Panasonic puts out a Toughbook tablet

Panasonic today announced a new entry into in the rapidly growing tablet market, the Toughbook H1 Field tablet PC.

The Toughbook H1 Field builds on the Toughbook H1, which was marketed to customers in the health care field, said Kyp Walls, director of product management for Panasonic Computer Solutions. At 3.4 pounds, the H1 Field can be cradled easily in the hand, Walls said, with an integrated handle and molded hand strap.

But the H1 Field is no ordinary tablet; it's a Toughbook, and as such, it meets Mil-Std 810G and IP-65 specifications, Walls said. It actually exceeds Mil-Std specs for drop testing. The H1 Field was subjected to 78 drops at up to six feet without significant damage, he said.

Related: Panasonic builds a better Toughbook

The H1 Field offers six hours of battery life, a 64G shock-mounted solid state drive, a 1.8-GHz Ato processor and a 500 nit, 10.4-inch display that provides both tablet and touch-screen functionality, Walls said. The bright screen diffuses reflections from the sun and works well outdoors, he said.

Also included with the H1 Field are integrated RFID and barcode scanners, a camera, Global Positioning System technology and Qualcomm's Gobi 2000 mobile broadband technology. Other embedded wireless options offered with the tablet are 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0.

The Toughbook H1 Field also can be outfitted with a Common Access Card reader, making it appropriate for government workers, Walls said.

In developing the tablet, Panasonic talked to some Air Force employees who spent most of their days crawling around inside fuselages, Walls said. "They didn't want to have to carry something as big as a Toughbook 19, but they wanted a bigger display," he said. "They loved the fact that by carrying along a small battery pack, they could work all day without having to come down and plug in or swap batteries."

The Toughbook H1 Field goes on sale next month, starting at $3,379. For more information, see www.toughbook.com.