Itron to Utilize Panasonic Toughbook 30 Notebooks as Part of its Industry Leading Mobile Collection Solution
Fully-rugged laptop offers MC3 customers greater dependability, lower cost of ownership
LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. – October 27, 2009 — Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today an agreement with Panasonic Computer Solutions Company (NYSE: PC) to deploy its fully-rugged Toughbook® 30 notebook as a part of Itron’s industry-leading mobile collection solution, offering electricity, gas and water utility customers greater dependability and affordability in collecting their meter reads.
Leveraging Panasonic Toughbook 30 laptops, Itron’s industry-leading MC3 mobile solution offers a dependable and cost-effective data collection system. It also provides access to Panasonic’s robust professional services network. The partnership affords a lower total cost of ownership for utilities, a five-year warranty period and, in many cases, two-day turn times on repair or service. Built to meet the military’s most demanding specification (MIL-STD-810G), the fully-rugged Toughbook provides unmatched reliability in mission-critical situations.
“Panasonic Toughbook mobile solutions are designed to thrive in the most demanding environments and applications imaginable. Our product development and engineering teams continually evaluate our customers’ needs to ensure delivery of innovative products that fill a particular market need,” said Jason Smith, senior business development manager, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company. “Our relationship with Itron helps ensure that the energy and water industries can count on a world-class solution, from two great solution providers, for years to come.”
Available for both sled- and pedestal-mount MC3 configurations, the Toughbook 30 has already been certified for use with Itron’s mobile collection hardware and software applications. The fully-rugged notebook features Windows XP®, a 13.3” optional sunlight-viewable touchscreen display, Intel® Centrino® 2 processor, a 160GB shock-mounted hard disk drive, and embedded Gobi™ mobile broadband connectivity.
MC3, part of Itron’s ChoiceConnect™ suite of automated meter reading (AMR) solutions, is a powerful mobile collection system for electric, gas and water providers. It offers advanced radio technology for unsurpassed performance along with a sophisticated mapping application that provides a visual indication of endpoint locations and optimized route management.
“Panasonic is recognized as the leader in ruggedized mobile computing technology,” said Russ Vanos, Itron vice president of marketing. “With this partnership, we can offer best-in-class solutions to our customers around the world for effective and cost-efficient mobile meter data collection.”
MC3 orders have already begun shipping with Toughbook 30 laptops to customers in North America.
About Itron
Itron is a proven global leader in energy, water, smart city, IIoT and intelligent infrastructure services. For utilities, cities and society, we build innovative systems, create new efficiencies, connect communities, encourage conservation and increase resourcefulness. By safeguarding our invaluable natural resources today and tomorrow, we improve the quality of life for people around the world. Join us: www.itron.com.
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