Folks that work in harsh environment like fire fighters, field workers and oil field workers need a device that is strong enough to survive life in the field. Drop your iPhone and the thing is probably dead. Rugged phones however, can withstand drops and tumbles.

AT&T has added a new phone to its line for users needing a rugged handset called the Airo Wireless A25is. The device meets MIL-SPEC 810-F/G. It can survive repeated drops form as high as 50-inches, up to 95% humidity, and harsh vibrations for up to 1000 miles.

The power used by devices that we think are turned off goes by several names. Some call it parasitic power, some call it vampire power, and others call it phantom power. In the end, they are all the same and describe electricity consumed by devices when they are not in use.

AT&T has a new green charger coming in May called the Zero Charger that will stop phantom power use at a place most of us don’t even think about it — your cell phone charger. AT&T says that most chargers draw power from the outlet even when a phone isn’t attached.

When it comes time to look for a phone on AT&T, most geeks are going to go for the iPhone. There are some folks out there that want a cheaper device on the AT&T network and the carrier has a couple new handsets coming soon.

The new devices include the Samsung Sunburst sporting a 3-inch touchscreen with onscreen keyboard. The handset also has a 2MP camera/camcorder and supports multiple messaging options. Bluetooth is included and the device supports premium AT&T services.

Some new info has leaked regarding the BlackBerry slider and according to the latest rumors, the device failed the early diagnostic testing 4 out of 5 times, which obviously isn’t good. If the rumor holds up, the BlackBerry slider may be headed for Sprint, since the device had a Sprint logo.

There is a GSM/HSPA version of the device and the models are called the BlackBerry 9900 and BlackBerry 9930. It looks like the HSPA version will support 850/1900MHz UMTS bands which would make it compatible with AT&T and Rogers’ 3G networks.

The Motorola Backflip has an unusual form factor and if you like what it is offering, you’ll be happy to know that the Motorola Backflip is now available on AT&T’s website. You can get the backwards folding phone for just $99, after rebate and the two-year contract agreement.

Some features of the Motorola Backflip include the ability to do backflips all day long, Android 1.5 (upgradable to 2.1), a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD card expansion up to 32GB and a 3.1-inch HVGA touchscreen display.

Just as expected, AT&T has made the Motorola Backflip available today marking the first Android iPhone competitor available through the carrier with more to follow. The Backflip is available for $100 with a 2-year contract or $350 straight up. So, who’s in? Or are you going to wait to see what the other four AT&T Android phones are bringing?

AT&T

[Thanks JamesBond]

AT&T’s first Android phone won’t be shipping with Google Search. Instead, the Motorola Backflip’s home screen will feature a Yahoo Search widget, and the browser will run Yahoo searches by default. In fact it will be the first Android device with Yahoo as the main search engine.

Obviously appeasing Apple is high on AT&Ts priority list. We can’t really see what else this move does. It just says hey, we love Apple and fear them. There are four other AT&T Android phones coming soon, and we wonder if they will follow suit.

AT&T will be selling the Android-powered Motorola BACKFLIP starting March 7. This marks the first device sold by AT&T which runs the Android operating system. The price is $199.99 with a 2-year contract and a smartphone data plan.

So it hit up online or head down to a brick-and-mortar store on that date. Motorola debuted the new device back in January. It combines a reverse QWERTY flip keyboard with a custom Android (Android) operating system supporting the company’s MOTOBLUR technology.

AT&T has offered a service for a while now that lets family members track their family using their phones. The service used a map on a computer or software on some of its mobile devices to show where a family member was at the time.

AT&T has announced that the FamilyMap app for the iPhone is now available. The app lets a user track the location of other family members on their talk plan directly from the iPhone. The app lets the user set up areas that kids are allowed to travel in and places where they are allowed to be.

The Apple iPad will come with two 3G data plans through AT&T. The first is just $30 a month with no contract. On this plan you can cancel at any time with no penalty, and use AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots for free. If that doesn’t sound good to you, maybe option number two is more to your liking.

The other plan is $15 for 250MB of data, also through AT&T. You can activate it directly from your iPad. That seems like a good deal, when you consider that a laptop plan will generally cost you $60 for unlimited data.

If you’re like us, you probably think that these constant ad battles between AT&T and Verizon are getting really old. Who can keep track anymore. Lawsuit is countered by lawsuit, then there’s a lull, then more ads slinging mud at each other.

Here’s AT&T’s latest. Another ad featuring Luke Wilson. The ad is all about the speed of AT&T’s network compared to Verizon. Why can’t they use this ad money and put it toward making their networks better? What’s next? The other half of the annoying Wilson brother duo rooting for the opposing team?

The holiday season is a good time to give someone in your family a new mobile phone. If they are still rocking that Razr from years ago, it’s time for an upgrade. Just be sure it is a family member you can trust to pay the bill and not run up the minutes.

AT&T has announced a new special deal for the holidays that offers a gob of Blackberry handsets at half off, and even the newer Blackberry devices are included. The sale covers the Bold 9700 and 9000 as well as the Curve 8900, 8520, 8320, and 8310 handsets.

Check out the LG eXpo, a slider with a pico projector inside. This full QWERTY slider is also packing a 1GHz CPU, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, a microSD slot, and the removable Texas Instruments projector.

The eXpo is running Windows Mobile 6.5, and it will be available from AT&T on December 7th for $199. That’s after a mail in rebate with a two year contract. Then there’s an additional $179 if you choose to get in on the projector action.

For a long time only Europeans were able to take advantage of subsidized notebooks and netbooks with wireless carriers. The deals are now common in America as well, though the prices for the machines are typically not all that discounted compared to just buying the netbook outright.

LG has been offering its X120 netbook in Korea for a while now and has announced that the little machine is now coming to America. The netbook has a 10.1-inch screen, built-in webcam, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB HDD.

Pantech and AT&T have announced that the cool Pantech Impact feature phone has hit the AT&T wireless network. The handset is available in blue and pink colors and has a new form factor for the AT&T line.

The device has a touchpad for the number pad that has haptic feedback technology with vibration when the buttons are pressed. The phone also has a pair of LCD screens with one on the outside for dialing and one on the inside for videos and web surfing.