Panasonic at the CES show expanded its Toughpad line of enterprise-grade tablets with the introduction of the Toughpad FZ-G1, a 10-inch tablet running Windows 8 Pro.
The company also unveiled an Android-based Toughpad called the JT-B1. This is a seven-inch model. Both are ruggedized tablets targeted at businesses and government buyers.
Rance M. Poehler, president of Panasonic System Communications for the North American region said that Panasonic – through its Toughbook brand – holds nearly 80 per cent market share in the rugged mobile device space. And, the market direction will continue to be B2B through the channel.
These toughpad tablets have designed for mission-critical and highly mobile workers in fields such as the military, construction, healthcare, public safety, utilities, retail, maintenance, supply chain logistics and insurance. The devices are ideal for a host of usage scenarios, including inventory control, eForms, field sales, field service, route delivery, eCitations, electronic medical records, inspections, mobile point-of-sales and GIS.
Panasonic Toughpad FZ-G1 featuresthe 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3437U vPro 1.9GHz up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost technology. The memory is 128-256GB SSD, 4-8GB RAM, optional micro SDXC. In terms of the rugged features, this tablet has a MIL-STD-810G 4-inch drop rate and IP65 14 degree to 122 degree Fahrenheit temperature range. The touch display is sunlight viewable and has an active digitizer. The battery life is 8.0 hours. It also boast a full size USB 3.0, HDMI, optional micro SDXC, full size USB 2.0, wired LAN, true serial port or dedicated GPS.
Toughpad tablets are supported by an ecosystem that includes an enterprise-focused app store, developer tools and deployment support. Panasonic will offer a full set of enterprise-grade accessories to support the Toughpad line, including cases, mounts, printers, keyboards, magnetic stripe readers, smart card readers and multi-unit storage and charging solutions.
The Toughpad FZ-G1 will be available in March starting at $2,899, while the Android model will ship in February starting at $1,199 all through authorized Panasonic resellers.
