Esper Enables Leading Vertical Market OEM JLT to Bring the Power of Android to Intel x86

JLT Built Custom VMT Tablets With Esper

Virtually out-of-the-box, JLT got a complete Android x86 solution for both legacy and new devices from their vehicle-mounted technology lines JLT6012 and JLT1214P devices. A successful proof-of-concept was rapidly completed for 200 JLT devices, with immediate plans to expand the solution to 1,000 more VMTs. JLT is thrilled with Esper’s speed and expertise in meeting their performance requirements to deliver rugged x86 devices for their customers’ forklifts.

JLT Device Management Challenges

JLT needed an Android solution for x86 hardware

In order to bring the power of Android to their VMT devices, JLT needed a commercial-ready Android OS that was compatible with the architecture of their IP65 JLT 6012 and JLT 1214 vehicle-mounted devices.

Using Foundation wasn’t JLT’s first attempt to get a commercial-ready Android OS working on their x86 vehicle-mounted tablets (VMTs). JLT customers were asking for Android for lower ownership cost. JLT had been trying for more than a year to find an Android solution for their VMTs without any success.

All the Android for x86 builds JLT tried simply didn’t work, even with any amount of fine-tuning. JLT even attempted to make their own Android build or switch to ARM-based architecture without success. JLT was nearly ready to give up on Android when they found Foundation and realized a commercial Android OS for x86 was possible.

Esper Foundation for Android just worked out-of-the-box for JLT’s vehicle-mounted x86 tablets.JLT reached out to Esper with the following requirements:

• Commercial Android OS for Intel x86
• Remapping of device buttons
  
• Remote provisioning tools
  
• Programmatic smart battery controls
  
• Android kiosk mode configuration
  
• Geofencing
  
• Over-the-Air Updates to App and OS
  
• Improved Battery Life
  
• Android Drivers for Sensors

Esper's Solution

We deployed Esper Foundation x86 on JLT tablets

JLT’s customers need the flexibility to adapt to new and emerging use cases, and the ability to control long-term total cost of ownership (TCO) on their JLT devices. Combining Foundation with JLT’s powerful Intel x86-based device was the perfect option.

Android on x86 not only had the potential to significantly reduce customer lifecycle costs, it offered benefits of greater life cycle control, configurability, and innovation potential. It gave JLT’s customers access to lower total cost of ownership and a massive global pool of Android developer talent.

JLT partnered with Esper to bring the power of Android OS to JLT’s Intel x86-based devices - including customer access to Esper’s complete toolchain, APIs, and SDK for lifecycle management. Not only did Esper have proven expertise in offering x86 for legacy Windows devices that have reached end-of-life in other customer engagements, Esper’s custom Android OS unlocked access to Esper’s cloud platform for lifecycle management.

Esper’s custom OS for JLT’s Intel x86 vehicle-mounted devices results in superior performance and support, allowing JLT to continue delivering the world’s most innovative and high-performance vehicle-mounted tablets for tough use cases both today and tomorrow.

Now, JLT customers have unlocked new features and benefits, including:

1. Extended security patches and support for legacy devices
2. Increased device performance, faster deployments, and richer configuration controls
   
3. Seamless provisioning templates to lock enterprise apps to full-screen Android kiosk mode
   
4. A complete set of cloud tools to rapidly deploy updates remotely to apps and OS
   
5. Rich alerts on changes in total device health - including performance, configuration changes, and telemetry data
   
6. A complete set of open APIs and SDK for programmatic control and automation of hardware, configurations, apps, and OS