Move over, Kyocera DuraMax — Sprint has just officially announced the Motorola Admiral, the first Android smartphone in their growing Direct Connect lineup.
The Admiral takes a 1.2GHz processor, 4GB of internal storage, and 3G hotspot support and wraps it all in a mil-spec 810G compliant body. The 3.1-inch VGA display swathed in Gorilla Glass sits above a 4 row QWERTY keyboard, and a 5MP camera occupies the device’s rear.
Durable body aside, the Admiral’s other claim to fame is its support for Sprint’s CDMA-powered Direct Connect. With the iDEN network slated to be shuttered in favor of bolstering their CDMA coverage, Direct Connect allows users to chirp to fellow Sprint and Nextel customers with the same reckless abandon as before.
If you’ve been waiting for a rough-and-tumble smartphone that lets you bark orders to your crew as well as it lets you fire off a few emails, the Admiral may be worth a second glance. Expect it to hit Sprint’s sales channels on October 23 for $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate.