Honeywell boldly claims its new Dolphin 7800 (pictured) will "lower the failure rate of customers using competitors' EDA products by as much as 80 percent." According to the company, the device is designed to go head-to-head with Motorola's MC65 and is in many ways a smaller version of the 99EX it introduced last March.

Like the 99EX, the Dolphin 7800 incorporates Honeywell's proprietary Adaptus imaging technology, allowing its onboard camera (3.0 megapixel, with autofocus and LED flash) to read 1D barcodes, 2D symbologies, OCR codes, and a variety of postal codes. The Adaptus 6.0 release that's again featured here provides faster decoding, enhanced motion tolerance, and longer reading distances, as well as the flexibility to work in various settings ranging from direct sunlight to total darkness, the company says.

As to durability, the Dolphin 7800 meets the IP54 standard for resistance to liquids and dust, can withstand multiple five-foot drops, and endures at least 1,600 one-meter tumbles, according to Honeywell. Operating range is from 14 to 122 deg. F, the company adds.

According to Honeywell, the 7800 employs an 800MHz Texas Instruments processor. (Further details weren't provided, but we believe the chip may be the chipmaker's Sitara AM3715, which includes an ARM Cortex-A8 core.) The device also includes 256MB of RAM, 512GB of flash storage, and a microSD slot.

The Dolphin 7800 has a 3.5-inch, "sunlight-readable" resistive touchscreen with VGA (640 x 480 pixel. Two different keyboards are available: either a 46-key QWERTY model or a 30-key numeric model, Honeywell adds.

As did the 99EX, the 7800 employs Qualcomm's increasingly popular Gobi 3000 chipset, which provides both a GPS receiver and a cellular modem that can work with both GSM and CDMA networks via simple software-based switching. As Honeywell notes, this allows the handheld to be redeployed easily, including changing between two different GSM carriers or two different CDMA carriers.

According to Honeywell, the handheld additionally includes 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1. The voice-ready device has a microphone, speaker, and a USB 2.0 port, the company adds.

The Dolphin 7800 works up to 6.5 hours with its standard 2300mAh battery, and 12 hours with an optional 4000mAh battery, says the company.

Features and specifications listed by Honeywell for the Dolphin 7800 include:

• Processor -- TI chip clocked at 800MHz
• Memory -- 256MB of RAM and 512MB of flash storage
• Display -- 3.5-inch resistive touchscreen with VGA resolution
• Camera -- 3.0 megapixel, integrated with barcode scanning capabiliities
• Expansion -- microSD slot
• Networking:
  • WWAN -- GSM/CDMA cellular, plus GPS receiver
  • WLAN -- 802.11a/b/g/n
  • PAN -- Bluetooth 2.1
• Other I/O -- USB 2.0
• Battery life:
  • standard 2300mAh battery lasts up to 6.5 hours
  • extended 4000mAh battery lasts up to 12 hours
• Dimensions:
  • 6.2 x 3.0 x 1.1 inches with standard battery
  • 6.2 x 3.0 x 1.3 inches with extended battery
• Weight:
  • 11.4 ounces with standard battery
  • 13.4 ounces with extended battery
• Operating system -- Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5

Further information

According to Honeywell, the Dolphin 7800 will begin shipping in North America and Europe in December, with global availability in Q1 2012. Pricing was not announced, but more information may be found on the Dolphin 7800 product page.

Jonathan Angel can be followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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