Spanning the great divide between the PDAs that average people use on a daily basis and those ultra-rugged industrial handhelds that you find at worksites is the SoMo 650 from Socket Mobile. On the one hand, they say that this “handheld computer” is “sleek”, appealing to the masses for its aesthetics. On the other hand, they all say that the SoMo 650 is “durable”, able to withstand the bumps and bruises associated with being kicked around the worksite.

The SoMo 650, according to Socket Mobile President and CEO Kevin Mills, is “designed and developed for the currently underserved business mobility market.” The Windows Mobile 5.0-powered device sports a “big, bright QVGA display”, 802.11b/g WiFi with VoIP, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, reinforced CompactFlash and SDIO slots, 128MB SDRAM, 256MB Flash memory, 624MHz Intel processor, and a high-capacity lithium-ion battery. It can also “withstand multiple drops from one meter onto vinyl-covered concrete.”

The SoMo 650 Handheld Computer from Socket Mobile will retail for $648 when it ships in Q2.