WASHINGTON - What's it like to use the new handheld computer systems designed for the 2010 decennial census?

FederalNewsRadio got an exclusive up-close demonstration of the computers that are to be issued to the thousands of workers who will do the actual work of counting the nation's population two years from now.

At first glance, it looks like a BlackBerry or Palm Treo PDA (personal digital assistant) on steroids, and is about the size of a paperback book. It has a sturdy Velcro handstrap to keep busy census workers from dropping them in the field.

The handheld computer is based on common PDA components, but do not have cellular telephone capabilities. The handhelds do, however, have the ability to send data gathered in the field wirelessly and encrypted back to Census Bureau headquarters.

The handhelds also have Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers, which will allow census workers to capture a precise position for every home and residence in the country, which, among other things, has important significance for setting congressional districts in the next decade.

Their operating system is a version of Microsoft Windows for mobile and handheld devices.

Every day, the portable computers will download a workers' instructions, maps, and other necessary documents to conduct the census.

The handheld computers automatically upload their data to the Census Bureau via a secure, encrypted, wireless Internet connection.

The handhelds and the "back-office" system for handling the data are being designed and built by Harris Corporation under contract to the Census Bureau.

(Copyright 2008 by FederalNewsRadio.com. All Rights Reserved.)