FR68

MOTOROLA has released two handheld computers for the ­enterprise-market that were designed in Asia and built ­specially with the Asian market in mind.

As such, the FR68 and FR6000 Enterprise Digital Assistants (EDAs), which run Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, have a number of features customised for Asians.

For example, both models are designed to be much smaller to fit the smaller Asian hands and are offered with a choice of localised keypads for five languages, such as Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English.

The machines are ruggedised versions of a high-end Windows Mobile 6.1 handheld, running on Marvell’s XScale PXA312 624MHz ARM processor.

FR6000

It has a 320 x 240-pixel 2.8in touchscreen, built-in 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with flash, microSD slot, WiFi, Assisted-GPS, and a laser barcode-scanner.

Both models are also mobile phones which can handle data and voice calls, being quad-band GSM with HSDPA on some models so that users can transfer data to and from a central office.

They are made to withstand in-the-field use and are compliant with IP-54 water-resistance ­standards.

The FR68 and FR6000 are nearly identical in terms of features, differing in the shape (the FR68 is more pocketable), while the FR6000 has a Compact Flash expansion slot for attaching a ­variety of I/O devices like credit card readers and portable printers.

Motorola sells the new ­handhelds together with software from some 1,000 channel partners which offer customisations for the various industries and market segments the units will be sold in, such as healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain and utilities.

Motorola also offers a “service from the start” programme which is a subscription-based service and maintenance deal which offers repair of the covered handheld for any damage caused, for whatever reason.

The cheapest model is priced at US$1,388 (about RM4,858) while it is US$1,988 (RM6,958) for the top-of-the-line FR6000, without service agreements and software customisations. — TAN KIT HOONG