Telecom and Motorola have launched a new smartphone they say was designed to withstand the rigours of everyday life.
The Motorola DEFY was water, dust and scratch resistant but had all the features of an Android smartphone, Otago-Southland Gen-i sales manager Peter Thomas said.
The phone has advanced web browsing capabilities and a high-resolution touchscreen display that provided edge-to-edge views of photos, videos and websites.
It would retail at about $799.
Mr Thomas said the phone would fill a gap in the market and there was a long list of pre-orders from Telecom customers in the South, particularly from companies with travellers, and farmers.
Pre-orders had been strong from customers in Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes District.
The DEFY was a good example of the kind of device Telecom's XT network was built for, he said.
"It can survive biking the Otago Rail Trail or sailing on Otago harbour."
It also featured a large, resilient display that had outstanding protection against against scratch damage. The phone used two microphones which filtered out background noise and amplified your voice so you did not have to shout, he said.
The phone also featured the latest version of Motorola's MotoBlur, which made it easier to manage all emails, messages and social updates in one place with additions of filtering and corporate security.
• Mackline is currently using an LG Optimus Windows phone and will publish a review soon. A review of the Motorola will follow.
