Smartphone Army... Made in China?
Realizing the importance of digital information exchange, the First Army Brigade of US is going to carry Digital Applications (Connecting Soldier’s to Digital Applications – CSDA), network equipments, tablets, e-readers and pico projectors with them by this February. DARPA had put out RFIs earlier this year aiming to develop military applications and application store for iOS and Android.
The Army has plans to issue Common Access Card (ID cards to log on to DoD computers and networks) readers for iPhone in Januray and for Android in April, Rickey Smith of the Army Capabilities Integration Center stated that they hadn’t fixed any hardware brand yet and they are open to use Palm Trios, the Android, iPhone or whatever else befitting and reliable for the purpose.
Michael Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) said the Army would distribute these smartphones like any other gadget a soldier receives and optionally if the solder is willing , he can make it a piece of equipment in his clothing bag. Development efforts are going on to harness smart phones to revolutionize the way of using it at all kind of critical occasions that a solder is supposed to face
Version: 1.2
U.S. Army Survival Guide is a complete reference Android app for any unknown or life-threatening situation.
- Size: 6.75MB
- Category: Reference
- Price: Free
The U.S Army Survival Guide app includes all chapters and appendices, including topics like survival medicine, shelters, and signaling techniques. The reference material is exactly what you’d want to have in your pocket when you’re out hiking, camping, or anywhere else away from civilization. All of the content is included in the app once it is downloaded, so there is no dependence on an internet connection. The guide, like any survival kit or drill, is one of those things you hope you’ll never need, but should have knowledge of just in case.
The guide is broken down into specific chapters which have their own subsections. The outline format of the guide makes the content surprisingly easy to read and understand. Even so, there is a ton of information supplied in the guide which could make finding exactly what you need difficult.
5 Reasons the Army is issuing iPhone and Android Smartphones to Troops
The Army budget morphs that of individual law enforcement agencies, but thinking outside the box seems to be consistent on the battle field. The US Army is going to equip their field soldiers on the front lines with iPhones and or Android mobile device as soon as the Spring of 2011. I originally saw an article on www.digitaltrends.com and tracked the original information to the www.armytimes.com website. As a mobile device evangelist, enthusiast, I find the Army’s action to be an obvious technology progression of both physical mobile devices and web 2.0 technologies. Below are 5 reasons why the Army is issuing mobile devices to troops.
1)Portability- Mobile devices are small enough to slip into a pants pocket, jacket pocket, ruck sack, duffle bag, etc.
2) Powerful- Smartphone’s have become mini laptops in the last year or so and upcoming generations of these devices will boast duo core processors, increased graphics, more HD video capture models and overall more power.
3) Real Time Intelligence- At war smart phones would let soldiers view real-time intelligence and video from unmanned systems overhead. Drones would be able to provide intelligence to field personnel via smartphone. While this certainly already occurs with laptops, laptops are unreasonable to carry individually.
4) Real Time Maps- Track friends and enemies on dynamic maps, this could certainly be life saving.
5) Real Time Information- Soldiers will have the opportunity to use network searches, email, MMS, and get information real time while in critical situations, through individual mobile devices.
My first thought was how are the soldiers going to access a network? Not to worry, the Army has already been working on this with basically a portable or mobile cell tower that would provide soldiers a mobile network in battlefield situations. There really is no argument why this is not a brilliant move by the Army to equip their troops with more information. Does law enforcement see the same benefit as the Army does from mobile devices? I think issuing police officers iPhone and or Android smartphone’s is also a no brainer, what do you think?
This blog post original appeared on 12/19/10 Social Media Five-O by Michael F. Vallez
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