It meets military standards for water resistance, shock and dust. Other survivor instincts include a flashlight and electronic compass, a 1.3 megapixel camera and access to two unusual Verizon services. Push-to-Talk lets you communicate instantly in private networked fashion with other phone users ($5 extra per month per line). And V Cast Music with Rhapsody opens up a catalog of 5 million tunes for download to the phone for a reasonable, $14.99-a-month access fee. The Boulder rolls out for $129.99 after rebate with a two-year service contract.
EDUCATIONAL TOOLS: Closely resembling grown-up electronics products, the coolest educational devices for kids make learning fun and hip. Franklin Electronic Publishers' Speaking Spelling Bee ($99.95) looks like one of those snazzy little mobile phones with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard conventionally used for text messaging.
But your young 'uns (ages 8 and up) will use this device to improve vocabulary. A game-show host throws down the spelling challenges, offering example sentences, definitions and word origins. Up to six players can participate - most communally when this Bee is connected to a TV set. It also features a rhyming dictionary and games like Sudoku and Hangman.
LeapFrog's just-launched Leapster 2 (ages 4 to 8, $69.99) and Didj (ages 6 to 10, $89.99) portable gaming systems resemble other videogame playthings. But these require the kids to conquer math, spelling and other skills to move on-screen characters to glory in cartridge-based ($19.99-$29.99) titles built on "Wall-E," "Dora the Explorer" and "Star Wars" themes, among others.
