General Motors is expected to announce a new laptop next week that’s styled after its popular Hummer multi-terrain vehicles.
The carmaker has signed an exclusive three-year licensing agreement to make a portable computer designed for people who work outdoors: policemen, firemen, claims adjusters and construction workers, for example, as well as people who own a Hummer and are fascinated by anything related to the oversize vehicles.
The licensee, which makes laptops and tablet PCs for the U.S. military, said it wanted to style a new category of “semi-ruggedized” laptop. Priced at $2,988, the laptops come with enough padding to survive six separate drops from a height of 30 inches onto two 3/4-inch sheets of
plywood placed on top of concrete.
Industrial-strength laptops, which are water-resistant and can withstand extreme temperatures, are finding their way onto the battlefield and the oil field. Models like the Panasonic Toughbook, and Twinhead, with its Durabook line, also come with external body armor and internal shock absorbers.