Panasonic's paperless, stylus-compatible fax/phone combo with 4.9-inch touchscreen

Fax isn’t dead, at least not in Japan. In January last year, Panasonic introduced the “world’s first” paperless fax machine for the Japanese market. And today, the same company announced [JP] the KX-PW821, which is (according to Panasonic) the “world’s first” stylus-compatible fax/phone combo. In other words, it allows users to directly write messages on the 4.9-inch touchscreen and fax them with a push of a button.

In fact, the whole machine can be controlled via the touchscreen alone. It’s also possible to add notes to faxes you received and store them on SD/SDHC cards (this works for outbound faxes, too). Users can also make notes on the touchscreen during a phone call. Panasonic also throws in a functions that allow users to record phone conversations and avoid unwanted calls.

The digital fax/phone combo will go on sale in Japan on August 8 in black or white (price: $320). Don’t expect this device to appear anywhere outside this country though.