Marines Get Their Own Version of the iPod Touch
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By National Defense Staff
It’s been several years since the Army started buying the iPod Touch for use by soldiers in combat. Troops have used the Touch, among other things, as a translation device or as a means to display mission data or biometrics information.
The military loves the iPod because it’s easy to use, lightweight and requires little maintenance and power.
Not to be outdone, the Marine Corps has come up with its own version of the iPod Touch, which is known as the “Marine Pod,” or MPod.
The Mpod is a product of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, in Quantico, Va. The purpose is much like the Army’s: to provide troops with a handheld device that could run software applications for language translation, cultural learning and general-purpose training. Officials hope that the MPod can help facilitate the creation and distribution of content rich multimedia training aids to deploying marines.
The device so far is only experimental because it is not yet encrypted. That is the next step.
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Va., laboratory engineering psychologist Peter Squire said in a National Defense Education Program LabTV interview that Marines having large hands and fingers did not in any way impede their ability to use the Mpod.
Marines said they like the ability to connect via WiFi. But a Warfighting Lab spokesman said the WiFi usually is turned off due to security concerns. “We have only gotten initial feedback from the war fighters, as they recently deployed, but so far all the data has been positive,” said the spokesman.
There are plans to possibly add more applications in the future. That hinges on the outcome of an upcoming “extended user evaluation,” the spokesman said. “The war fighters directly will feed into a final report.”
While the Army also has been testing the iPhone as a military device, Marines do not intend to follow that path. For now, no iPhones for marines.