a 32-bit 206MHz Intel StrongArm processor. It is equipped to interface with Symbol's family of ruggedised one- and two-dimensional barcode scanners, and to integrate with the company's Spectrum24 wireless local area network for real-time communications. And it supports a variety of portable, fixed and wireless printing options.

The unit meets international weatherproofing standards, and can operate at temperatures down to minus 30C.