The Rugged G'zOne Boulder Released by Verizon

Verizon Wireless has added a new rugged mobile phone to its line-up of products, namely the G'zOne Boulder. Built by Casio, the Tokyo-based Japanese manufacturer, the new handset comes only one week after the release of another rugged phone, the Motorola Adventure V750.

Well, if the Moto Adventure looks like a pretty normal phone, the G'zOne Boulder doesn't, as its case is designed in such a way that it would probably fit perfectly in the hands of a Transformers robot.

Design aside, the new Casio is surely a tough handset, as it has no problems in resisting water and dust contacts as well as powerful shocks. Moreover, its features are not at all bad, including CDMA connectivity with EVDO Rev A, Push to Talk, electronic compass, a 2 inch TFT internal display with 240 x 320 pixels and 65K colors, a 1.2 inch external STN monochrome screen with 96 x 96 pixels, Bluetooth, V CAST Music with Rhapsody, V CAST Video, a 1.3 Megapixel camera with flash and video recording, advanced speech recognition, TTY and hearing aid compatibility, flashlight and so on.

Casio G'zOne Boulder weighs 4.9 ounces (139 grams) and, when closed, it measures 3.9 x 2.0 x 0.9 inches (99 x 51 x 23 millimeters), so it's definitely not a handset that can pass as lightweight and slim. The battery packed in the Boulder is capable of lasting up to 214 minutes in talk-time or only up to 63 hours in stand-by time.

Users interested in buying the new and rugged Casio clamshell can find it in three versions: black/silver, orange/black and black/silver with no camera (the last one being targeted for those who work in places where photo cameras are not allowed).

Verizon offers all the versions of Casio G'zOne Boulder for the same price: $129 with a contract agreement for two years and after a $50 online discount.