craig mathias
Principal

Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) cell phone (AT&T service)

Feature
Nov 10, 20081 min

 

Cool Yule Rating: 5 stars

Price: $129.99 (after rebate)

Product Web site

Description: The Samsung “Rugby” is a great mobile-phone leap forward for klutzes, and anyone else who has ever dropped a cell phone (and, yes that’s all of us). This phone has GPS, plays MP3 music files, has a camera, does the Web, e-mail, texting, and all of the usual stuff.

It also supports push-to-talk (PTT), which is vital in many applications and at least convenient in others. But the really cool feature is that the Rugby is certified to Military Standard MIL-STD-810F for ruggedness, and we quote, “will withstand dust, shock, vibration, rain, humidity, solar radiation and altitude and temperature extremes.” Wow! So if you’re in construction, natural resources, or just work outside, even on the weekends, or just, as we noted, drop your phone a lot, this could be the handset for you. Our test unit came in bright construction yellow, but it also comes in burgundy, and even basic black for those dressier construction sites.

View complete list of cell phones, smart phones and accessories | View slideshow

craig mathias

Craig J. Mathias is a principal with Farpoint Group, an advisory firm specializing in wireless networking and mobile computing. Founded in 1991, Farpoint Group works with technology developers, manufacturers, carriers and operators, enterprises, and the financial community. Craig is an internationally-recognized industry and technology analyst, consultant, conference speaker, author, columnist, and blogger. He regularly writes for Network World, CIO.com, and TechTarget. Craig holds an Sc.B. degree in Computer Science from Brown University, and is a member of the Society of Sigma Xi and the IEEE.

More from this author