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Using the iPod as a weapon

By Jason D. O'Grady | April 20, 2009, 10:09am PDT

Summary

The iPod has lots of uses: music and movie player, photo album, contact and calendar organizer and military tool?
The U.S. armed forces are deploying the iPod touch to troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq for use as translation tools and for “networked warfare” linking soldiers to each other and to weapons systems and intelligence sources [...]

Topics

Apple iPod, Soldier, Photograph, U.S. Marine Corps, BulletFlight, Digital Music, Digital Media, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics, Jason D. O'Grady

Blogger Info

Jason D. O'Grady

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

David Morgenstern

Biography

David Morgenstern

David Morgenstern

David Morgenstern has covered the Mac market and other technology segments for 20 years. In the recent past, he founded Ziff-Davis' Storage Supersite, served as news editor for Ziff Davis Internet and held several executive editorial positions at eWEEK. In the 1990s, David was editor of Ziff Davis' award-winning MacWEEK news publication as well as its successor title, eMediaWEEKly, which focused on multiplatform professional content creation. His byline can be found online and in print publications including CreativePro.com, Peachpit Press' Mac Bible and Popular Photography.

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The iPod has lots of uses: music and movie player, photo album, contact and calendar organizer and military tool?

The U.S. armed forces are deploying the iPod touch to troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq for use as translation tools and for “networked warfare” linking soldiers to each other and to weapons systems and intelligence sources reports Newsweek.

According to the story the iPod touch has become the gadget of choice for analyzing data from satellites, drones and ground sensors and can even be used to show villagers a video message of a relaxed and respected local leader encouraging them to help root out insurgents.

Next Wave Systems in Indiana, is expected to release iPhone software that would enable a soldier to snap a picture of a street sign and, in a few moments, receive intelligence uploaded by other soldiers (the information would be linked by the words on the street sign). This could include information about local water quality or the name and photograph of a local insurgent sympathizer. The U.S. Marine Corps is funding an application for Apple devices that would allow soldiers to upload photographs of detained suspects, along with written reports, into a biometric database. The software could match faces, making it easier to track suspects after they’re released.

Some of the iPod applications that the U.S. military is deploying include:

  • Vcommunicator produces spoken and written translations of Arabic, Kurdish and two Afghan languages. It also shows animated graphics of accompanying gestures and body language, and displays pictures of garments, weapons and other objects.
  • BulletFlight is a military-grade ballistics calculator that feature built-in profiles for common military rifles and a bullet database of most major brands.

Pictured: US Army M110 Sniper Rifle with iPod touch running the BulletFlight. Courtesy of Engadget.

Jason D. O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve
  • Weaknees

Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations. Jason also provides consulting services for AirTight Networks.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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Talkback Most Recent of 7 Talkback(s)

  • One problem...
    One problem I see is that when the battery dries up, they can't replace them. Our troops that will be depending on these devices will have to wait until they get back to base, vehicle, etc. before they can use it again. I see this as a problem for, say a sniper. Now if they create a special version that is durable and has a replaceable battery then Apple just might pull this off.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    safesax2002
    04/20/2009 02:31 PM
  • Not really
    In the picture it looks like the iPod is safely ensconced in a protective case that extends down below the device. There are already aftermarket power pods that simply connect to the bottom of the iPhone/Pod to provide additional power. I could see the military spec'ing something out that would provide far longer additional power, use locally sourced batteries, or some other whiz-bang feature the deem necessary. And that could simply be popped into and out of the protective case. On a cost-basis, they'd be better off leaving the core iPod alone (let Apple incur the R&D and manufacturing costs) and concentrate on the extensions.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    MichaelJMotal
    04/21/2009 09:17 AM
  • RE: Using the iPod as a weapon
    Intense! lol
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Juanne
    04/21/2009 06:55 AM
  • Analyzing data from satellites
    How is it the gadget of choice for analyzing data from satellites exactly?

    You didn't expand on that.
    Do you even know how many people it takes to analyze satellite data? The iPod touch is way too small for that. Any portable device could be considered too small for that. You might be able to look at pictures, but from that to calling it the gadget of choice as if it's better than anything else the military has is ridiculous.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tikigawd
    04/21/2009 09:16 AM
  • RE: Analyzing data from satellites
    It wouldn't actually do the analysis but act as an access point for data. I could provide ground data that could be uploaded and integrated to sat data and display the regurgitated combined intel.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    netjess@...
    05/11/2009 09:03 AM
  • Wireless?
    iPod Touch can run only on WiFi..how does it communicate out in the field?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    ElCondor11
    (Edited: 04/21/2009 11:14 AM)
  • "SOTM"
    Satcom-On-The-Move fed from the antenna mounted on the squad's HumVee with Wi-Fi feeds out to 2000'. Pico-net relays to extend the network. Off-line operation with automatic synchronization when reconnected to the net. Oh, and add a quad-band GSM module for "roaming" in less favorable territory.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    PJ in FL
    04/21/2009 04:50 PM

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