Panasonic just revealed the two newest members of its Toughpad family here at CES, the FZ-G1 Windows 8 slate and the 7-inch JT-B1 Android tablet. Naturally, when the company's gave us the chance get handsy with this pair of chunky monkeys we jumped at the chance. Each of them have the telltale look of every Panasonic Toughbook and Toughpad -- a solidly constructed silver plastic shell with black rubber corners and a girth roughly twice that of its less robust gadget brethren.
We were surprised to find that the smaller of the two tablets we fondled failed to have Android 4.2 on board. Instead it was loaded up with Ice Cream Sandwich, which the slate's dual-core OMAP silicon kept humming smoothly during our brief time with it. Like its 10-inch sibling we saw last year, its matte screen mutes colors while it reduces glare. While the strap on the back is an optional accessory, we see its appeal for securing the device in hand, and fully expect it'll be a popular add-on for enterprise customers.
Meanwhile, the Windows 8 slate's screen was a bit brighter and more vibrant, and its Core i5 had us swiping through the OS's tiles even more smoothly than its smaller stablemate. Build quality was, of course extremely solid, but results in a tablet with considerable heft. If you'd like to see the two Toughpads in action, a pair of videos await after the break.
Mark Hearn contributed to this article.
Continue reading Panasonic FZ-G1 Windows 8 Pro and JT-B1 Android Toughpad tablets hands-on
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