Panasonic European CEO Laurent Abadie today announced a new Android phone in Hamburg, as his assistant plucked the slim 7.8mm Eluga smartphone from a fishbowl filled with water.
The Japanese firm has been absent from the smartphone market of late and the Panasonic Eluga is the first Android phone from the company which views media sharing as a key part of their 2012 product line-up. “We are very confident with the product and have set a European target of 1.5 million units, to end March 2013” said Abadie.
The waterproof and dustproof phone boasts a 4.3 inch screen and will hit the UK in ‘spring’ according to Panasonic which puts it neck and neck with the Sony Xperia S, another phone designed with media sharing across Sony products in mind.
Demonstrating the media sharing functions with a dedicated Viera 2.0 app, images and movies were thrown from the phone to the new Panasonic range of smart TVs with a 2 second delay. Video chat and social network functions were also shown as Panasonic announced new partnerships with Skype and MySpace.
“Here, substance really meets style. Eluga showcases our expansion in the consumer electronics market and launches us into a new market in Europe” said Abadie. “It really is designed with the European consumer in mind – we did a lot of research all over Europe to come up with this solution”.
In closing, Panasonic revealed that the Eluga is a key part of their Smart Life strategy (see slide below) and hinted at a link with products beyond TV and audio devices. A washing machine controlled by your phone, perhaps?
We’ll have more news on the Eluga very soon…
