While the issue of using cellular phones in the healthcare environment is cooling off, there is the issue that these are consumer devices that once dropped onto concrete tend to smash into pieces. Imagine a hard OR floor. AT&T is going after Sprint's Nextel iDEN customers with a launch of a push to talk handset from Samsung that features a video sharing capability. The SamSung Rugby is AT&Ts first rugged Mil-Spec device and it is the only rugged wireless phone that combines Push to Talk and Video Share Calling. Certified to Military Standard MIL-SID-810F, it will withstand dust, shock vibrations, rain, humidity, solar radiation, and altitude and temperature extremes. This is the same standard that Panasonic Toughbooks adhere to.
" Some consumer products claim ruggedization to the level of this standard. Such claims are more or less fraudulent, because the standard specifies only a method of testing and does not specify the amount of performance degradation permissible during or after being subjected to the (highly variable) test conditions. It is impossible for most of these claims to be true, because MIL-STD-810 is a test methods standard, not a performance specification. A device, for instance, cannot "comply with" nor can it be "approved." MIL-STD-810 methods are used to test compliance with, and are called out by, relevant military product specifications and are almost entirely meaningless without a specification that references such test methods and the performance which must be shown."
