I don’t know if you watch it, but “The Amazing Race” is about the only reality show that I watch with my wife. The premise is that couples are racing around the world, stopping at different exotic places and competing in challenging tasks. For some reason, we feel a part of it and it’s getting my travel itch going. All of the contestants rely on their wits but they also rely on their phones. Based on that scenario, Samsung’s new Xplorer seems ripe for these folks.
The Xplorer (B2100) looks like a basic candybar handset, but it’s geared for the outdoorsy types with rugged features. You can completely submerse the phone in up to a meter of water for under 30 minutes, for example. It also meets the stringent Military Standard 810F, which as I’m sure all of you know indicates it can handle extreme temps, dust, rain, fog and even fungus. Hey, could be handy for that trek in the Amazon rainforests I’ve always dreamed about.
Aside from that, it really is your basic candybar handset in a quad-band GSM package. The Xplorer plays most standard audio formats and also supports MPEG-4, H.263 and 3GP video on the 1.77-inch LCD. I could even use the 1.3MP camera that supports 15fps video recording to live stream a Piranha attack on my dream trip. Amazing! Explorers should watch for the Xplorer next month in Germany and other European areas.
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