Since Android’s inception, we have seen a handful of rugged devices released running the operating system, but all offer too many tradeoffs over the high-end devices. The Motorola Defy, Samsung Rugby, and Motorola Admiral were all rugged phones, but were abandoned by their carrier and manufacturer rather quickly, leaving users out of luck when it came to operating system updates and simple bug fixes. They didn’t feature very high-end specs, and essentially, most people figured that it wasn’t worth suffering through sluggish, inconsistant performance to be able to dunk your phone in your bowl of cereal. According to a new report, however, Samsung si planning a ruggedized smartphone that may actually be half way decent.
During the Galaxy S4 launch event in Dubai, a Samsung executive allegedly made mention of a Galaxy S4 variant that will be water a dust proof. Young Soo Kim, Samsung Gulf Electronics president, allegedly made a mention of the device during the question and answer portion of the press event when asked why Samsung had never made an entry into the rugged smartphone department. Specifically, he mentioned the dust proof and water proof abilities of the device, which would put it in the same market as the Xperia Z, which isn’t necessarily considered a rugged device like the Motorola DEFY was.
Considering the lack of solid evidence of this quote, this rumor should be taken with a pretty big grain of salt. If Samsung does announce the device, I wouldn’t expect it to come to the United States anytime soon, as carriers are putting all their efforts towards the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, and don’t need another device to clutter their line up with. We also don’t know what sort of specifications this device will have. It could be that it has very low-end internals and that Samsung is planning to release it only in emerging markets, but will market it as a Galaxy S4 variant.
What do you think of the possibility of a ruggedized Galaxy S4? Will it happen? Would you buy it? Let us know what you think down in the comments!
Source: TechView