RSSFord Demos Mobile Office in a Truck
By Ed Oswald | Published November 1, 2005, 2:14 PM
Ford on Tuesday demonstrated a truck that can double as an office at the Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show, an annual event for automotive specialty parts manufacturers in Las Vegas.
The company teamed up with Microsoft as well as Stargate Mobile to create a truck that would be useful for contractors who spend a good deal of their workday out in the field. The truck is a customized F-250 Super Duty and includes a GPS unit, wireless broadband connectivity, a printer and digital camera-enabled tablet computer.
Ford is currently developing the feature to make it available as a dealer-installed option beginning next year. Ford says a contractor could use the system to order and purchase supplies, bid on jobs, and even process payments right from the truck.
"F-Series is all about getting the job done, and this new mobile office technology will fit our truck owners' needs to be on the go as their business demands," said Marty Collins, marketing manager at Ford.
The computer runs off the battery power of the vehicle and will be supplied with a cradle for secure mounting. However, if needed, the owner can remove the unit and use it as a normal tablet, or add an optional keyboard as necessary.
Although it technically could be considered a Tablet PC, the device runs on Windows XP Professional, with additional customized software from Stargate Mobile.
"This system is very user-friendly and properly packages the technology for ease-of-use for the contractor or business-owner that travels to multiple work sites," Collins added.
GlobeTel is in the final stages of presenting their military prototype to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (The next 8 weeks will be very interesting)
http://www.sanswire.com/press/20051011.html
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The Stratellite will drastically bring down the cost of the mobile office!
http://www.sanswire.com/stratellites.htm
http://www.globetel.net
http://www.matthewbest.com/GlobeTel
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So when we have bad storms the Stratellite will not function well, much like satellite TV?
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The Stratellite is above the clouds and aircraft. (65,000 feet) Because the Stratellite is only 13 miles from the ground, the signals are many times more stronger.
Satellites are thousands of miles high and the signals must also fight through the earth's atmosphere. -MrBest7
http://www.matthewbest.com/GlobeTel
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I am willing to bet that some storms will cause a lot of problems with these if they are used widely. I like the idea, as I did with satellites, but like the satellites it will fail in time when people get sick of the crap. Unless we make vast improvements in the next few years. I understand what you are saying and what the articles say, but man always thinks that they have it right and as you can see with everything in our lives everyday, nothing works like it is suppose to all of the time. I know that there are people out there that will stand by satellites 100% and may have never had a problem with them, good for them.
I do hope that they will work well.
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I use to work for a company that did this. It was about 5 or 6 years ago. It was called Mobile Office Enterprise. http://mobiledesk.com/ If you wanted cdma wireless internet we could help you find it. (it was a little harder back then) As I stated I do not work for them now. It was just a nice idea. For some reason Ford didn't think it was back then, but now look at them. They do come with warnings about using while driving, but what do the people that drive while eating, talking on the phone, and taking notes care.
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Total your truck and office at the same time!
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Please, Ford, make this work only while the truck is NOT in gear. The cell phone addicts are dangerous enough! I can see someone going down the road playing Battlefield or some such nonsense.
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That is a good point, but I don't think making it not work at all when it's not in gear is the solution. What if you have a business partner or a kid who wants to play games while on trips?
Sounds like to me as if it's just a laptop, stand, GPS software, and power plug.
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I think it would get stolen rather easily actually.
I mean come on, someone who robs cars will now look into Ford trucks for these Tablet PC's. Since it's detachable, they can take it.
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I agree, a business partner, other passengers, or children should be free to use it. But you know where this is going.They need to come up with some way to keep the driver from using it. And if it catches on and goes over in the ford trucks, soon it will be in cars, and with other manufacturers. I can see it now, a cell phone in one hand in one ear, and the other hand on the keyboard. lol People will need to start growing more than two arms!!
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Like this? http://www.rareads.com/scans1/25018.jpg
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More eyes and a second brain. I don't know what you have seen, but most of the drivers I have seen on the phone while driving aren't doing a very good job of driving and I would say that about 90% of them run lights and almost hit you all of the time.
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Second brain wouldnt help, these people dont use the one they already have. lol
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LOL
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haha. Yeah, like that. Thats a good one.
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