Field Tests Commence For Smartphones In Combat Conditions

The U.S. Army is about to launch trials of off-the-shelf iPhones, Android phones and tablet computers for combat operations, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The desert trials scheduled for this week will include stress-testing of a variety of applications that could allow troops to acquire digital information from the front-lines, such as streaming video from a surveillance camera or downloading information from a remote database, according to Army officials.

The testing...