Video: Panasonic Toughpad A1 and Toughpad B1

Most tablets are fragile things, not so the Panasonic Toughpad which as the name suggests is pretty tough. Based in part of the Toughbook range of laptops, the Toughpad looks like it should stand some abuse.. although it will never be as tough as a Toughbook simply because the screen is always exposed (the Toughbook is a laptop, so it folds up).

The annoying thing is just how long we will have to wait for the 7" version of this. Panasonic are quoting "fall 2012".. that's nearly a whole year! Apple can go from product announcement to shipping in just a few days, so surely Panasonic could do better than this.

Still, if you want to use tablets anywhere other than the home or office, something like this will probably have great appeal.