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| INFOSYNC TV | By Philip Berne, Thursday 30 October 2008 |
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| Samsung Rugby | Review » Scoreboard » Specs » |
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 The Samsung Rugby occupies a prime spot in AT&T's Push-to-Talk lineup. Unlike every other major PTT provider (Sprint, of course, and also Verizon Wireless), AT&T has focused primarily on smartphones for walkie-talkie use, including the Palm Centro, the AT&T Tilt and every model of BlackBerry device. The Samsung Rugby is the carrier's only real rugged phone, and this phone is indeed quite rugged. We washed the Samsung Rugby under a faucet, hit it with a motorcycle (check out our video of the incident, filmed up close and in slow motion with the Casio Exilim EX-FH20), and obnoxiously abused it, and the phone held on like a champ, though our small bike did dent and scratch it a bit. We were surprised to find the phone runs nearly the same multimedia interface as the Samsung Propel we recently reviewed, and we think it could use more of a corporate or workforce update to focus on features that walkie-talkie users prefer, like contact list with synchronization and corporate e-mail support. Instead, the phone has AT&T Music and a few e-mail presets, and even these are buried under the aging menus. It's a fine phone for calling and walkie-talkie use, but we think its time for AT&T to re-imagine their interface as they branch out into new phone categories. Release: October 2008. Price: $130.
Pros: Very rugged. PTT offers unique calling features. Good GPS service, surprisingly adequate Web browser.
Cons: We'd like to see more corporate and on-site features, like corporate e-mail and contacts sync. Multimedia features so buried, why bother?
| Poor |
Mediocre |
61%
GOOD |
Very good |
Excellent |
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