NEW YORK --In the wake of its agreement last week to be acquired by Motorola Inc., Symbol Technologies Inc. today released details of a new generation of wearable computers targeted primarily at bar code scanning in warehouse and package-picking environments.
The WT4000 family, as the new generation is known, is Symbol's third-generation wearable computer. The wearable computer weighs 11.3 ounces and is built to withstand a four-foot drop. The 2.8-inch color display is an improvement on the smaller, monochrome screens of earlier generations, and provides backlighting that is intended to illuminate data even in poorly lit warehouses.
A wrist strap with a plastic mount serves as the housing for the computer, which snaps onto the mount to enable hands-free operation. Alternately, the device can be worn on the hip, and also offers optional voice recognition functionality. A ring scanner -- the reader that drives many distribution center functions -- connects to the WT4000 via a cord and an updated connection point. That updated connection precludes any older Symbol scanners from functioning with the new computer.
Two models of scanner work with the WT4000: the longer-range RS309 can read bar codes at distances of up to 8 to 10 feet. That, explained Juliet Chon, senior product manager for Symbol's mobile computing division in an interview at a press conference here, makes it ideal for forklift drivers in distribution centers, who must scan bar codes at range without stopping the lift and dismounting to approach a pallet or box. The RS309 attaches to the back of the operator's hand. It is able to function in temperatures as cold as -30 Celsius.
The shorter-range RS409, which can read codes up to four to five feet away, is a ring scanner that is worn on the user's finger. Chon said this model is normally used at very close range, for instance, by mail sorters along an assembly line.
Over the course of a shift, operators can switch the Intel-powered device from the left arm to the right with minimal adjustments. The computer itself runs on Windows CE 5.0, and the data collected via the scanner can either be synched in real time with a warehouse management system or processed in batch mode at the end of a shift.
Chon noted that the global logistics service provider TNT Logistics uses Symbol's wearable products in both ways. In its more advanced global distribution centers, TNT works in real time to update the database of record with the product information being scanned. In some of its less-developed sites, TNT works in batch fashion. For the latter, the WT4000 features 64 megabytes of Flash memory and 128 megabytes of RAM.
The price for the WT4000 wearable computer will be $2,790, company officials said. The RS309 scanner will run between $1,000 and $1200, depending on the configuration, while the RS409 lists for $850. The product will be officially released next month.
Symbol's first wearable computer debuted in 1992. Its second-generation wearable, called the WSS1000, hit the market in late 1996. Alistair Hamilton, vice president of corporate innovation and design, told Managing Automation that Symbol's customers appreciate the longevity of the devices, but noted that after 10 years, it was time to deliver a new product.
Hamilton said the product development department maintained a "customer wish list" of features that users wanted to see in future products. R&D on the WT4000 began about two years ago, he said, and the engineering effort began in earnest approximately a year ago. Chon estimated that this latest wearable product will be on the market for three to five years before another generation emerges.
Battery life for the device, according to company officials, averages a full eight-hour shift. Variables such as wireless activity and the number of scans can cut into that span. Hamilton confided that Symbol had actually tested the possibilities surrounding wireless power transfer -- which would eliminate the need for the added weight of batteries and the time limits they place on conventional wireless devices -- but said the effort was largely abandoned because the power loss across distances was too great.
As for the company's overall product portfolio, in the years leading up to the Motorola acquisition, Symbol has carved out a space for itself among the leaders in enterprise mobility tools, and brings to the Motorola stable big-name customers such as Pepsi Co., Wal-Mart, and FedEx.
Gerry McNerney, senior director of transportation, distribution, and logistics for Symbol's Industry Solutions Group, said he believes Symbol brings a strong value proposition to the table. "We're going to provide [Motorola] an enterprise strategy, an enterprise portfolio" that will complement Motorola's strength in consumer applications.
He noted that Symbol spends 8% of its revenue on R&D. "I would have an expectation that R&D would continue" at that pace once the acquisition by Motorola is completed, he said.
In a research note on the proposed merger, AMR's Eric Austvold last week wrote that Motorola is making plans with the expectation that 25% of the global workforce will be mobile by the year 2009, a milestone that -- if achieved --would certainly increase Symbol's value to Motorola.
Responding to rumors that Motorola might jettison the RFID unit -- which has seen lackluster sales recently -- and abandon the space all together once the acquisition was complete, Anthony Bartolo, vice president and general manager of Symbol's RFID and Wireless Infrastructure divisions, said he expected no such change.
"I have no fears of that at all," Bartolo said. "Symbol is the nucleus" of the new enterprise mobility division, he said, and Motorola will add on units as the two companies grow together. "Being able to have like minds that understand the other side of the [wireless] spectrum; it's going to be awesome," Bartolo concluded.
Indeed, today's announcement from Wal-Mart that it will enjoin its top 300 suppliers to adopt Gen 2 RFID tags bodes well for Symbol, whose business in RFX6000 Gen 2 tags could be one of the beneficiaries of the new mandate.