Last week we got an exclusive look at some of the outdoor-themed apps shipping with the upcoming Casio G’zOne Commando, the latest smartphone to feature a ruggedized construction to help it stand up to the the environment (and any unintentional abuse from its owner). The Verizon materials we had access to designated the Commando for an April 28 release; now Casio and Verizon have officially confirmed that date, as well as setting a price for the smartphone of nearly $200.
The G’zOne Commando, ruggedness aside, has some pretty middle-of-the-road hardware. An 800MHz processor and 512MB of RAM won’t win it any benchmark contests, but should be more than sufficient for most users. Of course, those kind of specs aren’t want you’re concerned with when looking at a phone like the Commando; instead, take comfort in knowing it should survive half an hour of immersion in over a yard of water, resist invasion by dirt and dust particles, and bounce back to life after taking a four-foot drop.
Casio’s design for the Commando has it looking more like a handheld GPS navigator then your usual smartphone, in contrast with the also-ruggedized Motorola Defy, a similarly-specced Android that maintains a classic look. Some people may be turned off by the Commando’s unconventional style, but it certainly ends up as a phone that just looks like it could survive a beating.
The G’zOne Commando will ship running Android 2.2 Froyo when it arrives on Verizon this Thursday.
