Sprint Gets Rugged With Motorola Renegade V950, i365

Sprint unleashed four new devices on Tuesday, two of which add to its roster of Nextel Direct Connect handsets -- the Motorola Renegade V950 and Motorola i365 -- and meet military specifications for ruggedness. The other two are billed as affordable multimedia devices designed to boost productivity.

First up is the Motorola Renegade V950 (pictured), an ultra-rugged handset that the carrier adds to its portfolio of Nextel Direct Connect devices. According to Sprint, the Renegade V950 is built to military specifications for dust, shock, vibration and blowing rain, while tying in Nextel push-to-talk services and Sprint Mobile Broadband.

The clamshell device measures 4.1 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.66 inches and weighs 4.16 ounces. The device is a digital dual-band, operating on 1900 MHz and 800 MHz. The display screen measures 2.2 inches and has 240 by 320 pixels.

The Nextel Direct Connect features offer instant, one-to-one push-to-talk to other Direct Connect subscribers, along with Group Connect, which lets users communicate and coordinate with up to 20 other subscribers all at once, or TeamDC, which lets users communicate with up to 34 users at once. The Call Alert feature lets users send a repeating alert view text to other subscribers to let them know a user is trying to reach them. Users can also use a single number option for both cellular calls and Direct Connect communications and DC permissions let users block or allow incoming push-to-talk and call alerts from select users.

The Motorola Renegade V950 (pictured from the side) also features Bluetooth support; a 2.0 megapixel camera and camcorder with four times zoom; an MP3 player with external controls; and a MicroSD card slot for storing pictured, video, music and more.

The V950 also gives users access to the Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, Sprint PCS Picture Mail, and Sprint GPS Navigation. Additionally, subscribers can access NFL Mobile Live; mobile email from AOL/AIM, Yahoo, Windows Live Hotmail and more; instant messaging; SMS text messaging; speakerphone; and Sprint Mobile Sync.

The Motorola Renegade V950 is available today for $129.99 with a two-year service contract and $50 mail-in rebate.

Along with the Renegade V950, Sprint and Motorola on Tuesday also unveiled the Motorola i365, a second Nextel Direct Connect device.

Taking on a so-called "monolith form factor" the i365 measures 5.3 inches by 2.1 inches by 1.2 inches and weighs in at 6.7 ounces. The i365, which runs on IDEN 800/900 MHz, features a full-color 130 by 130 display and offers roughly 300 minutes of talk time.

It is military specification certified for ruggedness, meeting humidity, blowing rain, dust, shock and vibration requirements. It also offers Bluetooth connectivity, multimedia messaging, GPS navigation, VibraCall alert and speakerphone. Users can also add a second line to the i365 with different area codes, so users can have one line for personal use and one for business, or both for business.

The device also offers a host of Nextel Direct Connect features including instant connect, Group Connect, International Direct Connect, Direct Talk, Direct Send and NextMail.

The Motorola i365 costs $89.99 with a two-year contract after rebates and discounts.

Sprint on Tuesday also revealed two new devices from Samsung, the M320 and the M220. The Sprint-exclusive devices were designed to target users looking for communication and productivity boosts.

According to sprint, the M320 (pictured) and M220 offer easy-to-use menus, bright displays, speakerphone, Internet access, SMS voice and text messaging and Bluetooth connectivity.

The Samsung devices offer access to downloadable games, ringers and screen savers and feature picture caller ID. They enable Web and email access with Sprint Vision and feature an internal phonebook with a 300-number capacity, speaker independent voice dialing, and a built-in scheduler, calendar, to-do list, world clock, calculator, stopwatch and alarm clock. The M320 and M220 can record up to 10 60-second voice memos.

The M320 measures 3.5 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.8 inches and weighs 3.1 ounces. The main display measures 1.1 inches by 1.38 inches TFT, or 128 by 160 pixels. The external display is 96 by 96 pixels. It runs a standard lithium battery with up to 3.5 hours of continuous talk time.

The M320 features a VGA camera with zoom, while the M220 does not.

The M220 (pictured), packs the same punch as the Samsung M320, aside from the camera. It measures 3.6 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.7 inches and weighs 2.68 ounces. It features a main display of 128 by 160 pixels, or 1.25 inches by 1.57 inches TFT, with an external 96 by 96 pixel display. The M220 offers 4.4 hours of continuous talk time with a standard lithium battery.