It's a sort of i-Phone for yachtsmen - a handheld device with a big colour touch screen that does just about everything you can think of and a bit more besides.
Digital Yacht, the Bristol-based manufacturer of marine PC systems and software will be showing off a new hand-held PC system with chart plotter, GPS and GSM communications device all incorporated into one compact and rugged hand-held unit on the Marine Electronic Services stand at the 2008 London Boat Show at Excel, January11-20.
The unit is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, features a sunlight-viewable 2.8” colour touch screen display and full function keypad.
It is totally waterproof, drop resistant (to Mil Standard 850F) and comes complete with a long life Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack and AC/DC charger, says the company.
The unit incorporates a GPS, and a full range of C-Map marine electronic charts is available to plug directly into the unit's mini-SD slot. It can be used with an existing SIM card, and will also operate with Maptech charting or any other software designed for the Windows Mobile platform.
Maritime safety is at the heart of Airo's operation, says the companuy. The unit includes a distress button which, when activated, sends a distress message over the GSM network with the last GPS position directly to a Digital Yacht call centre, which offers 24-hour monitoring. Messages can be sent in voice, text or email format to the user's specification.
The operating system is based around the Windows Mobile format and incorporates all the expected functions such as web browsing, email and cut-down versions of Microsoft Office products, including Word and Excel.
Digital Yacht will launch a series of push data services in 2008 including automatic delivery of weather and navigation information to Airo users, together with a polling function so that the unit can be tracked and the device's position displayed through a secure web interface.
An optional onboard fitting kit is available together with external antenna and cradle. The Airo Pocket PC sells for £599 including VAT, and will be available from January 2008.
