Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson & Glenn Bischoff

Motorola and Harris debut devices for first responders, while Thales upgrades its offering

Public safety's wait for multiband radio is over, and in a big way, as two new devices were announced at last month's Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials annual conference in Kansas City, Mo., while a third — introduced at the International Wireless Communications Exposition in Las Vegas in March — already has been upgraded.

Motorola unveiled the APX 7000, a full-featured multiband portable P25 radio with integrated voice and data that comes in a hardened package and is designed to be user-friendly for public-safety users, according to company officials.

“When we spoke with customers some time ago, they asked us for three things: make it louder, make it easier to use and make it smaller,” said Tom Quirke, senior director of global products and solutions for Motorola's government and public-safety business. “We've put a check in the box for all of those, but we've added a lot more capability.”

Indeed, the APX 7000 represents Motorola's first portable multiband offering. The radio's ability to operate on 700 MHz, 800 MHz and VHF networks will give first responders a new level of interoperability, Quirke said.

In addition to operating on different bands, the versatile APX 7000 — as well as the APX 7500 mobile version also announced — is P25 Phase 1-compliant and will be upgradeable to P25 Phase 2, he said. The radio also is backward-compatible with Motorola's SmartNet and SmartZone systems, making it an ideal choice for agencies with such networks that are seeking a smooth migration path to P25, Quirke said.

Meanwhile, Harris Corp. introduced the Unity XG-100P software-defined, multiband portable radio. The radio operates in four public-safety frequency bands from 136 MHz to 870 MHz and is compliant — in both conventional and trunking modes — with Phase 1 of the Project 25 standard. It also is software-upgradeable to Phase 2, which is an important feature, said Kevin Kane, the company's director of U.S. product development.

“Being software-defined allows it to be somewhat of a future-proof buy. We expect the Project 25 standard to evolve to add more capability,” Kane said. “You'll be able to upgrade … without buying a new radio. For someone who's planning for the life-cycle costs of a radio, that's a key feature.”

Other key features are embedded GPS and a large color screen, neither of which have been “typically available” in the public-safety sector, Kane said.

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