Panasonic Business Systems this week launched a slew of new B2B products at Melbourne’s Crown complex with a focus on Ultra HD, mobility for workers and IP convergence.
The products unveiled for commercial use included Toughbook computers and tablets, projectors and commercial displays, broadcast and security solutions, and unified communications.
“It is one of our strongest and most integrated range of business products yet,” said Jason Coleman, director of the Panasonic business systems group. “As modern businesses evolve, Panasonic is evolving with them and working to build integrated business technology solutions that are tailored to our customers.”
Panasonic debuted its first commercial 4K panel, a massive 98–inch LED display (TH-98LQ70) that is covered in protective glass and an aluminium frame to enhance durability.
Coleman said “4K is coming” and in some industries that require exceptional clarity it is already here, such as CAD drawing, medical imagery, broadcast production and digital signage. He always said anyone thinking of upgrading their panels should consider 4K to futureproof their investment.
“Make no mistake about it, 4K is the future of high-quality content creation and display,” Coleman said. “Panasonic is investing heavily in 4K and we work on offering complete end-to-end solutions for our B2B customers that goes from content capture right through to digital display.”
Also unveiled the world’s first 6,000 lumens 1-chop DLP laser projector (PT-RZ670) with 20,000 hours of working life. It is pitched at universities, museums and exhibition applications and will be available in September.
Moving onto mobility, Coleman quoted research that showed mobile workers are set to account for more than one-third of the world’s total workforce by next year.
The Toughpad and Toughbooks demonstrations focused on three key areas: warehouses, emergency services and mining. The 7-inch Toughpad FZ-M1 (RRP $2,699) has all the traditional features expected of commercial tablets: it is water and dust resistant, drop-proof and the battery delivers eight hours of uninterrupted work.
Panasonic also signaled a shift toward increased tablet options as the number of tablet users is predicted to surpass PCs by mid 2015.
Another reoccurring theme for the range was transitioning businesses from analogue to internet protocol, for example with security camera systems.
The new Panasonic 6 Series security camera range offers improved image quality through Full HD and HD models. The cameras produce high-definition resolution at 60 frames-per-second for blow-by-blow image review.
Each of the cameras has improved low light performance and makes it possible to see the whole room without fish eye distortion and recognise faces.
They take dual memory cards to store double the information, or automatically back up information within the camera.
In conjunction with the WJ-NV200 recorder, the system can recognise age, gender and collect data, making it possible to market directly to customers based on which demographics are coming through the door at certain times.
This technology is the “next step” in security systems, Panasonic said, moving towards collecting marketing data and customer information as well as traditional surveillance methods.