What you’re looking at is a carbon fiber drive shaft and a steel drive shaft being twisted with force until they break. As you can see in this torque test between the two, the carbon fiber shaft doesn’t budge (that’s not a still image, folks) while the steel shaft cork screws itself and becomes deformed under the same amount of twisting pressure. Gnarly.
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[CEATEC 2013] All right, I do know that the Kyocera Torque was released earlier this year, and for folks in the US, this is one handset from Sprint that has gained a reputation to be a tough device, so much so that even TV personality Bear Grylls has endorsed it in an ad campaign. Just to refresh our memories, the Kyocera Torque is a 4G LTE Android powered smartphone that will cost you $99.99 a pop from Sprint, where that is how much you will pay after sending in a $50 mail-in rebate alongside agreeing to a new 2-year contract, of course.
Back then, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was revealed to be the operating system of choice. The Kyocera Torque is one tough cookie, where it was specially built according to Military Standard 810G (MilSpec), which means that this is one smartphone that can withstand the elements, including dust, shock, vibration, solar radiation, humidity, blowing rain, low pressure, salt fog and extreme temperatures, in addition to carrying IP67 standards for dust, sprayed water and boasts of the ability to remain fully immersed in up to one meter deep for up to 30 minutes. Looks like it has gained enough “torque” to make it all the way to being the finalist in the Mobile Tech category under CEATEC 2013 Innovation Awards.
Kyocera Torque original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The Mission RS isn’t notable because it’s electric or because it’s designed and made in America. Or even because it’s really, really fast. Why you’re going to sit down and read every single word of this world-first review is simply because it’s a superior performance motorcycle to any yet made. Period.
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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Earlier this year, we saw how the Kyocera Torque picked up approval from the folks over at the FCC, before being released to the market from Sprint. In fact, this particular smartphone was meant to be one tough cookie, so much so that it has been touted to survive just about anything (within reasonable means, of course), ranging from drops, shocks, drops, to water and extreme temperatures. Wirefly is offering the Kyocera Torque as well for $29.99 and a 2-year contract, and decided to put the handset through the paces as you can view in the video above.
It went through an entire washing machine wash cycle for a full 33 minutes, before it was placed into a bowl of water, followed by making a trip to the freezer for 15 hours. After taking approximately 2 hours or so to thaw out, it was dropped from a height of 15 feet, and the Kyocera Torque was still working fine and dandy. This 4” device has Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in tow, accompanied by a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 S4 Plus processor, 1GB RAM, as well as front and back cameras. Is this the baddest phone you will ever get?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sprint’s HTC One Will Launch Without Any Carrier Branding, Verizon CEO Claims He Convinced Steve Jobs To Include LTE In The iPhone, 
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Sacrificing a smartphone’s thin and sleek form factor with a case is tantamount to sacrilege in some circles. Others feel little comfort venturing outdoors without having their phone wrapped safely in one sleeve or another. Sprint’s Kyocera Torque, though, is for people who demand more than just a sheath of silicone to keep their device safe. Instead of relying on a case for its protection, it’s durable in its own right, with an IP67 rating and Military Standard 810G certification to help it withstand everything from water to salt fog.
In addition, the handset carries the distinction of being the very first phone released in the US with Kyocera’s Smart Sonic Receiver tissue-conduction tech, which does away with the traditional earpiece. We put the Now Network’s first LTE push-to-talk phone through our review gauntlet not only to gauge how tough it is, but also to find out how well it performs. Head past the break to see how it fared.
Gallery: Kyocera Torque Review: Hardware
Sprint has another smartphone available this time, and it is one tough cookie. So tough, in fact, that it has been advertised to be the handset that Bear Grylls would not mind using, as it was specially built to “survive extreme elements and everyday life.” Yes sir, while the might seem to be one tough cookie on the outside, underneath its belly is actually a soft creature, as this 4G LTE Android smartphone will retail for a mere $99.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate, running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the operating system of choice.
Specially constructed according to Military Standard 810G (MilSpec), the Kyocera Torque can withstand dust, shock, vibration, solar radiation, humidity, blowing rain, low pressure, salt fog and extreme temperatures, not to mention IP67 standards for dust, sprayed water and full immersion of up to one meter deep for up to 30 minutes. Grylls has been given the honor of bringing the Kyocera Torque on a bunch of “adventures” that would certainly push man – and phone, to the limit. I sure hope he does not end up trying to eat the Kyocera Torque in the wild when he’s low on food! [Press Release]
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Analyst Says Cheap iPhone Makes Sense After Meeting With Apple, Google Supplies iOS Developers With Updated Maps SDK,
We first heard about — and went to town on — Kyocera’s latest smartphone toward the end of last month. Thankfully, the Torque happens to be an “ultra-rugged” device, meaning its creators didn’t mind at all when we tossed it against a wall or two. The LTE-packing Ice Cream Sandwich handset was made to the Military Standard 810G standard, so you can drop it, get it dirty or even submerge it in up to a meter of water for half an hour or so and go back for a little more Fruit Ninja — it’s also been placed in the hands of Mr. Man vs. Wild himself, Bear Grylls. The handset will be tumbling onto Sprint March 8th, with a $100 price (post two-year contract and $50 mail-in rebate).
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Going to be in the market for a new Direct Connect device soon, but the current offerings seem so… drab? Enter the Kyocera Torque, the latest Sprint smartphone featuring the network’s CDMA-based Push-to-Talk service. The phone, which should be available sometime in early March, brings with it LTE connectivity, (mostly) stock Android 4.0, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, HD Voice, 4-inch WVGA display, 4GB internal storage and a 2,500mAh battery. As you’d come to expect on a Direct Connect device, it’s also certified mil-spec 810G and IP67 and is water-resistant (it can be in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes). It’s also the first on this side of the Pacific to utilize Kyocera’s Smart Sonic Receiver tissue-conduction tech, a system that foregoes the traditional earpiece and transmits audio to your ear via vibration.
The Torque packs a lot of average features that would likely put it somewhere in the mid-range (we haven’t been given pricing yet), but it’s definitely not going to win any beauty awards — it’s still a Direct Connect device, after all. Its outer layer is dressed with Dura-Grip and the phone is plenty bulky as a result; however, it’s also much more durable than your standard piece of electronics. We threw the phone at the wall, slammed it repeatedly on the table, dunked it in water and even let it sit in ice for at least 20 minutes, all without incident.
On the software side, the Torque uses a version of stock Android 4.0 with only a small amount of tweaking. Essentially, the only major change added in by Sprint and Kyocera is Eco Mode, a power management system on the Torque that blocks background data connections for nonessential apps. We’ve put together a gallery of pics for you below. Follow us past the break for a full spec listing and our hands-on video.
Kyocera Torque specs:
Mat Smith contributed to this post.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sprint
If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought smartphone leaks from Samsung and Kyocera, along with news that Rogers will take on additional colors of the Lumia 920. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of January 14th, 2013.
Samsung’s rugged successor to the original Galaxy XCover has emerged with a 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480) display, a 5 megapixel rear camera and Jelly Bean. The phone will also sport 4GB of internal storage, a microSD slot and a 1,700mAh battery. Specifications of its CPU are currently unknown, but we may learn more about the Galaxy XCover 2 during Mobile World Congress. [SamMobile]
The crew at Unwired View have provided our first look at the Kyocera Torque, which is a rugged Android smartphone that’s said to be in the pipeline for Sprint. Unfortunately, other relevant specs remain absent from the scene. [Unwired View]
According to SamMobile, Samsung has a pint-sized smartphone known as the Galaxy Pocket Plus that’s headed to Latin America. The device contains a 2.8-inch QVGA (320 x 240) display, an 850MHz CPU from Broadcom, a 2 megapixel camera and Ice Cream Sandwich. The phone will also include 4GB of built-in storage and a 1,200mAh battery. [SamMobile]
[Mobile Miscellany photo credit: Thristian / Flickr]
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
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