Dell today announced the new Latitude 12 Rugged Tablet, Dell’s first fully rugged tablet designed for reliability in the harshest conditions. the Latitude 12 Rugged Tablet features a 11.6 inch Direct-View outdoor-readable HD display with gloved-enabled multi-touch capabilities. For peak performance in the most severe temperatures, the Rugged Tablet comes pre-packaged with Fourth Generation QuadCool thermal management and Fifth Generation Intel Core M processors. The tablet has up to 12 hours of battery life with two 2-cell batteries.

The device also features solid state storage up to 512GB and connectivity anywhere with 802.11ac Wi-Fi as well as an optional mobile broadband and dedicated GPS. It delivers the confidence of overall data and device security with Dell Data Protection and available Intel vPro and Intel TPM 1.2.

AN optional full-size keyboard cover for the Rugged Tablet has a customizable RGB backlight and an IP-65 rating to protect against water and dust intrusion.

The Latitude 12 Rugged Tablet will be available by the end of July. Dell hasn't announced pricing yet, but obviously there's a heavy premium to be paid for such devices -- its Latitude 12 Rugged laptop with an Intel Core i3 CPU and 4GB of RAM runs $3,649, for instance.

Dell Introduces The Fully Rugged Latitube 12 Tablet