Navigation and Planning Services announces packaged product with enhancements

By ANN Reporter Juan Jimenez

Navigation and Planning Services' Ms. Becky Anthony gave a presentation Thursday at AOPA Expo 2003, featuring the new Motion Tablet PC integration with their Destination Direct flight planning product.

In an exclusive agreement with Capt. Jack's, LLC., NPS is now offering a bundle that includes:

• The Motion Tablet PC with exclusive screen brightness enhancements
• Destination Direct software
• BlueTooth wireless GPS with matching BlueTooth PCMCIA wireless card
• 512mb of RAM
• 20gb hard disk
• External CD-ROM
• Keyboard/cover for the PC
• Internal 802.11b WiFi capability for $3,999.

A base configuration for the Motion Tablet PC with 20gb of hard disk and 256mb of RAM is also being offered at $2,099. Other custom configurations can be designed for customer applications and special requests.

The screen brightness enhancement for the Motion Tablet PC was designed by Capt. Jack's LLC to double the brightness of the standard display and significantly improve the angle of view without requiring additional battery power or affecting the life of the internal lighting. The exclusive enhancement makes the PC's screen viewable out of doors in all but the most direct sunlight, while still maintaining indoor readability.

Testing of the unit shows that the factory display measures 118 nits (candelas per square meter) in average brightness. After the enhancement is applied, the same machine measured an average luminance of 238 nits, slightly more than double the original brightness. What is more impressive is that this enhancement is achieved using only passive optical enhancements. These modified units have been supplied under contract to the Navy, Army, Coast Guard, FAA and other customers, and are now available to Destination Direct customers exclusively through NPS.

The unit has an average 3 hour battery life, and features a battery hot-swap mechanism that allows you to place the unit on standby, change the battery, then resume work where you left off. It runs Windows XP, which means that you can also use it for any other purposes using software that runs under that Microsoft operating system. In fact, Ms. Anthony noted that she uses the same demo unit she showed us for all her work, as well as at home, using a docking station. The integral 802.11b WiFi wireless networking support also allows her to use the computer anywhere in her home.

FMI: http://www.destdirect.com, www.capjack.com, www.motioncomputing.com