The rugged Kyocera Torque Android smartphone will be available from Sprint on March 8th, the carrier announced. Available for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate via reward card, the LTE-enabled device is made for folks living an active lifestyle or those who don’t want to worry when it’s accidentally dropped on concrete, in water and so on.
In that sense, Kyocera’s baby is built to MilSpec 810G standard to withstand dust, shock, vibration, solar radiation, humidity, blowing rain, low pressure, salt fog and extreme temperatures; and IP67 standard for dust, sprayed water and full immersion of up to one meter deep for up to 30 minutes. Moreover, it’s also one of the first devices to use Kyocera’s Smart Sonic Receiver technology, which transmits sounds not only as traditional sound waves, but also as vibrations carried by body tissue directly to the eardrum and inner ear to improve sound clarity even in the noisiest environments.
And to fire-up the sales, Sprint hired Bear Grylls to promote the new phone. Under the deal contract, he’ll be taking the Torque on a series of “adventures” ranging from biting snow, spraying water and mud to a day of splashing in a water park full of kids. Then, at the end of the day, Kyocera’s phone will join the ultimate survivor in bed as he goes to sleep in the middle of a jungle some of the world’s fanciest hotels… You can follow Grylls’ journey from a dedicated YouTube channel.