Are Sprint's ruggedized phones an alternative to dedicated rugged handhelds?
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

For decades, the decision whether to get dedicated rugged handheld computers or just cellphones for jobs out there in the field was simple. Computers were computers, and phones were phones. That began changing a few years ago when handhelds added phone capabilities and phones became little computers, but the difference between the two types of devices was still substantial. Well, not anymore. Phones have become smartphones that are computers, they run industrial strength operating systems, their displays have grown in size and resolution, and they are perfectly capable of running even complex applications. What's more, almost everyone is familiar with smartphones and how they work, so why not use them on the job as well? Oh, and they also cost less than dedicated handheld computers. As a result, many enterprises are now using iPhones and Android phones by the hundreds and thousands.

But using a standard consumer phone in the field is not always the answer. That's because while consumer phones are generally built to take a bit of abuse, they are not truly rugged. They may or may not survive a drop or a good splash, and when you depend on your handheld for your job, that's just not good enough. And then there's security, maintenance, and support — the stuff corporate IT is concerned about. And that's why most of the traditional makers of ruggedized handheld computers now also offer versions that include full phone functionality and work very much like smartphones. Problem is, most of those still cost a lot more, and most still run Windows Mobile and not the iOS or Android that all those hundreds of millions of smartphone users are already used to.

At this point no one knows how it'll all shake out, whether conventional rugged handhelds are doomed or not, or even what OS platform will run on mobile workers' devices a couple of years from now. This may be why Sprint started its "Sprint Gets Rugged" initiative a while ago. It was started to help developers migrate their enterprise apps to Sprint's line of ruggedized CDMA devices. The program offers developer software, testing tools and devices, and also migrating of iDEN apps (those push-to-talk apps from the NEXTEL days) to Sprint CDMA Java or Android devices. So we thought we'd take a look at some of those rugged phones available in the Sprint Gets Rugged program and see what they are like.

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