Xplore Technologies announced on June 24 a lightweight entry into its lineup of military-spec tablets, unveiling the 2.5 pound Bobcat that can come with Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 pre-loaded.
Employing a quad-core processor clocked at 1.9 GHz, the Bobcat surpassed the company's Ranger tablet and its 1.2 GHz, dual-core processor. With 4 GB of RAM, the Bobcat offers four times the amount of temporary storage space available in the Ranger.
Like Xplore's other offerings, the Bobcat's anti-reflective glass enables it to provide a sunlight-readable display. The tablet's captive, multitouch display is just as capable of accepting input from a stylus as it is able to interpret input from finger protected by a thick pair of gloves.
The Bobcat has a 128 GB SSD, solid state drive, as its base, but buyers can opt for an upgrade to a 240 GB drive. The tablet delivers 8 hours of battery life, which can be extended to 14 hours from the power of an external battery.
Because Xplore's tablets are templates that are used to fulfill custom orders, the company serves quotes rather than fixed prices. But the Bobcat was said to be one of the company's more economical offerings, according to remarks by Philip S. Sassower, chief executive officer and chairman of the board for Xplore Technologies.
"Our customers have come to expect a distinguishable level of durability set by our iX104 series of ultra-rugged tablets, and the Bobcat is no exception to that standard," said Sassower. "The Bobcat offers great functionality, features a lightweight design, has superior screen visibility and comes in at a lower cost that makes the tablet an attractive option."
While not quite as powerful as the company's iX104 line, which can be kitted out with Intel i5s and i7, the Bobcat was much lighter than any of the tablets in the line. Each of the tablets in the iX104 line were 5.4 pounds.
The 2.5-pound Bobcat is further evidence of Xplore's efforts to deliver rugged technologies that can easily transition across disparate business environments, Mark Holleran, president and chief operating officer for Xplore Technologies, stated in a press release on June 24. Prices start at $2,199, and it comes with a three-year limited warranty.
"On the heels of our recent launch of the XC6 ultra-rugged tablet series, the Bobcat is the perfect complement to our expanding product portfolio," said Holleran. "The Windows tablet is the ideal option for those industries that don't need the complete ultra-rugged capabilities of the XC6 line, but still desire the Windows OS and fully rugged capabilities that Xplore has perfected."
The Bobcat has a MIL-STD 810G certification and IP65 rating, the company says, and the Windows tablet would work well for manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, utilities and telcos. A suite of optional features will optimize Bobcat for specific industries. Xplore's proprietary Xpansion Port includes integration options such as a 1D/2D barcode scanner, common access card (CAC) reader for increased security and a near-field communications (NFC) reader.
