The most interesting phone you've never heard of

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- Truly rugged and weatherproof cell phones are few and far between. I've written about a few of them in this space, including the leading Casio G'zOne Boulder. But a new rugged cell phone you probably never heard of takes cell phones to a whole new level.

The phone is called the Sonim LM801, and its manufacturer has merely announced and demonstrated it, and told the press it's looking for a distributor.

The phone is super rugged, according to Sonim -- shock-proof, water-proof, dust-proof. And it's yellow, so it's got to be rugged, right?

But what's really interesting about this phone is that the company is the first that I'm aware of that takes convergence outside the standard consumer electronics realm.

In other words, when handset makers think about convergence, they consider only converging consumer electronics into the phone -- media players, cameras, GPS, etc.

Sonim does some of that, but also "converges" things totally outside the consumer electronics space. The LM801 has a laser pointer and flashlight built in, as well as magnetic compass, barometer, altimeter, thermometer and FM radio!

All that stuff is handy while camping or surviving in the wilderness. But the idea of integrating non-CE stuff into a phone is truly inspired.

Thanks to Engadget.