Aimed at the enterprise sect of people, the Japanese manufacturer Panasonic unveiled its Toughpad FZ-A2 tablet in the second week of June 2016.
The unveiling ceremony took place in Barcelona during the Panasonic Automotive Innovative Summit. Rather than focusing on normal tablet users, the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-A2 slate is designed to be used in showrooms and by mobile workers. The gadget is also expected to be a good choice for activities like taking down notes during workshop sessions. There is no doubt that when this slate finally hits the market in July, it will be priced very much on the higher side. Also, it is expected that it will be more comfortable to operate the device in landscape orientation like most slabs today. A desktop cradle is also being made available with the gadget to mount the same on a table and operate it.
Dimensions, Weight, Body Material and Resistance
Given the fact that the Panasonic gadget is not meant for normal use, it can be anticipated to be larger and more rugged than usual. Rumors are that the slate will portray a size of 272 x 16.4 x 196mm.Surprisingly, the FZ-A2 is going to be lightweight for its size and weigh close to 880g. Intended for use by more than one person, the manufacturer is making the tablet very sturdy by using metal for the body material. If ongoing talks are what you can expect in the final tablet, then the Toughpad is going to feature a magnesium alloy body to withstand shocks. In addition, apart from the fact that the gadget will be water and dust resistant with an IP65 rating, Panasonic’s tablet will not undergo any damage when dropped from a maximum height of 1.2m that is approximately four feet.
Screen Display, Pixel Resolution and Pixel Density
The enterprise tablet is very likely to depict a huge screen size of 10.1 inches. The Toughpad will house a pixel resolution of 1920 x 1200 along with a pixel density of 300ppi. The IPS LCD screen also shows promises of a WUGXA active matrix with good 800cd/m2 luminosity and excellent brightness for easy sunlight viewing capability. The matte touchscreen is anticipated to support operation using all ten fingers at a time, and also with gloves. In a nutshell, the screen of the slate will display good clarity both indoors and outdoors.The LCD screen will also encompass a protective film over it for protection from minor accidental mishaps.
Cameras and Microphones
The Toughpad FZ-A2 will come integrated with an 8MP camera at the back. This snapper will incorporate autofocus functionality and make use of an LED flash for low lighting. On the front, the slab makes use of a 2MP camera with a Full HD sensor. This helps in live video conferencing capabilities and capturing photographs of documentation work. Moreover, there will be inbuilt directional array microphones for communication.
Customizations
Interestingly, the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-A2 will allow an array of customizations for your convenience. According to gossips, you can customize the slate to incorporate a smartcard reader, a 2D barcode reader or even 4G LTE connectivity. A noteworthy aspect is that the gadget can be made to offer a reversible connection to charge other devices when you are not able to lay your hands on a charger to charge them.
Under the Hood – Hardware, Memory and Software
The FZ-A2 will come with really powerful hardware configuration as a perfect complement to its rugged build. The slate will integrate 4GB RAM, a quad core Intel Atom x5-Z8550 central processor and an Intel HD Graphics 400 graphics processor. The quad core processor is said to have a minimum ticking frequency of 1.44GHz. Apart from the 32GB storage that comes along with the tablet, the Toughpad memory can be expanded still further with a memory card. A capacitive pen that serves as a stylus will also be made available if you don’t want to handle the slab with your fingers.
As an Android slate, the Panasonic device will come with the very latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow installed. This will be coupled with the Work’s Enterprise Security offering from Android for business purposes.
Battery
Exact details about the capacity of the battery are yet to be revealed. However, the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-A2 will undoubtedly house a powerful battery that is removable. Moreover, the battery will offer a working life of nine hours to meet the work shift requirements.