Commentary: Technology Review: Samsung's Rugby gladly takes a

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Oct 17, 2008 by Kelley Chambers

Timex has an old familiar slogan about how its watches can take a lickin'.

Samsung has introduced a mobile phone called the Rugby, which can take fiery sparks and several other forms of severe abuse, and still be able to make phone calls.

The phone is more likely to irritate a user by dropping a call than by breaking when dropped. It is certified to meet military standards for dust, shock, vibration, rain, and an assortment of other elements that could spell the end for most phones.

The Samsung Rugby hit the market in September, accompanied by a video produced by AT&T.

The video, available from AT&T and on YouTube, features a cheery company representative who takes the Rugby to a San Antonio construction site.

While there, the phone is subjected to having fiery metal sparks shot at it, severe vibration, being scooped up and dumped from a backhoe, and run over by a large pickup truck with 2,000 pounds in the bed.

After the tests the phone seemed no worse for the wear.

I opted not to do anything that might result in The Journal Record receiving a bill for replacement of the phone, but I did drop it on several surfaces and backed over it with my Volvo.

The phone was just fine.

After being dropped on carpet, concrete, a tile floor and into a large planter, the phone was unscathed.

Then Maike Sabolich, Journal Record photographer, took the phone out for a photo at a construction site and did her own on-the-spot product test.

After being run over by a massive single-drum roller, it sustained a bit of damage to the display window on the exterior screen, but otherwise came out with only a few scratches.

And for its brawn, it also has brains, in a sense.

For one, the phone has GPS capabilities through AT&T Navigator. On a recent sunny afternoon I walked outside the offices of The Journal Record and activated the GPS. The phone found me, pinpointed where I was on a map, and tracked my progress as I wandered around downtown.

The directions option was also helpful as I entered my destination as "Will Rogers World Airport" and received detailed instructions and a visual on the map to get me there from where I was standing.

A warning screen when the application is launched does state, "Do not manipulate this application while driving."

Good advice.

The GPS function is becoming more common on mobile phones, a feature my wife and I could have used when we found ourselves lost in Dallas on two occasions last month, after following detailed instructions from the Internet.

But that's off the topic.

Available in black, burgundy or construction yellow, the Rugby phone sells for $130 at select AT&T retailers with a two-year service agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate.

While the phone is designed to take a beating, and is marketed toward architects, engineers and construction workers, Andy Morgan, spokesman for AT&T Oklahoma, said there has been a great deal of interest from consumers who are simply tired of replacing broken phones and want a more durable product.

The yellow phone looks like it should be packaged with a hard hat, but the other two colors really look no different than many other phones on the market.

It is a bit bulkier than an average flip phone - and looks like a pack of cigarettes when stowed in a pants pocket - but it weighs only about an ounce more than other phones.

Additional features include service on AT&T's 3G network, Video Share and e-mail access.

The Rugby is not for everyone, but it sure is nice to know if you have one and drop it on the pavement, or under heavy machinery, that your next trip won't be to the nearest AT&T store for a new handset.