Motorola MC9500 smartphone |
The latest offering from Motorola is this Windows Mobile-powered smartphone, the MC9500. This one is for tough industrial situations where you need a rugged Phone. The MC9500 also sports an accelerometer so you can tip the device toward a delivery customer and have the screen flip around for signing and has five swappable keypads.
Charging requires it to hook up into a modular, “form factor agnostic” charging system with LED indicators on the 4800 mAh batteries that show the current level of juice in the batteries. Some other features include a 3-megapixel camera, EV-DO and HSPA modules, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a 3.7? 640 x 480 display.


The Flipside Wallet is a wallet for the 21st century. It’s a front pocket wallet that acts like a traditional bi-fold, but has some added features for the times we live in. It’s secure, durable and functional. The Flipside Wallet is made from high strength polymers and anodized aluminum alloy components.
Nokia’s not a company that’s known for ultra-survivable and rugged gear, but I guess they figured out that rugged phones are a good idea. The 3720 candybar features a 2 megapixel cam with LED flash, triband EDGE, FM radio, microSD expansion, and Bluetooth 2.1.
Don’t believe that the
Pentax’s Optio W80 is the company’s toughest point and shoot camera yet. It’s also waterproof up to 16 feet underwater and it will survive drops from 3.3 feet and works in 14 degree weather. So if you are an adventurer looking for a rugged point and shoot, this one sounds like a good bet.
You thought
The Axxana Phoenix is a solid state flash memory disk array that backs up and stores your important data with no need of remote transfer. It claims to be the toughest data recorder in the world. It can withstand earthquake grade shocks of up to 40G and 5000 pounds of pressure.
Back in February, a Turkish Airways jet crashed in Amsterdam. Nine people were killed and 121 were injured. One passenger, Sefer Baris, along with his MacBook Air managed to survive the crash. Sefer was in seat number seven at the front of business class.
AT&T just launched the Samsung A657, adding another push-to-talk handset to their lineup. The candybar is a tough one that comes with a rubberized shell that meets US military standards for shock, moisture, temperature and other rough stuff. No camera here though.
Garmin is offering up two new watches in the Forerunner lineup. They look a tad, uh, fugly. The waterproof 310XT and the 405CX, which is the successor to
Motorola introduced its VE465 semi-rugged clamshell handset, available on Alltel’s website. But there’s no word on pricing details just yet. Those living in Canada can check out the VE465 on Telus if inclined, where it shall be known as the “Motorola VE465 Active Edition”.
Lighters are great and all, but they are too prone to fail. Typical lighters can run out of fuel, or the flint may need to be replaced. Once they get wet, that’s it. That’s not good if you need to use it in an emergency. Sometimes you need a more rugged lighter. Like the Brunton Helios Stormproof Lighter.
The Canon PowerShot D10 is rugged. It’s a 12-megapixel point-and-shoot that is waterproof up to 33 feet, freeze proof to 14 degrees, and you can even drop it from four feet and it will live on. As far as looks, it kind of the reminds us of the iMac.
The Timex Expedition WS4 looks pretty ordinary, but it isn’t. Some of it’s features include an altimeter, barometer, thermometer, chronograph, alarm and compass. This isn’t some slim sissy watch for a nerd wrist. This one’s for real men. Rugged type dudes. Adventurers.
AT&T decided to add another model to its rugged push-to-talk-compatible lineup, in the form of the Tundra from Motorola. This one has been available on Rogers for awhile. Some features include: 3G, 2 megapixel camera, stub antenna, AGPS, QVGA display, and microSD expansion.








