If you find yourself in the freezing snow, under the scorching heat of the desert, getting wet or dropping your thing on the asphalt, then take note. Panasonic has just announced a duo of Android tablets for extreme handling and extreme conditions. Bear in mind that Panasonic is no stranger to rugged computing; it has long marketed the Toughbook laptop to military, law enforcement and heavy industrial users.
The new tablet duo consists of the 10.1-inch XGA LED 1024 x 768 Toughpad A1, which will be available next spring for $1299, and the 7-inch Toughpad B1, which will be coming in the fall of 2011. They both feature a military grade rugged design with water and dust-resistance.
The Toughpad A1 is an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet with a Marvell 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storaga. It has a GPS receiver, optional integrated 4G or 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and 2-megapixel front and 5-megapixel rear cameras. What you would be more interested to know is that it’s military standard MIL-STD-810G and IP65 certified rugged with 4-foot drop rating, water and dust resistant and is safe for use in extreme temperatures from 14 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The chasis is made of magnesium alloy encased with ABS and elastomer.
Panasonic claims a daylight-readable 500nit LCD display with anti-reflective and anti-glare coatings. Embedded hardware security for FIPS 140-2 compliance with hardware encryption and software encryption. Panasonic hasn’t skimped on any features here and course all these add up, making the Toughpad A1 a 10.5x 8.4x 0.7 inch, 2.1 lbs (952g) beast.
Panasonic is marketing the tablet for business use, like law enforcement, healthcare, field sales, utilities and military.
You can catch a video of the Toughpad A1 getting some seriously rough handling after the break.
Quick specifications
- MIL-STD-810G and IP65 certified
- Android 3.2 Honeycomb
- Marvell dual-core processor – 1.2 GHz with embedded hardware security
- 10.1” XGA LED 1024 x 768 Multi touch + digitizer daylight-readable screen
- 1GB DDR2, 16GB Flash
- Micro-USB 2.0, microSDHC, HDMI micro
- Integrated 4G (WiMax, LTE) or 3G mobile broadband (optional)
- Wi-Fi hotspot router, GPS receiver (satellite-based), Bluetooth
- 2MP front (webcam)
- 5MP rear with auto focus and LED lighg
- Li-Ion battery pack (33.9Wh)
