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Symbol's mobile package turns drivers into salesmen

Symbol has always specialised in expensive, ultra-rugged versions of mobile technology platforms, and has finally come out with a PocketPC platform - which it has sold to Pepsico for delivery salesmen.

The product is probably unique in PocketPC terms, not just because it can be safely dropped five feet onto concrete, or because it is water-proof; but because it is being sold as a manageable system for corporate users, complete with wireless.

So it includes the inevitable laser bar-code scanner, so that products can be accurately checked on the shelves and in the van; but it also includes an 802.11b WLAN card slotted into a hidden PCMCIA pouch deep inside the box, and it allows you to plug in a CompactFlash card, too. And it is designed to show good quality video so that drivers can demonstrate the latest TV commercials or promotions to shopkeepers.

Symbol marketing director Bob Schreib introduced the Pepsico box -PDT8000 - to Europe today, with the message that "the development of wireless in the last 18 months means a lot of people can now actually do things that previously, they could just imagine but couldn't implement."

He also said that this really would render notebook PCs redundant for a lot of users. "In the past, before you had this sort of wireless integration, and multimedia capability, you'd have to carry the hand-held scanner for stock taking, and the notebook to hold update data and to show videos or displays. Now it's all in the one device."

This is the first PocketPC after Toshiba to use Intel's xScale PXA250 processor, which means that there is still some optimising for power management to do, Symbol admitted - but power management isn't crucial for this application, because the device is normally plugged into the deliveyr van cab, where it trickle charges between sales visits.

The wireless LAN software is always searching for a network and Pepsi has one at the entrance to its depots - so by the time the van is parked, stock-keepers already know which items are under-stocked and which don't need to be replenished. There's no waiting until the van driver has checked the device into the dock.

But the WLAN card also talks to the receipt printer in the van; so as soon as the customer has finished accepting deliveries, the driver can tear the comfirmation paper off the roll.

Data security: there's a special back-up battery in the case, capable of retaining the 128 meg of RAM for 72 hours after the main battery runs down - if that should ever happen.

Future developments of this device will include a version of the PocketPC Phone edition, and an integrated GPS location device, said Schreib.