Summer 2006

Belgravium's latest handheld computer, the semi-ruggedised Canberra 1000 series, takes the company further than ever before into the realms of light, PDA-like devices. It comes in an attractive, compact case with only a minimum of controls on the fascia itself; but in addition to the usual stylus input, it also boasts the unusual feature of having a fingerprint sensor for biometric login.

Basic features first: it runs under Windows Pocket PC 2003 edition, has an Intel X-Scale PXA270 processor running at either 416Mhz or 520Mhz, and has 64MB of flash memory and 64 or 128MB of SDRAM. The screen is a standard 40x320 quarter VGA transflective TFT unit.

There is an integrated barcode scanner, 1.3 megapixel CMOS LED camera/imaging system and an SD memory slot. Wireless communication capability to 802.11 b/g standard is built in, and a GPS location sensor can optionally be incorporated.

As for ruggedness, the unit is rated to IP54 dust and water protection standard, and is said to be able to withstand dropping from 4ft on to concrete.

 

The standard 1800mAhr battery is said to provide four hours' use on a wireless LAN, while the extended 3600mAhr batter offers eight hours.