Casio G'zOne Brigade marches into Verizon

Verizon announces the immediate availability of its latest rugged cell phone, the Casio G'zOne Brigade.

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Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.

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Bonnie Cha

March 11, 2010 10:25 a.m. PT

For the rock 'em, sock 'em, beat 'em up cell phone types, Verizon Wireless launched a new rugged handset on Thursday called the Casio G'zOne Brigade.

Much like the G'zOne Boulder and Rock, the Brigade is MIL-STD-810F-certified, so it's water-resistant and can withstand shock, dust, vibration, humidity, and other elements. Unlike the other two, the Boulder is the first rugged device in the States to have a full QWERTY keyboard, which is housed in a horizontal clamshell design.

The messaging-centric device also has a text-to-speech function to read back your e-mails and text messages to you and includes a full HTML Web browser and document viewer.

The handset also features push-to-talk capabilities, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera, and supports a number of Verizon services, including VZ Navigator and V Cast Music and Video. The Casio G'zOne Brigade is available now, online and in Verizon stores, for $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate.

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