Portable PCs come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from 15 pound desktop replacement behemoths to 1 pound sub-notebook replacements, with convertible tablets thrown in for good measure. Yet, there are industries that are not well served by the cornucopia of portable PC choices and need something a little different, something that fits more in the category of an electronic clip board.

Fujitsu is aiming to meet the needs of those unique industries with the ST6012 slate tablet PC. Announced today, the ST6012 features embedded biometric pre-boot authentication, improved processor performance, and a new semi-rugged sleek exterior.

The unit is less than one-inch thick with a 12.1-inch, anti-glare display and is designed to be comfortable-to-carry, making the unit ideal for on-your-feet computing markets including insurance, education, and healthcare, as well as retail/mobile sales. The unit offers an indoor/outdoor display that can mimic pen and paper, allowing users to write or sketch on the display, fill out digital forms, enter data and take orders. Plus, an optional rear mounted webcam captures images essential for reports such as insurance claims. The unit handles digital signature capture using automatic handwriting recognition and special software.

Features include:

-         Powered by the Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo ULV SU9400 (1.4 GH), Intel(R) GS45 Chipset and Intel(R) GMA 4500M hard drive.

-         Intel(R) Centrino(R) 2 with Intel(R) vPro(TM) Technology available on select configurations.

-         Bright 12.1”wide XGA transmissive indoor/outdoor display with 160 degree viewing angles and improved brightness delivering 300 nits.

-         Expanded hard drive to 320GB or solid state drive up to 64GB, and DDR3 800MHz dual-channel support memory.

-         Stay connected with Gigabit Ethernet and a choice of Intel(R) Wi-Fi Link 5300AGN (802.11a/b/g/draft-n) or Atheros XSPAN(R) (802.11a/b/g/draft n)

-         Optional 1.3 mega-pixel (640x480) webcam.

-         Optional wireless USB and Bluetooth v. 2.1 for added convenience.

-         Offers up to 11 hours and 40 minutes of battery life(2) with a nine-cell battery or 7.5 hours(2)  with a six-cell battery option.

-         Priced starting at $1,999 (1) for a base configuration. Users can choose from a recommended configuration, or they can customize their Stylistic ST6012 slate tablet PC using the Fujitsu Configure To Order (CTO) program. Available immediately through the Fujitsu website and select retailers/e-tailers.

-         Weighs 3.5 pounds.

-         Semi-rugged design with magnesium alloy lower casing and shock-mounted accelerometer-based hard drive for added durability.

-         One-touch application buttons including one-step display mode rotation.

-          Embedded Trusted Platform Module (TPM), dedicated smart card slot, Fujitsu security application panel, two-level hard drive password, BIOS-enabled Computrace(R) LoJack theft recovery service and universal lock slot.

-          Optional tablet dock solution with choice of none, DVD-ROM, Combo or DL DVD+/-RW drives.

-          Pre-installed with Microsoft(R) Windows Vista(R) Business, Bonus Media or Windows Vista(R) Business, Downgrade Service (Windows (R) XP TPC), and bundled with Microsoft Office OneNote(R) 2007.

-          Dual digital microphone array with noise cancellation and echo suppression.