Thanks to Brett Gross of Motion Computing Australia we had our first hands on with the upcoming Motion Computing CL900 this week.
The CL900 will break new ground for work Tablet PCs in Australia. While other manufacturers see Tablet devices as simply viewers, Motion Computing has always pushed the boundaries of real productivity.
The CL900 and other Motion Tablets like the J3500 and F5v are designed to allow you to create and capture data wherever you are – On the job, on site, in the office, on the street, in the field, on the road. The provision of both four point multi-touch and a smart Active Digitizer pen allow you to do things like:
- Taking fluid handwritten notes – your handwritten notes are searchable too
- Converting your handwriting to text – now or later
- Scribble on you PDFs, Word Documents and Excel spread sheets
- Draw on PowerPoint slides during a presentation
- Annotate and mark up drawings, screenshots and diagrams
- Draw your own designs and sketches wherever you are!
Ultimately, a device like this gives you access to all of the fastest and most convenient methods of input for mobile devices.
What you can expect to see on the Motion CL900:
- Corning Gorilla Glass
- 4 point finger touch and an Active Digitizer (Smart Pen)
- Wide viewing – outdoor readable screen
- Gobi 3000 Mobile Broadband – Fast 3G with any carrier – Telstra Next G, Optus, Vodafone
- Up to 8 hour battery life
- Desktop docking station and other work ready peripherals like payment modules and scanners.
The CL900 is due to arrive in Australia sometime in April, so this is a pre-production example. Brett was kind enough to give us an exclusive interview with the CL900 in Syndey on Monday!
Official pricing and stocked options for the Motion CL900 are still coming. Stay tuned for that and some more videos soon!
I’ve read on the internet that the price is “starting at $1000”, and “the pen is optional”. These seems to imply a fully option device will cost more.
Can you clarify any of these?
Frank, that is US pricing that you’ve heard about. We will only be offering models equipped with the pen here in Australia, but I can’t speak for the US. Either way, the smart Active Digitizer Pen only costs around $60.
Australian pricing is not yet confirmed , but it will be more than the us pricing as is the case with all of our electronic devices in Australia. Bear in mind that this is a powerful full computer that – unlike mobile phones on steriods (Pads) – offer the ability to eliminate paper. ROI is nearly infinite!
Thanks.
I was just wondering if there will be different models. I need to make sure I order one with the lot.
I’m definitely saving my pennies and hopefully get one as soon as they come out. I currently have a convertible tablet pc, and its a bit big to lug around everywhere. A slate tablet pc running OneNote sounds awesome – a real computer, not just a media consumption device (aka jumbo ipod).
How suitable is the CL900 for prolonged notetaking using the digitiser pen? Can I rest my wrist on the screen without it interfering with the handwriting?
I need to replace my current machine and this thing seems like a really exciting replacement for what I currently use by virtue of it’s portability. Also 8 hours battery life sounds really great – but I hope it’s not an overly optimistic estimate!
Arief, the CL900 automatically differentiates between touch and the Active Digitizer Pen. You can even run the CL900 in a mode that only responds to the pen. In otherwords, it is specifically desinged for notetaking and will work very well for that purpose.
I am trying to understand how the Gobi 3000 works? If I am using a CDMA carrier, then I do not need to insert a sim card correct in the CL900 and if I am using a GSM network, then I need to insert a sim card? ALso, the GOBI 3000 chip works as a 3g modem releasing the need to add a 3G USB device?
Hi Ruchir, you need a sim card for all networks. The Gobi 3000 is an internal 3G modem, so you do not need another external one, just a sim card.
I was told that the Tesltra NextG network only works with specific frequencies, I will be travelling extensivly across Australia and need access, as NextG is the largest network i will be wanting to connect to that. Will it work on it or only Telstra 3G?
Hi Andrew, Next G uses the 850 Mhz Frequency and the Gobi 3000 module in the Cl900 includes that frequency as well as 4 others. It is a global modem and works at up to 14.4 Mbps (theoritical speed) on the telstra next G network.
does the CL900 support the entire MS Office suit including MS Project and what about voice to text recognition without slowing down??
Hi Joe, yes the main office applications run suprisingly well on the CL900. I haven’t tried Project though. Voice to text is not an something that I spend much time with as it is very environment dependent. I haven’t tested it. Handwriting recognition on the other hand works very well in any environment.