Panasonic to launch FZ-E1 with Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld in August

Panasonic has announced it will begin to launch the Toughpad FZ-E1 in the US in August. It's a 5-inch device that uses Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld, a enterprise version of the consumer-based Windows Phone 8.1.

The FZ-E1, which was first announced in February, is the latest in Panasonic's Toughpad lineup of mobile devices that have been designed to withstand a ton of abuse. The company claims that the FZ-E1 can survive a drop from 10 feet on concrete and stay submerged in 5 feet of water for 30 minutes. It can also operate in an extreme range of temperatures, from -4 to 140 degrees F.

Inside, the FZ-E1 has a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 with a clock speed of 2.3 GHz, along with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. There'e also a rear 8MP camera and a 1.3 MP front facing camera. The display has a resolution of 1280x720 and the battery capacity is 6,200 mAh that can last up to 14 hours. The device has dual SIM slots and supports up to 4G LTE for wireless carriers.

Again, the Panasonic FZ-E1 is not made for the casual smartphone owner but for businesses that need to purchase devices that can last a long time and used in a ton of different and extreme environments. The company will sell a WiFi-only version of the FZ-E1 in August for the price of $1,899, followed by the WiFi-cellular version in October for $1,999.

Source: Panasonic