It took quite a while for Verizon Wireless to get ready the CASIO G’zOne Brigade for the official announcement. We’ve first seen the rugged device at the carrier’s leaked roadmap back in July of 2009. Then, a month later, it got the FCC’s seal of approval and now, more than half a year after that, it’s officially out.
As you may know, all G’zOne phones are about toughness, and are made for business customers in such industries as construction, public safety and utilities, who need a reliable device that stand up to tough work conditions. The Brigade is not an exception and it too can handle water, shock, dust, immersion, vibration, humidity, salt fog, altitude, high and low temperature storage, and solar radiation resistant conforming to MIL-STD-810F.
However, unlike most other ruggedized handsets, this one comes with a full QWERTY keyboard, allowing users to type faster. In addition, there’s a 3.2-megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash on board, 2.9-inch 400×240 pixels main screen that’s coupled with smaller 1.2-inch 128×96 pixels external display, GPS, Bluetooth, EVDO Rev A. data, and a microSD memory card slot. In terms of pre-installed apps, we find HTML browser, document viewer, media player, VZ Navigator client, email client and so on.
Finally, the price – Verizon is selling the CASIO G’zOne Brigade for $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a new two-year customer agreement.