Panasonic preps outdoor Android slate

There's a large big biz shaped hole at the heart of the Android tablet market, Panasonic reckons, but it's one the company aims to fill. Enter the Toughbook tablet, a 10.1in machine with extra padding at the edges to make it more resistant to knocks and bumps than your average fondleslab. Panasonic Toughbook tablet We don't …

[Cameron Colley]

My predictions:

Heavy as hell.

Runs Windows.

Costs ~£2000.

Has some kind of stylus.

[Tony Smith, Editor, Reg Hardware]

Re: My predictions:

Windows? When Panasonic has specifically stated it'll run Android?

[Ru]

Tsk tsk.

It'll be multitouch, apparently. That implies that either no stylus is needed at all, or it will be optional. It'll be expensive because it probably isn't intended for mass-market use. It'll be heavy because it needs to not fall to bits or leak at the slightest provocation and resilience doesn't come for free. It won't be anywhere near as heavy as the mil-spec toughbooks though, this isn't a tank.

I'm slightly disappointed it comes in at 10" though. A 7" model could fit in a jacket pocket...

[Anonymous Coward]

RTFA

"Runs Windows."

and if you can't be bothered with the article, how about the first paragraph, no - still too taxing? ok, try just the title "Panasonic preps outdoor Android slate"

[Ivor]

eink

Now if they produced one with a mode switchable e-ink screen, then that would be interesting.

[Kerridge0]

Half way there

If it's waterproof and works in the bath then I could be convinced to get one.

[Bear Features]

not again

When will manufacturers listen, a tablet is not an ebook reader, is not a tablet.

E.g. Just because my desktop PC displays ebooks, it doesn't make it an ebook reader. My phone also displays ebooks, but it's still a phone. A tablet is great... but it's a computing device. e-ink on a device like the Kindle is where it's at. It replaces a book, it's by my bed or in my bag when I travel long distances. The battery last at least a month with everyday use. I don't want it to be anything else and nor do I want my tablet to be an ebook reader.

If you try and merge you'll end up with something that isn't a great ebook reader, nor a great tablet.

[thesykes]

Eh?

Where does it say it's an ebook reader? It says daylight viewable, something that anybody who has ever tried to use a loptop or phone on a sunny day would welcome.

[serviceWithASmile]

what gave you the impression

that it's for reading books?

Nothing in the article said anything about ebook readers.

I sincerely hope you are trolling - if you are a shill you have failed to make your company look good.

I was under the impression that traditional touhgbooks were mostly for mechanics / outdoor types or anyone who drops stuff to have a bit of peace of mind when they accidentally run it over with a 4x4 or drop it in a river.

Granted it's doubtful this one will withstand that but all the same, there is ALWAYS a niche in the market for a device that won't fall to bits after a month of what a fairly large number of people (me included) would call "normal use" - i.e spilling beer on the keyboard :D

[muttley]

RDP over PocketCloud

Looks interesting.

[Ralthor]

Come tony....

.... do you believe everytihg you read in the specs?

[Lamont Cranston]

A tablet that bounces when dropped,

is certainly an attractive proposition (childproof, please). Then again, a ruggedised tablet for outdoor use would probably make more sense at 7".

[The BigYin]

Matt display!

Yay! Can we get laptops with a matt display too, please? PUH-LEEZE!!!!!!

[TJ1]

Pixel Qi Transflective LCD like the Notion Ink Adam then?

So, almost as good a specification as the Notion Ink Adam that's been shipping for the last 6 months and cost ~ £370 then?

The daylight readable display is a revelation especially as it draws little or no power so the device will last all day. It's like reading a printed magazine rather than an electronic display.

The 10.1" Pixel Qi (pronounced Chee) Transflective LCD is the technology originally developed by Mary Lou Jepsen for the OLPC project. It is daylight readable and uses less than 1 watt:

Resolution R 3072x600 (reflective)

Resolution T 1024x600xRGB (transmissive)

My Adam has Android 2.3.3 on and is about to get 3.0 and later 3.1. It can also run a full Linux distro that supports the ARM processor (Debian/Ubuntu, Linaro, etc.). It also has:

3G modem, 802.11bg/n, Bluetooth 2.1, FM Receiver/Transmitter, A-GPS, Compass, Accelerometer, Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core. 1GB RAM, 8GB NAND Flash, microSD slot, SIM slot, HDMI 1080p output, 3 USB ports, stereo speakers, rotating front/rear video camera.

http://www.notionink.com/techspecs.php

To toughen it up I bought a carbon-fibre 'Skinomi' kit for £25 that has already fended off some serious knocks and abrasions - highly recommended to protect mobile devices.

[The last doughnut]

Can I eat my dinner off it

And is it dishwasher proof?

[Anonymous Coward]

Outdoors and 3g is "optional"?

Surely 3G should be standard for an outdoor device?

Also, if it's a backlight display, it'll need to be pretty powerful - think radioactive suntan for the user, and a battery life measured in seconds.

And in other news: Gahd, it's ugly.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ugly?

It's a tool, not a fashion accessory.

I'd happily pay for a ruggedised outdoor device no matter how ugly it was because looks mean nothing if it breaks or scratches at the slightest hint of real world outdoor usage.

[ChrisC]

There's outdoors, and then there's The Great Outdoors

Don't forget that a significant percentage of "outdoors" has absolutely no cellular network coverage at all, and a fairly significant percentage of the remaining "outdoors" has no 3G coverage... By not including a 3G modem as standard, you reduce the number of things inside the tablet that can break when the box is dropped/sat on/driven over/ dunked in water/etc. etc., and you also reduce the cost for those users who either genuinely don't need 3G connectivity, or who need it so infrequently that the slight inconvenience of having to use some form of external 3G modem is greatly outweighed by the cost/reliability benefits of not having the 3G hardware within the tablet.

[Ian Yates]

Idiots!

Do they think we go outside?!

[TRT]

And no doubt...

Traffic wardens will be issued with them.