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 Available
now
16th
October 2011
An Android tablet built for enterprises, the Motorola
ET1 is a very different beast from the sort of tablet that you
might use at home.
The ET1 is designed for retail and industrial environments. It's
a chunky looking thing, certified to IP54 environmental standards
(protected against dust and splashing water) and MIL STD 810G drop
standards (multiple drops of 1.2m). The display is coated with a
Gorilla Glass coating that is 30% thicker than consumer products,
and the large surround is designed to make the ET1 easier to hold
without accidentally pressing elements on the screen.
It looks a little old-fashioned on the surface, but underneath
is a powerful device with a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM
and 4GB of internal flash memory plus a microSD slot that will take
up to 32GB.
One the front is a 7" 1024 x 600 pixel capacitive touchscreen
plus a set of physical buttons. On the back is an 8 megapixel camera
with autofocus and LED flash plus 720p HD video recording. There
is an additional camera on the front for video calling.
The operating system is Android 2.3.4 which is more common on
smartphones than tablets. Motorola have a suite of enterprise applications
available, or you can develop your own cross-platform apps with
Motorola RhoElements. One neat feature with the software is the
ability to support multiple users.
 The
tablet supports 802.11 a, b, g and n WiFi, but not 3G data. It has
GPS and an electronic compass but we suspect that these will be
of more use to applications than personal navigation.
The Motorola ET1 weighs 630 grams and measures 130 x 224 x 25mm.
That's about the same weight as an iPad 2 to handle, although it's
quite a bit more compact and only has a 7" display compared
to the 9.7" one on the Apple product.
There are a wide range of accessories, including battery chargers,
cradles and hand straps. The large 4620 mAh battery can easily be
taken out and swapped with a new one from the charger.
The ET1 is made by Motorola Solutions, the demerged industrial
products division of Motorola, rather than Motorola Mobility which
is the consumer oriented handset division being bought by Google.
Motorola Solutions have a established and successful line of industrial
and enterprise products such as this.
We understand that the Motorola ET1 won't be cheap,
with prices quoted in the €800 to €1200 range depending on quantity
ordered, when it starts shipping by the end of the year. That may seem expensive,
but then the ET1 is going to be a lot more use in an industrial
or retail environment than a standard tablet.
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