Motorola Intros Enterprise-Ready Android TabletMotorola Intros Enterprise-Ready Android Tablet

Motorola ET1 Tablet

Motorola Solutions Monday announced the ET1, an enterprise-class Android tablet for frontline workers. This semi-rugged handheld computer is meant to aid field workforce and other mobile professionals that need a tougher tablet than what's available to consumers.

The Motorola ET1 features a small, seven-inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels at 350 nit (display brightness). It is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass. Motorola says the bezel surrounding the display can be customized to match the customer's branding. It is a rugged device, though Motorola didn't suggest it is bulletproof. It was designed to "withstand multiple bumps and drops during the workday," which means it can handle everyday wear-and-tear.

Other hardware facets include the ability to hot-swap batteries. It has a backup battery that will maintain the integrity of local data for up to 15 minutes while the user fumbles through a briefcase for the backup battery. It also has options including an integrated barcode scanner, a magnetic stripe reader, and Bluetooth mobile-payment terminals and printers.

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Under the hood, the ET1 is powered by a 1-GHz dual-core OMAP4 processor that has access to 1 GB of RAM. It has 4 GB of built-in storage, plus a 4-GB microSD card (expandable up to 32 GB). It runs Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, with "enhanced enterprise functionality." It will ship with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and GPS radios for connectivity. It doesn't appear that Motorola will offer a 3G version of the ET1.

It includes rear- and front-facing cameras. The front-facing camera has been optimized for video chatting, or, as Motorola says in its marketing materials, "video collaboration" (sounds more professional that way, don't you think?). The rear-facing camera offers 8 megapixel, with autofocus, flash, backside illumination, and the ability to read both 1D and 2D bar codes.

The ET1 weighs a respectable 1.4 pounds and measures 5.14 inches x 0.98 inches x 8.82 inches (130.5mm x 25mm x 224mm). It is powered by a 4260-mAh lithium ion battery, and has two USB ports as well as an HDMI-out port.

In addition to its hardware features, the ET1 will come with a ton of enterprise-ready software, such as assisted selling, mobile point of sale, manager electronic dashboards, planogram management, item locator, RhoElements HTML5 application framework, and more.

The ET1 will be available from Motorola's enterprise sales channels in the fourth quarter of the year. Pricing wasn't announced, but be prepared for it to cost more than Motorola Mobility's Xoom, which has a full retail price of $799.