Sprint Nextel will offer Motorola Clutch (See all news)

Sprint officially announced that it will start selling the Motorola i465 Clutch, a semi-rugged walkie-talkie phone with full QWERTY keyboard. The phone is Motorola’s first push-to-talk handset that includes a QWERTY keypad and enables users to choose between quick push-to-talk access to their contacts or fast messaging capabilities with the full-QWERTY keyboard.

"The Motorola Clutch with a QWERTY keyboard gives customers a better way to communicate with friends, family and colleagues," said Danny Bowman, Sprint's President of iDEN Business Unit. "By combining push-to-talk with text messaging, customers have two of the most efficient ways to get business done wirelessly."

We covered the initial release of the handset some while ago and once again we have to say there is nothing spectacular in the specifications. The device is equipped with a 1.80 inch display and offers a camera with VGA resolution with 4x zoom and video capture. The phone features threaded text messaging and support for MMS and POP3 e-mail along with 20MB of memory on board.

Other features include GPS, a micro USB port, a 5-pole accessory connection, a 2.5 mono audio jack and an 1130mAh battery. The phone is not exactly a must have for the hi-tech set, but if you're looking for a handset that meets Military Specs for high and low temperatures, dust, shock, vibration and solar radiation and something capable of sending and receiving text messages at a low price, then the Clutch might be the best choice for you.

The Motorola i465 Clutch will be available to consumers for US$39.99 with a 2 year agreement, after a $70 mail-in rebate. Customers can sign up to be notified of the phone’s availability on Sprint’s website.