TMCnet Feature

Radio and communications equipment maker Harris has launched its first-ever tablet device, a ruggedized Android (News - Alert)-based slate designed with military personnel and first responders in mind.

Although the majority of Android tablets have yet to garner significant consumer interest, the Harris Ruggedized Tablet offers a few unique advantages that the iPad can't deliver. In addition to operating on 3G and 4G networks, the 7-inch model can connect to military and public safety communications platforms that are more secure in nature.

The idea is that soldiers and emergency personnel can access and share mission-critical software applications and secure databases on the battlefield and in first responder roles. The tablet includes support for video, monitoring position locations and various intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.

The RF-3590 further differentiates itself from competing tablets with its rugged design. The tablet was built to operate in less than ideal environments, including areas of extreme and prolonged heat and cold. The tablet also sports a digital compass, pressure and temperature gauges and proximity/ambient light sensors.

"The new Harris tablet builds on our leadership in mission-critical communications to provide a powerful device for processing mission-critical information," Dana Mehnert, group president, Harris RF Communications, noted in a statement. "This tablet was fully designed for the tactical and public safety environment with optimized features for reading in sunlight and size, weight and power. As an Android device, the tablet also is fully upgradeable for emerging applications."

In addition to its military-focused features, Harris' new slate includes all the bells and whistles of most of your consumer tablets, including an accelerometer, USB and Ethernet data interfaces and a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor. It also holds up to 128 GB of internal non-volatile memory.

Military users can connect the tablet to the Harris Falcon Networking System, which war fighters use to gain access to the tactical cloud.

The timing of the launch may be just about perfect. The tablet has recently grown from a consumer device to an enterprise tool, and is started to gain some traction in the armed forces. Bloomberg (News - Alert) reports that the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command is considering buying as many as 18,000 iPad 2s for its flight crew.