Kyocera Torque Arrives at Sprint March 8 for $99.99

The Kyocera Torque finally has a launch date and price with Sprint: March 8 for $99.99.

Announced back in January, the Kyocera Torque is the latest rugged phone to hit the market. If you live a rough-and-tumble life, or just have an extreme job, this may be the phone for you. Just some of the conditions it can survive include:

• Waterproof whether sprayed or immersed in up to one meter of water for up to 30 minutes, Torque can handle all the rain, sprinklers, hoses, spit, drool, drinks, sinks or toilet water life can throw at it – that’s more than can be said of the around 82 million handsets in the U.S. that have already been destroyed by liquid.
• Extreme Temperatures of -22° to 140°F (-30° to 60°C) for a non-operating unit for two hours and -4° to 122°F (-20° to 50°C) for an operating unit for three hours – from backcountry snowboard trips to hikes in Death Valley, don’t sweat it.
• Dropped 26 times from 4 feet high – or, the average week with kids at the playground.
• Heavy dust for six hours – going off the grid while off-roading and camping will never be an issue.
• Horizontal, vertical and sideways vibrations for one hour – that mountain bike ride or roller coaster will be no match for Torque.
• Exposure to salt fog, for a complete 48 hour cycle; this cycle includes 24 hours exposure to salt fog followed by 24 hours drying time  – ideal for surfers, beach lovers or those who left their hearts and phones in San Francisco.
• 95 percent humidity for 10 days straight – the phone can handle it, but its owners may not.
• Solar radiation exposure of 1120 W/m2 for 24 hours – you might need sunscreen, but your phone doesn’t mind soaking up some rays.
• Low pressure at 57.11 kPa/15,000 feet (4,572 meters) for two hours – higher than the tallest mountain peak in the lower 48 U.S. states.

I think I got winded just reading all of that.

Currently the phone will launch with Ice Cream Sandwich, but Kyocera let us know after the initial announcement that it will upgrade to Jelly Bean as soon as the QChat app – the brains behind the push-to-talk feature on the Torque – has been updated to support the latest version of Android.