They’re Baaack: Panasonic Android Assault

ELUGA has landed. Panasonic’s global smartphone assault has kicked off – announcing the 4.3″ Eluga – a waterproof Android smartphone on Gingerbread.
The new phone is running Android Gingerbread (v 2.3.5) on-board, upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich mid-2012, and a reasonably powered 1GHz dual-core processor.

The Eluga weighs just 103g, making it one of the lightest Androids around and has one of largest screen ratio of the market – with a OLED QHD 960×540, capacitive screen display comprising 66% of the phone’s body, on a super-thin 123×62.0x7.8mm frame and 7.8mm profile.

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It is also boasts an 8MP autofocus camera, 8GB of integrated memory, Near-field communication (NFC) technology, offering ‘no touch’ interactions, including contactless payments.

The skinny Eluga – which translates ‘elegant user-oriented gateway’ -is waterproof and has protection for up to a depth of 1 metre for up to 30 minutes in water, and is also dustproof.

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You can also ‘throw’ pictures wirelessly or stream movies from the device to a TV or cloud service, thanks to its ‘Swipe and Share’ technology.

The VieraRemote app lets Eluga be used as a remote for other devices like TV, BluRay player or camera.

No word if Pana’s smartie is hitting Oz, which hasn’t seen a branded phone since 2005, although it will be launched in Europe and Asian markets first, the giant confirmed.
 
Oh, and for those concerned about battery life, the device will shut down non-essential features when it is low on juice.

“Despite the unprecedented increase in the number of smartphone devices appearing over the last few years, we don’t believe anyone has yet managed to truly bridge the gap between style and substance,” says Toshiya Matsumura, Head of Mobile Communications, Panasonic Europe.

“With the launch of the ELUGA, we’re aiming to prove it is possible to deliver style, function, form, and the very best underlying technology, all in a competitively-priced package.”