Android is no stranger to the battlefield, as multiple applications have been made with the platform for military operations. This time around, though, we’re seeing some hardware in the mix, the arm-mounted Android computer from General Dynamics.
The General Dynamics GD300 is an 8-ounce GPS unit that’s worn on the wrist, sports an 8 hour battery life, and has a touch screen that will allow a solder to navigate the device with their gloves on, which just sounds to be a resistive screen.
General Dynamics spokesperson Mike DiBiase had this to say about the device,
We expect the [device to] become the most important 8 ounces of tactical communications and situational awareness equipment that a warfighter can carry.
Those are some pretty positive words to say about the device, and the OS for that matter. The GD300, which reminds us of the Pip-Boy 3000 device from the game Fallout 3, runs on a 600Mhz CPU with a 3.5 inch touch screen, 8GB of flash memory onboard, a sunlight-readable display, and comes with your standard set of Android buttons.
The 3.5-inch touch-screen display lets warfighters move information around, zoom in or out or place digital ‘markers’ on tactical maps with the touch of a gloved finger.
The GD300 comes with military apps like the Tactical Ground Reporting (TIGR) System, which is currently being used in the military, pre-installed in the unit. Who knows if the GD300 will be the one military operations device that “warfighters” will come to rely on in the battlefield, or if there will be many different devices floating around in the future.
Either way, the GD300 looks like a good start, and the military praises Android for being so adaptive to their needs. Looks like being an open OS is more helpful that even Google may have thought. It’s cool to see that Android is being taken very seriously on so many different fronts, and it doesn’t seem like that will be slowing down anytime soon. We’ve already seen the Android car, let’s hope we see the Android Tank next.
[Via: TGDaily]