Orchard Toughlet Android Tablet gets webOS & Windows 8 Afterward

Orchard has just introduced its newest rugged tablet called the Orchard Toughlet which is especially designed for use in outdoors. This tough tablet isn’t aimed at the general public, while it is idea for home in construction, engineering, manufacturing, or other jobs where it would be exposed to the elements. According to the manufacturer, this tablet is also targeting education and corporate fields as well. The Orchard Toughlet is made out of rugged aluminum and titanium alloy case, paired with a Corning Gorilla Glass scratch-resistant display.

The Orchard Toughlet tablet also brings a 7-inch Pixel Qi display. The Pixel Qi technology is capable of functioning in two modes such as; a full color LCD as well as a high contrast (monochrome) for sunlight viewable. This rugged tablet features weatherLox technology that capable to keep out dust, moisture, and other particles. In addition, it also includes a nickel-zinc battery that can handle high temperatures better than lithium-ion batteries.

Key features of this tablet are a dual-core 1.2GHz Freescale iMX5 ARM Cortex A8 processor, and it runs on Google Android operating system, while the company also plans to delivers it in webOS and Windows 8 models. Furthermore this tablet also comes bundled with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IR, RFID, and optional 3G/4G support.

Reportedly, Orchard will start producing tablets during the second quarter of 2012 and it’s also planning to work on special orders and customization of client’s needs in the third quarter of the year. Well the Orchard Toughlet, rugged Android based tablet will cost you around $550.

There is also a video of this table during CES 2012 but it’s not the prettiest tablet on the market, it’s a demo unit with few unusual characteristics including dual SDXC card slots, a dedicated flashlight button, etc. Even this demo in the video doesn’t have a Pixel Qi display, but includes few standard features of the final production units.