Black Diamond Advanced Technology has announced the launch of the SwitchBack-PC, the world’s first rugged Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC). The SwitchBack-PC is designed to meet military requirements for shock, vibration, dust, moisture and extreme temperatures.

The SwitchBack-PC has a tidy footprint at 7.5″ x 5.5″ x 2″ and weighs in at a slender three pounds, yet packs the power of a traditional desktop into a portable, rugged, handheld solution.

The SwitchBack is designed to meet the demands of users working in the field or in harsh environments. The housing is magnesium reinforced with rubber isolators and shock-mounted electronics. Some of the other key features include:

• The first rugged UMPC to have a built-in thumb keyboard.
• Up to 60GB removable hard drive.
• A 5.6-inch WSVGA sunlight-viewable touchscreen with stylus that can be can be viewed outdoors in all lighting conditions.
• Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi b/g and GPS wireless capabilities.

The SwitchBack also accommodates upgrades nicely with Extendable Modules. The SwitchBack has a detachable/attachable Module on the back of the unit which can be used to extend functionality by adding additional hardware interfaces. Some of the current modules include:

• Additional processor, hard drive or battery.
• Custom I/O Options (data transfer, interface extensions).
• Fingerprint reader
• RFID, Barcode Scanner or Mag Stripe Reader
• Radio(s), terrestrial
• Digital camera
• GPS receiver
• Breathalyzer, Laser Range Finder

The SwitchBack-PCs are sure meet and exceed the unique demands of users working in harsh environments. SwitchBack-PCs available in the fourth quarter of 2006 direct from Balck Diamond and will initially be Windows XP systems only.

SwitchBack-PC Press Release [Black Diamond]