Ultra-Rugged Kyocera Torque 4G LTE smartphone coming to Sprint

by Jeff Causey on Jan 28th 2013, 2:32pm
tagged IP67, kyocera, MilSpec, rugged, Sprint, Torque

Sprint announced today the upcoming availability of the Kyocera Torque, a ruggedized 4G LTE Android smartphone. According to their press release, the Kyocera Torque meets the 810G MilSpec for dust, shock, vibration, solar radiation, humidity, blowing rain, low pressure, salt fog and extreme temperatures. It also meets the IP67 standards for dust, sprayed water and full immersion of up to one meter for 30 minutes. The device has a 4-inch WVGA 800×480 LCD IPS screen backed by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and the ability to add microSD cards up to 32GB in size. The Torque will support both 4G LTE on Sprint’s network as well as the Direct Connect push-to-talk service. Kyocera includes their Smart Sonic Receiver technology on the device, eliminating the need for a speaker, relying instead on vibrations to transmit sound to the eardrum.

If you are interested in a device capable of surviving some severe duty, check out the full press release after the break for more information. » Read the rest

Sony Xperia Go survives outdoor challenge, becomes ice cream sandwich

by Jeff Causey on Jul 24th 2012, 11:54am
tagged IP67, outdoor challenge, rugged, sony, Xperia Go

The Sony Xperia Go may only run Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but German site A1 decided to see if they could get it to become one with an ice cream sandwich. Dousing the Xperia Go in ice cream was only one of several tests shown in a newly released video showcasing the ruggedness of the handset. The testers “helped” the Xperia Go experience a variety of plausible scenarios, like being dropped in a pool, left in a pocket for a ride down a waterslide, or even being run over by a car. Some of the tests were more farfetched, like being strapped to a soccer ball (football?), buried in sand or the aforementioned ice cream sandwich test. Despite all the attempts to rattle the Xperia Go, it survived and worked fine showing it is worthy of the IP67 rating it carries. Check out the video after the break to see how the Xperia Go did in all of the challenges.

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