The Rugged Device Market in 2020
28 January 2020
A new year is a great
time to reflect on our industry and consider how far we’ve come. While
undoubtedly built to take hard knocks, at one point opting for a rugged mobile
device meant sacrificing considerably on performance, whereas today’s rugged
devices are as operationally efficient and user friendly as they are tough.
This rapid functional
improvement shows no sign of slowing, and the coming year is already hinting at
several exciting new rugged mobile capabilities. Let’s take a look at the rugged
device market in 2020.
New levels of environmental
responsiveness
Thanks to the Internet
of Things (IoT), it’s already possible to make industrial environments ‘smart’,
with sensors installed in certain areas to monitor and flag inconsistencies in
key variables like temperature, particularly useful for cold chain storage.
We may start to see
this kind of smart responsiveness baked into rugged devices themselves before
too long. A rugged device with a built-in moisture sensor could alert an
operative to potentially harmful humidity levels in a dry store, for example,
or perhaps an ATEX certified rugged device with a substance detection sensor could
automatically signal a change of atmosphere in hazardous settings.
Augmented reality (AR)
Like a smartphone
application that overlays a moving animation over your face on selfie mode,
augmented reality (AR) enables device users to point the camera at an object to
instantly receive operational data and documentation about it on the screen.
In the context of
rugged mobile devices, AR functionality could be used via the device camera to
scan and identify malfunctioning equipment. For example, in order to bring up a
diagnostic guide, service history and highlighting any particular parts that
need looking at, all overlaid on the view of the equipment on screen.
5G connectivity
Could 2020 be the year
when we finally welcome 5G? Fifth generation wireless technology has been on
the horizon for years, tantalisingly close yet still some distance from
fruition. Roll outs across various mobile networks will be in stages – in fact,
a few areas of the UK have had access to 5G connectivity on EE, Three and
Vodafone since 2019 – but the whole country is expected to be 5G-ready in 2022.
There’s been a lack of
5G-enabled mobile devices up until now (rugged and otherwise), but we expect to
see an influx hit the market over the next couple of years as 5G networks
really begin to expand. In terms of rugged devices, 5G’s extra speed and low
latency should mean that even data-hungry applications (such as AR) run
seamlessly from any location covered by the network, as well as supporting up
to a million IoT sensors of the type we mentioned above.
It seems likely that
these developments in rugged device technology will all be interlinked to some
extent; 5G will enable more advanced IoT and AR-based applications, and these
will need 5G to work consistently.
Harness the power of rugged devices
now
Whatever the future
looks like in the rugged device market, there’s no need to wait until then to take
advantage of what improvements rugged mobile devices could bring to your
business. We supply an extensive range of our own rugged devices as well as those from selected specialist
partners, each with a set of features and functions that could revolutionise
your operation.
Our expert team is on
hand to help you explore the options and find the rugged mobile solution for
you, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - PETER MARSH
Peter joined TouchStar (formally Belgravium) in a sales manager role in 2001. Prior to joining the company, Peter held Partner and National Sales Manager roles within the parcel and logistics industries.
In 2011 Peter was promoted to Sales Director and is now actively involved in promoting the value of TouchStar’s Rugged Mobile Computing solutions to the warehouse, logistics, manufacturing and field service industries. When not involved in the business, Peter is a keen and enthusiastic football and cricket fan.