First Look: Motorola ET1 Enterprise Tablet

Motorola Solutions has announced its first enterprise Android-based tablet – the ET1 Enterprise Tablet. Computing Labs got its hands on a pre-production model for a hands-on demo of the tablet late last week [7 October] [see picture].

Motorola acquired Symbol Technologies in late 2006 for about $4bn.

In use
Picking up the ET1 for the first time, the device seemed heavy, but since the system is 'ruggedised' for enterprise use and sports a fairly large lithium-ion battery, we shouldn’t have been too surprised.

The ET1 weighs in at about 630g and has dimensions of 224 x 130 x 25mm, making it an A5 form-factor device. It has a 7-inch capacitive LCD touch display.

The bezel surrounding the screen is customisable, so firms can get branded ET1s when they order the ET1.

When picking the device up, it’s also interesting to note that our fingers didn’t stray on to the touchscreen, a consequence of the rounded bezel at the ends of the device [see picture showing extended bezel area on device sides].

We found it easy to handle the ET1, but there is also a hand strap for the device to make holding it and walking around workplaces easier [see picture].

Processor and display
The processor running the Android version 2.3.4 Gingerbread operating system is a Texas Instruments dual-core OMAP 4 chip running at 1GHz.

The ET1 has 1GB of system memory (RAM) and 4GB of flash ROM to provide non-volatile storage for the operating system and applications.

The capacitive touchscreen has a native resolution of 1,024 x 600, which we weren’t that impressed with since it gave a slightly jerky movement when we swiped our fingers across the screen, although this could be due to the device being a pre-production model.

Selecting options on the screen also required a heavier-than-normal touch, but Motorola Solutions EMEA mobile computing product manager Paul Reed said this was a consequence of the 30 per cent thicker Corning Gorilla glass used to protect the screen.

The screen glass was recessed slightly so the screen doesn’t contact surfaces when  rear facing upwards.

User interface
The Android user interface is fairly standard, but has been enhanced by Motorola through the addition of three programmable hardware buttons at the front of the device [see picture].

Users can configure these as buttons to act as shortcuts to specific applications and app developers can program these buttons to access specific features of their applications.

There are also a couple of 'trigger' buttons at the rear for using the high-res camera.

Cameras
There are two cameras on the ET1, a low-resolution front-facing camera and a higher resolution 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, useful for enterprise tasks such as barcode reading. We found it quick and easy to read barcodes, pressing one of the rear trigger buttons, and lining up the barcode, while the camera illuminated the target.

The ET1 has stereo speakers and two microphones – one front-facing and the other at the rear.

Network connections
Currently network access is only available through standard 802.11a/b/g/n wireless connectivity and Bluetooth v2.1 with enhanced data rate (EDR).

Motorola’s Reed said that a 'wide area' version which had mobile broadband onboard would be released later in the year. The ET1 also has onboard GPS.

Since there are no SIM-based communications on the device, talking to people requires VoIP applications to be installed on the device, "like Skype", said Reed, adding that standard Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) and Post Office Protocol (POP) email systems are already supported, as is Microsoft Exchange.

Ports
There are two USB interfaces on the ET1, a standard micro USB 2.0 port and a USB 2.0 on-the-go (OTG) docking connector. There’s also a full HDMI port for connecting to digital display devices.

A key feature at the back of the ET1 is the integrated expansion port allowing snap-in peripherals to be clipped in. That could be an RFID reader or a simple LAN adaptor. Motorola has a range of accessories and there will be third-party peripherals eventually.

Data security and device management
Removable storage on the ET1 consists of a 1GB microSD card as standard, although the ET1 will support cards up to 32GB as per the standard. Data on the device and on the MicroSD can be encrypted, calming enterprise fears about data security.

We could also see a management agent on the ET1’s screen, giving system administrators the capability to lock down the ET1 so that no applications from the Android marketplace could be installed, and users also couldn’t meddle with the system settings.

Another plus for enterprises is the service contract Motorola will be offering enterprises. “There’s a fully comprehensive service contract with the ET1 and we anticipate a six-year supported lifecycle for the device,” said Reed.

How rugged is the ET1?
The ET1 has a certified 1.2m (4ft) resistance to being dropped, as specified by the US Department of Defence MIL-STD-810G standard, and complies with Ingress Protection (IP) code 54, where the first digit defines protection against solids and the second resistance towards liquids.

An IP54 rating gives the ET1 "protection against dust limited ingress (no harmful deposit)" and "protection against water sprayed from all directions – limited ingress permitted".

Battery life
Motorola claims a battery life of three to three-and-a-half hours from the 4.62Ah hot-swappable lithium-ion battery, assuming users are continuously streaming video content to the device. Eight hours would be a more usual lifetime for general use, said Reed.

Motorola will have a four-battery charging tray available as an enterprise accessory, so even if the battery life is too short for some hardworking enterprise applications, users can just open up the back, pull out the battery and insert a replacement easily.

Reed demoed the hot-swappability of the ET1. First, a button at the back of the ET1 is pressed to send the device into sleep mode. The battery is then pulled and another one clipped in. Unfortunately, probably due to the presence of a journalist, it refused to play ball and so the device had to be rebooted.

Pricing for the ET1, set to be generally available in January 2012, is $1,595 (£1,020), but Motorola says large orders could bring the price down to about $1,000 (£640).

Applications and device management
One of the big questions is how quickly those Windows apps used by verticals can be converted to run on Android devices. Motorola Solutions has set up its own development tools for writing or migrating cross-platform applications (from Windows) called RhoElements.

Since RhoElements is HTML 5-based, the theory is that once developed an application can run on a variety of platforms.

That's probably the reason Motorola has introduce its own browser onto the ET1, so that any HTML 5 apps it does run can be standardised on other mobile hardware deploying the same browser.

RhoElements' website says that app developers can "create an application once and it will operate on Motorola mobile computers running Microsoft Windows Mobile, Windows CE or Android".

For device management, Motorola uses its Mobility Services Platform (MSP), which uses an agent allowing systems administrators to set up user profiles for hardware and application use.

Reed said this could be used to lock out users installing Android applications from the standard marketplace, and also to stop users fiddling with device settings.

Conclusions
The Motorola ET1 seems to have answers to enterprise concerns around data and device security, especially with Android devices, and also device and user management.

There were problems with the ET1 during our [limited] time with the device, but since this was a pre-production module we’d expect those problems to be eliminated when the device ships in January.