tough

Phones

Can the Sonim XP1 Mobile Phone Really Survive a 9mm Shot?

6:40AM Jesus Diaz | Sonim claims that their XP1 mobile phone is virtually indestructible. In fact, they say it can survive a 9mm, so the people from Gadget Review took it to a shooting range and had some fun. More »
Cameras

Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 Waterproof Camera: Snowmodo Review

1:00AM Wilson Rothman | The Gadget: Olympus’ waterproof, shockproof, coldproof—and hot-tubproof—10-megapixel pocket cam with new controls that work when you are gloved and freezing, as I discovered over the past weekend in Park City, UT. More »
Phones

i-mate Launches Military Grade Smartphone, Still Runs WinMo

3:30PM Nick Broughall | Is it just me, or did i-mate really go off their game after they stopped just rebadging HTC handsets and actually creating their own hardware? Even if it is just me, it looks like the smartphone company is back in the game with the 810-F, a smartphone built to military specifications that comes with a lifetime warranty. More »
Phones

‘World’s Toughest Phone’ Battered Live Online For Your Enjoyment

5:20AM Sean Fallon | The folks at Sonim have done just about everything in their power to convince potential customers that their XP1 is the world’s toughest phone. That includes running over it with cars and dunking it in beer baths. Their latest stunt involves hitting in with a hammer 24/7 until it breaks—and you can watch the entire thing go down online. You can even send it text messages to test whether or not it is working. More »
Phones

Sonim XP3 ‘The World’s Toughest Phone’ Coming to the US

7:40AM Sean Fallon | Sonim has gone to great lengths to convince European customers that its XP1 is the toughest phone on the market. They even went so far as to take the phone on tour and encourage spectators to try and beat it into submission. Now the company is planning on launching an updated version, the XP3, in the US complete with GSM, quad-band EDGE, GPS, Bluetooth, a 128×160 screen, a 3-megapixel camera and a flashlight mode (not to mention a seriously rugged design and a 3 year no-questions-asked guarantee). AU: The XP1 is available in Australia, and we’re still listening to suggestions on how to try and destroy it.
Phones

Help Gizmodo Destroy The Sonim XP1

11:19AM Nick Broughall | The world’s toughest phone, the Sonim XP1, is now available in Australia through Crazy Johns. But rather than bore you with specifications and tiresome statistics on just how tough it is, Sonim has (foolishly?) agreed to let us show you by letting us attempt to destroy it. So, I’m partnering up with ex-Giz ed (and current Kotaku guest-ed) Seamus for a fun-filled day of attempted mobile phone destruction. And while we both have some rather creative ideas on the best way to introduce the phone to our friend pain, we want your help. Let us know in comments how you think we should try and annihilate this thing. keep it realistic – we don’t have access to the LHC at the moment remember. The best ideas will be attempted, and we’ll video the whole thing and upload it next week. And for those of you who are interested in the figures, the press release for the XP1 is below: More »
Phones

Samsung A837 Mil-Spec Mobile Phone Has a Tough Box Too

9:31PM Kit Eaton | We brought you leaked photos and some basic specs on Samsung’s upcoming toughened A837 mobile phone last week, but the enterprising chaps over at Por Homme have somehow got hold of one and unboxed it. They also revealed more detail on the toughness of the device: it’s hardened to meet MIL-STD-810F standards for dust, shock, vibration, rain, altitude, solar radiation and temperature. Sounds like it’ll be good for most work environments then, especially since the case is hardened to resist physical damage too. Check out the gallery and see the “cute” tough toolbox the phone came in. More »
Computers

My Vigor Evo HD Will Beat Up Your iMac

10:31PM Mark Wilson | Next Computing’s Vigor Evo HD isn’t the most elegant all-in-on PC we’ve ever seen, featuring a 17″ LCD monitor sort of glued on to the side of its tower, but it’s not afraid to get its nails dirty, either. Because this handled beast protects its 2 processors, 4 PCI-X slots and 3 TB of storage in a floating chassis, which can take bumps and bruises in stride. There’s no doubt that the Vigor Evo HD is intended for the rigors of construction environments—a necessity for when you bring down the house with your uber pwnage. [nextcomputing via hothardware] More »
Cameras

Giz AU’s Olympus 1030SW Review (Verdict: Great For Active People)

11:41AM Nick Broughall | The US team gave the 1030SW from Olympus a lightning review earlier this week, and although I agreed with what they said for the most part, I had the benefit of taking this baby snorkelling with me in Fiji, and so had a better test of the camera’s underwater skills than Benny’s bathtime hijinks.
Cameras

Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera Takes Swimming Lessons to Become Nigh Indestructable

3:45PM Matt Buchanan | While Fisher-Price’s Kid-Tough digital camera was already built to withstand the Guantanamo-level torture your average four-year-old dishes out to their toys, the latest model will hold up to 30 minutes of waterboarding too, despite a rounder, slimmer body. The insides have gotten an upgrade as well, with a 1.3MP sensor (up from 640×480) and 64MB of storage that’ll hold 500 closeups of your kid’s boogers. [Fisher-Price] More »