Harris
Latest
Harris new rugged tablet brings Honeycomb to your local combat-zone
Harris makes the tough tech you'd expect to see census takers (leave it), NFL stadiums and public buses toting around. It's introducing a new 7-inch Android tablet that's so hard-as-nails it would make a Galaxy Tab go home and call its mother. The Harris RF-3590 packs a 1024 x 600 multitouch display, a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM, 2 and 8-megapixel front and rear-facing cameras and comes running Honeycomb. There's plenty of connection options with the usual WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth supplanted by a cellular connection, Ethernet, HDMI, SD and USB holes. It'll come with a 64GB SSD as standard but you can upgrade it to 128GB if you've got the moolah. Designed for soldiers in the battlefield, when stealth isn't necessary you can even activate voice control and bark your orders into the pair of microphones included. There's no word on pricing or availability, presumably because if you want to pick one of these up, you probably need to be called "General," and not just because you're good at Starcraft.[Thanks, Mike]
KnightHawk 3G network-in-a-box breaks soldiers' backs, helps them get online anywhere
While it's easy enough to envision soldiers scaling battlegrounds with portable hotspots in tow, it's a useless solution for warriors deployed to remote areas that have patchy service to begin with. Enter the KnightHawk 3G, a rugged network-in-a-box that cooks up connectivity in otherwise uncovered areas. The self-contained WCDMA network runs over the 2100MHz spectrum, promising download speeds as fast as 14.4mbps and max upload rates of 5.76mbps. It has capacity for up to 60 simultaneous voice calls and can handle 14 HSPA connections at a time. And it'll help keep our troops in top shape -- you can't tell from the photos, but that thing weighs 45 pounds. %Gallery-121824%
LG adds 'Tweet-TV' enabled Android phone to its list of Mobile DTV prototypes
Whenever mobile digital television broadcasts finally take off LG will be ready and its latest concept design -- following the autostereoscopic 3D screen shown at CES -- is the Tweet-TV pictured above. At the National Association of Broadcasters show this week it's demonstrating the prototype Android phone with a Harris MDTV antenna that also pulls in relevant tweets and displays them over the broadcast being watched. Whether or not a dose of social networking will help MDTV succeed where others have failed remains to be seen but first we'll see if it manages to reach 40% of the US population later this year. The press release and a bigger picture follow after the break.
US Army developing mobile apps for soldiers in the field
According to Computerworld, US soldiers may soon be carrying some familiar devices into battle: iPhones and iPads. Two military contractors, Harris and Intelligent Software Solutions (ISS), are building applications for the iPhone, iPad and the Android platform that will assist soldiers deployed to the battlefield. Harris' forthcoming app for the iPad and other tablet devices enables a soldier on the ground to remotely control the video cameras on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in order to gather intelligence on enemy movements. Soldiers would use multi-touch gestures to transmit commands from the iPad to the aircraft without putting themselves in harm's way. Video from the UAV, along with time and location data, would be sent to the app and transmitted to military decision-makers located anywhere in the world. ISS is close to field testing apps for iPhone and Android phones that keep soldiers -- especially those first arriving in a war zone -- informed about nearby fighting, bombings and arrests. The app keeps troops on the ground well prepared by superimposing battlefield data, sent wirelessly from a command center, onto a map of each soldier's surroundings. According to both developers, the new apps promise to drive down equipment and training costs for the military. For example, many soldiers are already veteran iOS or Android users and will likely understand the new software with less training than would be required for custom-built gear. Additionally, the new software runs on comparatively inexpensive, off-the-shelf devices priced at US$300 to $800 each. "They [the military] are using $10,000 wireless receivers today, but with mobile devices costing $400, those can be ruggedized [with cases and other gear] and the costs are minimal," said John Delay, director of architectures for emerging business at Harris, which will demonstrate its new app at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas next month. Unfortunately, even an encased iPad or iPhone may more frequently succumb to the rigors of battle. But Rob Rogers, vice president of national systems for ISS, is optimistic that the Army will still be able to save money. "We've seen first-hand what happens to a laptop used in the desert [in combat], so there's going to be some problem with ... these [mobile consumer] devices that are fairly inexpensive and almost disposable," said Rogers. "But if they break or get dust in them, you don't have to shell out a lot to replace them." He adds, "It's a trade-off. I would anticipate a lot of broken Androids and iPhones." The loss of a few good iDevices is a small price to pay for solutions that safely provide soldiers with the intelligence they need to make life-saving decisions. [via Engadget]
Apple and Android get drafted, soldier-centric Army apps coming soon
If we referred to an Apple or Android army, you might assume we're talking about a legion of brand-loyal fanboys, with which most Engadget commenters are intimately familiar. Defense contractors, however, are trying to turn the US Army into a lethal Apple / Android force with soldier-centric apps. Harris Corp. has a tablet app in the works that allows soldiers to control IP cameras on UAVs for more pertinent intel on the ground while simultaneously sending that information to command centers anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, Intelligent Software Solutions aims to bring mapping mashups to the battlefield (no purpose-built device needed) with an app that combines smartphones' geolocation with historical data to show troops what's been going down in the area -- from IED explosions to insurgent arrests. Best of all, these apps lower training costs since most warriors are already fluent in Android or iOS and the consumer handhelds can be cheaply ruggedized to replace the more robust $10,000 units in the field today. Should protective measures fail, the devices' (relatively) low replacement cost makes them "almost disposable."
Will the DTV transition get more people watching OTA television?
With mere hours separating us from an analog TV broadcast-free existence, Harris has released poll results indicating many may switch to free OTA broadcasts, shutting off their current cable and satellite subscriptions. The way we see it, the 55 percent indicating they were either somewhat or very likely to switch to antenna probably represent many people who are only just finding out you can get HDTV without paying for service -- not to mention those who are paying and not even watching high definition at all. Still, with the channels available on digital TV broadcasts plus online streaming, there's a lot more choices, anyone else stepping back from their pay-TV habit?
Raleigh, North Carolina buses get on-board DTV
Planning to hop on a bus in Raleigh, North Carolina anytime soon? Then there's a chance you could be treated to an added distraction during your trip, as the city has just rolled out its first CAT bus equipped with mobile DTV, which looks to be one of the first projects resulting from those MPH tests that took place last year. This little bit of magic also comes courtesy of a little help from LG and Harris Corp., who are supplying the displays and mobile transmission equipment for the pilot program, which will be expanded to five buses by August, with another 20 planned for the second phase that'll run though August 2010. Of course, your viewing options will be somewhat limited, with a simulcast of local station WRAL apparently the only channel on tap, along with some weather information and, of course, a healthy dose of advertising. [Thanks, Dana]
Harris' HTC-made Census handheld hits the FCC
Harris Corp's HTC-made Census handheld may only be a shadow of its former self now that the Census Bureau has decided not to use it for any actual census-taking, but that doesn't mean it can hang its head in shame forever, and it's now popped up to make an encore appearance at the FCC. Thankfully, this time around the FCC folks have snapped plenty of pics of the device, including a look at its innards, which you can find at the link below. Otherwise, the device appears to be mostly unchanged, with it still boasting the same fingerprint security, and EVDO and WiFi connectivity, albeit without any voice capabilities. One of the few things getting changed, it seems, is the device's battery -- which, given recent developments, is likely one of the last upgrades it needed.[Via Register Hardware, thanks Michael]
Saudi TV selects Harris for HD studio upgrade
France 2 isn't the only network gearing up to undergo an HD upgrade to its studios, as Saudi TV has just awarded Harris a contract to freshen up its Dammam facility. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture & Information has tapped Harris for a fourth time in order to construct a facility packing a pair of HD studio control rooms for news and production. Furthermore, the project "marks the first Middle East application of the Harris Intrinsic Mirroring SAN-based fault tolerance technology, the latest advance in NEXIO server storage protection." Sadly, there's no timeframe given for when residents of the area can look forward to seeing a difference from the upgrade, but rest assured, it's on the way.
Census Bureau goes forward with plans to ditch PDAs
While it doesn't exactly come as a surprise given recent developments, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has now told a House subcommittee that the Census Bureau will in fact be ditching its much-ballyhooed PDAs in favor of paper and pencil for the 2010 census. According to the AP, that fairly drastic move comes as part of a package of changes that will ultimately add as much as $3 billion to the cost of the census, bringing the total cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 billion. Among other things, Gutierrez said that a "lack of effective communication with one of our key contractors" was one of the factors that "significantly contributed to the challenges." The handhelds will apparently still see some use during the census, however, although only for verifying street addresses using the PDA's GPS functionality. For its part, Harris Corp. (which had the contract to provide the PDAs) put the best spin on things, saying that it was "encouraged that automation and the adoption of new technology is moving forward, even if in a more narrowly focused fashion." Of course, it's still getting its $600 million+, so it can't really complain all that much.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Problems with census PDAs could prompt a return to pencil and paper
Harris Corp. may have nothing but good things to say about the HTC-made PDAs it's planning to supply for use in the 2010 census, but it looks like the handhelds are already starting to cause plenty of headaches for census officials, who are reportedly even considering a return to pencil and paper if things can't be resolved. As the AP reports, the problems start with the contract for the devices, which originally clocked in at $596 million, has since grown to $647 million, and could eventually balloon to as much as $2 billion. As if that wasn't enough, the handheld has also apparently proven to be "too complex" for some of the temporary census workers that took part in a test last year, and the device was reportedly "not initially programmed to transmit the large amounts of data necessary." As a result, census officials are now said to be considering a number of different options to scale back the use of the devices, only one of which apparently actually has the headcounters entering data into 'em as they go door-to-door.
Harris to hook 31 NFL stadiums up with HD instant replay
Although instant replay has its fair share of supporters and critics, it's here to stay in the NFL, and if you're hoping that the grainy SD playback that refs have to review might lead to a beneficial miscue, don't count on it. The NFL has teamed with Harris Corporation to install 33 NEXIO HD servers (plus 33 more for redundancy), an HD version of FORCE (Football Officiating Replay Challenge Expeditor) software, and routing / distribution gear that will enable officials to look back at questionable plays in "stunning high-definition." Every NFL stadium but three -- the ones "being replaced" in Irving, TX, Indianapolis, IN, and East Rutherford, NJ -- will be equipped with high-definition equipment and recabled "before the upcoming season." As expected, such (potentially superfluous) upgrades won't come without selling quite a few grossly overpriced sodas and soft pretzels, as it's estimated to cost each club around $300,000.Read - NFL Instant Replay becomes permanentRead - Harris to provide HD equipment to NFL
LG / Harris announce In-Band mobile DTV system
Ah, yet another technology that looks oh-so-promising from the onset, but quickly becomes dulled when wading through the technical jargon required to understand it. So is the case with digital television broadcasting, but Harris Corporation and LG Electronics don't seem to mind the complexities involved in establishing a new In-Band Mobile DTV service, as the duo has just announced the means to allow broadcasters to "create new markets and revenue streams" -- but besides all that -- give the end-user yet another option when it comes to TV on the go. Reportedly backwards compatible with A-VSB transmission and receiving equipment, the forthcoming Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld (MPH) applications should theoretically allow DTV broadcasters to beam signals to set-top-boxes in the home and mobile devices simultaneously via the same antenna. Additionally, this technology enables HD programming to hit the couch-dwelling customers, while bandwidth-starved cellphone users will still get vanilla SD content without relying on new (read: pricey) hardware on the broadcasting end. Unfortunately, we've no idea when mass deployment of this stuff is scheduled, but you can still look forward to "field testing results" as well as mysterious "extra details" to be divulged in a few short weeks.
Harris is showing off 1080p broadcast TV equipment at NAB2007
Is broadcast 1080p content really in our near future? Probably not, but that's not stopping Harris from showing off its broadcast solutions with support for 3Gb/s bandwidth (enough for current 720p, 1080i and of course "full" HD 1080p resolutions) at NAB2007 . The idea is that stations looking to upgrade their equipment can future-proof themselves by purchasing compatible equipment. It still remains to be seen if 1080p will make sense for broadcast TV but if we can get content from more than just Blu-ray and HD DVD players (or PCs) we'll definitely take it.
