Oct/Nov 2006

A new range of "wearable" mobile computers/scanners system for high-performance computing in extreme environments has been launched by Symbol, and comes as standard with support for voice-only and text-only operation, plus a combination of voice and text.

The weight is just 320g including battery, and both wrist-mount and hip-mount adapters are available.

In developing the WT4000 series, Symbol says it had in mind applications such as order picking, receiving, replenishment, loading, maintenance and repair, as well as applications in package sorting and handling.

Behind the scenes, the WT4000 is a Windows CE 5.0 Professional computer, with a quarter-VGA colour screen and 23 alphanumeric keys. It features the fast 520MHz version of Intel's XScale processor, with 64MB of flash memory and 128MB of RAM.

 

It is rated at IP54 for water and dust resistance, and has the ability to withstand dropping from 4ft on to concrete (not that this should happen if the unit is strapped on securely). Operating temperature range is from minus 20 deg C to plus 50 deg C.

Among the first UK users is Target Express, which says it chose Symbol wearable mobile computers plus its MC3090 series of mobile computers because "they offered all of the features needed to connect our people in real time and drive our business expansion," according to Chris Bale, information technology director.