New Zealand Police choose iPads and iPhones after 11-month trial

The New Zealand Police will be issuing 6000 frontline officers with iPhones, reports the National Business Review. Of those officers, a further 3900 will also receive an iPad in an outsourcing deal with Vodafone worth $159 million over ten years, including cellular charges. According to the NZ Police chief information officer Stephen Crombie, Apple’s iPhone and iPad lines were chosen following officer feedback after an 11-month trial.

"Based on frontline officer feedback from the trial (over 100 staff in four districts trialled smartphones, laptops and tablets over an 11-month period) the preferred devices are the iPhone as smartphone and iPad for the tablet,” Crombie told NBR. “The approach used to develop the applications means Police can move to other devices with relative ease as technology changes," he added.

News that the NZ Police will be making a large aquistion of Apple iPhones and iPads follows closely behind LinkedIn’s decision to gift its 3,500 strong workforce a 32GB iPad mini each. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said that the gift to staff was a “small gesture” for their efforts, with company growing 81-percent year-over-year in 2012. Weiner says he got the idea from YouSendIt CEO Brad Garlinghouse whose end of year Christmas bonus to staff was also an iPad mini each. [via Appleinsider]

Photo credit: NBR

By Electronista Staff