Overcast skies didn't stop Panasonic rolling out a strength-tester for a hammer swinging competition at the launch of its new Toughpad in Australia, the FZ-M1. The device is the world's lightest rugged 7inch tablet, according to the vendor, and the first 7-inch Windows Toughpad to hit the Australian market.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new device is Panasonic's sales pitch, which pushes the $2699 tablet as not just a tool for jobs involving rough working conditions. "We think the answer is rather than bring your own device, buy the right device," said Marc Amelung group manager, Toughbook, Panasonic Australia.
Panasonic now has now launched four Toughpads in Australia. The company cited predictions that smaller 7-inch tablets will make up the biggest share of the tablet market, representing 30 percent of global shipments by 2017.
One customer using Panasonic's Toughpads in Australia is Wilson Security. Security patrols now use a fleet of the rugged 7-inch Android tablets. The tablet means patrols don't have to return to the control room at the end of a shift to write up reports, according to Panasonic. We were told Wilson is also looking at using an NFC reader to scan tags at client sites.
It's not a Toughpad launch without piling dirt on the product.
The tablet can also be disinfected with hospital grade cleaning chemicals, according to Panasonic.
Another feature - the FZ-M1 can be used with gloves.
Another key feature is an optional hot-swap bridge battery, making it possible to change batteries without turning off the tablet. Panasonic claims a battery life of eight hours and there is also an optional 16-hour battery.
The tablet weighs 540g, which is lighter than a larger tablet like the Microsoft Surface Pro 2, but certainly not the lightest on the market. By comparison, the consumer-grade Nexus 7 weighs up to 299g.
The tablet runs Intel's 4th generation Core i5 and doesn’t require a fan. It runs Windows 8.1 Pro.
Another key selling point of enterprise grade, rugged tablets like this one are the options: here they include GPS, a barcode reader, ethernet, serial port, NFC, smart card reader, UHF RFID and magnetic stripe reader.
The two disties handling Panasonic's Toughpads are Multimedia Technology and Avnet, which we were told came on board late last year.
Overcast skies didn't stop Panasonic rolling out a strength-tester for a hammer swinging competition at the launch of its new Toughpad in Australia, the FZ-M1. The device is the world's lightest rugged 7inch tablet, according to the vendor, and the first 7-inch Windows Toughpad to hit the Australian market.