CASIO announces a new addition to the G’zOne roster of “tough phones”. It’s much more feature-rich than it appears above:

For most well connected consumers, text messaging has become a viable form of communication for both personal and business matters. As the first water and shock resistant messaging device in the U.S. marketplace, the CASIO G’zOne Brigade™ embraces this need for connectivity and brings reliability and toughness to a wider audience.

Beyond its resilient construction, the CASIO G’zOne Brigade™ is a tool for ever-increasing productivity. With a Full HTML Browser and Document Viewer for reviewing Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and PDFs, the Brigade is the perfect device to maintain both business communication and personal contact on the go. A perfect tool for multitasking, the CASIO G’zOne Brigade™ introduces the Text-to-Speech function, which allows users to listen to their text messages, multimedia messages and emails.

The advanced 3.2 Mega Pixel Camera with LED flash captures images under the harshest conditions. For professional grade photos, the CASIO G’zOne Brigade™ features BestShot™, a function with 6 pre-set modes that automatically changes the camera’s settings based on the background, and Auto Focus (Spot, 9 point and Face Detection), a quick performance tool that minimizes blur caused by shaky hands or a moving subject.

Additionally the Brigade is fully equipped with the Multimedia features Stereo Bluetooth™, music player, and Micro SD memory expansion (up to 16GB) for image storage and music on the go. Additional features include a unique crocodile texture exterior for no slip grip, GPS for directions at your finger tips, Push to Talk for instantaneous communication, Clear Talk for crystal clear calls and speaker phone, and Voice Recorder to create quick reminder memos.

To see the Brigade in action, visit CasioGzOne.com.

CASIO G’zOne Brigade product shots after the leap.

Sometimes the easiest and simplest ideas are the best. Orange France now teamed up with Bic, best known for their lighters and pens, to create the first "Ready-to-Call" cellphone. And for the first time the name actually makes sense and holds true. 
Not only do you get a phone and 60 minutes of talk time included in the 49 Euro package (about 62 USD), but the phone comes pre-charged, which means that you can actually start calling right after purchase. It’s the perfect phone for tourists or when you simply run out of battery. 
We also find it brilliant that Orange teamed up with Bic. Because what does Bic stand for at the end of the day? Cheap, decent quality and distributed EVERYWHERE. If they used the Bic distribution for the phone, this can be a huge success.
Also the design looks decent. We can even see the Bic phone becoming a cool accessory to have. Now it just needs to be more widely available, hopefully also outside France, and it will be a hit.
The Bic Phone is now available in the Colette online store.
More images after the jump.

Since a couple of years now we see high end fashion houses dipping into the cellphone market. Most recently Prada and Giorgio Armani made their moves, offering phones. But, let’s face it, to date we have seen nothing groundbreaking and even if the design was alright, in terms of functionality, they were always disappointing.
Now we came across first images of a new Chanel cellphone over at Artschoolvets. The phone carries the name Chanel Choco Phone and the screen as well as keyboard are hidden. Interesting concept and something we hope to see soon. For now there is no release date set.
More pics after the jump.