Sanyo Taho

(Credit: Sanyo)

Sprint added another rugged phone to its stable today with the Sanyo Taho E4100. Made by Kyocera but marketed under the Sanyo name, the Taho is built to the usual military-grade standards.

The flip phone shows a tough shell with rubber sidings that's made to withstand dust, shock, vibration, extreme temperatures, blowing rain, and a 30-minute dunking in 3.28 feet (1 meter) of water. It's not pretty by any means, but durable models don't have to be.

Features are squarely midrange and functional. You'll find a 2-megapixel camera with flash, a microSD card slot, GPS navigation, stereo Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a personal organizer, text and multimedia messaging, and a digital music player.

And now for a small rant. We don't know why Kyocera chopped off the "e" from "Tahoe" to name this phone. Perhaps the manufacturer was trying to be unique--and it succeeded on that front--but we only can hope that it's not pronounced "tay-ho" instead of the expected "taw-ho." Cell phones should not come with a pronunciation guide. OK, the rant is over.

The Taho will be available beginning Jan. 9, 2011 for $99.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate.