Oct/Nov 2006

A bid to integrate mobile image capture solidly into a resource management system has been launched by Handheld PCs in association with ALK Technologies. It aims to make image capture a more seamless and coherent process, in which the return on investment is easier for operators to perceive.

The basic system is called hand-e-pix, and harnesses technology from Intellisync and Microsoft. It aims to offer not just provision for a mobile worker to photograph an object, but also GPS location, free text input and additional data such as date and time. The idea is to fix a photograph indelibly (or as near as possible) to a time and place, giving it more force as a proof of what happened in the field, and when.

The company is also working with ALK Technologies, supplier of the CoPilot range of truck navigation systems, which includes the FleetCenter GPS navigation and fleet location management system.

According to Handheld PCs' director and co-founder Pierre Lams: "Customers wanted to capture an image on their handheld device, pinpoint the image's geographic location and feed the information back to their office. We were surprised that this requirement wasn't already catered for."