Sept/Oct 2004

You may not be issuing it to your truck and van drivers any time soon, but a "mobile office" development announced this September could have a lot of appeal for managers and top sales executives.

It's from a group involving Pentax Technologies, EPSa and Quattro (an Audi company), and is called an MFCU, or Multi-Function Communication Unit. In a nutshell, they describe it as an extremely compact, in-vehicle mobile desk.

It's placed in the central arm-rest of the back seat of the car, and offers mobile faxing, scanning, printing, copying and mobile phone and data facilities. Internet access is provided via an integrated GPRS-compliant modem.

A Pentax PocketJet 200 Printing Module and DS Mobile Scanner are key components of the system. The PocketJet 200 is impervious to temperature fluctuations, is light and small (9.8in), and uses a thermal-direct printing process, which eliminates the need to change cartridges in the car.

 

MFCU is a collaborative project involving Audi, BMW, VW and AMG (a division of DaimlerChrysler) in the creation of a mobile office for premium cars, and has been in progress since 2002. This latest version is offered exclusively in Audi's Quattro A8 model.