BizPad: Panasonic Announces Android Tablets Targeted At Businesses

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Thursday, October 13th, 2011
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Panasonic Japan has announced [JP] two Android tablets for the domestic market yesterday, the so-called BizPad JT-580VT (with a 7-inch LCD screen) and the JT-581VT (with a 10.1-inch LCD). Both devices run on Android 3.2 and are specifically targeted at businesses (hence the name).

What the tablets also have in common is that they are shock-, dust-, and water-proof. For example, Panasonic says the big model can absorb drops from a height of 80cm, while the smaller one can even handle 120cm.

Both devices also have an NFC reader, a replaceable battery, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a USB port, GPS, a microSD slot, a ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core CPU, 1GB memory, 16GB flash, and infrared.

The 7-inch model (pictured above) features a 1,024×600 resolution screen, 3G as an option, a 5MP camera, and IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. It weighs 400g and will go on sale in December.

The 10-inch BizPad (pictured above) comes with a 1,280×800 resolution screen, a 1.3MP camera, and IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. This model weighs 700g and will go on sale in Japan in January 2012.

Panasonic has yet to announce prices and possible plans to sell the BizPads outside Japan.