Army Smartphones made in China?

Army Wants Flame-Retardant Texting Gloves

from Danger Room by Spencer Ackerman

Brig. Gen. John Uberti, center, shows off some apps on his smartphone to Army Secretary John McHugh and Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter, January 2012. Photo: U.S. Army

The Army’s mad for smartphones. It’s testing Android devices it bought from the local electronics store to see how they operate on its experimental, homebrewed data network. And one thing it seems to have forgotten to buy for the dismounted soldiers who’ll have to furiously tap the screens to send data during firefights: texting gloves.

A recent request for information from the Army says that there’s a need for a “capacitive touch screen compatible Army combat glove.” It’s a simple request: a “combat survivable” glove with enough stuff on the fingertips to ensure the “tactile accuracy” of troops mashing the screens on their handsets.

Combat survivable, in this case, means flame-retardant. As anyone who has ever served in the Army or spent time with those who have knows, you’re not getting off the base, into a truck and onto a mission unless your hands are wrapped in gloves that can withstand extreme heat. Taking off the gloves to text is not an option.

The Army is still working out all the details of how to equip soldiers with smartphones. The Android OS has the likely edge, largely owing to relative cheapness of devices running Android. But it’s still unclear if every soldier will someday use smartphones as a standard piece of kit. It’s also unclear how soldiers will get the phones — that is, if the Army will play favorites and require soldiers to purchase a specific phone; or if it’ll give soldiers a renewable stipend to purchase upgradable handsets, provided they meet Army standards for securing data. (Recent remarks from a top official in the Army smartphone program suggest the latter option has an edge.)

But the Army’s query about what texting gloves are on the market contains one new clue about how soldiers will one day use smartphones. The devices “will reside inside a protective case making the corners of the capacitive touch display difficult to reach,” the Army’s request reads. Prepare for some amazing auto-corrections.

Still, it’s a necessary question, and one that gets the Army thinking about something it doesn’t always consider: the user experience.