First Panasonic smartphone arrives in UK

THE FIRST SMARTPHONE from Japanese electronics maker Panasonic has made its debut in the UK today.
Announced at Mobile World Congress in February, the Eluga is the first smartphone to come out of Panasonic, a company that is better known for releasing rubber-clad rugged smartphones. The Eluga follows in the rugged steps of its cheaper siblings, as it comes with an IP57 certification, which means it's resistant to water, dust and scratches.
Aiming to woo consumers away from the latest Samsung or HTC handset, Panasonic has also equipped the Eluga smartphone with a 4.3in qHD screen, a 1GHz dual-core processor, NFC, an 8MP camera and a case that's 7.8mm thin. Unfortunately though it arrives running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, so we think the phone will struggle to compete against the HTC One X or the soon to be announced Samsung Galaxy S III.
Toshiya Matsumura, GM and head of Mobile Communications for Panasonic Europe said, "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."
"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."
The Panasonic Eluga handset is in stock at Expansys for £364.99.

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