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Symbol Technologies MC50 Enterprise Digital Assistant (EDA) is a popular rugged handheld often used to connect personnel in the field to the enterprise in corporate America. Now the company follows up that 45,000-strong device with a new flagship model, the MC70.

As with its durable predecessor, the MC70 is meant for indoor and oudoor use througout a number of different industries (e.g. field service, field sales, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, government and retail) performing applications like asset management, parcel delivery, direct store delivery, medication administration, fleet management and mobile point-of-sale.

Symbol says the MC70 can withstand frequent drops to concrete and exposure to water and dust. Specifically, a 4 foot drop to concrete, 6 drops per 6 sides over its 14°F to 155° operating temperature range; and a 5 foot drop to concrete, 2 drops per 6 sides at an ambient temperature of 73°.

There's cellular GSM/EDGE voice/data communications, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi with VoIP support, and Bluetooth to cordlessly connect to a variety of accessories, including scanners. It is the first handheld to deliver Wi-Fi in the three (a/b/g) specifications. (Competitor Intermec appears ready to do the same in a device later this year.)

Inside, the handheld uses a 624 MHz Intel XScale processor, 64 MB RAM, 128 MB ROM and the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system with its improved memory management, FIPS-140-2 security certification, and push e-mail capabilities.

The unit measures a relatively compact - for a rugged corporate handheld - 6.0 x 3.0 x 1.5 inches and weighs 11.2 or 12 ounces (deepening on options included). It has a 3.5-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) resolution touch screen and a Secure Digital In Out slot for memory and peripheral expansion. A Lithium Ion 1900 mAh battery powers the MC70, but a higher capacity type is available as an option. Users also get two keyboards to choose from, a 26 Numeric key type or 44 QWERTY key model.

"Symbol's MC70 EDA reflects our commitment to responding to the stringent needs of our enterprise customers for rugged, full-featured mobile computing solutions," said Bob Chen, VP & general manager of mobile computing, Symbol Technologies. "Symbol's history and expertise in delivering rugged mobile computers to the world's leading companies has uniquely positioned us to deliver similar capabilities in a smaller form factor to meet enterprise demands."

Enterprises can manage the MC70 EDA via Symbol's Mobility Services Platform (MSP). MSP is an integrated solution that provides unified enterprise-wide management of mobile devices and wireless network infrastructure.

The Symbol MC70 EDA list price ranges from $2,195 to $2,845, depending on configuration.

In related news, Symbol also recently introduced its first iDEN Rugged Mobile Computer for Sprint, the MC9097. Certified to operate on the Nextel National Network, the MC9097 provides field service and sales workers access to Nextel Walkie-Talkie service, wireless voice and data services and two-way messaging. In addition, the MC9097 mobile computer features GPS capabilities, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Symbol plans to ship the MC9097 in March.