Soon, Every Soldier Can Carry an Android Phone
It’s not the first time we’ve heard of the military’s desire to utilize consumer hardware and software for general and mission-specific use, but General Michael Vane of the United States Army has reiterated the forces’ plans to bring the latest consumer electronic devices into the battlefield. He cites how quickly a consumer device can go from concept to production, and how quickly they can go from bringing the devices straight from store shelves to being equipped with the necessary hardware and software a soldier would need to go about his daily business.
The initiative is being called CSDA: Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications. It goes right along with a competition the Army held not too long ago where our code-endowed – and fighting – men and women created applications for cash prizes and consideration for further official development from the Army. All sorts of apps were created: biometrics, information and survival guides, GPS-based coordination and communication systems. You name it, the Army wants to put it on today’s phones instead of hardware built from the ground up.
Androids and iPhones would take the charge, of course, but they didn’t leave out the possibility of using other devices and operating systems. From the way Vane explained things, it sounds like they’d want the soldiers to choose which technology to go with, but in the end they all may have to end up using the same platform. Hopefully Android does just as well at the bases of our armed forces as it does on citizen streets around the world. [via Register Hardware]