Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1 is announced - a rugged 7-inch Windows tablet that costs 2 grand

The Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1 is not your ordinary tablet. It is a slate built to withstand much more torture and abuse than a typical mobile device gets subjected to, and then some. As other members of the company's Toughpad series, the FZ-M1 is covered by thick, rugged armor protecting it from drops of up to five feet. Moreover, Panasonic's creation is impervious to liquids and highly resistant to the elements. And yes, it is IP 65 and MIL-STD-810G certified. To top it all off, Panasonic has labeled its Toughpad FZ-M1 as the thinnest and lightest 7-inch rugged Windows tablet (not that it has any real competition to race against in that segment).

Under the tough shell of the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1 beats a 4th generation Intel Core i5 vPro processor accompanied by 8GB of RAM and an SSD of up to 256GB. Note that the hardware setup releases so little heat that a cooling fan is not required. The screen measures 7 inches in diagonal and can be viewed comfortably in broad daylight, according to the manufacturer. Moreover, its highly sensitive touchscreen can be operated through gloves. You also get a USB 3.0 port, a microSD card slot, Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, NFC, UHF RFID, and an optional 4G LTE multi-carrier modem. Windows 8.1 Pro is in charge of the show.

So all in all, this tough piece of hardware is pretty awesome with its ruggedness, but it isn't really made for the mainstream market. Those who work in extreme environments, however, might be interested in checking this tough baby out. It is expected to launch in Spring of 2014 priced at about $2100.

via: Microsoft News