Washington  - Panasonic is unveiling its first ultra mobile PC based on Intel's new Atom processor. The Toughbook CF-U1 weighs 1060 grams, has a 5.6 inch touch screen and measures 15.1 x 18.4 centimetres. The computer can be ordered with either Windows XP or Vista installed and is considered particularly robust.

The Toughbook can withstand drops from a height of up to 1.2 metres, Panasonic claims. The Toughbook CF-U1 is also intended for field use, meaning that it is well protected from water and dust as well as temperatures from minus 20 to plus 60 degrees Celsius.

On the technology side, it comes equipped with the extremely energy efficient Atom chip, with 1.33 gigahertz of processing speed as well as a solid state drive with 16 or 32 gigabytes (GB) of capacity. 1 GB of RAM is included. WLAN and Bluetooth are standard features, with GPS available as an option. The computer's battery provides nine hours of service.

The notebook will be available in July starting at 1,600 dollars. (dpa)