Some phones just don't have to be cute; not even remotely so. They're too busy getting slung with mud, drenched with water, and baked in the sun to really put a priority on good looks -- and if any class of handsets can really get away with that sort of philosophy, it'd have to be Motorola's
iDEN workhorses. The lineup has historically been a favorite of construction crews whose phones have a tendency to take a constant beating, and this should be another hot seller in that vein (for as long as iDEN
lasts, anyway): meet the i365, a push-to-talk candybar without a single pretty bone in its entire body. It manages to pack both Bluetooth and GPS, so it's not a total slouch in the feature department -- but rest assured, it dispenses of luxuries like a camera, an intenna, or an expansive display. No word on when it'll launch or where it'll be available, but odds are good you'll never hear about it again unless your boss sets one on your desk.
[Via
Phone Scoop]
posted Aug 11th 2008 6:46PM
I think it's better looking than some Nextel phones...
Another fine example that iDen is teh suk. PTT works really good though at least :)
It is too bad Moto hasn't been able to migrate some of the iDen ruggedness features over to their mainstream consumer phones. I know many people who have damaged or ruined phones from dropping them in water, being out in the rain too long or dropping them on the ground too many times. It seems like a semi-rugged phone would offer a good marketing angle for Moto to position itself. Current phones fall into two categories: rugged or very very fragile. It would be nice to be able to buy a phone that could be out in the rain or be dropped a few times without breaking, especially when said phone costs several hundred dollars.