Motorola announces integrated GPS functionality for market-leading MC70 Enterprise Digital Assistant

This new option of Motorola's fastest-selling rugged mobile computer will allow organisations with field-based employees, such as postal companies, to track and manage dynamic, real-time tasking, as well as verify specific locations of activities and pro-vide mobile workers with pinpoint navigation support to improve location-based productiv-ity.

The MC70 has been widely embraced for its lightweight, ergonomic design and ability to withstand the rigours of everyday use in harsh environments. Protected against a variety of environmental risks, including frequent drops to concrete, and exposure to water, dust and ex-treme temperatures, the MC70 is optimised for both indoor and outdoor applications.

With over a quarter of a million MC70 devices being used by mobile workers each day, this device is already allowing enterprises to seamlessly connect their workers to their back office systems leading to increased productivity and customer service. Now with new locationing capabilities, Motorola's MC70 is once again connecting people and products to information resources, and transforming businesses - making them more efficient and responsive to cus-tomers to gain a competitive advantage.

"Enterprise customers today have come to expect seamless information exchange with their service providers, and this relies fundamentally upon accurate, real-time information from field workers" said David Picton, industry director for logistics, Motorola's Enterprise Mobil-ity business. "For example, mail and express enterprises need to know exactly where their packages and workers are in order to operate in a highly-competitive market. The GPS loca-tioning functionality in the MC70 will allow them to ensure that their pickup and deliveries occur at the right place at the right time - the essence of enterprise mobility."

The MC70 EDA delivers flexibility and global coverage with converged voice and data cap-ture. Utilising SIRF III technology, the MC70 GPS-enabled EDA will continue to provide feature rich functionality including barcode data and signature capture in addition to wide area connectivity with support for high-speed EDGE networks, wireless 802.11a/b/g net-works and Bluetooth.

One company that has created software compatible with the Motorola MC70 is ALK Tech-nologies, with its award-winning CoPilot® Live navigation system. CoPilot Live takes full advantage of the device's in-built GPS receiver and mobile Internet connectivity to provide business-specific satellite navigation with integrated fleet management - all in one data cen-tric device.

"We are already witnessing how professional satellite navigation can help improve the effi-ciency of mobile work forces of all sizes by reducing driver stress and significantly decreas-ing wasted mileage between appointments," said Dan Popkin, sales director of ALK Tech-nologies Ltd. "In addition, integrated fleet management improves communication with field workers and helps businesses demonstrate their Duty of Care to their mobile employees."

The GPS-enabled MC70 will be showcased in Barcelona at Post Expo 2007 and at the IT Convergence Show in Paris in October 2007. The MC70 GPS version will be available for sale worldwide in the first quarter of 2008.