Feb-March 2003

This colourful wireless handheld device, the H41, is produced by Gotive of Slovakia, and is aimed at any corporate mobile data applications. It combines handheld computer, mobile phone, barcode reader and GPS navigation system in a single unit, and runs under Windows CE .NET. It can also accommodate smartcard reader, magnetic-stripe reader, printer and camera.

Recently it received a boost through being chosen for a three-year European Commission project called RAFT, standing for Remote Accessible Field Trips, which was devised to demonstrate the potential of new technologies in areas such as education. Three teams on field trips used H41s to receive messages, check their location and generally deal with tasks in the exercise.

For this project the units were fitted with large-capacity 4.6 amp-hour lithium-ion rechargeable batteries by Saft, an Alcatel company. The attractions of these MP ("medium prismatic") batteries are said to include an operating temperature range from minus 40 deg C to plus 60 deg C, and a weight of just 121g.