Ultra-rugged, waterproof, multi-talented handheld with 5-megapixel camera
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

Two Technologies, headquartered in Horsham, PA, has been designing and manufacturing customizable, rugged handheld computer and terminal products for industrial and commercial applications for over 20 years. With over 400 GEM partners, 4,000 customers and over a million products in the field, their computers and terminals can be found in a multitude of different applications and fields.

In August of 2008, Two Technologies introduced the ultra-rugged Hydrus handheld computer designed to provide maximum battery life in the harshest environments. Dual rechargeable Li-Ion packs with a capacity of 36 watt-hours are good for over 40 hours, supporting a wide variety of field applications through several shifts. Its case is made of Xenoy, a resign developed by General Electric to provide chemical resistance, superior impact resistance even at low temperatures, and heat resistance under the worst of conditions.

The Hydrus, which weighs about 2.4 pounds with batteries installed, carries outstanding IP67/IP68 sealing, where the "6" stands for total protection against dust penetration, and the "8" for total protection against immersion in water (we don't know how deep, exactly). Add to that a 4-foot drop spec and an extremely wide operating temperature range from -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and you have a machine that can operate practically anywhere.

Like the company's JETT.eye, the Hydrus has a 5.17-megapixel (4-megapixel processed) CMOS color imager with auto focus an illuminator that can take pictures or read bar codes (Code 128, Code 39, Code 2 of 5, EAN-13, PDF417, UPC and several more). Special development and application software is available for the camera.

The Hydrus uses one of the fastest currently available PXA processor (the 624MHz "Bulverde" PXA270) with easily configurable and customizable current and legacy components. It runs Microsoft Windows CE 5.0, includes Bluetooth and 802.11b WiFi, has 256MB of RAM plus 2GB to 32GB of Flash storage. The display is a landscape-mode 320 x 240 pixel outdoor viewable color LCD measuring 3.5 inches diagonally. There is a 55-key alphanumeric keypad that is fully customizable. Keys are shear-proof and can be operated with gloves and provide a keyboard-like feel.

The Hydrus can be equipped with RFID reader, laser scanner, GPS, imagers, cameras and even custom peripherals via the company's JETT*PACK expansion module technology.

With its ultra-rugged design, very long battery life and customized keyboard, the Hydrus is perfectly suited for all sorts of outdoor applications in vertical markets where durability, operational longevity as well as flexible operations are mandatory. Examples are law enforcement (meter reading/traffic), agriculture, environmental (water testing), security (crowd control), fleet management and even the hospitality sectors.