CTIA 2013, which recently took place in Las Vegas, serves as evidence that everyone loves tablets, but businesses are dying to customize them for specific needs. Retailers want to add barcode scanners and magnetic card readers for point-of-sale applications, people out in the field want hardened models resistant to drops and water, while everyone wants better security and battery life. Mobelisk Technologies believes it can deliver.
Mobelisk’s story to a better enterprise tablet solution begins about a year or so ago, when the company’s founders started working with Verizon on a “Blank Slate” concept customizable to a business’ needs. During the process of working with enterprise customers and Verizon, what emerged was a Version 1.0 prototype.
“We learned a lot from the experience,” said Andrew Steinman, chief operating officer of Mobelisk. “Enterprises wanted to customize. Not all of them wanted to use Verizon [cellular service] because they already had Wi-Fi available.”
Version 1.0 took a stock seven-inch tablet and ruggedized it, adding additional battery life. But the process to go from tablet to solution took too long and proved to be costly. Shipping tablet customization kits from China would take 12 to 16 weeks and couldn’t be produced in large enough quantities to get economies of scale.
Mobelisk’s founders realized there was no “one-size-fits-all” solution; thus hey decided to evolve the blank slate concept to a 2.0 version. Enterprise customers should be able to BYOD tablets based upon their needs, rather than being limited to one type or model.
While there’s a lot of Apple iPads in enterprises, there’s not a lot of happiness with the platform. “It’s hard to adopt and develop in iOS,” said Steinman. “We’re seeing enterprises gravitate to Android.” Windows 8 could also be an option if and when Microsoft gets around to rolling out a seven- to eight -inch tablet.
Around the enterprise tablet would go a modular, customizable platform. The case would provide armor with IP54 and Mil Std 810G durability to protect against dust, water, shock and vibration and could be customized with enterprise-specific branding and colors – no stock black or white all-look-the-same.
End caps to the Mobelisk case add the functionality desired by customers, ranging from a hot-swappable 200mAh batter with inductive charging, magnetic card reader capability (read-only or read/write), laser barcode scanning, fingerprint ID scanner, NFC and RFID readers, and even a thermal printer for receipts.
One of the cooler features Mobelisk offers for security is a “self-destruct” capability. For example, bad actors trying to break open a case end-cap in order to insert themselves into a credit card reader transaction would break a circuit triggering a tablet wipe.
To cut down on fulfillment lead time for Mobelisk casing (and win brownie points with the U.S. government), production will take place in Phoenix, Ariz. An order can be fulfilled in four to six weeks once placed, cutting months off the process.
Mobelisk will start shipping its field prototypes to customers in early July, said Steinman, giving the company time to get customer feedback before going into commercial production in late August/September.
How does cost fit into the equation?
A ruggedized tablet from Motorola or Panasonic costs $1,200 while a low-cost Android tablet retails around $200 – neither provides the customized I/O features provided via Mobelisk’s end caps.
“We will be between 1.5 times to two times to the price of [an off-the-shelf] tablet, depending on the configuration, and you get the battery and protective casing thrown in,” Steinman said. “That’s at or below the cost of adding a USB attachment hanging off the tablet.”
Initial response from the healthcare, hospitality, and retail sectors has been extremely favorable. Hospitality enables roaming check in – think of getting out of a cab and getting your room keys even before you’ve opened the front door of the hotel. Retailers love the idea of “cutting the line” so purchase can be at point-of-shelf when you’ve picked up the box, rather than having to wait (and think about those goodies you picked up and don’t need, putting them back on the shelf) in line.
Edited by
Jamie Epstein 
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