  Kicked rotors with certain non-analytic potentials avoid dynamical
localization and undergo a metal-insulator transition. We show that typical
properties of this transition are still present as the non-analyticity is
progressively smoothed out provided that the smoothing is less than a certain
limiting value. We have identified a smoothing dependent time scale such that
full dynamical localization is absent and the quantum momentum distribution
develops power-law tails with anomalous decay exponents as in the case of a
conductor at the metal-insulator transition. We discuss under what conditions
these findings may be verified experimentally by using ultra cold atoms
techniques. It is found that ultra-cold atoms can indeed be utilized for the
experimental investigation of the metal-insulator transition.
