 |
CASEY CAMPBELL | Gazette-Times
Dan Benedict takes the back off of a TDS Nomad as he prepares to test the device at Tripod Data Systems.
|
Tripod Data Systems unveils handheld aimed at �outdoor rugged’ market
By BENNETT HALL
Gazette-Times business editor
The shelving units behind Bill Martin’s desk have steel covers, lending a sleek, modern look to his office in the Corvallis headquarters of Tripod Data Systems. They also double as a product-testing device.
“We want to distinguish ourselves as being truly rugged,” Martin explains, holding up a TDS Recon, one of the company’s handheld mobile computing devices for outdoor workers.
Then comes the demonstration.
Without warning, Martin hurls the paperback-sized Recon at the steel-covered cabinet like a pitcher throwing a fastball.
Wham! It ricochets across the room, somehow managing not to hit any of the visitors in Martin’s office. He picks it up off the floor and punches the power button.
“Yep,” he announces. “It still works. It’s gonna withstand as much of the outdoors as you can.”
It’s a dramatic way to make a point, but that’s the challenge TDS faces: How to differentiate itself in the minds of customers from the growing number of manufacturers trying to pitch their products as standing up to rough-and-tumble use.
“�Rugged’ has been used loosely,” Martin said. “What we’ve been trying to do is position ourselves as �outdoor rugged.’”
That phrase was all over the marketing push for this month’s launch of the Nomad, the company’s third handheld computing device and the successor to the Recon, which debuted in 2003. Like its predecessor, it’s designed for heavy-duty field use by surveyors, firefighters, law enforcement officers, foresters, utility and construction workers, and others who work outdoors.
About the size of a brick, the Nomad weighs 21 ounces and has far more computing horsepower than its predecessor, with an 806 MHz processor and up to a full gigabyte of flash memory, allowing users to run complex applications and carry lots of data with them in the field. It ranges in price from $1,699 to $2,499, depending on options.
The Nomad has a high-resolution transflective screen that performs well even in direct sunlight. It runs the Windows Mobile 6 operating system, with the full suite of Microsoft Office programs for word processing, e-mail, spreadsheets and slide presentations. The entry-level model has Bluetooth technology for wireless communication. An upgraded version has 802.11g networking and GPS capabilities, and the device can be configured with a built-in digital camera and barcode scanner.
It meets military specifications for resistance to impact, vibration, altitude, heat and cold, and it’s guaranteed to stay waterproof for at least 30 minutes at a depth of one meter.
And, naturally, the whole thing comes wrapped in a yellow-and-black color scheme that just screams “outdoor rugged.” Think North Face parkas or Caterpillar tractors.
Founded in 1987, Tripod Data Systems started out making data collection software for land surveyors, eventually growing to dominate the market. TDS Survey Pro ran well on the HP48, but life in the field was hard on calculators built for indoor use, and in 2000 the company entered the fledgling market for rugged handheld devices with the Ranger. Aimed squarely at the surveying industry, it was one of the first PDAs truly built for outdoor workers.
That same year, the company was bought by Trimble Navigation Ltd., a maker of GPS equipment headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. Today TDS employs 160 people in Corvallis.
The Recon was an effort to capture a bigger slice of the mobile outdoor worker market, Martin said.
“That’s been very successful,” he said. “That really launched a new business for TDS.”
In the four years since that product came out, however, other competitors have entered the fray and muddied the outdoor rugged waters. The Nomad is TDS’ bid to leapfrog that competition and reaffirm the company’s primacy in a field it helped create.
“We have two competitors when it comes to rugged handheld devices. One is paper and pencil. The other is consumer devices, which you can buy for about half the price of Nomad,” Martin said.
“We can command a premium for a rugged device, but if the gap gets too big between a consumer and a rugged device, then it gets to be a harder sell.”
The stakes are substantial. The best estimates suggest the U.S. market for outdoor rugged mobile computers is currently worth about $1.2 billion and will swell to $2.2 billion by 2010.
“So it’s huge,” Martin said. “All you need is a little piece and you can be very successful.”
|
|
You must be logged
in to comment.
It's free and quick!
|
|
|
 |
RSS 
GT Reader Comments