-I'm Nicole Lee, Senior Associate Editor for CNET.com, and this is a first look at the Casio G'zOne Commando from Verizon Wireless.
This is Verizon's first ever rugged Android smartphone.
As you can see here, it is clad in very hard rubber and its military certified to withstand a variety of environmental hazards.
On the front here is a very bright 3.2-inch display.
It ships with Android 2.2 but it does have its own custom Casio UI.
It's called the snap-out menu.
What you have to do is you just take this little snap button here and just flick it open with your finger.
You will then see a series of shortcuts that you can glide to to activate.
Simply take the snap button, drag it open, and you will see the list of applications.
If you don't let go of the button
and drag it back the opposite way, you can then select the function you want.
Let go of the button and that function will automatically launch.
You can then customize the menu from the phone's entire list of functions and applications.
We found this function useful since you can just flick it open to access your frequently-used apps.
However, we did find it a little bit sluggish at times.
Sitting above the display are sensors for temperature, proximity, and light.
On the back is the 5-megapixel camera and LED light.
Aside from that, the G'zOne Commando has the usual Android functions.
It has Gmail, GoogleTalk, and more.
However, because it is a Verizon phone, it comes pre-installed with a variety of Verizon apps that include V Cast video and music.
It also has Bing as the default search engine and Bing Maps as the default maps.
You can add Google Search and Google Maps on here but you have to do that yourself.
The G'zOne Commando comes with the G'z gear suite of applications that are well-suited for outdoor enthusiasts.
They include the Earth Compass, the Walking Counter, a thermometer, a tidal graph, a stargazer application, and more.
The G'zOne Commando also has Bluetooth, GPS, and WiFi.
It has 3D mobile hotspot as well and you can share with up to 5 WiFi-enabled devices.
Other features include high-security encryption
for corporate e-mail and EV-DO Rev.
A.
The Casio G'zOne Commando is available for $200 with a new two-year service agreement with Verizon Wireless.
I'm Nicole Lee.
This has been the first look at the Casio G'zOne Commando.
