I recently covered the launch of the Casio G’zOne Boulder for Verizon over at MobileBurn.com. If you’re not familiar with the G’zOne product line, they’re extremely ruggedized handsets, able to withstand being dunked in water, buried, or even frozen in ice and thawed out (video). Unfortunately, they’re CDMA, which means no-workie-with-SIM-cardie. It also means they can’t really be used for their true purpose: backup phones.
This leads me to wonder why in the world there aren’t more ruggedized GSM handsets, specifically with quad-band GSM. Nokia had its 5500, but that handset was lacking the crucial GSM 850MHz frequency for real coverage in the U.S. With the convenience of SIM cards on GSM networks allowing us to easily change our cell phone as if changing underwear, the market for a hardcore backup phone should be rather huge.
As someone who often goes camping, to the beach, or just down to the pool, I’d feel alot better not having to worry about damage to my mobile phone. Moreso, with the Casio G’zOne Boulder, it’s clear that these ruggedized handsets need not be light on the features. This handset has a 1.3 megapixel camera, support for EV-DO Rev. A high-speed networks, built-in GPS and a compass. Plenty of higher-end features to make using the phone just as convenient as it should be, when outdoors.
Ricky Cadden 