Samsung launches the Galaxy Tab Active, a ruggedized tablet for businesses

Water-resistant and rugged mobile devices are all too common in the consumer world, but those qualities haven’t permeated devices in the enterprise market. Samsung is looking to change that with the Galaxy Tab Active, a tablet that comes with IP67 certification for water resistance and an anti-shock covering that can withstand a 1.2-meter drop. The tablet is aimed at those working in enterprise – for example, Samsung is touting the inbuilt NFC connectivity as a great tool for transportation and logistics managers, and the rugged nature of the device as an advantage for retail auto sales representatives.

Like the Galaxy Note tablets, the Galaxy Tab Active comes with a stylus that Samsung is calling the C-Pen, something the company thinks those who have to wear gloves in their field of work can use as an alternative to standard touch input. The display on the tablet is an 8-inch unit of WXGA (1280×800) pixels resolution, and apart from the solid build, the Galaxy Tab Active sports mostly mid-range specs, like a Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor, 1.5GB RAM, a 3.1-megapixel rear camera, 16GB of internal storage and a microSD slot, a 4,450 mAh battery touted for 8-10 hours of general usage, and Android 4.4 KitKat.

The Galaxy Tab Active will be available in both Wi-Fi and LTE variants sometime later this year, and will come with the C-Pen and a Protective Cover right in the box. Samsung is only offering the Titanium Green color option; pricing hasn’t been revealed, but we’re guessing it will cost around the same as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 4 range of mid-range tablets.