American soldiers deployed in Iraq are using the iPod Touch made by Apple Inc. as a multipurpose tool for translation, sharing data, and finding their way around, according to a report in Newsweek.
The $230 device has shown itself tough enough for use by military people in the field, and it’s quite a bit cheaper than devices made specifically for the U.S. military, which often cost more and do less.
For example, soldiers can send maps back and forth to each other to coordinate their movements, and soon they will be able to photograph a local street sign and upload it to a network to find out where they are.
Reading maps and figuring out both where you are and where the enemy is has long been a problem for soldiers, as attested in military sayings like: “The most dangerous thing in the world is a second lieutenant with a map.”
Not knowing where friendly forces are has often led to tragedies where they are killed by their own side.
Prisoners can also be photographed quickly with the devices, and those photos and attached information can be sent directly to a central network, the same way police in some U.S. cities now use digital cameras to quickly photograph suspects they arrest, even before putting them in a car for transport to the police station.
In a military environment like Iraq, with its emphasis on counterinsurgency and police-type patrols rather than classic maneuver warfare of tanks and vehicles, this type of function can be very useful.
Newsweek also reported that Pentagon specialists are writing applications for the iPod touch that could rapidly display video from unmanned aerial vehicles.
The iPod touch and the more expensive iPhone also offer software that can be used in translation and they have easy-to-use interfaces. Newsweek also reported that the devices are hard to hack into — none of the ones in use in Iraq have yet been successfully compromised.
Many military recruits already own Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPods and iPhones and know how to use them, which makes training easier.
