Rugged Robot: Bluebird Pidion BIP-6000

bluebird-pidion-bip-6000If you’re an employer looking for an enterprise-level Android device that can withstand a beating you don’t really have many any options. But the folks at SDG Systems want to help you and are changing that by announcing an Android-capable version of their Bluebird Pidion BIP-6000. This isn’t any old Android: “The BIP-6000 meets the rigorous MIL-STD-810F military standards for drops, vibration, temperature, pressure, moisture, and sand and dust exposure, ensuring it can perform in harsh environments.”

Take that soldier – and in addition carry along these specs:

The device launches with Android 1.5 but will be upgradable to Android 2.x in coming months. Here is the company’s full press release:

ZELIENOPLE, PA, January 11, 2010 – SDG Systems, LLC (SDG) announced today the availability and support of Google® Android™ 1.5 (“Cupcake”) on the Bluebird® Pidion® BIP-6000. The Android release on the BIP-6000 is designed for ISVs, VARs and end users to develop and test Android commercial applications on an Enterprise-class, rugged, mobile computer. The BIP-6000 with Android features a fast 806 MHz processor, QWERTY or numeric keypad, 1D bar code scanning, 3MP camera with autofocus and flash, GSM voice, HSDPA 3G cellular data, and a VGA (480×640 resolution) 3.5″ TouchWindow LCD screen. The BIP-6000 meets the rigorous MIL-STD-810F military standards for drops, vibration, temperature, pressure, moisture, and sand and dust exposure, ensuring it can perform in harsh environments.”SDG Systems is pleased to be partnering with Bluebird Soft on the development of Android for the BIP-6000,” said Todd Blumer, President of SDG Systems. “The BIP-6000 provides a commercial, rugged platform on which to take advantage of the rich development environment that Android provides. We are enthusiastic about the opportunities that this combination brings to ISV and VAR partners, as well as end users. The growing presence of Android in the consumer marketplace and ease of use features will reduce training and implementation costs for corporations deploying applications to their users.” In addition to the standard Android features, SDG Systems supports a “kiosk mode,” enabling the development of single-purpose, mobile computers running Android.

The BIP-6000 now joins the rugged Trimble Nomad® as the only available rugged handheld devices running the Google Android operating system. Both are exclusively available from SDG Systems. This announcement further demonstrates SDG Systems’ ability to support Google Android on a variety of hardware platforms, and extends its Google Android developer program. While the initial implementation of Android is version 1.5, a subsequent release to Android 2.x is planned for late Q1 or early Q2, 2010. Pre-release versions of Android “Eclair” are available to developers. Android support for the BIP-6000’s 2D scanning and RFID capabilities are also planned for this time period. In addition, the BIP-6000 Android release supports the Printek FieldPro compact, rugged, mobile printer. Full specifications of the BIP-6000 are available on the SDG Systems’ web site.

[Via Engadget]

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